"The Wire" on HBO

have you guys seen the crappy news?

probably not a hoax :(

discussed on treme thread btw

oh wow - i'd never even noticed that thread!

Watching season 3, and there is mention of hotspots for drug traffic, one of which is North and Pulaski, so I pulled it up:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=north+and+pulaski+baltimore&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=W+North+Ave+%26+N+Pulaski+St,+Baltimore,+MD+21217&gl=us&ei=qKDCS4rMJMiAnwezm-SuCg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ8gEwAA

?

if you do street view does it become the cornerstore where spoiler they tried to frame omar at?

no

Do I need to get hold of the Homicide: Life on the Streets and The Corner DVDs as a huge Wire fan? As much as I loved watching multiple times in 2009, I do feel like I'm kind of *over* it though, and ready to explore other things.

I'd rent them, not buy them.

Better to get Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets (Simon's book on which the tv show is based) instead (from the library, natch).

book rules

what a fool I am, I paid for both it and the Corner from a bookshop

I got the Corner from the library but ooooooh I hate it when writers transcript/write in slang. preventing me from reading a lot of good books I think (richard price's clockers is another example.)

HA! me too.

clockers, i mean. couldn't read it.

well that and i have problems with fiction about crime? not sure. i liked homicide though.

Clockers was great, but I had trouble with the written slang in the Pelecanos book I read.

btw has anyone watched Intelligence? netflix suggested it to fans of The Wire. not really seeing a lot of parallel right now, other than being pretty well written and about law enforcement surveillance.

I've only read one Pelecanos, but had so little trouble with it that I went and bought three more afterwards

i read pelecanos for sentimental reasons and cringe quite a bit tbh, and for more reasons than dialogue. like his work on the wire though. clockers is another league; price's ear's a treasure.

Do I need to get hold of the Homicide: Life on the Streets and The Corner DVDs as a huge Wire fan? As much as I loved watching multiple times in 2009, I do feel like I'm kind of *over* it though, and ready to explore other things.

― Davek (davek_00), Monday, April 12, 2010 9:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

'corner' is kind of depressing/worthy... didn't like it

'homicide' -- early seasons are aight but imo its rep is overinflated. the ensemble is great, and it has some indelible characters, but most of the crimes are standard-ish tv show stuff. very little of it is about the drug wars etc.

d simon's book is dope tho

yeah, I'm currently going through homicide (the show) and have to agree with this. just got through what I'm hoping is the last of a couple eps in a row of "killer of the week" type scenarios. I'm enjoying it but the wire is in a totally different league.

still, I imagine it was pretty unique for its time and the cast is great.

as an aside, man, it is so 90s. the music montages (candlebox! counting crows!), the shaky cam, the editing in general, gritty serial killer plots.

the book is v. much worth a read.

A lot of hype about Homicide is that you have to place it in its context, when the show was on there weren't that many shows on the air that actually was doing these procedurals with ongoing character development. Like what did you have, Hill Street Blues and the various Star Trek series? It was great for the time but it doesn't hold up that well. Lotta good TV actors popped up in it, though.

The Corner is depressing, but what do you expect, it's actually based on real people and events. It's kind of like a beta version of The Wire that focuses only on one family, I'd say it's worth it.

homicide worth it for the performances alone, it's pretty cheap these days too

Ah thank you for the recommendations folks. Was curious to ask because at my university a professor did this fantastic talk on The Wire, mostly focusing on the way each group of characters uses media and technology. She said she adored Homicide too, this was the issue. What can I say, I am impressionable. I think I'm going to give Battlestar a spin next though.

I got the Corner from the library but ooooooh I hate it when writers transcript/write in slang.

― fuck in rainbows, ☔ (dyao), Monday, April 12, 2010 7:55 PM

do u mean the way in which they transcribe slang or just all writing in slang in general

just in general I guess

i don't see how it can be avoided

yeah, maybe I would like these books better if they were audiobooks voiced by actors from the wire

the fakeness of it is usually distracting to me

sort of inherent fakeness though

damn totally disappointed to find out the mcnulty actor was british :(

why

don't tell him about the stringer actor

i think i was disappointed too iirc just cause the dude seemed like this archetypical american badass and to find out he was the creation of a brit makes him seem even more fictional and further removed from the reality you'd hope a real mcnulty-on-his-good-days style dude might inhabit

aw i don't really see why that would make you like the character less, it's acting

mcnulty was always one of the cornier/more obviously written characters for me anyway so :-/

oh, here, i knew i read this somewhere - from the new york times..
"Wherever I go the real hard-core dudes come up to me and confide in me," said Mr. Elba, who over the years has been approached by dozens of drug dealers identifying with Stringer. "I almost feel guilty turning around and saying: 'Hello, mate. My name's Idris and I'm from London.'" Mr. Elba burst into an exaggerated version of his cockney accent. "I don't want to break the illusion."

― dar1a g (daria g), Wednesday, January 10, 2007 11:05 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark

lol

fuck, stringer too?

carcetti's Irish, right?
Bunk is from Japan iirc.

"idris elba" ;__________;

what do you have against brits

rewatching it recently, mcnulty stood out as a brit ... but Stringer, even though I knew he was British, I didn't really think about it too much.

yeah once you know mcnulty is welsh(right?) it's impossible to ignore, his accent slips. idris less so

think he's from sheffield... but he went to eton!

like the dude in band of brothers

david schwimmer

and to find out he was the creation of a brit

pretty sure an american writer created mcnutty

brits > americans so it's not even a big deal

Some of these characters are played by actors! Totally ruinz the show for me. (FYI Lester Freamon is almost a Brit.)

newsflash Omar is not really gay