The editing in the first forty seconds of this season 5 clip (so SPOILERS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdpG92dsx1A
― Frederik B, Thursday, 1 June 2017 23:44 (six years ago) link
Wire had exactly one flashback sequence in its entire run – used in the first episode of season 1.
Amazing because all of those characters, all those fully developed characters - some of them just bit parts - never had any "fleshing out" or exposition about how and what made them tick. What you saw is what you saw. Is what it is.
― pplains, Friday, 2 June 2017 01:33 (six years ago) link
Exposition through flashback, obv.
― pplains, Friday, 2 June 2017 01:34 (six years ago) link
God are we talking about the visual style of The Wire again? That's missing the forest for the trees in a big way / looking for ways to nitpick at the Greatest Show Ever.
― Do the eeeL Roll! (Leee), Friday, 2 June 2017 02:37 (six years ago) link
you wanna talk about why hillary lost instead
― j., Friday, 2 June 2017 03:15 (six years ago) link
I read an essay a while back analyzing the visual style of the Agniezska episode -- which was in SEASON 3 -- it's the one with the scene with McNulty and Barksdale's mom. It definitely had its arty touches.
― sarahell, Friday, 2 June 2017 05:01 (six years ago) link
but going back and watching episodes again, the thing that I notice more is the differences in acting styles. Several of them are very "stage-y" -- as in they perform their lines in more of a theater way, rather than a "realistic" way. Carver and Lester stand out the most in this. Compare them to Bunk and Avon and Herc.
― sarahell, Friday, 2 June 2017 05:04 (six years ago) link
yeah i mean i know golden age of tv etc but good tv for me is still good storytelling .. if it's artistically achieved via impressive camerawork & whatnot, great, but if it's the camera's just a means to an end, that doesn't make it a worse show. not for me anyway
i mean, mad men was beautiful but it bored me to tears at least 50% of the time so i'm not gonna hoist it up over The Wire based on long shots of furniture & window-staring
― Yoni Loves Chocha (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 2 June 2017 06:23 (six years ago) link
But that's also kind of my point! The flourishes in The Wire are grounded in character and mood, but it's still inventive enough that I can find great details in stuff I've seen ten times. Sopranos tried to be 'stylish' but mostly failed imo.
Mad Men is great though...
― Frederik B, Friday, 2 June 2017 07:00 (six years ago) link
Mad Men was only great when I was drinking as much as the characters on screen, otherwise, I'm with Mme. Veg - 50% snoozeville
― sarahell, Friday, 2 June 2017 11:45 (six years ago) link
― pplains, Thursday, June 1, 2017 8:33 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
There were those little online video vignettes with the younger versions of Omar and Prop Joe and someone else I can't remember now. Which, yes, they clearly took pains to keep out of the show itself.
― Trockasturm Hoar The Ramming Battle Ceraton (Old Lunch), Friday, 2 June 2017 12:01 (six years ago) link
Fred's totally right about Homicide, btw. I can recall its visual style (particularly the editing choices) much more clearly than that of The Wire.
― Trockasturm Hoar The Ramming Battle Ceraton (Old Lunch), Friday, 2 June 2017 12:03 (six years ago) link
Are we mainly talking about shot composition and editing? Because it seems to me The Wire has a number of really memorable settings: the Pit, the corners, the docks. Even if the camera work doesn't call attention to itself, it leaves a strong impression of these spaces.
― jmm, Friday, 2 June 2017 12:19 (six years ago) link
There were those little online video vignettes with the younger versions of Omar and Prop Joe and someone else I can't remember now. Which, yes, they clearly took pains to keep out of the show itself.― Trockasturm Hoar The Ramming Battle Ceraton (Old Lunch), Friday, June 2, 2017 8:01 AM (twenty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Trockasturm Hoar The Ramming Battle Ceraton (Old Lunch), Friday, June 2, 2017 8:01 AM (twenty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Holy shit, how had I never heard of these until now?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38U15ytW24o
― how's life, Friday, 2 June 2017 12:38 (six years ago) link
I've seen the first season and a half of mad men twice, really need to get back to it some day. It is a thing that is boring and good iirc
― in a soylent whey (wins), Friday, 2 June 2017 14:47 (six years ago) link
Watch it all, it's great. I'm sure I'll take plenty of flak when I say it's supplanted The Wire as my favorite cable series.
― Moodles, Friday, 2 June 2017 17:09 (six years ago) link
Mad Men is incredible, you all have terrible opinions
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 June 2017 17:17 (six years ago) link
It's a reasonable take. The only other cable series I can think of with the same level of ambition. But no, The Wire is still my favorite :)
― Frederik B, Friday, 2 June 2017 17:17 (six years ago) link
That Prop Joe prequel... I don't know what I would've done had they started an episode with that.
― pplains, Friday, 2 June 2017 17:42 (six years ago) link
lol that's like some KITH "Ascertain" sketch shit
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 June 2017 17:48 (six years ago) link
https://theringer.com/wire-hbo-characters-where-are-they-now-b9ee61c34aa8
Bill Simmons still doing his best to ruin The Wire
― El Tuomasbot (milo z), Sunday, 4 June 2017 21:58 (six years ago) link
jfc
― Number None, Monday, 5 June 2017 11:52 (six years ago) link
Cool fanfic but it could've used more vampires imo.
― Trockasturm Hoar The Ramming Battle Ceraton (Old Lunch), Monday, 5 June 2017 13:39 (six years ago) link
i'd rather read wire-themed slashfic than that stupid fucking article again tbh
it was vaguely worth it as an endorsement of the show's unparalleled handling of a huge cast, though - scrolling through those names i could easily remember their faces, voices, actions and relationships to each other and it's been at least five years since i watched any of it. that's a real testament to how good the show is
― he's also fouled up with NON-FAT (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 5 June 2017 13:59 (six years ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/nyregion/manhattan-man-jump-housing-complex.html
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Saturday, 8 July 2017 14:58 (six years ago) link
Finally got Mr Veg to watch The Wire, we are almost done with S1 and he's onboard :D
This is my third rewatch and even now when I try to watch it with an eye for acting choices or writing or whatever, I still get 100% sucked into the story
Also I think I need to poll worst TV dads. McNulty has to be fighting for top of the list with that front & follow stint in the marketplace
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 6 September 2017 22:58 (six years ago) link
His kids were taught well, though!
― Germ Leee Adolescents (Leee), Wednesday, 6 September 2017 23:00 (six years ago) link
true. but he's such a bum
kinda want to skip the next ep (s1 ep 12) bcz I don't wanna see Wallace get got :(
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 6 September 2017 23:02 (six years ago) link
It's amazing that Bodie gets your sympathy back over the next few seasons, after what happens to Wallace - that guy (JD Williams) doesn't seem to have done as well as other members of the cast, but great performance
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 6 September 2017 23:37 (six years ago) link
yeah otm
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 6 September 2017 23:39 (six years ago) link
Oh he does not
― passé aggresif (darraghmac), Thursday, 7 September 2017 07:35 (six years ago) link
Halfway through season three and enjoying this, with the exception of maverick cop who plays by his own rules McNulty. If one more woman throws herself at him no matter how drunk or annoying he's being (at this point it'll probably be Kima, gay or they're working together and she has a vagina) or he does anything as flatout stupid as his "English" accent that got him into the brothel, I'll take a break.
― albvivertine, Saturday, 23 September 2017 06:54 (six years ago) link
*not. Sorry to rant but so many aspects of this show're just as great as I've heard, so this cartoonish cliché of a copy show character really sticks out and spoils things.
― albvivertine, Saturday, 23 September 2017 06:56 (six years ago) link
Yeah McNulty is a very tedious + one note character, and the actor who plays him is shite imo as well. Probably one of the main reasons I dislike this show, aside from all the other irritating Simonisms.
― calzino, Saturday, 23 September 2017 09:59 (six years ago) link
I think it was a combo of Brooker and my older brother's endless Wire proselytising that convinced me it must be dud. I think at the time my brother often used to pass off Brooker opinions as his own, and was smoking too much weed and in not in full possession of his own mind.
― calzino, Saturday, 23 September 2017 10:10 (six years ago) link
it's a great show. there are huge flaws. david simon screaming his messages at you constantly being one of them. and yes, mcnulty, virtually the protagonist is in many ways a tired tv trope of a character. but i think there's too much good in there to allow the flaws to dissuade anyone from watching
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Saturday, 23 September 2017 10:12 (six years ago) link
there is lots of good in it as well, of course, but I just can't get past the bad stuff!
― calzino, Saturday, 23 September 2017 10:15 (six years ago) link
https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/mcnulty-uniform.gif
― pplains, Saturday, 23 September 2017 12:39 (six years ago) link
McNulty is p much dropped as 'central' character by season 3 and is widely reviled as a dick whose womanising is an impediment to his functioning as a grown adult
But let's be real even drunk dickish Dominic West is not going home alone most nights so let's all keep our grip here ok
― passé aggresif (darraghmac), Saturday, 23 September 2017 12:56 (six years ago) link
With vivalbertine on McNutty but his ikea scene makes up for a lot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRRHb2WphWs
― Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 23 September 2017 13:09 (six years ago) link
I can see how the McNulty plot could spoil season 2 for people. Yeah, there's some major bad bullshit in there, and it doesn't much have to do with anything. I love the scene where he re-checks the current maps out of spite. But it's really not a coincidence that the best season is the one with the least McNulty.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 23 September 2017 13:28 (six years ago) link
I know the feeling. I'm halfway through season 5 and getting a bit tired of the whole fake serial killer thing already. It's like some kind of comedy caper.
― heaven parker (anagram), Saturday, 23 September 2017 13:58 (six years ago) link
no one defends that bit in fairness
― Number None, Saturday, 23 September 2017 13:59 (six years ago) link
*cop show character, not copy. Glad I'm not the only one who finds him tedious.
― albvivertine, Saturday, 23 September 2017 15:10 (six years ago) link
I didn't mind the serial killer thing tbh. the scene with the profiler is a riot.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Saturday, 23 September 2017 15:14 (six years ago) link
While I'm at it, "self-destructive alcolholic" shouldn't really equal dude who has sex all the time and occasionally turns up to work with a mild hangover. There was the time he crashed his car, which seemed promising, but it just resulted in a cafe waitress adding herself to the menu cos barely conscious bleeding McNulty was just too damn tasty.
― albvivertine, Saturday, 23 September 2017 15:18 (six years ago) link
I'm cool with mcnulty as a character up til his S5 storyline (despite some of its highlights cf the profiler scene), he's probably the most likable of the premium cable fuckups bc he's just a dude with a chip on his shoulder about the system pushing people around as opposed to a charismatic and amoral antihero. His comedy bits are pretty good imo and on the flip side a scene like his confrontation with d'angelo's mom was pretty powerful. Always liked the progression of his relationship w/bodie too.
― nomar, Saturday, 23 September 2017 15:35 (six years ago) link
imo we're seeing the world through McNulty's eyes in the beginning and as the show returns to him in the final season, you realize he's this fuck-up who almost made life work and then completely goes back off the rails in stupendous fashion
the waitress scene in season one is kind of eye-rollingly bad, but I like to think we saw it through his drunk vision. the waitress, if anyone else had seen her, wouldn't vaguely resemble the actress they cast
― mh, Saturday, 23 September 2017 22:18 (six years ago) link
That's a good way to look at it. Especially considering in the ensuing sex scene he apparently has no problem keeping it up, which is a little unrealistic.
― albvivertine, Saturday, 23 September 2017 22:57 (six years ago) link
smdh
― passé aggresif (darraghmac), Saturday, 23 September 2017 23:26 (six years ago) link