also lol @ Method Man in a wig
― Οὖτις, Monday, 23 October 2017 18:53 (six years ago) link
the mafia guys are present
― Number None, Monday, 23 October 2017 18:54 (six years ago) link
I liked the pilot of this but have yet to watch more. tbh I really liked Treme, esp the 2nd and 3rd seasons
― Simon H., Monday, 23 October 2017 18:55 (six years ago) link
This is better than Vinyl
― calstars, Wednesday, 25 October 2017 21:30 (six years ago) link
low bar
maybe the lowest bar
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 25 October 2017 21:32 (six years ago) link
So is putting out a lit match in your eye.
― grawlix (unperson), Wednesday, 25 October 2017 21:33 (six years ago) link
It's kinda refreshing that having two Francos basically serves no purpose, I'm glad that after the first episode there haven't been any plot mechanics that hinge on mistaken twin identity etc.
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 26 October 2017 17:58 (six years ago) link
another great episode, i thought. i was a bit confused with the conversation between Alston (the cop) and the new captain. the captain acknowledges that NYPD discriminates against black cops, and brings it up in a way that suggests that he's sympathetic to changing things. but then he makes a distinction between "meateaters" and "grasseaters" - meateaters being people who cause problems for the department and grasseaters being people who keep their head down. and then he presses Alston on that, to make sure that he's a grasseater. maybe there's no confusion there, i guess it's just laying bare the weird motivations of the captain, in that he recognizes the prejudices of the police and his own privilege but he's still dedicated to maintaining the status quo?
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 26 October 2017 18:11 (six years ago) link
I thought he was saying that they were going to be rooting out corruption in the police force -- the meateaters who were seriously on the take and connected to the politicians/mafia, and that the grasseaters were benign but would still "have to change their ways".
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 26 October 2017 18:15 (six years ago) link
see, i thought i picked up on that too but then this vulture recap made me think maybe i was misunderstanding everything?
He also gives the new captain, McDonagh (Ed Moran), a tour of the Deuce, and his uneasiness at the new assignment only compounds when McDonagh pointedly asks him if he’s a “meat eater” or a “grass eater,” i.e. someone who stirs up shit or someone who grazes and does what he needs to do to get by. Alston has always been caught between a rock and a hard place, between trying to atone for his part in corruption and playing a part in it. Now, it’s going to get worse.
it was sort of ambiguous. it's like, was the captain testing alston's resolve to root out corruption or pressuring him to not say anything about it?
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 26 October 2017 18:26 (six years ago) link
I think Jordan is right and the Vulture recap has it wrong.
― JRN, Thursday, 26 October 2017 18:27 (six years ago) link
I really think it's the former!
xp
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 26 October 2017 18:28 (six years ago) link
I've not seen beyond ep 1 of this, but am shocked that there is any ambiguity at all in a David Simon series.
― calzino, Thursday, 26 October 2017 18:41 (six years ago) link
that's just silly
― Number None, Thursday, 26 October 2017 21:37 (six years ago) link
If I couldn't finish Treme or Show Me A Hero, would I get much out of this?
― Potato Wave (Leee), Friday, 27 October 2017 17:12 (six years ago) link
I think it's much more engaging and more Wire-like than Treme (which I only stuck with out of familiarity with the subject matter). Didn't see SMAH.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 27 October 2017 17:17 (six years ago) link
SMAH did nothing for me tbh
― Simon H., Friday, 27 October 2017 17:24 (six years ago) link
so, this is actually really good
― Οὖτις, Monday, 30 October 2017 15:49 (six years ago) link
I esp appreciate that for a show about fucking/prostitution/pornography, the nudity and sex is never titillating. Everything is grimy and kinda gross, occasionally scary.
― Οὖτις, Monday, 30 October 2017 15:51 (six years ago) link
mostly enjoying the cast, Franco is serviceable (getting serious Matt Dillon vibes from Bad Franco), Gyllenhaal is great, the guy who runs the porn store is *perfect*, Jackie Aprile redux is good.
― Οὖτις, Monday, 30 October 2017 17:37 (six years ago) link
and I haven't gotten to the terrible-sounding scene referenced upthread yet, but in general I am really enjoying how music is used in this - I am blanking on the film term for when all the music heard is what characters are listening to, but I dig that a lot. Cutting between two scenes where two different sets of characters are listening to the same thing on the radio, but not in an obtrusive or showy way. Or Franco laughing at himself dancing to "Mr. Big Stuff" on the jukebox. This show is a slow burn, and grim and committed to the visual and unrelenting ugliness of the area, but I am into it so far.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 1 November 2017 17:19 (six years ago) link
diagetic
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 1 November 2017 17:30 (six years ago) link
ah! yes ty
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 1 November 2017 17:32 (six years ago) link
this is my new favorite show
(Starcade is my new old favorite show)
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 9 November 2017 22:26 (six years ago) link
The "Pale Blue Eyes" on the radio scene turned out to be an oddly a rare misstep. the cast in this is so good, and Franco delivers the lolz at least once an episode, like when the guy is sketching out the porno-booths and Rudy the Gangster takes one look and says "oh yeah, I get it" and then Franco adds "so they can jerk off!" classic. Method Man also surprisingly good, his extended dialogue trying to pickup Gyllenhaal on the street was so good.
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 9 November 2017 22:29 (six years ago) link
Franco-as-Vinnie reminds me of Daniel Desario at times (his character on Freaks and Geeks eighteen years ago, for any of you lucky enough to have your first viewing of that wonderful show still in your future).
― JRN, Thursday, 9 November 2017 23:23 (six years ago) link
Wait, sorry, I meant Franco as Frankie, the irresponsible one.
― JRN, Thursday, 9 November 2017 23:24 (six years ago) link
speaking of Freaks and Geeks alum I was just marveling at Neil's older brother's transformation into porno-director-schlub, he is so good in this
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 9 November 2017 23:30 (six years ago) link
he looks like he's had a rough 18 years lol
Krumholtz is an undervalued (or poorly served) actor
he is great in this, yeah
― Number None, Thursday, 9 November 2017 23:34 (six years ago) link
Christ u r right, he's been in a lot of crap
― Οὖτις, Friday, 10 November 2017 03:28 (six years ago) link
really thought this was great
― Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 10 November 2017 14:13 (six years ago) link
man even the season finale was comparatively low-key. I'm starting to realize which plotlines I find engaging (Candy's, primarily, and the gangster racket) and the ones I don't care about at all (the pimps). Franco's storylines aren't all that engaging but he is v fun to watch so he makes up for it. The cop/journalist story is okay but it seems kind of obvious where it's going.
I definitely do not ever need to see another season-ending montage of all the characters set to an iconic piece of music, that shit is so lazy at this point.
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 16 November 2017 23:29 (six years ago) link
old man yelling at the clouds: wtf is curtis cranked so fucking LOUD in the theme song? it's like 3x the volume of the rest of the show! i'm already watching it, so i don't know understand why it's trying to grab my attention so hard
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 16 November 2017 23:38 (six years ago) link
haha yeah I noticed that too. Great song and all but...
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 16 November 2017 23:38 (six years ago) link
the pimp storylines are so weird in tone - like, am I really supposed to care about the existential struggles of some of the worst people alive? like, oh no suddenly they feel unnecessary, what are they going to do?! and, why, this other pimp, he has *feelings*! How ever will they grow and evolve? Method Man at least knows to keep it alternately funny or scary... but idgaf about any of them, they could all be murdered like Reggie Love and my reaction would be "huh, well that was well-deserved".
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 16 November 2017 23:41 (six years ago) link
fwiw the second season is meant to be set five years later
so we might not see any direct resolution to a lot of the stories set up this season
― Number None, Thursday, 16 November 2017 23:43 (six years ago) link
whoah waht?!
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 16 November 2017 23:46 (six years ago) link
I liked that this season all basically led up to the release of Deep Throat, skipping ahead to '76 is an interesting decision
David Simon has a three-season plan for this series. Is that something you’re game for?FRANCO: Of course! I had to be, signing on. One of the interesting things about this show is that it’s a hybrid between a limited series and a regular series. There are only eight episodes a season, and if we go, which it looks like we will, there will only be three seasons. It gives it this perfectly encapsulated, very concise, economical power punch feeling to it. From the beginning, the plan was to cover 14 years. The first season is ‘71-‘72, and the dawn of pornography. The second season is ‘77, ‘78 and ‘79, or somewhere in there. And then, the third season will be ‘84-‘85 when everything imploded and the old 42nd Street was shut down by Mayor Koch. I think if we pull it off, it will be a really nice encapsulation of a time and a place.
FRANCO: Of course! I had to be, signing on. One of the interesting things about this show is that it’s a hybrid between a limited series and a regular series. There are only eight episodes a season, and if we go, which it looks like we will, there will only be three seasons. It gives it this perfectly encapsulated, very concise, economical power punch feeling to it. From the beginning, the plan was to cover 14 years. The first season is ‘71-‘72, and the dawn of pornography. The second season is ‘77, ‘78 and ‘79, or somewhere in there. And then, the third season will be ‘84-‘85 when everything imploded and the old 42nd Street was shut down by Mayor Koch. I think if we pull it off, it will be a really nice encapsulation of a time and a place.
― Number None, Thursday, 16 November 2017 23:51 (six years ago) link
late 70s is kind of the "golden era" of pretentious feature-length porn films. (No idea what that means in terms of 42nd St in particular)
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 16 November 2017 23:54 (six years ago) link
Wow, I had no idea about the three season plan! Fantastic. I love this idea.
― Karl Malone, Friday, 17 November 2017 00:09 (six years ago) link
This was great! I'm wondering if Simon needs a good collaborator to make a good (mini-)series (Ed Burns, Richard Wright).
I had a omg moment when I saw that B'Elanna Torres directed an episode!
― Entree 3000 (Leee), Sunday, 19 November 2017 00:11 (six years ago) link
Also, if the brothers weren't identical, Ziggy would've been perfect to play Frankie.
― Entree 3000 (Leee), Sunday, 19 November 2017 06:31 (six years ago) link
Oh my gosh you're right, I knew he reminded me of someone
― paolo, Sunday, 19 November 2017 11:45 (six years ago) link
Just binged the whole thing this weekend
So much better than I expected. Loved the way the women all feel like real characters, the way the hookers interacted with each other etc was a huge selling point for me, and Maggie G killed it, so great.
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 27 November 2017 05:13 (six years ago) link
Ruby tho ;_; I screamed when that john pushed her out the window. Pelecanos said in the behind the scenes clip that Ruby was based on a real woman & she died exactly the same way.
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 27 November 2017 05:15 (six years ago) link
I think the show did a good job of showing how much of their job is survival, how tough those girls have to be to live that life. Also the desperate shitty nature of pimps. etc. And I loved that final reverse tracking shot of the Parlor hallway, shiny wallpaper & all but the noises are the same, it’s still basically another Lionel Hotel for the girls. Just another hallway.
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 27 November 2017 05:19 (six years ago) link
also (sorry for multiposting)totally did not clock Ralph Macchio at first l, had to look him up to work out who he played after i saw his name in the creditsi want a whole season just of Maggie’s character directing porn
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 27 November 2017 05:29 (six years ago) link
Yeah that was def the most interesting plotline/characters imo
― Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 05:44 (six years ago) link
the last episode is really good
― akm, Thursday, 6 February 2020 20:09 (four years ago) link
I was hoping this thread would remind me whether I watched S2 or not--I think I did, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll check a couple of episode summaries. Took S2/S3 out of the library; will finish up one way or the other.
― clemenza, Monday, 13 September 2021 19:04 (two years ago) link
this series was really underappreciated
― akm, Monday, 13 September 2021 19:57 (two years ago) link