Deadwood

Milch: I feel the past falling away and the attachments of regret for what wasn’t done or was done badly or was done without sufficient sympathy, and it was for that reason that our granddaughter’s visit was such a redemptive and compelling occurrence. Everything is an adventure for her and a delight and a surprise, an opening up, and that’s a big gratification.

Singer: I’ve never thought of you as a sentimental person, but maybe I misread that. How would you characterize yourself?

Milch: As an unsentimental person.

Man.

Singer: Do you feel like you’re in a race?

Milch: Yes.

Singer: You’re racing to finish this memoir?

Milch: More so a larger enterprise, of which this is just a part.

Singer: Can you be more specific?

Milch: I’m trying to make work, the undertaking in general, coherent. To restore a dignity to the way that I proceed, and it’s a demanding process. You’re tempted to . . . toss it in. Just to quit.

Singer: Before this, were you someone who had preoccupying fears?

Milch: No.

Singer: And now what is it you’re afraid of, if you could identify it?

Milch: I intuit the presence of a coherence in my life which I haven’t given expression to in an honorable fashion.

And a pretty great interview w/ Olyphant.

Satisfying wrapup, and the closing line is perfect.

i forgot how much i enjoyed just seeing al swearengen on that balcony

Absolutely wonderful.

holy shit! this is out.. literally counting the minutes till I watch this tonight..

just started rewatching the whole series and holy fuck it holds up alright.

I watched season 1 recently, but then stalled out after the overly wordy season 2 premier.

my gal is watching it for the first time with me and she's pointing out how this was clearly made in the "pre-binge" era; things move fast and characters pop up and are quickly dispatched. Watching the show in batches of three eps a sitting is like eating an omakase in a half hour.

Thinking about the similarities between Deadwood The Movie and Avengers Endgame this morning — two fan-servicey films offering needy fans a chance to say goodbye, and also metacommentaries on an audience's need to say goodbye. Milch, as always, with more tough love -- "I'm giving you this thing you want but maybe you should toughen up a bit and not confuse want for need."

just watched the movie. does something very difficult - cramming about a season's worth of major incidents into a movie format - quite well, if a little inelegantly in certain moments. all the actors brought their A-game for the occasion.

McShane obviously v good, though he gets saddled with the most overtly sentimental material, but Olyphant really did a great job showing how time/age had and hadn't changed Bullock - considerably better socialized, but still stubborn as a mule

I felt like this was a strong case of how sometimes giving the audience exactly what they want, but not in a lazy or complacent manner, can be a very very good thing.

It was a bit compressed and would have preferred a new season .. but it was a blast seeing these characters again.

overly wordy

Apocryphal!

heretical

Jane's opening soliloquy gave me chills, and then it settles into a lot of loose-end-tying, familiar faces smiling wistfully at each other, flashbacks (ugh), character-arc resolutions and at least two wholly satisfying showdowns (gritting my teeth when reading Slant compare this to an Avengers movie, I kinda see what they were getting at now). I liked it, but it was far more postscript than the Grand Statement I was expecting.

I saw the flashbacks as a (mostly) necessary evil

Still have the last 1/2 hour to go and I'm enjoying this, it's great to see everyone again, but the rhythm feels off. Idk, it has a stilted quality that the show didn't have for me. It's more like Deadwood: The Play than Deadwood?

I liked Jane's thing, too! I was so excited to watch this, but by the time they got to the Charlie Utter train station scene it was clear to me that I have completely lost the ability to sit through even a couple of minutes of flowery, mannered, sentimental period dialogue

xpost

I can't justify them on any grounds: who is watching this movie who isn't familiar with the show?

Stilted, yes exactly! xpost. I haven't re-watched the original series, but I don't remember it ever feeling stilted, except maybe for some of the theater troupe scenes

The dialogue in the film is far more expository than the series ever was.

who is watching this movie who isn't familiar with the show?

I hadn't watched the last act of s3 in quite a few years and had forgotten the particulars of the Hearst/Trixie affair at the very least. (The Alma/Bullock flashbacks definitely a bit much.)

I guess I had the advantage of having just rewatched the show in anticipation of the movie, but the flashbacks felt like hand-holding. Not the only time the film does this, mind: a crucial late moment has Jane verbally reflect back on how said event relates to a much earlier in her (and the show's) history. The series never did anything like this.

Well, the series never had to cram a season's worth of incident into under two hours while also providing a sense of closure. It's basically impossible to do without some major changes in approach.

i'm about halfway through the second season in my first rewatch since this originally aired with the intent of seeing the movie fully prepared. damn does this ever hold up. the language in the second season is so florid and precise; I'm finding lots of quotes I had forgotten but that became catch phrases around the house, including Richardson's "i LIKE you...you're purrrdy" and Trixie's "i wish i were a tree." I'm partner watching this, somewhat unfortunately, and she's not as binge likely as i am or else we'd have knocked this out in a week. As it is, I imagine I'll hit the movie by end of July.

I’m rewatching too, at about the same pace. It’s my third time watching this and not only does it hold up it’s even better than I remembered. Really rewards both bingeing and repeat viewing.

The slow reveals on e.g. the kidney stone or Hearst’s hand in camp affairs start earlier than you think, and it’s a pleasure to be able to rewind the really good bits, of which there are really too many to count.

I enjoyed the movie a bunch and thought it was very good given the various limitations: two-hour time frame, passage of time, Milch's condition.

No one mentioned the Dillahunt cameo as "Drunk #2?" I was joking with my wife early on that they should have him play another character, then nearly died laughing when I saw him near the end.

Not enough Farnum for my tastes, but I realize they only had two hours to hit on a bunch of things. McRaney is so good as Hearst - one of my favorite TV villains. Feeling pretty satisfied and grateful overall.

We binged 11 hours of season three on july 4; truly the most american way to watch this show.
i appreciated the movie, actually surprised by how strong an emotional reaction i had to seeing the characters older. Everything felt squeezed and rushed though, definitely needed at least five hours to sprawl out and get comfy. I think the actress who played trixie commented on how it required different muscles to work with. I'm grateful it happened at all, even with the dumb wrap up and maudlin ending; that fanservice aside, I was glad to see where everyone landed. Charlie, tho!

basically i'm still lamenting lost seasons four and five. I'll watch them in heaven i guess.

I've been avoiding this thread since I decided to also go back and rewatch the whole series with my wife (who gave up after one season back in the day).

Season 3, with the boring-ass theater troupe subplot, definitely dipped a bit in quality, but I still love the show so much. Glad to see they just completely dumped that plotline from the movie.

*****MOVIE SPOILERS*****
I was glad to see Hearst get some amount of comeuppance, although it's hard to tell if he will ever face any real consequences.

Al's plot was very sad, and I hoped for something more for him. He seemed to be prepping for some kind of murder/suicide plan for Hearst, but then just ends up fading away.

The moment between Bullock and Samuel was really poignant. I love to think of Charlie singing in his last moments on the earth.

In the end, the movie was fine, while a little clunky (did we need flashback scenes?). I would have vastly preferred another season or two, though.

although it's hard to tell if he will ever face any real consequences.

I mean
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst#Final_years_and_death

it's true that this is an indignity to end up with on your record

Criticism
Joe Rogan and various other media outlets have attempted to bring attention to Hearst's involvement in the prohibition of cannabis in America.

Well I guess he died a couple years later :P

Isn’t that his son?

William Randolph is George's son, yeah.

I hastily searched Hearst and grabbed the wrong wiki, embarrassing!

no relation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABytIdNXKsg

Finally saw the movie, it was OK, kind of like an extended final episode of the show, albeit with not enough story to tell and too many people on hand through which to tell it. But I liked it fine.

Satisying enough.

"Any man worth the name knows the value of being unreachable." - Al Swearengen refusing a mobile phone

did we need flashback scenes?

As a middle-ager who watched the series ONCE, I would say yes as I pretty much forgot the entire Trixie-Jen-Hearst plotline.

Did they scale down Calamity Jane's makeup? Robin Weigert looked younger to me than she did during the series.

“What’s your feeling about a prosthetics gig? I know you’ve said you hate it,” it was my agent on the other end of the call.

My mind flashed back to my days of misery spent as the demon, Menlo, on the tv series, ANGEL. I had eagerly jumped at the chance...

1

— W. Earl Brown (@WEarlBrown) October 30, 2020

Nice.

aww

The best <3

While everybody is talking about Timothy Olyphant let it be known that he once asked me if I could play my best sad song ‘Olyphant’ for him

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) October 31, 2020

Tim said, “that sad song you wrote about me...”

Jason looked perplexed.

“...you know — ‘Olyphant’”

— W. Earl Brown (@WEarlBrown) October 31, 2020