CWD: who fucking knew?

originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
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The fly in the mini-series ointment, though, is that commercial considerations predispose producers to persist beyond the point where a given series eventually jumps the shark.
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Downton Abbey?
 
Point. Season 2 recycled plot elements drearily, though a few of the characters were so good, and the whole period apparatus so luscious, that it was still serviceable as evening balm to the benumbed mind - with the right potable to hand. Trollope works for me in the same way.

The Wire retained vitality through seasons 4 and 5, imho, largely because each new season drew in a fresh institution to examine through the program's fictional lens: the inner city public school system in season 4, and the local city newspaper in season 5. Clark Johnson seriously rocked as the Baltimore Sun editor, a great performance.

The Wire is also distinguished, imho, by the depth of its bench for effective child/youth actors/-resses, as well as some canny visual story-telling. In season 4, to take a simple example, the shot juxtapositions between the pathological homicide Snoop in the street, and her little sister in Mike's eight grade classroom, made my hair stand up.

What the mini-series format allows on the creative side, though, is sufficient depth of time for writers to fully develop characters and side plots, and actors/-resses to execute them, that the audio-visual presentation can assume scope and complexity on a scale comparable to that offered by a good book. You hardly ever find this in movies; and movies based on books are almost invariably disappointing.

Anyway, my two $.01.
 
One of my favorite topics.

I would put forth The Wire not only as the best narrative fiction even on screen, but maybe the best IN ANY FORMAT of the last 25 years. Now, I'm no encyclopedia of narrative fiction, but I'm decently read, FWIW. It's gritty, tragic, beautiful, funny, heartbreaking, deep, and so incredibly well acted that it is hard to lift yourself out of the story when an episode is over. That's probably why I've never met anyone who watched it on DVD that can watch just one episode.

I have a few issues with Season 5, but there are maybe 10 weak minutes out of ~3000 total.

I'd sure love to hear Levi's comments on the Parusso. And The Wire, but I think he and I have discussed it.
 
originally posted by VLM:

I have a few issues with Season 5, but there are maybe 10 weak minutes out of ~3000 total.
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Wait a minute: the newsroom scenes are in season five, aren't they? They take up more than ten minutes.
 
originally posted by VLM:
The Wire
One of my favorite topics.

I would put forth The Wire not only as the best narrative fiction even on screen, but maybe the best IN ANY FORMAT of the last 25 years. Now, I'm no encyclopedia of narrative fiction, but I'm decently read, FWIW. It's gritty, tragic, beautiful, funny, heartbreaking, deep, and so incredibly well acted that it is hard to lift yourself out of the story when an episode is over. That's probably why I've never met anyone who watched it on DVD that can watch just one episode.

I have a few issues with Season 5, but there are maybe 10 weak minutes out of ~3000 total.

I'd sure love to hear Levi's comments on the Parusso. And The Wire, but I think he and I have discussed it.
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That's nonsense. There are no sexy vampires. True Blood totally blows it out of the water. Mmmm, ASkars!
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Sookie rules.
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She really does. The arc of her character over the years, the different seasons each bringing different challenges, from the maudlin Godric to the chaotic Maryann to the animal appeal of Alcide, yet in the end she emerges as the true and singular controller of her own destiny. Alan Ball is a genius.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
What the mini-series format allows on the creative side, though, is sufficient depth of time for writers to fully develop characters and side plots, and actors/-resses to execute them, that the audio-visual presentation can assume scope and complexity on a scale comparable to that offered by a good book. You hardly ever find this in movies; and movies based on books are almost invariably disappointing.

Anyway, my two $.01.
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The key word there is "writers." In Hollywood, on the movie side, the "creative" process is dominated by directors and producers, many of whom view writers as little more than a necessary evil to write dialogue for one dimensional characters to utter while the director's pyro blows up the glorious CGI enhanced world around them. Or to serve up a foundation that semi-literate directors can then rip apart by substituting sufficiently hackneyed prose that the equally illiterate actors can melodramtically chew up that glorious highstech scenery. Of course, then there is James Cameron who does this to his own scripts . . . .

In TV, on the other hand, there is a mich higher likelihood of finding writers in control of the creative process, which can lead to much better storytelling. Through the years, I've found that most of my favorite shows have had a writer as the showrunner, and that quality generally fades when the writer steps away from running the show. TV still offers plenty of drek, but the TV industry, including the free and premium cable offerings which are more like miniseries in many cases, is in a much better place creatively than the major studio movie industry at this point. If the studios would reroute a few percent of the amount they spend on F/X and "name" "stars" on decent scripts, I might start going to the theater again.
 
origine poste VLM?
WTF, who fucking knew?
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Do you need, really, to ask that question?

And watch your dirty mouth.

Did I not teach you to be patient with wine like this? Whatever vulgar little tag you use to mark it? Were you whacking your M that day? Again?

points*
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Bite that tongue, ratboy.

This was certainly a very pleasant surprise.
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Speaking for yourself, of course.

right motherfuckers
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Kane.

You will not lure me out with such lame bate, Boney.
 
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