Recent Viewing

[tweber]

Arrived to it late, but enjoying Breaking Bad at the moment (still on series 1).

[Ivor]

Arrived to it late, but enjoying Breaking Bad at the moment (still on series 1).

It's just fantastic, very dark and layered. The last few episode of the final series starts in June (I think). It can get a bit heavy a slow at times and the characters can be frustrating but stick with it.

[tweber]

Arrived to it late, but enjoying Breaking Bad at the moment (still on series 1).

It's just fantastic, very dark and layered. The last few episode of the final series starts in June (I think). It can get a bit heavy a slow at times and the characters can be frustrating but stick with it.

Watched ep.6 yesterday evening, blown away by it. Series 2 already bought and will be sticking with it to the end alright, thanks Ivor.
To be honest, I felt it was a bit too slow initially but now love it. Very dark..

[Ivor]

I saw Whiplash the other night.... a great movie for fans of jazz and specifically jazz drumming but also a great movie full stop!

[mcq]

I finally caught up on Season 1 of True Detective in advance of the second season premiering on Sky Atlantic shortly.  A fantastic series and a testament to the quality of TV drama in America and mainland Europe at the moment.  I am sure that a great deal of the consistency that was maintained over the eight epsodes can be attributed to the fact that the same director and screenwriter partnership were utilised for each and every episode.  It appears to be very much a unified creative vision of these two men and it is to the credit of the network studio that they were allowed to retain artistic control over the complete series.  The results speak for themselves.  

The leading roles (Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson) were very well cast and their characters were beautifully developed over the course of the series.  Much of the initial attention is directed towards McConaughey's character and it is a very good performance albeit one that fits to a certain extent the method actor stereotype. I think Harrelson's character was more difficult to portray.  There was something brutal about the way his jaw would set when his eye fell on something that displeased him.  His character was less obviously sympathetic than McConaughey's but as the series progressed you could see just how the barbarity that he witnessed in his police work must have worn him down and progressively de-humanised  him.  

When watching True Detective, I was reminded of two directors's work.  First of all, when listening to McConaghey's character, Terence Malick came to mind and, specifically, his characters' philosophical monologues in films like Badlands and Days of Heaven.  Secondly, a more pronounced influence was David Fincher who I always found was very good in creating a feeling of dread in the viewer's mind without recourse to violence.  There are subjects covered in True Detective of the grossest kind of obscenity but they retain their power to upset because they are never depicted onscreen.  An example of this is the videotape that is discovered portraying something so barbaric and obscene that the main characters cannot bring themselves to describe what they have watched.  The expressions of disgust and horror on their faces tells you everything you need to know about they have witnessed and you understand exactly why they put their careers on the line to track down the man responsible.

[Claus]

I agree regarding True Detective. One the best TV productions I have seen. I hope the quality can be maintained as I think a Danish director will be directing one or more episodes in season 2... ;)

I would also recommend The Walking Dead. The writing and acting is surprisingly good for the genre and it is the only TV show that has ever had me close to actual physical discomfort with suspense... It was available on US Netflix. Don't know if it still is...

[mcq]

The Danish element is always a guarantee of quality, Claus, and not just in hi-fi.  The Bridge and Borgen are two of the finest TV shows in recent years.

I watched the first series of Walking Dead and really enjoyed it but missed the start of Series 2 and never caught up.

Hopefully Sky will finally show Series 4 of Treme shortly. It's really underrated,I feel, and I thought the first three series were superb.

[tweber]

Reginald D. Hunter's Songs of the South. Enjoyable viewing last week, tonight's episode dealing with Alabama and Georgia. Next week Mississipi and Louisiana:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02j952b

James Brown doc afterwards.

[tweber]

Good Vibrations,On BBC2 tonight @ 10.30, might be interesting:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05569p9

[fergus]

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