OT: Art, Music, Literature, and More

[DuckIII]

Currently reading: A Little Hatred, the first in Joe Abercrombie’s new trilogy.

Watching: Watchmen, which is the best thing on TV in several years.

Listening: Black Pumas, self titled debut album is one of the best debuts I’ve heard in quite some time.

[dice]

Best thing I've come across, well, ever is Gomorrah on Netflix. The series. They only have s1 and s2 right now but there are two more seasons hopefully they'll be available sooner rather than later. The movie is good too but the series is amazing. A little like the Wire, which was great, but substantially better without question.

pretty sure it's not possible to be substantially better than the wire

It's kind of like the Wire with drastically better, elite film level photography, much better score, and none of the subtle corniness that left the wire, while certainly very great, imperfect. I loved the Wire but there are a few shows I'd rank above it.

as long as they aren't shows that i've seen i'm ok with that

'breaking bad', for example, while excellent, left me scratching my head as to how in god's name some people were calling it the greatest show ever. not in the same league as the wire

[ZOMG]

Can't make myself watch The Irishman. I understand people want to like a new mafia epic by Scorsese - films like Goodfellas and Casino are so ingrained in the collective consciousness and there's a huge amount of nostalgia... but I keep hearing it's too long, boring, De Niro's digital face isn't convincing enough and generally, the whole thing's like warmed over soup.

I can't do that to my mental image of Scorsese. Haven't watched Terrence Malick's recent films for the same reason.

[dice]

Can't make myself watch The Irishman. I understand people want to like a new mafia epic by Scorsese - films like Goodfellas and Casino are so ingrained in the collective consciousness and there's a huge amount of nostalgia... but I keep hearing it's too long, boring, De Niro's digital face isn't convincing enough and generally, the whole thing's like warmed over soup.

I can't do that to my mental image of Scorsese. Haven't watched Terrence Malick's recent films for the same reason.

i'm not familiar w/ malick, but i did see 'the tree of life' in a theater. impressive visual experience, anyway

[DuckIII]

pretty sure it's not possible to be substantially better than the wire

It's kind of like the Wire with drastically better, elite film level photography, much better score, and none of the subtle corniness that left the wire, while certainly very great, imperfect. I loved the Wire but there are a few shows I'd rank above it.

as long as they aren't shows that i've seen i'm ok with that

'breaking bad', for example, while excellent, left me scratching my head as to how in god's name some people were calling it the greatest show ever. not in the same league as the wire

Nothing is in the same league as the Wire.

But there’s a tier below it, and Breaking Bad is in that group along with a few others.

[ZOMG]

Can't make myself watch The Irishman. I understand people want to like a new mafia epic by Scorsese - films like Goodfellas and Casino are so ingrained in the collective consciousness and there's a huge amount of nostalgia... but I keep hearing it's too long, boring, De Niro's digital face isn't convincing enough and generally, the whole thing's like warmed over soup.

I can't do that to my mental image of Scorsese. Haven't watched Terrence Malick's recent films for the same reason.

i'm not familiar w/ malick, but i did see 'the tree of life' in a theater. impressive visual experience, anyway

I like everything by him up to that point. Badlands, Thin Red Line, The New World... they all have some flaws but are uncompromising products of a singular focus we get too few of these days.

Hearing good things about A Hidden Life, maybe I should give it a chance.

[DuckIII]

Can't make myself watch The Irishman. I understand people want to like a new mafia epic by Scorsese - films like Goodfellas and Casino are so ingrained in the collective consciousness and there's a huge amount of nostalgia... but I keep hearing it's too long, boring, De Niro's digital face isn't convincing enough and generally, the whole thing's like warmed over soup.

I can't do that to my mental image of Scorsese. Haven't watched Terrence Malick's recent films for the same reason.

i'm not familiar w/ malick, but i did see 'the tree of life' in a theater. impressive visual experience, anyway

You owe it to yourself to watch Badlands. Most consider Days of Heaven his masterpiece, but I disagree. You’ve never seen The Thin Red Line? That’s Malick. One of the all time classic WWII films.

[ZOMG]

Can't make myself watch The Irishman. I understand people want to like a new mafia epic by Scorsese - films like Goodfellas and Casino are so ingrained in the collective consciousness and there's a huge amount of nostalgia... but I keep hearing it's too long, boring, De Niro's digital face isn't convincing enough and generally, the whole thing's like warmed over soup.

I can't do that to my mental image of Scorsese. Haven't watched Terrence Malick's recent films for the same reason.

i'm not familiar w/ malick, but i did see 'the tree of life' in a theater. impressive visual experience, anyway

You owe it to yourself to watch Badlands. Most consider Days of Heaven his masterpiece, but I disagree. You’ve never seen The Thin Red Line? That’s Malick. One of the all time WWII films.

Just re-watched TRL yesterday and was blown away by the acting. The John Travolta cameo is super distracting and needless, but everyone else is superb. Nick Nolte has never been better.

[dice]

It's kind of like the Wire with drastically better, elite film level photography, much better score, and none of the subtle corniness that left the wire, while certainly very great, imperfect. I loved the Wire but there are a few shows I'd rank above it.

as long as they aren't shows that i've seen i'm ok with that

'breaking bad', for example, while excellent, left me scratching my head as to how in god's name some people were calling it the greatest show ever. not in the same league as the wire

Nothing is in the same league as the Wire.

But there’s a tier below it, and Breaking Bad is in that group along with a few others.

one thing i didn't like about 'breaking bad' it required an annoying level of suspended disbelief. first time in the series i wanted to tear my hair out:

Spoiler:

walter uses the poison gas bomb or whatever in the mobile lab to try and kill two guys trying to kill him. after the dust settles, he and jesse go in and notice that, horror of horrors, one of the guys is twitching around and still alive! so do they set off another chemical bomb to finish him off? naw, instead they decide to...take him home, chain him to a pole in the basement and agonize over what to do with him

and then there are the incredibly over-the-top, out of character moments like...

Spoiler:

when skylar returns home to find walter cooking dinner, looks him coldly in the face and says "i just ****ed my boss"

i'd like to dive into 'better call saul' at some point

[dice]

Can't make myself watch The Irishman. I understand people want to like a new mafia epic by Scorsese - films like Goodfellas and Casino are so ingrained in the collective consciousness and there's a huge amount of nostalgia... but I keep hearing it's too long, boring, De Niro's digital face isn't convincing enough and generally, the whole thing's like warmed over soup.

I can't do that to my mental image of Scorsese. Haven't watched Terrence Malick's recent films for the same reason.

i'm not familiar w/ malick, but i did see 'the tree of life' in a theater. impressive visual experience, anyway

You owe it to yourself to watch Badlands. Most consider Days of Heaven his masterpiece, but I disagree. You’ve never seen The Thin Red Line? That’s Malick. One of the all time classic WWII films.

i've had 'thin red line', 'platoon' and 'saving private ryan' all in my queue since 2018. forgot that TRL was malick. and just realized that sean penn, who didn't like how the scenes he filmed were chopped up/left out of 'tree of life', is in that too

i've never seen apocalypse now either. damn, that's war movies from four legendary directors that i need to see

[Rusty Walrus]

as long as they aren't shows that i've seen i'm ok with that

'breaking bad', for example, while excellent, left me scratching my head as to how in god's name some people were calling it the greatest show ever. not in the same league as the wire

Nothing is in the same league as the Wire.

But there’s a tier below it, and Breaking Bad is in that group along with a few others.

one thing i didn't like about 'breaking bad' it required an annoying level of suspended disbelief. first time in the series i wanted to tear my hair out:

Spoiler:

walter uses the poison gas bomb or whatever in the mobile lab to try and kill two guys trying to kill him. after the dust settles, he and jesse go in and notice that, horror of horrors, one of the guys is twitching around and still alive! so do they set off another chemical bomb to finish him off? naw, instead they decide to...take him home, chain him to a pole in the basement and agonize over what to do with him

and then there are the incredibly over-the-top, out of character moments like...

Spoiler:

when skylar returns home to find walter cooking dinner, looks him coldly in the face and says "i just ****ed my boss"

i'd like to dive into 'better call saul' at some point

I'll take The Wire over Breaking Bad as well, although I think they are on the same tier.

But on the topic of suspended disbelief, McNulty in Season 5 was rather hard to believe.

[Rusty Walrus]

Best thing I've come across, well, ever is Gomorrah on Netflix. The series. They only have s1 and s2 right now but there are two more seasons hopefully they'll be available sooner rather than later. The movie is good too but the series is amazing. A little like the Wire, which was great, but substantially better without question.

I've heard about Gomorrah a couple of years ago. Thanks for the reminder to watch it.

[Miltpalaciofanclub]

It's kind of like the Wire with drastically better, elite film level photography, much better score, and none of the subtle corniness that left the wire, while certainly very great, imperfect. I loved the Wire but there are a few shows I'd rank above it.

as long as they aren't shows that i've seen i'm ok with that

'breaking bad', for example, while excellent, left me scratching my head as to how in god's name some people were calling it the greatest show ever. not in the same league as the wire

Nothing is in the same league as the Wire.

But there’s a tier below it, and Breaking Bad is in that group along with a few others.

This may come off a controversial, but I will declare that Bojack Horseman is on the same plane as The Wire. Different shows for different audiences, that’s for sure. But real is real.

[DuckIII]

i'm not familiar w/ malick, but i did see 'the tree of life' in a theater. impressive visual experience, anyway

You owe it to yourself to watch Badlands. Most consider Days of Heaven his masterpiece, but I disagree. You’ve never seen The Thin Red Line? That’s Malick. One of the all time classic WWII films.

i've had 'thin red line', 'platoon' and 'saving private ryan' all in my queue since 2018. forgot that TRL was malick. and just realized that sean penn, who didn't like how the scenes he filmed were chopped up/left out of 'tree of life', is in that too

i've never seen apocalypse now either. damn, that's war movies from four legendary directors that i need to see

All 4 of those are outstanding and all in very different ways. I actually consider Saving Private Ryan the weakest of the 4, though it also has the best isolated sequences in it.

[dice]

Can't make myself watch The Irishman. I understand people want to like a new mafia epic by Scorsese - films like Goodfellas and Casino are so ingrained in the collective consciousness and there's a huge amount of nostalgia... but I keep hearing it's too long, boring, De Niro's digital face isn't convincing enough and generally, the whole thing's like warmed over soup.

I can't do that to my mental image of Scorsese. Haven't watched Terrence Malick's recent films for the same reason.

i'm not familiar w/ malick, but i did see 'the tree of life' in a theater. impressive visual experience, anyway

You owe it to yourself to watch Badlands. Most consider Days of Heaven his masterpiece, but I disagree. You’ve never seen The Thin Red Line? That’s Malick. One of the all time classic WWII films.

i will see both at some point. as an aside, springsteen's 'badlands' off the great 'darkness on the edge of town' album is NOT inspired by the film, but his song 'nebraska' is. go figure

holy crap...after the two critical darlings films you mentioned (his first two films!) he didn't make another until TRL 20 years later

malick composite critical reviews (metacritic/rotten tomatoes all critics/RT select critics):

93/8.95/8.76 badlands
93/8.30/8.30 days of heaven
85/8.10/8.39 the tree of life
78/7.25/7.50 thin red line
76/7.64/6.88 a hidden life
69/6.70/6.78 the new world

58/5.78/5.63 to the wonder
53/5.67/5.65 knight of cups

[dice]

Nothing is in the same league as the Wire.

But there’s a tier below it, and Breaking Bad is in that group along with a few others.

one thing i didn't like about 'breaking bad' it required an annoying level of suspended disbelief. first time in the series i wanted to tear my hair out:

Spoiler:

walter uses the poison gas bomb or whatever in the mobile lab to try and kill two guys trying to kill him. after the dust settles, he and jesse go in and notice that, horror of horrors, one of the guys is twitching around and still alive! so do they set off another chemical bomb to finish him off? naw, instead they decide to...take him home, chain him to a pole in the basement and agonize over what to do with him

and then there are the incredibly over-the-top, out of character moments like...

Spoiler:

when skylar returns home to find walter cooking dinner, looks him coldly in the face and says "i just ****ed my boss"

i'd like to dive into 'better call saul' at some point

I'll take The Wire over Breaking Bad as well, although I think they are on the same tier.

But on the topic of suspended disbelief, McNulty in Season 5 was rather hard to believe.

i've heard complaints about season 5 as a whole before. someone even said it ruined the series, which is preposterous. also i know a lot of people didn't like season 2 given that it was a complete change of pace. but the episode averages by season for the imdb user reviews are pretty uniformly excellent across the series:

8.61 season 1
8.53
8.78
8.79
8.78 season 5

i loved every season

[MalagaBulls]

Did anybody get addicted to either "Suits", "House of Cards", or "The Good Wife" on Netflix? I had a gig in Switzerland in 2016/17 before I retired and really became addicted on those 3 shows.

[MalagaBulls]

Lastly, if any art lovers fly to Spain, the "El Prado" in Madrid is a must.

[League Circles]

It's kind of like the Wire with drastically better, elite film level photography, much better score, and none of the subtle corniness that left the wire, while certainly very great, imperfect. I loved the Wire but there are a few shows I'd rank above it.

as long as they aren't shows that i've seen i'm ok with that

'breaking bad', for example, while excellent, left me scratching my head as to how in god's name some people were calling it the greatest show ever. not in the same league as the wire

Nothing is in the same league as the Wire.

But there’s a tier below it, and Breaking Bad is in that group along with a few others.

I agree the Wire is better than breaking bad, but the Wire is still clearly a TV show, not a great film/movie in terms of artistry. What I was referring to - Gomorrah, is basically equivalent to a high caliber film every two episodes (2 one hour episodes = a typical length film).

I don't agree with people who would think Breaking Bad is better than the Wire but it's easy to understand why some think that way - the Wire has zero indispensable characters because of it's ensemble nature and doesn't delve into any of them anywhere nearly as deep as BB delves into WW.

[League Circles]

Did anybody get addicted to either "Suits", "House of Cards", or "The Good Wife" on Netflix? I had a gig in Switzerland in 2016/17 before I retired and really became addicted on those 3 shows.

House of Cards is as good as anything ever IMO until the last, disappointing season.