12 comments

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  Jett Loe

  12 months ago

  You know I've always shied away from 'these' type of films, (small-art-house-family-drama), as they normally aren't 'cinematic' enough for me, (meaning they could exist in other media just fine = no reason to be a film rather than a book, etc.), but I'm putting this in my Netflix queue now!, (of course if it's dire I know who to blame Dr Prof Gareth Higgins...).
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  Tom B

  12 months ago

  This is on my Lovefilm list on the strength of the cast alone - looking forward to it.
  
  Funny how we have some films that could easily be made for TV and then some shows that get pretty close to giving us the cinema experience. Regardless of what you think about it, 24 is looking more like Die Hard with every season.
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  Jett Loe

  12 months ago

  I gave up on 24 after a few minutes into the first episode of the first season re: the skydiving seductress! -
  
  but anyhew I think you're right Tom. Shows like 'The Wire' are the closest thing to what U.S. cinema in the 70's was trying to do re: moral complexity.
  
  We're in this age now where it's all just 'moving pictures' = I watch Mad Men on my laptop, (and just realized that I haven't turned on the TV except to watch DVDs in months). And old TV shows like 'Star Trek TOS' are now being show during 'special event' nights in cinemas here now thanks to digital distribution and projection.
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  Tom B

  12 months ago

  You keep mentioning The Wire Jett. I really must try and catch it at some point. Hopefully it's only in it's first or second season. Nothing puts me off a show more than if I have 100 + episodes to catch up with!
  
  And speaking of highly recommened shows, I have to name check Firefly (only 14 episodes ever made before some idot exec at Fox canned it). It's creator, Joss Whedon talks about being quiet deliberate in his cinematic framing of shots. I think my list of praises for this show is as long as yours for The Wire, although possibly for completely different reasons!
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  Tom B

  12 months ago

  Sorry, that should be 'quite' rather than 'quiet'!
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  Phil

  12 months ago

  Unfortunately, Tom, the Wire is over with.
  
  The good news is, it's only 5 or 6 seasons long, so not too many shows you'd have to watch.
  
  But I'll confirm what Jett's been saying: it's one of the best shows ever.
  
  As far as 24, I watched season 2, liked it OK, then stopped after the first episode of season 3. However, I wished I had seen it more recently if only to see Jack Bauer sporting the most fake beard in television history during the season 4 or 5 finale.
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  Jett Loe

  12 months ago

  Yep 'The Wire' is over = 5 seasons.
  
  Season 1: Brilliant
  Season 2: Not quite as good
  Season 3 and 4: The best thing that U.S. television has done, period.
  Season 5: A great wrap-up.
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  Jett Loe

  12 months ago

  + Firefly is a lot of fun though slightly cheesy in parts. Part of the reason for the incredibly dedicated fan-base is the sense of nostalgia that permeates the show - it's as if we're watching things not in the future - but in some distant past - and there's a real sense of 'home' - of finding a place to be, to be accepted. I think Fox really screwed up here - they had a gold-mine franchise that would have made them tons of cash over decades, (as in Star Trek), but didn't see it.
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  Tom B

  12 months ago

  Thanks for the info regarding The Wire Phil and Jett. Given that there is a finite number of episodes I may give it a go still, boxsets can usually be picked up cheap.
  
  Us Firefly fans will always live in hope of a resurrection - but maybe that time has already passed.
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  kiley

  11 months ago

  i dunno...Serenity kinda borked it all up for me...i figure joss whedon did what he did to his characters so no one else could market them later, but i could be being very cynical...also, if you like cheese-filled tv adventure/comedy (and who doesn't?), try the very limited series 'The Adventures of Brisco County Jr'
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  Jett Loe

  11 months ago

  I've been thinking of trying 'Brisco County' - I tried a few minutes of 'Jack of All Trades' but found it too broad for my tastes, (though I will give them credit for anticipating the pirate craze of a couple of years later), + it does have one of the greatest title sequences of all time.
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  Tom B

  11 months ago

  Kiley, I can appreciate your opinion of Serenity - it certainly has a very different tone to the series, which got it spot on. Maybe Whedon was protecting his own, but he also said that he wanted to have a climax where all bets were off as to who would survive. I've also hear Alan Tudyk speak about further shows, despite his character being last seen with a telegraph pole through his chest.
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