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Shaman Tank Spec
Dec 26, 2003

*blep*



This is 100% the news I didn't want to wake up to :(

Rest in peace, MKW.

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DarkCrawler
Apr 6, 2009

by vyelkin
Omar goin'

RIP, truly one of the best talents of our time.

General Battuta
Feb 7, 2011

This is how you communicate with a fellow intelligence: you hurt it, you keep on hurting it, until you can distinguish the posts from the screams.
He was such a human actor. Even in trash like Battlefield 4, something about his eyes. He just looked hurt and real. Impossible to describe because there’s nothing like him to compare to. Just a totally unique one.

deoju
Jul 11, 2004

All the pieces matter.
Nap Ghost
His performance in The Road was brief, but remarkable, full of terror and desperation. Without that the protagonist's actions wouldn't be morally unclear and the film wouldn't be as powerful.


Watch the whole movie if you haven't. It'll ruin your afternoon and depress you, but it's really good.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwq0mgvC1eY

TheJadedOne
Aug 13, 2004
If you never saw the episodes he hosted on Vice's Black Market then you really should. The interviews he was able to get because he was him and respected for it are amazing and really show so much.

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


David Simon wrote a memorial to Michael k Williams for the nyt; it’s as good as you expect, and also touches a lot on why I think a lot of people struggle with season 2 initially, but are eventually won over once it clicks and they realize what the show is really about :

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/12/opinion/michael-k-williams-david-simon-the-wire.html?referringSource=articleShare

quote:


Mike interrupted. “I’m not here about my screen time. I just want to know why we are doing this. Why is the show changing?”

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He pressed the point: “I’m saying, there are all these shows on television, and we made the one that was about Black characters and written for a Black audience. And now, it’s like we’re walking away from that.”

Image

Credit...Paul Schiraldi/HBO
To Mike, at that moment, we were the white custodians of a rare majority-Black drama in the majority-white world of American television, and we might well be walking away from that unique responsibility.

He was asking a big question. To answer, I had to pause and regroup, and reach for an honest answer — the one less likely to please a hungry actor. I told him that we had never imagined “The Wire” as a Black drama, or even as a drama with race as its central theme. We were writing about how power and money are routed in an American city, and being from Baltimore, a majority Black metropolis, we had simply depicted our hometown.

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And a bigger truth, I argued, is that if we don’t now expand the show’s field of vision beyond what happens on the streets of West Baltimore, then we stay a cops-and-robbers drama, a police procedural. But if we build the rest of the city — its fragile working class, its political world, its schools, its media culture — then we get a chance to say something more.

“We want to have a bigger argument about what has gone wrong. Not just in Baltimore, but elsewhere, too.”

Mike thought about this for a long moment. Waiting for him, I still worried it would come down to his character’s work. He had done marvelous things with Omar — his smile and the cavernous barrel of a high-powered handgun were the closing moments of the first season — and he was maybe one more good story arc from elevating his character into a star turn. With the leverage he had already acquired, Mike could have sat there and insisted on the writers gilding his every narrative arc.

Instead, he stood up, curled the early season two scripts in his hand, nodded, and asked one last question:

“So what is this stuff at the port about? What are we going to say?”

It’s about the death of work, I told him. When legitimate work itself dies in an American city, I argued, and the last factory standing is the drug corners, then everyone goes to a corner.

“If we do this season, we also make clear going forward that the drug culture is not a racial pathology, it’s about economics and the collapse of the working class — Black and white both.”

Mike left the writers’ office that day and went to work, weaving more depth and nuance into a character that he ultimately made iconic and timeless. And from that moment forward, his questions about our drama and its purposes were those of someone sharing the whole of the journey. It became something of a ritual with us: To begin every season that followed, Michael K. Williams would walk into the writers’ office and sit on the couch.

“So,” he would ask, “what are we going to say this year?”



Phone posting, too lazy to delete the ads sorry

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

Really drat good article, it still hasn't really sunk in that he's dead. Others already mentioned it, but he was one of the best parts of the at-times uneven Lovecraft Country that came out last year, which is par for the course since he was usually one of the best parts of any show he was in no matter how good it was (or wasn't).

Eat This Glob
Jan 14, 2008

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Who will wipe this blood off us? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent?

deoju posted:

His performance in The Road was brief, but remarkable, full of terror and desperation. Without that the protagonist's actions wouldn't be morally unclear and the film wouldn't be as powerful.


Watch the whole movie if you haven't. It'll ruin your afternoon and depress you, but it's really good.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwq0mgvC1eY

gently caress, i forgot about his turn in the road. it is a rare book ive read after watching a film adaptation that i really enjoyed. his performance is a big chunk of that. i wondered how mccarthty wrote his character vs how MKW performed it. such a brilliant performance

e: only other one that comes to mind is no country for old men and anton. both adaptations seem super faithful, but mccarthy is a fairly stark author that doesn't leave a lot of room for imagination

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


Jerusalem posted:

since he was usually one of the best parts of any show he was in no matter how good it was (or wasn't).

one last time....RIP king, this didn't deserve you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKakC6Mz_rE

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.
That's too hosed about Michael K Williams. I knew he had some substance use issues at one time or another but I never knew heroin was part of it. Always thought it was coke and alcohol. God drat. He was really good in the stuff I saw him in. I was really impressed with his range, especially since he was an actor who could very easily have been typecast or one note performances.

Since I now have access to HBO, I finally have Generation Kill locked and loaded (so to speak) but I just finished Silicon Valley and am not sure I'm ready for something that I know is going to be horribly loving depressing and serious right on the heels of a Mike Judge comedy. I was looking through reviews of GK and holy poo poo the AV Club gave every episode and "A", which I didn't even think was possible.

So guess I'm headed off to a horrible war now after laughing at tech bros, office culture and geeks. Wish me luck.

Is there a Generation Kill thread still active?

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


If there isn’t, I personally wouldn’t hate it if we talked about it here, it’s a good show

deoju
Jul 11, 2004

All the pieces matter.
Nap Ghost
Or maybe a new David Simon appreciation thread? I'm not sure if that is TVIV's style.

HootTheOwl
May 13, 2012

Hootin and shootin

BiggerBoat posted:

Is there a Generation Kill thread still active?

I went to make one and then got distracted breaking out slang and jargon in episode one and gave up.
TV IV > Generation Kill: David Simon's Other Never-Ending War Show
or
Generation Kill: Not Very Poggers

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.
After one episode, all I got is:

Generation Kill: The Game is the Game

Whoo boy this is gonna be a rough watch. If I like it and get into it maybe I start a thread

EDIT:

OK, 2.5 episodes in and the only thing that takes me out of this show is that god damned Cotton Hill is in it bitching about facial hair.

BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Sep 14, 2021

Eason the Fifth
Apr 9, 2020
Unfun fact, Sgt. Major Sixta was later arrested for child molestation.

More-fun fact: the General Mattis you see pop up in the show is the same Mattis you probably remember from the Trump years. Might seem obvious if you're politically knowledgeable, but other people I've watched the show with weren't aware it's the same man.

If you're up for a good companion piece even though it isn't a David Simon show, The Pacific pairs really well with GK.

deoju
Jul 11, 2004

All the pieces matter.
Nap Ghost
PO-LEASE THAT MOOSTACHE

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


I only watched the show once, but one line that lives in my head rent-free is the reporter asking the raspy colonel if he's a smoker, and the reply "nope, just lucky I guess"

I say that all the time whenever anything bad happens to me

Syrian Lannister
Aug 25, 2007

Oh, did I kill him too?
I've been a very busy little man.


Sugartime Jones

deoju posted:

PO-LEASE THAT MOOSTACHE

Sixta was charged and convicted of molesting his step daughters iirc

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.
Christ, the sense of impending dread in GK is palpable. I mean...on top of all the other horrible poo poo so far. Which is dreadful enough.

But it's loving with me in the way it's subverting my expectations since 4 episodes in and within the main cast, they've suffered zero casualties so far. A few times, I was expecting an IED, a booby trap, a sniper or a suicide bomb truck. I can't see them all making it out alive but then again that might be the play here where we just see the ptsd and psychological wounds, which is an ace Simon move. I was sure at least a few main characters would have bought it by now..

It's really good but it sure isn't Feel Good, especially in the wake of the Afghanistan withdrawal and the 9/11 anniversary. I may have timed this particular watch rather poorly.

One of the main things throwing me off are all the acronyms since I'm not real up on military jargon but that's on me and I appreciate the show not dumbing that down. I wonder what CHUDS think of this. I bet they view it much differently than my take away so far.

Really interesting watching Ziggy too in a much different role. I'm surprised there's actually not more carry over from The Wire and The Corner casts and, along those lines, it's odd to see so few black characters given Simon's track record there and knowing what we know about disproportionate military enlistment among minorities and how often they get put in harm's way.

HootTheOwl
May 13, 2012

Hootin and shootin

BiggerBoat posted:

Christ, the sense of impending dread in GK is palpable. I mean...on top of all the other horrible poo poo so far. Which is dreadful enough.

But it's loving with me in the way it's subverting my expectations since 4 episodes in and within the main cast, they've suffered zero casualties so far. A few times, I was expecting an IED, a booby trap, a sniper or a suicide bomb truck. I can't see them all making it out alive but then again that might be the play here where we just see the ptsd and psychological wounds, which is an ace Simon move. I was sure at least a few main characters would have bought it by now..

It's really good but it sure isn't Feel Good, especially in the wake of the Afghanistan withdrawal and the 9/11 anniversary. I may have timed this particular watch rather poorly.

One of the main things throwing me off are all the acronyms since I'm not real up on military jargon but that's on me and I appreciate the show not dumbing that down. I wonder what CHUDS think of this. I bet they view it much differently than my take away so far.

Really interesting watching Ziggy too in a much different role. I'm surprised there's actually not more carry over from The Wire and The Corner casts and, along those lines, it's odd to see so few black characters given Simon's track record there and knowing what we know about disproportionate military enlistment among minorities and how often they get put in harm's way.

There's a reason why episode 1 opened with the training exercise. It tells you how they were trained and what they were expecting when they moved on Bagdad
And why is so important that what they do has nothing to do with that. The tanks at the airfield? Abandoned. They're supposed to be the tip of the spear but they never get a chance to do that. They're basically hyped on Rocket Fuel (as Ziggy says) and looking to finally get to shoot something. Their unit was already in Afghanistan where it's implied they didn't get a "real" mission because Afghanistan didn't have a proper military. Next section I think it's beyond episode 4
And then they finally do and almost every time it's awful. Trombly kills some kids, the turret Gunner kills some rando who doesn't know what's going on. When they do encounter some real combat taking the bridge in the city they get stuck in a pothole and just abandon the mission.
Also take everything I say with a grain of salt since I'm a POG of Iraq/Afghanistan and probably projecting like a lighthouse.

Eason the Fifth
Apr 9, 2020

BiggerBoat posted:

Christ, the sense of impending dread in GK is palpable. I mean...on top of all the other horrible poo poo so far. Which is dreadful enough.

But it's loving with me in the way it's subverting my expectations since 4 episodes in and within the main cast, they've suffered zero casualties so far. A few times, I was expecting an IED, a booby trap, a sniper or a suicide bomb truck. I can't see them all making it out alive but then again that might be the play here where we just see the ptsd and psychological wounds, which is an ace Simon move. I was sure at least a few main characters would have bought it by now..

It's really good but it sure isn't Feel Good, especially in the wake of the Afghanistan withdrawal and the 9/11 anniversary. I may have timed this particular watch rather poorly.

One of the main things throwing me off are all the acronyms since I'm not real up on military jargon but that's on me and I appreciate the show not dumbing that down. I wonder what CHUDS think of this. I bet they view it much differently than my take away so far.

Really interesting watching Ziggy too in a much different role. I'm surprised there's actually not more carry over from The Wire and The Corner casts and, along those lines, it's odd to see so few black characters given Simon's track record there and knowing what we know about disproportionate military enlistment among minorities and how often they get put in harm's way.

While there were a few exceptions, the iraq insurgency with all the IEDs/suicide bombs didn't start until 2004. GK takes place during the March 2003 invasion, where the fighting was much different than what came later.


Regarding race - I don't remember if it was in generation kill (or maybe Black Hawk Down) but -- and I'm not making this up -- swim qualification is one of the barriers for Black people joining elite units. I knew a lot of Black Marines at Parris Island/through SOI and in my company, but the swim Qual for recruit training is easier than Recon's.

I can't guarantee this hasn't changed though, because I'm like 20 years out of date.

Eason the Fifth fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Sep 14, 2021

christmas boots
Oct 15, 2012

To these sing-alongs 🎤of siren 🧜🏻‍♀️songs
To oohs😮 to ahhs😱 to 👏big👏applause👏
With all of my 😡anger I scream🤬 and shout📢
🇺🇸America🦅, I love you 🥰but you're freaking 💦me 😳out
Biscuit Hider
Nothing like watching people on their first watch of the Wire and being so certain that Clay Davis is about to get comeuppance.

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.

christmas boots posted:

Nothing like watching people on their first watch of the Wire and being so certain that Clay Davis is about to get comeuppance.

Sheeeeeeeeeeee.....iiiitttt.

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


senator o-bond-ma

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.

Eason the Fifth posted:



Regarding race - I don't remember if it was in generation kill (or maybe Black Hawk Down) but -- and I'm not making this up -- swim qualification is one of the barriers for Black people joining elite units. I knew a lot of Black Marines at Parris Island/through SOI and in my company, but the swim Qual for recruit training is easier than Recon's.

I didn't read your spoilers since I'm not thru yet but...wait...swimming requirements were an obstacle for black soldiers being deployed on the front lines in loving Iraq and Somalia? But not in Vietnam? Not saying I don't believe you but that's hilarious. I mean...in a military intelligence kind of way.

And as far as the casting goes, I'm just saying that I know that Simon has given a lot of really good black actors a chance to really shine so seeing a war movie of all things with a mostly white cast on the front lines kind of took me off guard. But Simon is really good at subverting expectations so that sort of checks out.

HootTheOwl
May 13, 2012

Hootin and shootin

BiggerBoat posted:

I didn't read your spoilers since I'm not thru yet but...wait...swimming requirements were an obstacle for black soldiers being deployed on the front lines in loving Iraq and Somalia? But not in Vietnam? Not saying I don't believe you but that's hilarious. I mean...in a military intelligence kind of way.

And as far as the casting goes, I'm just saying that I know that Simon has given a lot of really good black actors a chance to really shine so seeing a war movie of all things with a mostly white cast on the front lines kind of took me off guard. But Simon is really good at subverting expectations so that sort of checks out.
Marines are an amphibious landing force, so they need to know how to swim.
Sure it doesn't matter in Iraq but that's not the point.

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.

HootTheOwl posted:

Marines are an amphibious landing force, so they need to know how to swim.
Sure it doesn't matter in Iraq but that's not the point.

True. I think there not being a point is kind of central to the message of Generation Kill. Even more so than The Wire where The Point was pretty obvious. The 2 shows cross over a little bit in terms of there being a bigger mechanism at work that traps the powerless but, to me anyway, GK seems to be going out of its way to show us how pointless war is in general and the Iraq war in particular. Also, The Wire had 5 seasons to delve into its message and deliver a web and/or layers to What's Wrong beyond "War is Bad" so there's that. Even though GK is more global in its reach and location, The Wire was more broad and had a larger scope of issues it looked at - at least for me.

It sounds weird but that one old school Cotton Hill motherfucker obsessed with mustache lengths drove GK home for me as much as anything.

The Wire showed us the socioeconomic mechanisms that drive society and define entire neighborhoods but GK, even though it touches on similar issues ("it was either join the marines or go to jail") seems to have a different slant to it. Both shows demonstrate the victims of wealth, power and politics. Could be that I just get different feelings from both because, while I have lived in "dangerous neighborhoods" in SF and Philadelphia along with having my issues with drugs, I've never brushed up real close to the military and its culture AT ALL so I relate differently on a personal level.

I'm probably not explaining that very well but I get a different overall vibe and a Larger Message from GK than I did The Wire or The Corner and it's not entirely due to the global stakes and the scale of it. I'll weigh in more when I'm done watching it if anyone cares to read what I think.

One thing I'll say about all of Simon's poo poo is that he casts really great actors, which is always nice. Nothing takes me out of a show or a movie faster than lovely acting and nothing sucks me in more than great performances.

BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Sep 14, 2021

Bird in a Blender
Nov 17, 2005

It's amazing what they can do with computers these days.

Syrian Lannister posted:

Sixta was charged and convicted of molesting his step daughters iirc

Just to clarify, this is the actual guy and not the actor playing him.

deoju
Jul 11, 2004

All the pieces matter.
Nap Ghost

Syrian Lannister posted:

Sixta was charged and convicted of molesting his step daughters iirc

:ohno: :pedo:

Ugh

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


Bird in a Blender posted:

Just to clarify, this is the actual guy and not the actor playing him.

That's an important clarification, thank you (I had honestly assumed you were all talking about the actor for some reason, even though now that I look at it, none of you said that)

Syrian Lannister
Aug 25, 2007

Oh, did I kill him too?
I've been a very busy little man.


Sugartime Jones
My bad, was walking into work when I sent it.

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


Syrian Lannister posted:

My bad, was walking into work when I sent it.

Nah you weren't that vague, i just assume all actors are sex pests lately

Bird in a Blender
Nov 17, 2005

It's amazing what they can do with computers these days.

This is what happens when you don’t follow the grooming standard!

StashAugustine
Mar 24, 2013

Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

Plus Rudy is playing himself and there's a few minor characters played by guys who were in the unit (though not playing themselves iirc) so there's some overlap. I did see an interview with the people the main characters are based on and its funny that all of them look a lot like their actors except Ray, who I assume Burns read the book and just got Ziggy in his head

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.
Jesus Christ that final segment or finale or montage or whatever you wanna call it. What a gut punch

deoju
Jul 11, 2004

All the pieces matter.
Nap Ghost
Because of this thread I'm less than ten minutes into a re-watch of Generation Kill.

So far I'm convinced of one thing... Jon Huertas should be a loving star.


Edit: ten minutes and seven seconds in and Officer Colecchio shows up.

deoju fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Sep 15, 2021

algebra testes
Mar 5, 2011


Lipstick Apathy

deoju posted:

Because of this thread I'm less than ten minutes into a re-watch of Generation Kill.

So far I'm convinced of one thing... Jon Huertas should be a loving star.


Edit: ten minutes and seven seconds in and Officer Colecchio shows up.

I never loving noticed that holy poo poo.

Then I find that he was in the Marines so it all makes sense.

deoju
Jul 11, 2004

All the pieces matter.
Nap Ghost
Yeah, can't help but think that casting was a meta-commentary on the militarization of the police. Collicheo definitely saw the western as occupied territory, and he definitely gave off an ex military vibe. Look at his haircut. Police departments giving preferential hiring to ex military was policy for a long time, and contributed to the mess we are in.

The first episode of GK also includes the embedded journalist being a colossal gently caress up. I kinda see that as a mea culpa for Simon being too preachy in s5.

Orange Devil
Oct 1, 2010

Wullie's reign cannae smother the flames o' equality!
I just want to point out that while GK is an excellent show with a lot to say, it does not, in fact, depict "the victims of wealth, power and politics". For those are the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, and not the members of the imperial power perpetrating unspeakable violence upon them.

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Vichan
Oct 1, 2014

I'LL PUNISH YOU ACCORDING TO YOUR CRIME

christmas boots posted:

Nothing like watching people on their first watch of the Wire and being so certain that Clay Davis is about to get comeuppance.

Y-y-y-you think I'm done!

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