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Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Looking at TMNGo, they have the premiere date as Sept 24th still... except it looks like they're going to have the third episode available on that date.

gently caress

They really don't make it easy not to just pirate it instead of actually paying. The best part is that if you're caught downloading anything HBO, you get a letter admonishing you for illegally downloading when HBO has never been more affordable nor easier to access.

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LesterGroans
Jun 9, 2009

It's funny...

You were so scary at night.
I just saw the whole series and it's really, really good. It's definitely a David Simon show in that most of the season's plot doesn't kick in until about halfway through and you don't really get your hand held through the storylines. It's very fun too, like there's a sense of things changing and discovery happening. Someone compared it to the Hamsterdam season of The Wire, which is kind of accurate.

When it comes to "a sprawl of characters interacting with barely any overarching plot" it's closer to The Wire end of the spectrum than Treme.

Harton
Jun 13, 2001

I don't get the "advance premier" deal at all. It's like "hey watch this episode and then have a month to completely forgot the show exists before we let you see another episode"

What's the end game here?

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

It looks like TMN updated their schedule to include the second episode for next Sunday, which must mean they're planning on uploading the first episode tonight.

Asbury
Mar 23, 2007
Probation
Can't post for 6 years!
Hair Elf
Yeah, so this is a really good show that definitely plays into David Simon's strengths (that is, implicating capitalism while writing about people who're trying to make a living inside urban decay). It's intrigued me more than anything he's done since Generation Kill. Going by how The Deuce is playing so far, I'd call the pilot a shot at being an evolution of The Wire, but set in 1970's French Connection New York. What a loving shithole. Show's real good though. I'm looking forward to reading some of the essays us turds write about it (see also the Wire thread).

edit - just for a comparison in writing quality between Simon and others, there's a scene in the pilot where Darlene gets paid to watch a Tale of Two Cities with an old man. Anyone remember House of Cards, season 2, when Doug tells Rachel, "Read it. It's a Tale of Two Cities. My mom used to read it to me"? Both shows use literature to provide a certain resonance. David Simon's approach is oblique and good. Whoever wrote that sequence in HoC is a hamfist.

Edit 2 - another really great thing - that shot of the WTC under construction. It's a long-rear end shot just broiling with meaning.

Asbury fucked around with this message at 02:43 on Sep 11, 2017

Cloks
Feb 1, 2013

by Azathoth
The fact that the lecture is about syllogisms is the most on the nose part of the pilot.

Dangerous Person
Apr 4, 2011

Not dead yet
I was very into this but made a mistake in watching it with my parents

Milo and POTUS
Sep 3, 2017

I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?
Hahahaha yeah that might put a damper on your enjoyment. Was this second episode tonight or do I still have to wait?

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Just finished it.

I really liked the Pilot. James Franco does much better than I expected, Maggie Gyllenhaal does an excellent job, and the scene with Darlene and the guy who pays her to hang out with him is great!

My girlfriend pointed out that for a show all about sex, it's very unsexy. I'm guessing this is going to continue throughout the series and especially when it gets into the porn scene.

Side note, usually I have trouble remembering character names after one episode, but I find I have a good grasp on most character names after this one episode. Maybe because it was longer?

Cloks
Feb 1, 2013

by Azathoth
In all of the interviews, David Simon et all will talk about how they wanted the paid sex to be unsexy but the consensual sex to be more sensual.

Think about the scene with the kid versus Franco getting his bone on.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

That didn't even come across as sexy, it was like it was perfunctory sex

Cloks
Feb 1, 2013

by Azathoth

Professor Shark posted:

That didn't even come across as sexy, it was like it was perfunctory sex

Yeah, I don't think there's been a good example of sexy sex yet.

sbaldrick
Jul 19, 2006
Driven by Hate
The John with the giant 70s man bush was gross

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I feel very bad for the prostitute that just wanted a night off with Cici :(

life is killing me
Oct 28, 2007

Professor Shark posted:

I feel very bad for the prostitute that just wanted a night off with Cici :(

Right as I was starting to think maybe he was one of the Good Ones

Then I realized they all make women have sex for money

LesterGroans
Jun 9, 2009

It's funny...

You were so scary at night.
CC and Darlene ended up being the standouts of the series for me. I don't remember ever seeing Gary Carr before (although apparently he was in Downton Abbey) but he's really impressive. He was charming and terrifying and pathetic in the first episode alone.

Milo and POTUS
Sep 3, 2017

I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?

life is killing me posted:

Right as I was starting to think maybe he was one of the Good Ones

Then I realized they all make women have sex for money

At least one of the pimps is going to get shot and it's going to be both cathartic and deeply sad at the same time.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Larry seems like the "best" pimp of them all and genuinely seems concerned for Darlene, willing to lose a regular customer over something she isn't too worried about.

Macdeo Lurjtux
Jul 5, 2011

BRRREADSTOOORRM!
He's not concerned for her, he's upset that his property got damaged and that it could affect how much money he could make off her for a few days.

life is killing me
Oct 28, 2007

Milo and POTUS posted:

At least one of the pimps is going to get shot and it's going to be both cathartic and deeply sad at the same time.

The pimps in The Deuce are, to me, the incompetent company commander and platoon leader in Generation Kill.

The only difference is, those guys didn't get shot. Well there's not a difference yet, because no pimp has been shot but still.

On the serious side, I'm not seeing a theme of comeuppance from this show nor in any of the other films and shows Simon had a hand in writing. Definitely not in GK--the enlisted, especially the team leaders, met the poo poo that was rolling downhill from the officers, and there was never any moment where I thought any officer was going to get his just desserts.

Granted, GK was based on a real Marine unit in a real war, so maybe I'm going off on a tangent since I figure the writers had less creative leeway in favor of writing the show within the box of what actually happened.

feedmegin
Jul 30, 2008

life is killing me posted:

On the serious side, I'm not seeing a theme of comeuppance from this show nor in any of the other films and shows Simon had a hand in writing.

I mean, it does happen in Simon shows, it's just random and probably not to the guy you hate most. Think about Cheese getting blown away for example. Actions can have consequences.

Shima Honnou
Dec 1, 2010

The Once And Future King Of Dicetroit

College Slice
I watched through this show as a part of work a few months back. I liked it. Look forward to seeing better quality versions of the episodes where I don't have to type throughout the whole thing.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

life is killing me posted:

On the serious side, I'm not seeing a theme of comeuppance from this show nor in any of the other films and shows Simon had a hand in writing.

"There's no justice" is a very David Simon thing

Orange Devil
Oct 1, 2010

Wullie's reign cannae smother the flames o' equality!

3Romeo posted:

Edit 2 - another really great thing - that shot of the WTC under construction. It's a long-rear end shot just broiling with meaning.

When in the episode was this shot?

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Towards the end, when the pimps are picking up I think

Macdeo Lurjtux
Jul 5, 2011

BRRREADSTOOORRM!

feedmegin posted:

I mean, it does happen in Simon shows, it's just random and probably not to the guy you hate most. Think about Cheese getting blown away for example. Actions can have consequences.

Don't forget that a lot of the higher ranked characters in The Wire are based on real people too. Omar, Avon, Carcetti and Nerese Campbell. The last one was so obvious that the real life inspiration, Sheila Dixon, was actually investigated and convicted thanks to the publicity from the show.

empty baggie
Oct 22, 2003

Cutty’s character was also based on a real person, Calvin Ford, who’s currently the trainer of the guy who won the fight right before the Mayweather/McGregor fight. Gervonta Davis was the fighters name, and he got booed for punching the other dude on the back of the head right at the end of the bout.

E: and the deacons actor, Melvin Williams (RIP), was the real life basis for Omar.

empty baggie fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Sep 15, 2017

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

empty baggie posted:

E: and the deacons actor, Melvin Williams (RIP), was the real life basis for Omar.

I think he was one of the inspirations for Avon, wasn't he?

Donnie who works for Butchie and helps Omar out at various times was played by Donnie Andrews, one of the inspirations for Omar. In real life he actually did an even more insane version of the "Spider-Man poo poo" that Omar does to escape the ambush in Monk's apartment.

empty baggie
Oct 22, 2003

Jerusalem posted:

I think he was one of the inspirations for Avon, wasn't he?

Donnie who works for Butchie and helps Omar out at various times was played by Donnie Andrews, one of the inspirations for Omar. In real life he actually did an even more insane version of the "Spider-Man poo poo" that Omar does to escape the ambush in Monk's apartment.

Yep, you’re right. Got Donnie and Melvin mixed up.

AARO
Mar 9, 2005

by Lowtax
How the gently caress did they get away with the underage sex scene? I mean, I guess the actor must have been 18 but he looked 15 and was playing an underage boy.

withak
Jan 15, 2003


Fun Shoe
Forget it AARO, it's HBO.

life is killing me
Oct 28, 2007

AARO posted:

How the gently caress did they get away with the underage sex scene? I mean, I guess the actor must have been 18 but he looked 15 and was playing an underage boy.

It's not illegal and depicts a plausible scenario for the show.

Shows and movies have gotten away with worse just in implication and if actors are of age to do a scene then they do the scene

Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie
Ralph Macchio :psyduck:

timp
Sep 19, 2007

Everything is in my control
Lipstick Apathy
Sorry if this was obviously stated, but what was the deal with the prostitutes and the sheets they were showing to the cops? How did it keep some of them out of the paddy wagon?

Shima Honnou
Dec 1, 2010

The Once And Future King Of Dicetroit

College Slice

timp posted:

Sorry if this was obviously stated, but what was the deal with the prostitutes and the sheets they were showing to the cops? How did it keep some of them out of the paddy wagon?

They had already been arrested within the last 48 hours. Not sure why it works that way but it does.

Verisimillipede
Jul 17, 2006

Shima Honnou posted:

They had already been arrested within the last 48 hours. Not sure why it works that way but it does.

There wouldn't be enough room in the bin if they arrested all the prostitutes in the deuce whenever they got back out on the street


or they didn't want to do all the paperwork.

socialsecurity
Aug 30, 2003





AARO posted:

How the gently caress did they get away with the underage sex scene? I mean, I guess the actor must have been 18 but he looked 15 and was playing an underage boy.

American Beauty literally has a naked underage girl in it this is nothing in comparison.

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry
This show is so good. Candy asking questions about filmmaking, a rapist getting shanked, the Mafia 'investing' in a gay bar.

life is killing me
Oct 28, 2007

socialsecurity posted:

American Beauty literally has a naked underage girl in it this is nothing in comparison.

Mena Suvari was between 19-21 in American Beauty. It was just the implication in the movie that it was wrong because her character was underage, but she as an actress was not underage.

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Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer
I recommend "There ain't no individual on earth as alone as a pimp." for a thread title change this week, if it fits

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