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 Perry Mason is a soft reboot slash prequel of the ancient Perry Mason defense attorney drama, now featuring Perry's early days as a private dick in 1930's Hollywood, available on HBO. If you're a fan of LA Noire, or Mickey Spillane novels, then this is absolutely the series for you. Starring Matthew Rhys from The Americans (apparently people loved this show, I never saw too much of it) as the titular Perry, he plays a low-rent divorced busybody who ends up getting wrapped up in a conspiracy centered around a kidnapping gone wrong, while struggling to hold onto his family farm and coping with the memories of his time fighting in some of the most brutal battles of The Great War. Here's a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNATvJMPZaA So for now they've said this is a miniseries, but it could turn into something more, especially with the hugely positive reception it's gotten so far. There's two episodes out now, the first one is free on Youtube in it's entirety -  warning for nudity and stuff I won't spoil:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGn2tLaYgdc I like this show a lot so far - the acting is great, they've put together an amazing cast including John Lithgow and loving Robert Patrick of all people. The real star is the aesthetics - the cinematography beats most movies, the set dressing is fantastic, and the music is just perfect - all together it's like catnip, especially for someone like me who grew up reading Mickey Spillane, playing LA Noire, and watching A Nero Wolfe Mystery. They've barely set up the story so far just one episode in, so it definitely feels like a slow burner this time around, but there's all your classic noir favorites - corrupt studio executives, a horrific tragedy with layers of conspiracy and betrayal baked in, a church with a wild pastor, and a divorced detective gently caress-up struggling to put his life together. I've never made a TV/IV thread before so my apologies if this is a little thin for an OP.
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Jul 1, 2020 12:42
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I've only caught some reviews of this show so far, but I liked the tidbits of plot/tone that the reviews laid out so I may end up checking this out. I'm an absolute sucker for courtroom dramas though, so if they kept this reboot going and start heading more and more into that territory I'd really like it. I do know from the review that they take at least one very clear shot at the structure of the original show, so that's always fun. What people today might not recognize is just how insanely popular Perry Mason has been. The Perry Mason book series is the third best-selling book series of all time with more than 80 books. The original T.V. show had 271 episodes, and NBC eventually followed up that show with 30 T.V. movies. And since I haven't seen or read any of it, doing a Perry mason deep dive may be just the thing to do when I get bored and want to fill up roughly a full year of my life consuming those various media, assuming I find them interesting. Anyway, I bring up that level of past popularity mostly to point out that doing a hip reboot in a modern T.V. style seems like a very safe move, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they kept making them in a mini-series format, kind of a throwback to the serials of old. As much as I want more courtroom stuff as a general rule, catering to that noire style and going with this prequel smart is absolutely the way to go, both creatively and in terms of drawing in audience attention. I want Mason being an attorney and taking on a case to be treated like waiting for Bruce Wayne to become Batman in Gotham with a really kickass score coming in when that happens. Alright now I'm clearly thinking about this show too much, so I'll definitely check it out, probably without even waiting for the whole season to be out.
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Jul 2, 2020 01:45
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I've been watching a lot of Perry Mason on MeTV over the past year, and I'm a sucker for a detective/noir/crime show or whatever you want to call it. It's right up my alley. One question though, is it established in the books that he was a PI before becoming a lawyer? It's not a huge deal, but I was just a little confused when I saw he's a PI in this series.
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Jul 2, 2020 05:39
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Oh wow, this second episode... absolutely bonechilling. It's impressive how gnarly they've gotten, with some fantastic flashbacks to WW1 and the gore. The sermon at the end too rocked, and it only gets wilder after that. You get a lot more John Lithgow than I was expecting! He's a hoot. For what's only an 8 episode run, it's incredible what they've accomplished so far.
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Jul 2, 2020 12:30
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I only know about Perry Mason from the Ozzy song but this looks pretty promising, will definitely check it out.
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Jul 2, 2020 16:10
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This show feels pretty special so far (episode 2). The photography and editing is phenomenal — they've hit a dreamlike quality, but never head too deep into the surreal. The scoring, almost always present, is an an anachronistic blend of comforting melancholic horns and threatening electronica. It works well to cement the feeling of a worn-out city being given a second and violent birth in the post-depression era. Too tired to write about the characters, just gonna say that they're wonderful, sometimes tiptoeing dangerously close to being clichés, played by a formidable cast. I haven't once felt that the show wastes your time, which is unusual nowadays. I hope they can keep up the current pace. anatomi fucked around with this message at 14:11 on Jul 6, 2020 |
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Jul 6, 2020 08:47
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Sorry to blaspheme against Sister Alice but John Lithgow may just be giving the best performance on the show. It's heartbreaking to see how E.B.'s bluster is masking his obvious physical and mental deterioration from those around him and they probably just think he's being more of a jerk then normal.
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Jul 6, 2020 13:54
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Just finished the third episode. Hot drat. The pace ripped like a machinegun this time around, it's amazing what a full hour can do for a show like this. Lithgow seriously stole the show again, that dueling monologue opening bit was phenomenal. Also nice to see we're in real noir territory, they've started talking about land deals.
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Jul 6, 2020 15:08
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Land deals are definitely a spot on every Noir bingo card.
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Jul 6, 2020 19:21
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Shea Wingham, as usual, is a wonderful supporting character. I like the humorous touches the show has. Mason lighting the paper on fire as he walked out of the restaurant away had me cracking up.
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Jul 6, 2020 23:33
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I hated this.
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Jul 6, 2020 23:39
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I thought the Studio Chief WAS evil Groucho Marx, not just "that he looks like him". I'm in, but the amount of "FUCKS" was distracting.
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Jul 7, 2020 00:24
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Loving this so far. I have no relation to earlier Perry Mason media, so I have no frame of reference. Always glad to see Eli from Boardwalk Empire get some more jobs. [edit] Goddamn that "reckon that makes YOU the N-word" line is pretty topical, huh. BigglesSWE fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Jul 7, 2020 |
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Jul 7, 2020 00:51
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If you've never heard the TV Perry Mason theme, you're missing out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOpxLa9PPto I liked the second episode the best so far. I love Lithgow, but I dunno. Something is off about it. Probably because Mason isn't too likeable right now, and I'm waiting for him to get to that point.
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Jul 7, 2020 02:29
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Normally, I eschew grimdark remakes of old TV shows, but I think the noir style and immersive art design make this enjoyable. I'm loving it so far.
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Jul 7, 2020 03:15
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I don't know if it's necessarily grimdark, it certainly sprinkles in some gruesome scenes here and there for shock, but they seem to be weighted appropriately, or at least like with the last episode, contrasted appropriately with a little bit of comedy. So my theory so far is the real baby is still alive and was swapped out for an orphan baby, and the priest woman is going to "resurrect" baby charlie dodson as a PR stunt in order to raise money for the church's new town project, and this was their entire conspiracy all along, and they roped the wife into it to hire the goons to kidnap the baby, then turned one of them and killed the others in order to cover up the evidence, as we saw by the fake suicide with the misplaced dentures
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Jul 7, 2020 16:08
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Yeah, I think it's the noir that saves it from grimdark. Without those elements, it's grim. And dark. Mainly, though, I'm waiting for them to come up with a way to have someone ask, "Who can we get on the case?" To which someone yells, "We need Per-ry Ma-son...." And I want this because I'm a tremendous dummy.
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Jul 7, 2020 16:29
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This is not your Daddy's Perry Mason this is Perry Mason that fucks. Now that is out of the way I really like it, the first episode with Perry yelling at his Lawyer to object  Like all good Noir mysteries I don't care who did it or why I just get a thrill watching Perry unravel it slash decide to stick up for this person. Shea Whigham owns as well.
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Jul 8, 2020 01:40
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I kind of hated the first episode, but the second was an immediate and vast improvement, and the third continued that momentum, so I'm in for the long haul I guess. I said it in the Couch Chat thread, but this has to be one of the most stacked casts in TV history. Even the judge this week was Matt Frewer!
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Jul 8, 2020 01:55
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And Stephen Root is always fantastic.
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Jul 8, 2020 02:25
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algebra testes posted:And Stephen Root is always fantastic. I will forever see him only playing the character Jimmy James from NewsRadio Agreement with the rest of the thread that the first episode was slow/weak but the 2nd and this past 3rd have been fantastic. Really enjoying the show
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Jul 8, 2020 04:51
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But Jimmy has fancy plans. And pants to match.
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Jul 8, 2020 07:06
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Haven't gotten fully caught up but I'm glad to see Tatiana Malasany getting work. She killed it on Orphan Black.
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Jul 8, 2020 09:43
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Shea Wingham continues to be the poor man's Christian Bale. Perry Mason slaps raw rear end and three episodes deep, is on-par with some of David Simon's work. I kinda hope Perry stays a PI and never steps into E.B.'s shoes. I could watch him solve little Chinatowns for a hundred years.
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Jul 9, 2020 00:12
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TheOmegaWalrus posted:Shea Wingham continues to be the poor man's Christian Bale. And I kinda hoped Anakin would tell Palpatine to go gently caress himself so he could become a powerful Jedi, stop the Empire from happening, and raise his kids in peace with love, the Force, and very, very little sand. (Anakin is not overfond of sand.) We know where this is ending. At best, we can hope for an alternate universe where Perry keeps being this version of Perry. Although, I mean, it's not like Counselor Perry, Esquire was a bad guy. The only times his clients were guilty was when they actually ended up being not guilty after all. So, what's up with EB, anyway? Mrs. Tarlibone and I both think that it's early dementia, and that if Perry doesn't suspect it, EB's Gal Friday probably does. I'm not 100% sure about that, because he was bleeding into the sink, presumably from somewhere on/in his head. So, maybe Cancer of the Television Noggin, which conveniently has subtle but noticeable neurological symptoms combined with untimely head bleeding?
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Jul 9, 2020 00:51
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I like the hints that EB is generally either washed up or not as hot poo poo as he thinks he is. With the judge treating him like a schmuck and his former partner (???) hating him
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Jul 9, 2020 22:41
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True Detective Season 4: LA Noir '32
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Jul 9, 2020 23:35
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Perry Mason: Dreamland
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Jul 10, 2020 04:39
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I didn't really know what to expect going in but as soon as episode 1 began with Fatty Arbuckle chasing Perry Mason down the street with his massive hog swinging in the wind I knew I was gonna love it. Can't wait to see where it goes and hopefully they may make a full series of it and not just this one-off.
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Jul 10, 2020 07:24
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Was bored to death during the first episode, just bored during the second, will give it one more. The actors, acting, sets, etc. are amazing but the pacing and plotting are slow and generally not great. Really want to like it though.
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Jul 10, 2020 11:42
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False posted:Was bored to death during the first episode, just bored during the second, will give it one more. The actors, acting, sets, etc. are amazing but the pacing and plotting are slow and generally not great. Really want to like it though. It's not like other shows. Hell I already predicted the mainline plot of the season in an earlier post, I think, but. Could be wrong! This is a show focused on characters, visuals, and aesthetics, and jesus gently caress, they're so loving nailing it.
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Jul 10, 2020 12:11
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So we have a cult-like church taking people's money, trying to spread their super-important word around the world, and oh yeah, they're mostly in naval-themed costume. I mean... c'mon. C'mon, people. Am I crazy for thinking that they're basing this part of the show on the study of scients?
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Jul 10, 2020 13:42
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enjoyed the first episode, it was a little slow but they've got scene-setting to do so I'm OK with it I like that they're making Mason a bit like Marlowe in that he's kind of a fuckup who's not actually all that good at his job but somehow still gets results and him getting hosed off the bed got a genuine laugh
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Jul 10, 2020 20:04
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False posted:Was bored to death during the first episode, just bored during the second, will give it one more. The actors, acting, sets, etc. are amazing but the pacing and plotting are slow and generally not great. Really want to like it though. Third is the first one I’ve really enjoyed. I thought the first and second were pretty meh (the war flashbacks in episode 2 are like the most generic loving thing ever), but 3 develops some of the characters in interesting ways.
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Jul 10, 2020 20:07
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Oh I dunno, executing his own men point blank was something else
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Jul 10, 2020 22:19
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lol even the cats aren't safe
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Jul 11, 2020 16:03
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I really like it. But i have to wonder about the church. Would a mainstream charismastic evangelical movement really allow a woman to preach in 1932 no matter how fantastically talented she was? Remember that women wearing pants was still borderline taboo at the time. I would also imagine a race mixed choir performing in a public place (outside the jail) would have been extremely scandalous at the time. Maybe that`s the point, this is not a ordinary church for good or for worse. Creepy in a lot of ways but not necessarly in the usual rigth wing way that`s become standard for modern megachurches.
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Jul 11, 2020 18:15
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Baudolino posted:I really like it. But i have to wonder about the church. Would a mainstream charismastic evangelical movement really allow a woman to preach in 1932 no matter how fantastically talented she was? They did. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Semple_McPherson There was also the far more glamorous Reba Crawford who had performed and preached on Broadway: https://pastdaily.com/2017/05/14/reba-crawford-1930s-past-daily/
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Jul 11, 2020 19:05
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Great episode. A lot of neat stuff in here. And the show just dealt a blow to the sexual mores of the time (and to a lesser degree, our time) when Della Street got outed as not the man in charge, but the woman who knows what's going on, at the office. I thought that EB was going to commit suicide by hanging. Something about dragging the chair into a room... you know, stand on the chair, rope around the neck, knock the chair over or kick it away, and dead. But, an impromptu gas chamber? Actually, nice, and period-correct. It wasn't until a school exploded in Texas in 1937 that the US started to regulate the use of odorants in natural gas, so EB would really just sit there and fade out to his favorite show, "Hummingbirds."
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Jul 13, 2020 04:37
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This show definitely rules, highlight of my week.
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Jul 13, 2020 06:36
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