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BlackSix  All-Star Member  pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07 |  Posted - Jun 2 2017 : 3:39AMI thought I'd post this here as I know there's been some discussion of it in the Rialto Report thread as they were consultants. If it is more suited to Pop Culture it can be moved there but I thought it might get more discussion and attention on the Feature side. If there was ever a series made to order for the Feature crew at ADT this is it. I was already pretty excited to see this as David Simon's The Wire is a masterpiece, in addition to The Corner and 'Treme being very fine shows. I didn't know George Pelecanos was also involved as a writer. Maggie Gyllenhaal is a very fine actress and she is perfect for this kind of role if you've ever seen her in movies like Happy Endings. And then they go and use a great Curtis Mayfield song for the trailer that just makes the whole thing sing and makes me super excited to watch it. HERE is the latest trailer. Edited by - BlackSix on Jun 2 2017 [Link] |
| Flash Golden Age Classic 11018 Posts 5/01 | Posted - Jun 2 2017 : 6:53AM [Link] |
| BlackSix All-Star Member pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07 | Posted - Aug 14 2017 : 1:24AM |
| RicoEvilAngel Senior Member ^ Alexis Texas in Buttman's Stretch Class #4 1348 Posts 12/15 | Posted - Aug 14 2017 : 8:36PM I like the cast for this show.  [Link] |
| john lyons Senior Member Co-founder of Vinegar Syndrome 1188 Posts 1/08 | Posted - Aug 15 2017 : 1:20AM THE DEUCE - thoughts on the premier episode Before I get into the body of my review, a couple of acknowledgements: First, I've never been very fond of THE WIRE. In fact, I rather dislike it. It's self important, self indulgent, self righteous nonsense, for the most part. Basically a more heavy handed and humorless NYPD Blue (not a compliment). I can understand why so many people were hooked on it though. It's got much of the same mentality as a soap opera wherein the continuing narrative and overly dramatic antics pull at the visceral heartstrings of the viewer. But it didn't work for me. Second, if anyone potentially reading this isn't already aware, James Franco is human equivalent to an oozing pustule. This is not an opinion, it's a fact. OK, now onto the review: The concept of creating an episodic narrative TV show set in the fascinating world of NYC's early 70s sex film production, along side prostitution, massage parlors, etc. is one that, in the right hands and with the right historical mindset, would surely be ripe with ideas. Although, thanks to my disinterest in THE WIRE and my hatred for Franco, I'd kept my expectations rather low, as this screening grew near, I couldn't help but feel a bit of giddy anticipation. Maybe they'd do it right? But then, in the pre-screening intro, co-creator and writer George Pelecanos made a point to say that "none of [them] were all that excited to do a series about porn." What struck me about this comment, besides the obvious insanity of basically saying he made a show about a subject he isn't very interested in, is that his tone was one of condescension; like he was above writing about such subject matter. The entire intro felt dismissive and apologetic. It was all 'I wouldn't normally be interested, but I met some interesting people so I gave it a try.' Definitely not an encouraging preamble. Then the show started. Pretty standard stuff. Franco, playing barman Vinnie (in his usual dull manner, this time affecting an annoyingly fake NY accent), gets hassled by some would-be thieves as he makes his nightly money drop. It's all shot and edited in a blasé TV episodic style. Nothing striking, nothing memorable. Credits play. Next, we meet some pimps. They talk in jive. Like, the type of 'pimp talk' you'd expect to hear in an episode of Mad TV. We meet a new hooker who one of the pimps wants to make his girl. Back to Vinny. His home life is bad. His wife is always out with other guys. Soap opera antics are hitting hard. Finally we get to the 50% set, 50% CGI rendering of 42nd st. For an episode set in the summer of 1971, the theatres are almost all playing films from late '69/early '70. Points given for the Dave Friedman double feature of STARLET and THAR SHE BLOWS. Points deducted for MONDO TRASHO being accompanied by a lengthy plug on the marquee, touting John Waters as if he were a name that the 42nd st crowd woulda recognized enough to be a selling point, pre Pink Flamingos. We next meet another hooker, Candy, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. She's good. Immediately captivating. Her character also has some depth which, considering she co-produced the show, is to be expected. Candy, has no pimp and this makes her vulnerable to a certain extent, but she enjoys her independence. From there, all the narrative threads intermix. It's admittedly hard to assess a single episode on a continuous narrative TV show. It's not a standalone work. The ideas and narrative threads aren't meant to fully gel, so the lack of cohesiveness can be forgiven. What can't be overcome, however, is how fake it all seems. Doing period pieces are hard. Putting the viewer into a real environment that literally no longer exists takes an immense amount of research, insight, and historical accuracy. Anachronisms are to be expected, of course, as it's impossible to get every detail right, but the overall atmosphere needs to capture the aura of the time. THE DEUCE fails in that respect. Its candy colored, bell bottomed, jive talking, cool car driving view of the early 70s is dreadfully cinematic. While, my thoughts on the content aside, THE WIRE pulled off a palatable visual ambience of Baltimore grit, THE DEUCE imagines early 70s NY as can only be seen in contemporary Hollywood. A brief scene in Washington Sq illustrates this nicely: as the camera tracks around benches, we see loads of hippie era college kids, adorned in beads, ponchos, etc. And so, so, many of them are playing guitars or other instruments. While none of the is historically inaccurate and there's plenty of documentation from the era itself illustrating just that, the whole thing seems staged to hammer home the 'this is 1971 and there are hippies in the park' vibe. It seems as though David Simon and episode director Michelle MacLaren simply looked at some photo books and decided to recreate some iconic scenes for era appropriate cred (MacLaren did in fact acknowledge taking visual inspiration for one character's outfit from a photo she saw). The irony of this is that, during the post screening Q&A, MacLaren and Gyllenhaal both stated that they tried to bone up on 70s NYC shot dramas to get both a feel for the era and for the look of the city. When asked which films they viewed, the responses were: FRENCH CONNECTION, SHAFT, KLUTE, PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK, MEAN STREETS (a somewhat bad choice seeing as it was partially shot on sets in LA) and, of course, TAXI DRIVER. But if these were the films that were supposed to be informing the style of the show, that style got lost in translation. Chilly, even in summer, urban locales are rendered either too bright and cheery or simply drab and uninteresting. And the same can be said for the characters; they're either too stagey acting and over the top or they're immediately forgettable. One short scene stands out, and that's an encounter between Candy the hooker and a teenage boy whose friends pool money to buy her services for him as a birthday present. Out of the full 90+ minutes episode, this is the one scene that feels real, earnest, and demonstrates both high quality writing and direction. And it works because it's simply two characters in a room playing a scene that doesn't advance the plot but rather presents a snapshot into a moment in both their lives; a trait so common in many of the best early 70s urban dramas. Out of the entire thing, despite the absence of excessive period decor or other visual reminders that this is supposedly 1971, this scene is the only part of the entire episode that truly felt authentic to the time period. [Link] |
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| DVDstuff All-Star Member 2966 Posts 9/14 | Posted - Aug 20 2017 : 12:47PM [Link] |
| BlackSix All-Star Member pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07 | Posted - Sep 7 2017 : 4:33AM As John says it is hard to judge a series by one episode, I'm not a fan of the episode by episode TV reviews of AV Club for instance. [Link] |
| DVDstuff All-Star Member 2966 Posts 9/14 | Posted - Sep 7 2017 : 2:35PM [Link] |
| BlackSix All-Star Member pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07 | Posted - Sep 9 2017 : 3:02AM [Link] |
| DVDstuff All-Star Member 2966 Posts 9/14 | Posted - Sep 9 2017 : 9:04AM [Link] |
| BlackSix All-Star Member pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07 | Posted - Sep 15 2017 : 4:26AM [Link] |
| DVDstuff All-Star Member 2966 Posts 9/14 | Posted - Sep 15 2017 : 8:44AM [Link] |
| BlackSix All-Star Member pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07 | Posted - Sep 16 2017 : 1:08AM [Link] |
| DVDstuff All-Star Member 2966 Posts 9/14 | Posted - Sep 16 2017 : 2:17AM [Link] |
| BlackSix All-Star Member pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07 | Posted - Sep 16 2017 : 2:27AM |
| DVDstuff All-Star Member 2966 Posts 9/14 | Posted - Sep 16 2017 : 2:39AM [Link] |
| Sexmann New Member 2 Posts 9/17 | Posted - Sep 19 2017 : 4:07AM [Link] |
| DVDstuff All-Star Member 2966 Posts 9/14 | Posted - Sep 19 2017 : 8:22AM [Link] |
| BlackSix All-Star Member pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07 | Posted - Sep 19 2017 : 9:27PM There seem to be some conflicting views about the show among the creators themselves, but already I think Maggie's sympathetic portrayl will hopefully keep it from becoming a moralistic tract. I also have faith in David Simon, he never seems to take the easy stance. [Link] |
| Flash Golden Age Classic 11018 Posts 5/01 | Posted - Dec 26 2017 : 6:08PM [Link] |
| BlackSix All-Star Member pornography wasn't sex but fantasies of an impossibly hospitable world 12377 Posts 9/07 | Posted - Dec 27 2017 : 12:13PM It was good but not amazing, although I did like the last few episodes the best as certain character's arcs are well resolved I thought. It does spend perhaps too much time with less interesting characters (Franco and the college girl for instance). [Link] |
| mapofhawaii Senior Member 1050 Posts 3/06 | Posted - Jan 1 2018 : 11:40AM [Link] |
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