Posts tagged as HBO
What's Wrong with the HBO Movie?
This is totally a thing! Richard Rushfield went to see a forthcoming HBO movie and came away thinking... hey, that is sure an HBO movie! It's "an intriguing concept, great art design, some fine actors that somehow doesn’t come together as anything special or present any compelling reason why it should be up on a big screen." Hey, yeah, that! First, there's a certain kind of sweeping literalism to the high-end TV movie and miniseries: what's Temple Grandin about? Oh, Temple Grandin. What's Too Big to Fail about? What's Hemingway and Gellhorn about? Ohhhh. I think part of this is: HBO straddles the budgetary line between movie-movies and TV. They make the million- or couple-million-dollar, high-end movie. It's a great awards and prestige strategy; they can dominate in the space, but still not spend a lot. And they can take films that otherwise have no distribution future—films that should be seen, for sure!—and mold them to the form. READ MORE
The "Entourage" Epilogue: Ten Years Later
E and Vince climbed up over the rim of the hill, and there they stopped to gaze down upon the ruins of the city below. Thirteen years since the SAG/AFTRA split-up and the city was still burning. Vast sections of the canvas below were nothing but charred smoldering dirt. And higher up, by the shell of the old Hollywood sign, they could make out the screams of anguish, the clatter of swords, the unholy battle cries of the Test Audiences as they stampeded down toward the deserted boulevards in search of fresh hot blood. A decade after they had fled, the marauders looked more zombie than human; more creatures infected with an untested serum than zombies. READ MORE
Indicators That the Book Party Scene on HBO’s Forthcoming Lena Dunham Show "Girls" is an Unconvincing Approximation of the Real Thing, as Conveyed to Me by a Former Book Editor Working On-Set as an Extra (“Publishing Executive”)
11. The pervasiveness of eye shadow. READ MORE
'Mildred Pierce': Set Your DVRs on 'OMG What?'
The five-part, Todd Haynes-directed miniseries of "Mildred Pierce" starts on Sunday, at 9 p.m., on HBO. Let me just tell you the most important part right now: The first episode may not particularly make you want to carry on! You might hate it immediately. But you likely should press on: what follows is definitely more exciting and pleasurable, as the show goes on. And sometimes when you try a weird new flavor, it's disgusting at first. This flavor is decidedly off-putting or maybe just like it popped out of a time machine from when flavors were different: it's the starchy tale of a snooty lady, and from the hilariously sombre/boring/gorgeous opening credits to the extremely odd, maybe terrific, maybe not Kate Winslet performance, you may feel quite uncomfortable. Many of you will decide that this is not your cup of period-simulacra tea, and that's fine. But try it, because some of you will have your heads blown off. READ MORE
Lady Pilots: Chelsea Handler, Molly Shannon
Chelsea Handler's Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea is getting a pilot at NBC. That book is a memoir of her time before she began dating the CEO of Comcast. One blog commenter responded: "Chelsea is the funniest woman alive! Her talk show makes all the others seem irrelevant. Perhaps she can now save the world of network sitcoms!!!! Great move by NBC!!!!" In other news, HBO is doing a pilot for Molly Shannon in which she plays a nun leaving the convent.
"Boardwalk Empire": The Halfway Report
This is the way history works on cable—the period setting is condensed, amplified and sped up so that we can focus on the interpersonal relationships and dramas of our heroes and villains. You add enough historical ephemera to keep people who watch for that reason interested, anyone tuning for a character drama gets a venue more exciting than a hospital or an LA apartment complex and everyone finds a person/place/thing to plug into Google at the end of the night. READ MORE
The Return of Michael Pitt!
I had not realized that HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" had retained the services of Michael Pitt in the role of Steve Buscemi's protege. Pitt's work can most often, these past few years, be viewed solely under the JMZ elevated, as he struts along in a t-shirt that displays his scars and tattoos and his tight filthy jeans with the rocker belts. How reclusive is he? His band's website only plays music; it has no words or, you know, gig announcements. He has not made a movie since Funny Games. But here he is on the HBO: "Mr. Pitt was simply made for the fashions of the 1920s, with his big DiCaprio-y cherub face and creepily empty eyes." He's the DiCaprio of opposite-land. He's always seemed like he might just slip off the planet and disappear for good. So my anticipation level has tripled.
Bruce Springsteen, "The Promise"
Man, I'm psyched to see The Promise, a documentary about the making of Bruce Springsteen's 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town, my favorite Springsteen album (which is a little bit like saying, "the favorite part of my heart.") Directed by longtime Springsteen cinematographer Thom Zimmy, it's set to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month, along with interesting-sounding documentaries by Errol Morris, Alex Gibney, and Werner Herzog (whose Cave of Forgotten Dreams is about prehistoric cave paintings and is for some reason shot in 3D.) HBO will be airing The Promise for me in October-and for you, if you want to see it too. READ MORE
Christine Vachon Interview for 'Mildred Pierce'
"TV is far less risk-averse these days than cinema." READ MORE
Snoop Dogg, "Oh Sookie"
"Excuse, Mr. Snoop Dogg?"
"Yes?"
"Sorry to bother you, sir. But HBO called. They want to know if you'll do a promotional rap for the True Blood show."
"Oh, True Blood? Yeah, sure. I like that show."
"When should I tell them you'll have it done?"
"About fifteen minutes."
"Very good, sir."
