Treme

[The Notorious LOL]

anyone catch the first episode? Good intro, its setting up to be a pretty interesting show. Bunk and Freamon are in it, as is John Goodman. You should watch it. Your (sic) welcome.

[Gareth]

wanna see this.
the only shit i've been watching is the pacific.

[Drederick Tatum]

Pacific is decent so far. not into it as much as Band of Brothers. a few episodes in there are some interesting enough characters.

a bar, New Orleans Haus round the corner here is holding weekly Treme viewings. probably should get in on some of that. American media tells me that if I toss around some beads I'll see some boobs.

[Laserface]

i thought it was ok, despite the fact that my white ass couldn't understand half the stuff they were saying.

[DipDipDive]

The Pacific is the shit. It's way more engaging to me than Band of Brothers was, I think because the character and plot development seems more focused.

I really enjoyed Treme. I can't fathom that it will be even near as good as The Wire, but I mean, nothing ever will be.

The funeral march at the end was absolutely beautiful.

[The Notorious LOL]

Six Feet Under was better than The Wire (in my opinion).

I'm not gonna even compare this to that though because other than the actor connection and it being done by David Simon....its apples to Cadillacs.

[nodanaonlyzuul]

definitely enjoyed the first episode. We'll see how it pans out.

I'm honestly a bit underwhelmed by the Pacific. If I missed the rest of the series I wouldn't be upset about it. I just watch it since it's on. *shrug*

[Echewta]

This isn't about beer?

[Freebasser]

I was really enjoying The Pacific up until this morning, when some cunt at work who was reading up on the history of the main characters decided to spoil the entire series for me by telling me what happens to one of them later on.

I hate cunts who do this. Him and another guy always watch films the weekend they come out and speak loudly across the office about them them the following monday. I can't count on my hands and feet the number of films that they've ruined for me (n)

[DipDipDive]

Six Feet Under was better than The Wire (in my opinion).

Even though the last two, possibly even three seasons of Six Feet Under are overly melodramatic and completely boring compared to the first two?

And bored by The Pacific? Whaaat? I don't understand how that's possible...

[HEIRESS]

I was in a hotel that had HBO on Sunday night but all I caught was the funeral procession scene. That was all I required to have me hooked though.

[Nicodemus]

That was a long Budweiser commercial.

[Drederick Tatum]

taught him everything he knows.......about keynesian economics.

[Bob]

i watched the first episode yesterday

davis is a prick and i don't like him

[Drederick Tatum]

^indeed. dislikeable character, like Pete Campbell in Mad Men. in his own way he's just as self obsessed. Elvis saved him in the first episode.

[Documad]

^indeed. dislikeable character, like Pete Campbell in Mad Men. in his own way he's just as self obsessed. Elvis saved him in the first episode.
A week ago, I realized that the actor playing Pete Campbell played Connor (Angel's son on Angel). It blew my mind. I'm not sure I can recover.

I was really enjoying The Pacific up until this morning, when some cunt at work who was reading up on the history of the main characters decided to spoil the entire series for me by telling me what happens to one of them later on.
I started reading a little bit about some of the characters on wikipedia and then decided it was better if I didn't.

[Bob]

^indeed. dislikeable character, like Pete Campbell in Mad Men. in his own way he's just as self obsessed. Elvis saved him in the first episode.

he's kind of like if you took mcnulty, but separated his flaws from his redeeming characteristics and built a character entirely out of the bad parts. the scene in the first episode where he was fucking with his gay gardening neighbors by blasting mystikal i was all like "come on, there's no need for that you prick". maybe there's a story there. i don't know.

since this thread is also about the pacific, i'll say that i'm enjoying it, but i'm having a problem where i can't tell most of the characters apart because they're all wearing the same uniforms. it's even worse when they're wearing helmets. i can pick out sledge and snafu and i can pick out leckie when he's not wearing his helmet but mostly because of his hair (and also because he looks a little like mcnulty).

one thing i really like about the pacific though is how it emphasizes how positively nasty the environment was in the pacific campaign. it's something that's missing from most of the WWII movies and series that took place in the pacific theater (except the few about the russian front or the band of brothers episodes about bastogne). there was even that one episode in cape gloucester new britain where there was the one combat scene and the whole rest of the episode was about people getting sick from just being in the jungle. i feel like that's a thing that a lot of war movies kind of skip over but it's a big part of the pacific and i like it for that.

you have to wonder though; as hard as the jungle was on the americans, i'm curious how bad it was for the japanese. the american war machine was an industrial giant and although there were obvious logistical issues i think the us marines were relatively well supplied compared to the japanese. you also have to consider the fact that the americans were generally on the offensive and while shit certainly sucked for them for the time they spent fighting on those islands, the time they spent there was probably quite a bit shorter than the time that the japanese defenders did and they were probably more poorly supplied as well. god knows what that life must have been like. i'd be curious to see a movie or miniseries (or maybe read a book!) from their perspective; not to make them seem sympathetic nor to make them seem evil but just to kind of objectively tell their story. not sure where you'd get that information from though

[HEIRESS]

Part 8 of The Pacific was pitiful!

Treme is still delivering each week, I want Sonny to get dumped hard and I'm actually beginning to enjoy Davis now.

[DIGI]

I've been dvr'ing all the episodes, but haven't been able to watch any yet. :(

I'm pretty pumped to hear that Bored to Death will be returning. :)

[HEIRESS]

That's good news, I require some more Ted Danson in my life again.

I'm also oddly anticipating season 2 of "how to make it in america" as well :o

[hpdrifter]

A week ago, I realized that the actor playing Pete Campbell played Connor (Angel's son on Angel). It blew my mind. I'm not sure I can recover.

Oh my god you're right. I knew he looked familiar!

Actually the characters are pretty similar. Immature, selfish, obnoxious little prigs. Poor guy, I guess he just has that kind of face.

[jabumbo]

i just saw kermit ruffins live last week. i somehow feel that a tv show won't be nearly the same.

[Turchinator]

i'd be curious to see a movie or miniseries (or maybe read a book!) from their perspective; not to make them seem sympathetic nor to make them seem evil but just to kind of objectively tell their story. not sure where you'd get that information from though

Letters From Iwo Jima
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498380/)
Treme & The Pacific ftw

[Bob]

Part 8 of The Pacific was pitiful!

Treme is still delivering each week, I want Sonny to get dumped hard and I'm actually beginning to enjoy Davis now.

i dunno, i liked the last the pacific (there's an awkwardly structured sentence). i think the shot at the end where (SPOILER SPOILER BIG DAMN SPOILER) basilone died and the camera sort of zooms up from his corpse was really well done. it's like he's this big celebrity but then he dies face down in the dirt like any other soldier. a marine trips over him, the smoke from a shell obscures him so you can't see him, etc etc, i liked it.

the pacific's good, but it's definitely not as good as band of brothers, i don't think. for one, i'm still having the problem where i can't tell a lot of the characters apart, or even if i do recognize them, i can't really remember much about them. where'd leckie go btw?

as for treme, davis is kind of starting to grow on me a little too. john goodman keeps getting better as well. i don't think it's as good as the wire, though, it doesn't seem focused enough, it feels like a collection of peoples' stories that aren't terribly related, kind of like in the corner. i mean, the wire jumped around too but the bulk of it was anchored in one or two main story arcs, like the barksdale investigation or the mayoral campaign or whatever. treme is kind of all over the place at times. i like it, don't get me wrong, just...not as much.

[HEIRESS]

The last 10 minutes were top notch, everything beforehand was way too drawn out. I didn't like how they didn't show any scenes of what was happening with the other characters that either. I NEED ME SOME SNAFU DAMMIT

[Bob]

The last 10 minutes were top notch, everything beforehand was way too drawn out. I didn't like how they didn't show any scenes of what was happening with the other characters that either. I NEED ME SOME SNAFU DAMMIT

yeah, i can understand that. i mean i think that the story they told was worth telling, you know, the things that happened in the bulk of the episode followed by the thing that happened at the end, but i reckon they didn't need to spend the whole episode on it.

i was also looking forward to seeing more snafu, that guy rules. i hope that actor gets more work on account of this, i checked his imdb page and he hasn't been in much. the only other thing i've seen him in was in a few episodes of 24 and he was pretty good but it's hard to make a name for yourself in 24 because that show's kind of stupid now

[Documad]

Treme: I haven't watched tonight's episode yet, but let's hear it for the women: Melissa Leo, Khani Alexander, and the girl with the fiddle, in addition to all the solid male actors you've been discussing. I agree that the lack of a central plot leaves it lacking a bit but I'm enjoying the ride more than I thought I would.

The Pacific: Yeah, last week's episode was a change of pace and not entirely satisfactory -- mostly because I knew it was coming since the series started as he's the only real life guy whose story I knew by heart. But I still got a little choked up at the end. :( I don't think there's anything really wrong with the series, it's just that I'm still not as interested in the pacific as I should be. I was inspired to pick up a library book today about the plans for the invasion of Japan though. :p

[Bob]

well. davis certainly had a teachable moment in that last episode.

[Gareth]

I'm also oddly anticipating season 2 of "how to make it in america" as well :o

same, i hope it gets picked up for s2
at first i was a bit meh toward it but it grew on me
also, ben's ex is kinda hot
edit: and the music on the show is quite good...how can you dislike a show that kicks off with cam'ron "oh boy" blaring

[HEIRESS]

^ Meh, her facial features are too mannish for me dude!

Part IX of the Pacific was excellent because I got my Snafu fix finally!

Treme:
I still want to smash Sonny in the face.
I'm sadly addicted to The Food Network so I definitely recognized all the chefs that dropped into Janette's restaurant :o
and yes, definitely a turning point episode for Davis.

[Documad]

I ended up really liking the Pacific. I'll try to re-watch most of it to see if I can follow the characters better the second time around. Yeah, there was a lot of fluff in the last episode but I suppose we needed those stories too.

Also, I need to see more of the actor who played Snafu.

And WTF, I just found out that the actor who played Sledge was the boy in Jurassic Park!

[Bob]

haven't watched the last the pacific yet so no comment there apart from the guy who played snafu was in a few episodes of the latest season of 24. i would say that they're up on hulu except they aren't because hulu's doing that rolling 5 episodes thing and now they're expired. he did well with what he had to work with, i hope he gets more work in the future. the other comment about the pacific that i have is that it's not as good as band of brothers because band of brothers was about...well, a band of brothers. the characters were all part of the same group, they mostly went through the same shit, they had a bond, you recognized them because you were exposed to so much of them in almost every episode. the pacific suffers from having too few recognizable main characters and even the ones that they have seem to spend too much time apart. i mean there's leckie, and there's sledge, and there's....um...well anyway, unless i'm forgetting things, leckie and sledge don't even seem to spend too much time together, it's like their story arcs are completely separate.

and i realize the show is based on a true story, so if the real life leckie and sledge had separate experiences, then that's the story that the show has to tell, but it's just not as captivating as band of brothers was. i will say that the pacific is much more in your face about the "war is hell" aspect though. every episode is like the bastogne episode times five or six. i couldn't imagine having to go through that shit

treme is growing on me i guess but i'm still not getting into it as much as i wish i were. i think one of the problems i'm having with it is that it keeps dropping in these musicians and other semi-famous people without telling me who they are except i need to know who they are in order to appreciate them being there only i don't because i'm not familiar with the new orleans jazz/restaurant scene :/

i dunno. i still like it, it's just that it confuses me more than the wire and i feel like i'm at a disadvantage because i apparently need to do outside research to understand what's going on in the show

[Documad]

Yeah, a limitation of the Pacific is that it was based on separate books written by Leckie and Sledge. It might have been better if they just made some shit up based loosely on stories of a bunch of guys.

For Treme, I think you need to try to ignore the minor celebs and roll with the story. The chefs have all been on Top Chef. I found that to be distracting. I also found Elvis Costello to be distracting. They took me out of the show. Dr. John didn't for some reason. Maybe because he's always seemed like a character to me rather than a musician. I can enjoy Treme as a slice of life show but I honestly do better with shows that have some kind of overarching plot. I'm glad David Simon made another show and I fully understand that it won't ever be as good as The Wire, but I still sort of wish HBO would just rerun the Wire instead.

[Bob]

For Treme, I think you need to try to ignore the minor celebs and roll with the story. The chefs have all been on Top Chef. I found that to be distracting. I also found Elvis Costello to be distracting. They took me out of the show. Dr. John didn't for some reason. Maybe because he's always seemed like a character to me rather than a musician. I can enjoy Treme as a slice of life show but I honestly do better with shows that have some kind of overarching plot. I'm glad David Simon made another show and I fully understand that it won't ever be as good as The Wire, but I still sort of wish HBO would just rerun the Wire instead.

i imagine i do need to try to ignore it but they do it so often, it's hard. i'm always like "wait, who's that oh it's a real person i guess, hmm" which is kind of distracting because i'm still trying to remember the names of a lot of the actual characters in the show. it was only two episodes ago that i figured out what john goodman's name was. i've already forgotten his wife's name (but i do like her character). i think i figured out bunk and freamon's names at about the same time but it doesn't help that i can't not think of them as bunk and freamon.

i think the main plot arc of the show is the preparation for the big mardi gras show (but it's very frayed and lots of characters don't seem to be attached to it). i'm kind of curious what on earth they're planning to do for season two. next year's mardi gras? it also doesn't help that i know next to nothing about mardi gras but i'm betting i'm expected to

[yeahwho]

HBO on demand started rerunning The Wire a month ago. They are on the Season 3 finale now. I couldn't wait so I rented it and have 4 episodes of season 5 left. I'm blown away at how great The Wire is, it has exceeded all of my expectations for entertainment. (y)

Reading this thread I guess I'm going to have to lower my expectations for Treme.

[Bob]

HBO on demand started rerunning The Wire a month ago. They are on the Season 3 finale now. I couldn't wait so I rented it and have 4 episodes of season 5 left. I'm blown away at how great The Wire is, it has exceeded all of my expectations for entertainment. (y)

Reading this thread I guess I'm going to have to lower my expectations for Treme.

it's kind of ironic - probably the only reason i'm watching treme is because of how great the wire was but the only reason i'm ragging on it is because it isn't as good as the wire. by any other standard it would be pretty great but i just can't help but compare it to one of the greatest things i've ever seen on television or anything (which is a pretty unfair standard to judge something by)

edit: reading back over this i'm not sure if i used the word "ironic" correctly. whatever don't care

[Documad]

it also doesn't help that i know next to nothing about mardi gras but i'm betting i'm expected to

You're making this too difficult. Mardi gras is an excuse to get drunk and get your freak on. I assume that the show will focus on actions outside the touristy area (where women flash their breasts for beads) but who knows. And is has something to do with lent.

I think it's just about how fucked up everything was/is and how everyone let them down at every level. They're going to shine a light on a lot of little moments and mardi gras is perhaps more symbolic of the need to survive/get back to normal against all odds.

I rarely know the names of characters in shows I watch. John Goodman is the fat writer. Khani Alexander is the woman who is looking for her brother, etc.

I guess I need to check out HBO on demand.

[Bob]

You're making this too difficult. Mardi gras is an excuse to get drunk and get your freak on. I assume that the show will focus on actions outside the touristy area (where women flash their breasts for beads) but who knows. And is has something to do with lent.


yeah but they keep having these parades and shows throughout the season and i'm confused because i don't know how long mardi gras is or if they're part of that. like they keep talking about the second line but i don't know what that is

[Documad]

I believe they have all kinds of parades for all kinds of reasons, like Chinese people do in Chinese areas in large US cities. I think the Chinese parades I've stumbled into were all death related though. I'm just guessing. I don't know for sure.

I was in New Orleans for mardi gras once a long time ago. It was not my kind of scene.


Re The Pacific: It made me think about my dad a lot throughout the past weeks. I've been remembering all the things my dad would say about the marines. My dad was in the navy in the pacific in the first part of the war (then they sent him back to the states for the rest of the war). He felt like he had to enlist after pearl harbor and he didn't want to be in the army or marines. He enlisted in part because if you enlisted you got to pick the arm of the service you wanted to be in and that wouldn't be the case if you later got drafted. He thought that life on a ship would be far more comfortable than time spent digging foxholes or storming the beaches. It was important to him that in the navy you tend to sleep in some kind of bed. He always spoke with admiration for the marines they hauled around though -- he thought they were a bit crazy, too macho, and you had to have had a death wish to want to be a marine, but you could tell he admired them. The whole time I've been watching this show I keep thinking of how I would never have picked the marines if it were me and how my dad was a really smart guy even though he wasn't the most courageous guy.

[Bob]

He felt like he had to enlist after pearl harbor and he didn't want to be in the army or marines. He enlisted in part because if you enlisted you got to pick the arm of the service you wanted to be in and that wouldn't be the case if you later got drafted.

i remember shortly after 9/11, i was working in a hot dog stand at an amusement park and some guy was telling us about how we'd be smart to enlist now, because if we didn't we'd get drafted and wouldn't have a choice

don't regret my decision not to enlist

my grandfather served in the pacific but he never saw combat. i can't remember which branch he served with - i'm pretty sure it was the army - he was a plane spotter on a relatively safe island. i never really picked his brain about what he thought about it before he died. i do know that he liked to watch WWII programs on the history channel. that and the weather channel.

anyway i watched the last episode of the pacifc. SPOILERS, KIND OF: during the bit at the end, where they were going over the soldiers and their epilogues, i kept going "who?" for most of them.

i have to say, i'm a little disappointed. i assumed that i'd come to recognize the characters at some point in the show, but...i didn't. maybe my memory sucks, i don't know, but i definitely didn't have that problem with band of brothers. i think the fact that they essentially told three different stories (leckie's, basilone's, and sledge's) didn't help. i guess 10 episodes isn't really enough time to do that.

my review: good, not great.

[HEIRESS]

Pacific:
When they were doing synopsis' of each of the characters lives at the end, some of the guys I was all "who the fuck is that???"
So yes, as stated, the worst part of the series was not really being able to recognize who's who and therefore not giving a crap about them. They need to start picking less generic looking dudes to play these roles because otherwise I can't tell them apart especially since half of the action happens in the dark with rain pouring down.

Snafu is the best reason to watch the series. Oh, and stupid Leckie should have atleast tried to contact that girl back in Australia...idiot.

Only 1/4 way through episode 6 of Treme, thus far I already felt the need to google "creole mustard" though *sigh*

My go to treme blogs:
http://backoftown.wordpress.com/
and:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2010/05/10/126695563/-treme-episode-5-struttin-with-some-bbq

[jabumbo]

yeah but they keep having these parades and shows throughout the season and i'm confused because i don't know how long mardi gras is or if they're part of that. like they keep talking about the second line but i don't know what that is

they parade all the time, mardi gras is just one day.

the "main line" of a parade is whomever the parade is for (say a funeral or something) and the band. the "second line" are all the people who follow the parade down the road, and usually dancing goes with this. they like to twirl their umbrellas a round too.

[Bob]

they parade all the time, mardi gras is just one day.

the "main line" of a parade is whomever the parade is for (say a funeral or something) and the band. the "second line" are all the people who follow the parade down the road, and usually dancing goes with this. they like to twirl their umbrellas a round too.

this helps quite a bit, thanks

[Turchinator]

I ran across Rami Malek's (Snafu) twin brother in public and accosted him right there on the street. Snafu is definitely getting the most buzz out of any non lead character in The Pacific.

I thought Joe Mazzello did a fantastic job as Sledge, and I was always rooting for Keith Nobbs as Runner.

Didn't see BoB, therefore have no preconceptions.

Episodes 7-9 saved the Series. I also enjoyed reading the updates in real life after the series concluded, like how Leckie, Runner, and Hoosier were lifelong friends until their deaths...

[Bob]

I also enjoyed reading the updates in real life after the series concluded, like how Leckie, Runner, and Hoosier were lifelong friends until their deaths...

yeah, that was a nice touch. i liked how they did it in band of brothers; before each episode, there would be clips of veterans talking about their experiences, and in the final few episodes they started putting their names on the screen as they were talking and it was this just kind of "oh shit, that's winters" moment. i'm guessing that was harder to do for the pacific though because a lot of the people had died of old age by the time it was made.

[Documad]

Pacific:
When they were doing synopsis' of each of the characters lives at the end, some of the guys I was all "who the fuck is that???"

I had a similar reaction, then I went back and watched the first two episodes again and suddenly recognized a ton of people and got a lot more out of it. I don't want to watch every episode a second time, but I'm going to watch the combat-focused ones again.

[HEIRESS]

Really enjoyed the music in the last episode of Treme.

especially Ooo Poo Pah Doo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVySGO8Ak_Q&feature=PlayList&p=49A882CCBB9EE8C5&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=14) which they played in the airport and the stuff from the cajun band "Pine Leaf Boys" (http://www.myspace.com/pineleafboys)
You hear that type of music all the time in Quebec still.

The part with the trailers had me tearing up as well :(

[yeahwho]

Watched the first two episodes of Treme last night, I really like the show and even though there is not a lot happening it does give the viewer a real sense of a broken city and it's true denizens left to sort out the pieces.

The cinematography, sound and subtle street scenes are right up my alley. It is nothing like the wire, yet I feel as if I already know more about New Orleans in these two episodes than I knew about Baltimore in 5 seasons.

I mean that in a good way, Simon has immersed himself in New Orleans and it comes across unflinchingly real.

[befsquire]

so, i'm trying not to read this thread so that I can pick up the show and decide who i hate for myself. :) i never even heard of it - likely because my DVR list is too long already.

what channel is it on, and is it available on demand?

[yeahwho]

it is on HBO and HBO demand, I just caught up today and the last episode was so strong it actually had me in tears at least a half a dozen times.

Trust me that is not an easy feat for this guy. I never cry. These are some of the most subtle characters ever written for a TV show, yet you never realize how much you have invested into them. Then David Simon pulls back the veneer and goes straight for the heart and soul, your heart and soul.

I'm impressed to say the least.

[nodanaonlyzuul]

The finale episode was well done, very well done.

On a personal note though, if anyone remembers that thread I made about my partner and what he went through about 2 months ago now... then we watched the finale of Treme. What fucking hard thing to sit through after personal experience with a particular thing that happened. I guess I'll white it out so I don't spoil it the show itself others: when Cray killed himself, that wasn't as bad. It was in that last episode where his wife finds a note saying he loves her, on yellow lined paper. That's what my partner's Mother did. Then the pain of going through that and being sad about losing someone but also being angry that someone gave up. Fucking hell.

I kind of wish I knew about that ahead of time so we could have avoided it. :(

[yeahwho]

It's amazing because I knew what was happening and knew it was coming at me, I just never knew how much I did care. The fact that these people are so real is how it works. It wasn't a hit you over the head sort of episode, it reflected everything that is the most important in life. Love, family and a sense of community.

Entirely different than the Wire yet still incorporating the Wires intense dedication to detail and story line. The payoff is an over the head wallop.

Plus the soundtrack is superior, a 10.

The best.

Sorry Glee.

[jackrock]

Leckie stars in a new AMC series called Rubicon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1389371/). A sneak peak has aired but the series doesn't start until August. Shows lots of promise (y)