OT: True detective/Ballers/Brink
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nomar
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Loved it. Then I read Bleeding Edge. Hated that.
Watched The Brink. I'll give it a shot.
The Brink:Homeland as Veep:House of Cards.
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Watched them both last night. Ballers was Entourage with athletes, The Brink was actually pretty good. Think I'll stick with both for the time being
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Watched Ballers last night. I love HBO and I guess since everyone wants to compare it to Entourage, I'll give it a few more episodes, but wow, I thought it was really bad. The Rock's acting was horrible and his white financial manager boss/counterpart was even worse. I have the feeling we're just going to run through every cliche sports/agent stereotype imaginable. The trophy wife, the sleazy agents, the volatile player, the hard edged coach. It was like a cartoon, only saved somewhat by a couple hot naked chicks.
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Sign me up! Sounds Great.
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I was as big fan of the first season of True Detective. This second season is off to a suspect start. It was filled with trite character development. I like Rachel McAdams, and the majority of the cast to that to that matter, but her character is the typical tough minded female police detective with daddy issues, as someone already pointed out. Her character reminded me of the agent in the TV Show, In Plain Sight. Vince Vaughn's character and the whole corrupt politician and mod crowd he hangs with seemed so cliche. Collin Farrell's over-the-top, out-of-control drunk, angry, and victimized (due to some tragic event that happened to his wife) character, seemed also cliche.
The only thing I really liked about the first episode was how the primary characters all came together, albeit predictable. I was about to explain what that was, but I'll avoid being spoiler here, even though it's a few days past the unavailing of the first installment for season II. Since I enjoyed the first season, I'll give this one a chance, but so far it lacks the unpredictable and highly interwoven plot of the first season that gripped me from the first to last episode.
TV in general the past month or so has been dreadfully lacking. A few shows are starting up, but so far, it's starting t look like a good time to enjoy the summer and watch less TV. Maybe I'll do some binge watching on some series that I've heard a lot about but have yet to watch.
On a completely unrelated note, I just watched the King's Men the other day. I saw it at the movies, but my Son bought me the Blu-ray. The scene in the church goes down as one of my favorite 10 minutes of mayhem. Rarely do I get an adrenaline rush from a movie scene. Applying the song Free Bird to that scene was pure genius...but I digress.
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Fishy
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I rewatched the original recently - I had forgotten just how good it was.
I would call the second season's start 'crowded'....it seems like there's an awful lot of misery spread out wide.
It starts off with Vince Vaughn struggle to act like he's drinking from a coffee mug. Watch it again - he has been acting in clown shows for so long that he had trouble acting like a person who is having coffee. Then Rachel McAdams shows up apparently miffed that her boyfriend wouldn't drill her in the ass. And then Colin Farrell, the guy whose career ending in John Carter and the Russian guy from those funny cable commercials....there's a lot of balls in the air.
With so many characters, there's a lot of exposition to cover, so I guess a slow start is to be expected.
I'll watch again next Sunday and hope for better. It got a little kooky with the Weekend at Bernie's moment at the end, so we'll see.
Season 1 of "True Detective" is now largely remembered as a study in character development, thanks to what was, IMHO, an uninspired ending, along with some unfortunate comments by Pizzolatto to the effect that the story was only a vehicle used to provide insight into the characters. However, if you remember back to the middle of the season, what had everyone talking was the thread of the occult which ran through the story: the ritualistic murders; the stick figures; the creepy scenery; the references to Cardosa and the Yellow King; and the scary thought that somewhere out there was some omnipotent entity that controlled everything. As it turns out, that was all just one big red herring. However, for me, it was the story that made the show compelling, and the characters were just the icing on the cake. There are literally thousands of movies about character development that nobody has ever heard about. People don't tune in week after week, and disect each episode the next day at work because of great character interaction. People get sucked in by a good story. After one episode, the characters in Season 2 seem to be a little too manufactured, and the storyline a bit convoluted and not too interesting. Hopefully, it picks up soon.
nelsonmuntz
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I liked the first episode of Ballers, but I think it has some major problems. I disagree with those that say the whole show is a cliché. Other than Any Given Sunday, there have not been too many football shows/movies that gave this kind of depth to the major characters. My issue is that the characters have too much depth. I am going to have trouble following complicated back stories of 15 characters in a 30 minute dramedy.
I also think going dramedy is a mistake. Shameless pulls it off, it has an hour to work with, and it is one of the best shows on television. After that, good dramedies are really, really rare, and I can't think of any that are 30 minutes long. I hope the show sticks to the laughs, because otherwise it will be a one season show.
I also think going dramedy is a mistake. Shameless pulls it off, it has an hour to work with, and it is one of the best shows on television. After that, good dramedies are really, really rare, and I can't think of any that are 30 minutes long. I hope the show sticks to the laughs, because otherwise it will be a one season show.
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True Detective will keep me coming back. Great acting, decent writing. First episodes are tough with so much going on. Some random relationships are too much to believe, though. Ballers will get viewers but Dwayne Johnson acts like a rock. He can't carry this show past a season or two. Brink was entertaining. Tim Robbins is super. If Jack Black can keep from chewing the scenery they may have a big winner.
Husky25
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I watched both Brink and Ballers last night. Both were good enough to earn a second episode, but Brink was more entertaining. I never got into True Detective last season, so now that there is a second, I'll binge watch the Harrelson/McConaughey season before I get into season 2. I never watched Entourage either. So at some point before the movie, I'll go back and watch that. HBO GO is awesome...
jleves
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My God - Brink sucks so bad it's worthless. Ballers is good enough to keep watching. I decided to watch the first season of True Detective before watching the second season and the first season is seriously good. Way better than The Wire that so many of you recommended.
But the Brink - holy cow - worst thing I've seen on HBO ever.
But the Brink - holy cow - worst thing I've seen on HBO ever.
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I like Brink after all myself. Tim Robbins is excellent and it's pretty entertaining. Would like to see more of Carla Gugino though. 
nelsonmuntz
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I was away for a bit, so I start to catch up last night with the second episode of True Detective. I don't even get through the prior episode recap before I realize that I have no idea what is going on and I probably have to start over.
Brink is a little frantic, which makes the episodes inconsistent, but overall I like it.
Ballers is turning into exactly what I thought it would be, which is a fun, mindless, decent show. The boat party was completely predictable, and very Entouragey.
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Ballers: I'm up to current and the 3rd episode was the best one yet. I am hoping there's a little more grit or story coming with some of the groundwork they're laying: Rock's pill popping, the pics of the guy doing blow off strippers, the boss cannot be happy about what they did to his boat, Rock's personal financial situation, etc. I'll still watch if it's just mindless stuff, but I hope it gets a little deeper.
True Detective: I finally watched the season 2 premier. Thought Colin Farrell was awesome. There's a lot of story hanging and flapping in the wind, as expected, but it was a lot better than the initial reviews I heard.
True Detective: I finally watched the season 2 premier. Thought Colin Farrell was awesome. There's a lot of story hanging and flapping in the wind, as expected, but it was a lot better than the initial reviews I heard.
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Fishy
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I just watched the third episode.
At this point, I don't remember any character's name, Vince Vaughn's tics are wearing thin and I can't even remember which crime they're investigating.
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I have no clue what's going on and Vince Vaughn's beat down of the giant Mexican guy in the strip club basement was so hard to believe, as soon as he took off his jacket and started hopping around I started laughing.
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Ease off the pot, man
intlzncster
i fart in your general direction
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Really? I was hooked for good part way through episode 1!
Season 2: I can't get past the name of the city (Vinci) being so similar to it's main mob boss (Vince Vaughn). I don't know why it bothers me, but it does. If that's my hangup w Season 2, then imo the show has been underwhelming.
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My brothers said the same thing....epidode three is must see.
Maybe I bailed a bit soon.
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I'm not sure it was enough. Interested to see how the aftermath plays out. It was quite dull up until the last ten minutes.
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It took 4 episodes last season for things to ramp up, just like this season. Episode 4 was when they had that huge shootout in the hood after jacking that stash.
I can't believe some of y'all didn't learn your lesson last season to be patient.
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Touche. Like Shabazz after Kemba? Wait til the end my friends.
intlzncster
i fart in your general direction
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Felt a little like Son's of Anarchy in terms of shooting though. Fifty million bullets flying everywhere, and not hitting people in plain sight (until later with the protesters). Watching Rachel McAdams sprinting and trying to shoot her gun forward at a moving car made me laugh out loud.
Better episode overall though. Still don't think Vince Vaughn is getting it done as the Mob Boss. Don't know if it's the writing or the acting there.
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