Support NeoGAF

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

In this marriage, it only makes sense than Mann has control. Its still Milch's beautiful words and characters, but its Mann's job to focus that talent.

Deadwood was Milch with complete creative control, and it was the best television show I've ever seen. But then John From Cincinnatti was also Milch with complete crestive control, and that was some of the worst television I've ever seen. Having Mann to reign him in isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Definitely. My only fear is that they won't be able to maintain the balance. And chaos shall follow. Then again maybe they can be professional, and we'll get some amazing fucking TV.

Good stuff from NY Magazine:

- A Handy Guide to Understanding HBO’s Luck

Awesome.

Only complaint about the show is Richard Kind. That guy annoys me to no end.

 

[Clevinger]

Definitely. My only fear is that they won't be able to maintain the balance. And chaos shall follow. Then again maybe they can be professional, and we'll get some amazing fucking TV.

The only actual problem I've heard with their arrangement is that it's a slow process. The season was supposed to be 10 episodes, but they couldn't finish it in time, so now it's 9. I hope it doesn't just cut off abruptly.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

The only actual problem I've heard with their arrangement is that it's a slow process. The season was supposed to be 10 episodes, but they couldn't finish it in time, so now it's 9. I hope it doesn't just cut off abruptly.

Yeah, that's kind of what caused my fear that they couldn't meet a 10 episode production. But I think they'll make this season work. HBO is sending out the whole season to reviewers so they must have some faith in it.

 

[Cornballer]

I can see it being problematic given how much Milch likes to rewrite things right before they film them. Hopefully it doesn't become even more of an issue.

HBO is sending out the whole season to reviewers so they must have some faith in it.

I'm also assuming the show is a slow burn, so they want to give them enough that the longer story arcs are paying off.

 

[jett]

Man I don't like the obtuse writing they got going on. Still, the pilot was kind of mesmerizing in a way. I'm interested.

 

[Solo]

Man I don't like the obtuse writing they got going on. Still, the pilot was kind of mesmerizing in a way. I'm interested.

Have you watched Deadwood or JfC, jett? JfC especially is quite obtuse. Its what Milch does.

 

[jett]

Have you watched Deadwood or JfC, jett? JfC especially is quite obtuse. Its what Milch does.

Yeah I've watched both, but this was even harder to follow with the constant derby-jargon thrown into the mix.

 

[Solo]

Ah. I haven't seen it yet to have an opinion, but I just wanted to make sure. Damn, if it's obtuse by Milch's standards, then it's gotta be pretty damned obtuse :lol

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Ah. I haven't seen it yet to have an opinion, but I just wanted to make sure. Damn, if it's obtuse by Milch's standards, then it's gotta be pretty damned obtuse :lol

Since I'm simultaneously rewatching Deadwood (again), the thing with Luck is that it's not instantly parseable from environmental cues. DW was very ornate, language-wise, but you could figure it out by the surroundings and the characters. Luck is less obtuse, vocab-wise, but its surroundings are, to most, way more alien than the American West. DW was simple: Gold, Gambling, Fucking, Murder. Luck is like...jockeys, and betting, and odds, and all kinds of other shit.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Since I'm simultaneously rewatching Deadwood (again), the thing with Luck is that it's not instantly parseable from environmental cues. DW was very ornate, language-wise, but you could figure it out by the surroundings and the characters. Luck is less obtuse, vocab-wise, but its surroundings are, to most, way more alien than the American West. DW was simple: Gold, Gambling, Fucking, Murder. Luck is like...jockeys, and betting, and odds, and all kinds of other shit.

As spoken by Jose Yero with some trademark Mann mumbling thrown in for good measure.

 

[Clevinger]

Since I'm simultaneously rewatching Deadwood (again), the thing with Luck is that it's not instantly parseable from environmental cues. DW was very ornate, language-wise, but you could figure it out by the surroundings and the characters. Luck is less obtuse, vocab-wise, but its surroundings are, to most, way more alien than the American West. DW was simple: Gold, Gambling, Fucking, Murder. Luck is like...jockeys, and betting, and odds, and all kinds of other shit.

One part of Deadwood reminds me of this: all the Yankton/territory dealings in S2. I was so, so lost on all of that shit the first couple times I watched it.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

As spoken by Jose Yero with some trademark Mann mumbling thrown in for good measure.

Another good point. There wasn't a lot of dialogue in DW that was actually hard to make out.

 

[Solo]

Speaking of Deadwood, my complete series Blu-ray just arrived from Amazon. Fuck yes.

 

[Cornballer]

Yeah, with JfC I understood what they were saying, but in a lot of cases I couldn't figure out what it meant. Here on Luck, it's more an issue of missing some words (mumbling, accents) and being lost when it comes to terminology.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Speaking of Deadwood, my complete series Blu-ray just arrived from Amazon. Fuck yes.

It's the flat out best thing ever. The gorgeousest show just got gorgeouser.

 

[Mr.Awesome]

Have you watched Deadwood or JfC, jett? JfC especially is quite obtuse. Its what Milch does.

I had no problem following Deadwood. This was a fucking mess though.

 

[Satyamdas]

I'm surprised people are having such a hard time with the terminology and accents. Escalante's accent was off a few times, never to the point where I couldn't understand him though. My dad took me to Hollywood Park and Santa Anita a few times as a kid, but I've never been into horse racing enough to learn the lingo and I had no trouble following what was happening in the show. If anything I thought they did a little too much explaining about what a Pick Six is.

Thought the pilot was great. Dug every single character, but especially Farina/Hoffman. I love Richard Kind, but I wish his character didn't have a stutter. And holy shit did the previews at the end get me hyped. Best preview reel I've ever seen. This show will be god tier without question.

 

[Discotheque]

I had no problem following Deadwood. This was a fucking mess though.

no it wasn't. I was only thrown off by the first conversation between the jockey from Mars and Escalante. It was the most bizarre thing I've heard in a while.

But then I got used to both of their individual accents.

I had some troubles with Deadwood at times during some negotiations and shit involving "Yankton", but I was always up to speed by the end of the episode.

And this pilot reminded me a lot of Deadwood actually. I can already see Ace and his driver/Dennis Farina having a Swearengen/Dority relationship here. And the whole thing with the tape-recorder, that's another "indian head" waiting to happen.

Fucking amazingly shot btw. The horse races just felt kinetic, and as always from Mann there were some great music choices. If the other 8 episodes are like this then Mad Men's got tough competition for me.

edit: yeah Satyamdas, the preview was great. Michael Gambon looks like a menacing dude in this one.

 

[Arment]

I better rip up this letter then! We'll just agree to disagree.

Definitely think the "jockey from Mars" was Cajun / New Orleans, though the accent was wildly inconsistent. Great that he made fun of Escalante's, though!

The red-haired jockey says "That Cajun can pump!" so I think it's confirmed.

I liked it. It was slow to start but once they got into the racing I was enthralled.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Anyone know why there was a goat with the horses? There was a goat with the horses in the Sopranos as well. Is this standard practice?

 

[gdt]

Anyone know why there was a goat with the horses? There was a goat with the horses in the Sopranos as well. Is this standard practice?

IIRC, they stay with the horses most of the times. Like a friend, permanent company, I think.



Man, all of that stuff that Ben posted flew right over my head. I barely got any of it. Still, visually awesome premiere.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

IIRC, they stay with the horses most of the times. Like a friend, permanent company, I think.

Cool, that's kind of what I was thinking, but wasn't sure.

 

[Cornballer]

I watched it again last night, and it made much more sense. There was a lot of nuance and subtlety that I didn't pick up on the first time around. I like how it sort of plays out like a spy scenario where information is power, and everyone is trying to figure out what everyone else is up to. I think Escalante (the trainer) and Marcus (wheelchair bound gambler) are my favorite characters from the pilot.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

At times like this I wish I had a DVR to watch it again. Oh well, the wait to January 29th will only feel like an eternity.

 

[Ricky_R]

At times like this I wish I had a DVR to watch it again. Oh well, the wait to January 29th will only feel like an eternity.

If you have HBO, I don't see an issue if you borrow it from the interwebz. You can re-watch it whenever you want and then you can delete it.

 

[Clevinger]

I watched it again and my main complaint is my main complaint with Mann's last two movies. The human directing feels off. The visuals/action are gorgeous, but the acting just feels weird and awkward. It's weird, because if you look at Collateral and everything before it, Mann got brilliant and natural performances out of his actors. I kind of wonder if somehow it has to do with his digital video style, but Collateral was digital and it had great performances. So yeah, I don't know. But something's off.

Also, in the articles that describe the tension between Mann and Milch, one of the things they say is that Mann doesn't respect the script (or at least didn't until they resolved their issues), and it shows. A lot of the dialogue was changed from the script, and mostly not for the better.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

If you have HBO, I don't see an issue if you borrow it from the interwebz. You can re-watch it whenever you want and then you can delete it.

True.

 

[ivysaur12]

Collateral was a great film, but some really poor quality cameras sort of marred the experience and how I remember it.

I'm going to have to rewatch this again... and again to try to understand the language. The fact that I have no knowledge of horse racing or the slang in that industry doesn't help.

 

[Cornballer]

I'm going to have to rewatch this again... and again to try to understand the language. The fact that I have no knowledge of horse racing or the slang in that industry doesn't help.

Read this, it helps:

Good stuff from NY Magazine:

- A Handy Guide to Understanding HBO’s Luck

 

[ivysaur12]

Read this, it helps:

Just started. Does HBO have character pages? I'm have a bit of a hard time inferring what everyone's role on the track is.

 

[Cornballer]

Just started. Does HBO have character pages? I'm have a bit of a hard time inferring what everyone's role on the track is.

They usually put something together, but it's not there for Luck yet. Might have to wait until January for them to post it.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

A lot of the dialogue was changed from the script, and mostly not for the better.

Wait, what? How do you know?

 

[ivysaur12]

Wait, what? How do you know?

It's pretty easy to find pilot scripts online. Sometimes I think they're leaked purposefully in order to build buzz.

 

[bud]

pretty-looking and intriguing. like plenty of other people, i didn't always understand what was going on, but i'm sure i will, eventually, haha.

i really dig hoffman in this.

 

[Cornballer]

A couple more reviews of the pilot:
- Grantland
- Slate.com


Also:
- Youtube copy of the opening credits

Any thoughts on these? I like the music and the color palette, but the imagery is a little too on the nose. It still works pretty well setting the mood for the series. They're solid but not spectacular.

 

[Brian Fellows]

Any thoughts on these? I like the music and the color palette, but the imagery is a little too on the nose. It still works pretty well setting the mood for the series. They're solid but not spectacular.

Worst opening credits for any HBO show I've ever watched.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Worst opening credits for any HBO show I've ever watched.

I was about to say EPISODES!! but then I realized it's Showtime. But yeah, those were pretty bad.

 

[Ricky_R]

Was it just me or sometimes it seemed like the audio was out of sync when characters talked. Specially with Joey Rathburn... His stutter didn't help.

Anyway, like many have said, the pilot was great and the camera work was cool. The cinematography was amazing. Also, the music was great. Either Mann was involved in the music used through-out the whole pilot or he brought the dude who made the music for Miami Vice with him because it sounds similar.

The montage at the end made my hype go through the roof.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Will there be a new OP when the series premieres, Cornballer?

 

[Cornballer]

Will there be a new OP when the series premieres, Cornballer?

I think we'll just stay here unless someone has a good reason to put up a new one. I'll talk to a mod about getting the thread title change once we're into late January, and I will update the OP once there's more info.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I think we'll just stay here unless someone has a good reason to put up a new one. I'll talk to a mod about getting the thread title change once we're into late January, and I will update the OP once there's more info.

Cool.

 

[Solo]

Just watched the pilot. WOW. I already know I am going to love this show. Already really feeling the characters, the relationships and the overall vibe. Dialogue was great as per the Milch usual and Mann directed it with a ton of swagger. Farina and Hoffman are going to make such a great duo.

And holy shit at the season preview

 

[ivysaur12]

A couple more reviews of the pilot:
- Grantland
- Slate.com


Also:
- Youtube copy of the opening credits

Any thoughts on these? I like the music and the color palette, but the imagery is a little too on the nose. It still works pretty well setting the mood for the series. They're solid but not spectacular.

They're pretty bad, and I'm usually a sucker for all opening credits.

 

[Clevinger]

Here's a bit of an interview with Nolte that I thought was funny:

Interviewer: Luck, which previewed on HBO last Sunday, looks extremely promising. The racetrack is such fertile ground for storytelling. Are you familiar with this world and what does Luck get right about it?
Nolte: I’ve been around horses all my life. But David Milch came out and pitched me this. He didn’t have to say much. He said, “You know, I’ve lost $23 million at the racetrack, so I need to write this to get some of that back.”

Interviewer: That’s great on so many levels.
Nolte: Yeah. I mean, going to the track with him is just crazy. I gave him two bucks to make a bet for me, and at the end of the day, he hands me $2,000, and I said, “C’mon, David, don’t just give me money.” He said, “No, look, I’ll show you. Here’s what you bet here, this is your $2 bet. You won that and I put it on this. And then you won the daily-double and if you count the Pick-6…” [Laughs] He’s just out there. This first season, the first show doesn’t really say much, but it’s really going to open up. By episode 3 or 4, we really get cooking. You’re going to see every element of the track. It’s not Black Beauty. You’re going to love these deviants. It’s great. We got some really good writers.

 

[satriales]

I love the opening credits.

 

[Cornballer]

Dialogue was great as per the Milch usual and Mann directed it with a ton of swagger. Farina and Hoffman are going to make such a great duo.

Love that line at the end: “I don’t trust no one, not even myself; you, I give a pass to.”

Here's a bit of an interview with Nolte that I thought was funny:

Ha ha, Milch is nuts.

 

[CrankyJay]

Finally saw this...not sure what to think. It felt so surreal and tense I felt like someone was going to get whacked at any minute. Definitely a TON of characters to follow.

 

[Solo]

You should think that its fucking awesome.

 

[ThisWreckage]

This reminded me a lot of John from Cincinnati.

1) Competitive sport of surfing vs. competitive sport of horse racing
2) A plethora of interesting, yet wholly unlikeable characters
3) Dense, mumbo jumbo type dialogue

Throw in some Deadwood scheming and double crossing and you're left with this show.

 

[Solo]

This reminded me a lot of John from Cincinnati.

*barfs*