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Tyrant - The Godfather set in the Middle East - Season 2 - Tues on FX

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R

Rafa=FedKilla

Banned
Memles said:
Heads up: while all of those reviews were filed based only on the pilot (which some critics saw back in January, and a revised version of which was sent out last week), there will be another string of reviews in the next couple of days based on the first four episodes.

Related heads up: They're definitely not going to get better.
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That's not what I am hearing from my sources. Though they tell me that descriptions fits The Strain more.....
 
L

Linius

Member
I should check Cornballers threads more often, almost missed this one. Excited, hope it's good. FX is on a roll so far this year.

EDIT

Oh just noticed the mainl negative reviews. That's a shame.
 
N

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
Memles said:
Heads up: while all of those reviews were filed based only on the pilot (which some critics saw back in January, and a revised version of which was sent out last week), there will be another string of reviews in the next couple of days based on the first four episodes.

Related heads up: They're definitely not going to get better.
Click to expand...

Yikes D:
 
C

Cornballer

Member
A couple more reviews:
Variety said:
More than most pilots, “Tyrant’s” first hour is all preamble — the necessary buildup and narrative contortions to establish its provocative if implausible premise. As such, it’s a solid but not particularly distinguished effort, one that requires a significant suspension of disbelief to explore its insights about the Middle East, and the nature of the strongmen who have held sway there. In that respect, this handsome-looking FX drama from the producers of “Homeland” is perhaps a logical companion to that series, but at least in its initial incarnation, not a fully worthy heir.
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said:
Evidently there were differences over the direction of “Tyrant,” and the question of what the show will be after the pilot – A family drama? A political thriller? A little of both? – hangs over this first episode. That’s why there’s a hesitance to sing the show’s praises too loudly; it could all come crashing down as it goes along. But through the first four episodes, “Tyrant” holds up pretty well.
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C

Cornballer

Member
- Sepinwall's review:
There were similar warning signs throughout the creation of "Tyrant" that might have been telling everyone involved that they shouldn't have continued this venture. But they did, and here we are. Both FX and Howard Gordon have a history of taking big creative swings. In this case, they have a big miss.
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T

TheOddOne

Member
- Sepinwall's review:
The story behind the making of FX's new drama "Tyrant" is ultimately much more interesting than "Tyrant" itself. A lot of people came and went from this project, a lot of people fought for its future, and a lot of obvious stumbling blocks were ignored because there was a real passion to get it made. But the finished product doesn't suggest something nearly worth all the fussing and fighting.
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There were similar warning signs throughout the creation of "Tyrant" that might have been telling everyone involved that they shouldn't have continued this venture. But they did, and here we are. Both FX and Howard Gordon have a history of taking big creative swings. In this case, they have a big miss.
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Edit: BEATEN!
 
C

Cornballer

Member
A few more reviews:
Chicago Sun Times said:
The pilot is riveting but, like our protagonist Barry, a bit joyless. Here’s hoping the series doesn’t collapse under the weight of its own gravitas; it’s a compelling premise that plays out in a part of the world not often seen on TV.
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Denver Post said:
The cinematography is stunning, the music and atmospherics are immersive. With occasional hiccups the acting is mostly subtle. Suspension of disbelief will be required. But Tyrant is worth the effort.
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M

Memles

Member
RatskyWatsky said:
o god
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To be fair, I find Sammy way less annoying than Alan does. I also didn't mind Dana, though, YMMV.

I think the bigger issue is that the show has no grasp of itself, and there's nothing particularly novel or compelling to be found in the chaos. I'm open to shows taking time to develop, but there's not enough there there for the show to be as dull as it is.

I encourage people to check out the pilot, but I also say all of this as someone who found the pilot fairly compelling, and lost all interest by episode four.
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
I'll be giving it a shot but some of those examples of the drama they immediately deploy in the first couple episodes doesn't sound very promising to me. Sounds like they're quickly rattling off tropes of Middle Eastern conflicts, and I would have hoped they would delve deeper than that. The Americans doesn't do an assassination every episode.

Does anyone know exactly when Raff left the project? That big THR article wasn't too specific. I'm unclear if it was right after the pilot or in the midst of crafting the first few episodes or what.

Because if the directionless version of this is the one without Raff, that's not a good sign.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Steelyuhas said:
Already throwing stuff at my TV.

Still going to watch this tomorrow
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Same

Same

Memles said:
I didn't mind Dana
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Memles, memles, memles, I just don't know what I'm going to do with you.

I encourage people to check out the pilot, but I also say all of this as someone who found the pilot fairly compelling, and lost all interest by episode four.
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You lost all interest by the fourth episode? Yikes.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
More reviews:
USA Today said:
The larger problem is the often clumsy way in which this mythological kingdom has been constructed. With luck, growth will come, but anyone watching tonight could be forgiven for assuming that, with the exception of one brave journalist, the entire population of Abbudin is divided between the obsequious and the murderous.
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NY Times said:
“Tyrant” is a sophisticated thriller that oversimplifies its characters and narrative: The pilot tries so hard to make everything clear that it becomes too obvious where the story is headed, and what people will do next. Fortunately, subsequent episodes are a little less expository, and more action-driven.
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Washington Post said:
Rayner gives a stiff, coolly disinterested (and uninteresting) performance, the opposite of what “Tyrant” desperately needs in a protagonist. A few episodes in, you’re still rooting for the family to race back to the airport and get the heck out of Dodge. After so much good stuff lately from FX (“The Americans,” “Louie,” “Fargo” — I could go on) it’s sad to see it launch a dud, and sadder still to shoot it down.
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M

Memles

Member
RatskyWatsky said:
Go away, you're drunk.
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Dana was a regular teenager whose reactions to her situation in the first two seasons were perfectly reasonable.

Season 3? This is a different story, but I would argue that's a problem with the situations more than it's a problem with Dana in particular.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Memles said:
Dana was a regular teenager whose reactions to her situation in the first two seasons were perfectly reasonable.
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"My dad is a super secret agent working for the CIA and a terrorist is trying to kill him...or some shit. Meh." *twists fingers and plays with bottom of shirt*

No teenager in the history of the universe was ever that jaded.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Series premiere tonight:
Pilot

A California pediatrician who is the second son of a Middle Eastern dictator reluctantly agrees to return home with his American family for his nephew's wedding.
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F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
TheOddOne said:
Glad that I didn't sucked into Homeland.
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It almost kinda nearly partly redeemed itself towards the end of the latest season.

Dana... Dana wasn't so awful until they decided to push her down our throats. I honestly didn't get GAF's hate until Season 3, when writers decided to focus 1/3 of the plot on her hormonal vicissitudes, which is a TERRIBLE FUCKING MOVE in a show about international spies and high stakes.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Funky Papa said:
It almost kinda nearly partly redeemed itself towards the end of the latest season.

Dana... Dana wasn't so awful until they decided to push her down our throats. I honestly didn't get GAF's hate until Season 3, when writers decided to focus 1/3 of the plot on her hormonal vicissitudes, which is a TERRIBLE FUCKING MOVE in a show about international spies and high stakes.
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I finished season 1 and I though it was decent. Always planned to continue the series, but everybody advised me to steer clear of it. Kind of still want to see it for the lols, just to see why everybody is so mad about. Then again, I have other things to catch up on :p
 
C

Cornballer

Member
More reviews:
Poniewozik said:
In the end, there’s nothing in the show’s flat, melodramatic depiction of its world you couldn’t have predicted from watching a few world-news segments, Homeland, and a little Dynasty. It promises to explore another world, but instead it’s like a tour from inside a speeding limo, the air-conditioning blasting, the tinted windows rolled up.
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Onion A|V Club said:
But that’s sort of the way it goes with Tyrant. There’s been considerable fear and concern that the show would only prop up unfair stereotypes of Muslims and Middle Eastern countries—and it certainly does its fair share of that—but the real fear here should have been that the show would be largely nonsensical and boring. And despite some strong production elements, that’s pretty much what it is.
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C

Cornballer

Member
- HitFix: Why it matters that FX’s ‘Tyrant’ didn't cast a Middle Eastern actor in its lead role


A few more reviews:
Boston Herald said:
Tyrant is the most engrossing new show of the summer.... Gordon’s razor-sharp timing, a skill honed on “24,” serves Tyrant well.
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Slate said:
Tyrant dreams big but still feels small.
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LA Times said:
In attempting to mix West with Middle East, the show too often seems content with stereotyping both.
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R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Cornballer said:
- HitFix: Why it matters that FX’s ‘Tyrant’ didn't cast a Middle Eastern actor in its lead role
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The issue here is one of priorities. Everybody involved knew they wanted to cast the show correctly, honoring the Middle Eastern lead role by not casting somebody who could merely pass. Then when they couldn't, though, that became a secondary priority to making the show, as if "Tyrant" is some great masterpiece that needed to be made and needed to be made this year. Nobody wanted to say, "Let's wait until we absolutely get this right," which is what happens all the time when TV shows are given "cast contingent" orders.
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If Rayner were giving a performance that felt revelatory, at least you could take the "best actor for the role" cliché -- ignoring, once again, that "the role" is a half-Arab character and a half-Arab character meant to be at least several years older than Rayner's 36 -- at its word and Middle Eastern actors could have said, "Damn. This is the probably the most substantive major TV role available in my lifetime and I genuinely don't know the next time a casting sheet will read '40-year-old Arab family man' for a lead role and they gave it to a white guy. Oh well. At least he's giving a tremendous performance." Instead, the message is, "This guy who you've probably never heard of before is the wrong age for the part and the wrong ethnicity for the part and he's only kinda OK. And we still went with him over every available actor actually fitting the description."
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Oh boy.
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
whoa this sounds good, I didn't even hear about this before right now. Hope it turns out!

Although the lead character not being middle Eastern is genuinely offensive this time.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- Andy Greenwald's review for Grantland:
FX deserves real credit for attempting to stage a drama in such unfamiliar settings: This is a show featuring a predominantly Arab cast, set in a part of the world that is generally seen only through the lens of a war reporter’s camera — or worse. But so far at least, the gulf between intention and execution is wider than the Dead Sea. Stuffed to the gills with soapy family psychodrama and syrupy political intrigue, Tyrant simply has no room for the detail and care necessary to get a story like this right. There are no specifics that suggest Abbudin is a real place with a real history, no idiosyncrasies that turn mechanized plot advancers into characters. The truth is, Tyrant’s pilot suggests a show less interested in exploring an unfamiliar region than it is in unspooling a very familiar story, especially on cable TV, about an otherwise decent man’s descent into violence and sin. And there’s certainly no need to fly halfway around the world for that.
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K

kehs

Banned
Twenty minutes.

Watching Safehouse now. Pretty good. Never even heard about this movie. Denzel and Reynolds.
 
V

Valhelm

contribute something
I'm really liking this show so far. There's a bit too many characters thrown at you at once, but It isn't very difficult to follow.
 
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