Entries Tagged 'HBO' ↓
July 15th, 2008 by adam arseneau — HBO, Reviews
To be fair, calling this a review is false advertising at best. Like creators Ed Burns and David Simon’s previous venture The Wire, trying to get a sense of where Generation Kill is going or what it is all about after a mere episode is pointless at best. The meandering dialogue, the aimlessness, the complex interweaving of plot points suggest something adventurous and powerful, like the tip of an iceberg poking out menacingly from the water.
For some, sticking with this show will be something of a faith exercise. Everyone who stuck with The Wire after its first few episodes were rewarded with the strongest, most powerful drama on television, but many viewers abandoned it quickly. Similarly, if I had to judge Generation Kill based solely on the merits of its debut episode, it would be challenging. You want to like it, but quantifying exactly what you have just seen is difficult.
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July 12th, 2008 by adam arseneau — HBO
With The Wire recently wrapping up its final season on HBO, David Simon and Ed Burns have moved onto their newest project, substituting the rough-and-tumble streets of Baltimore with the rough-and-tumble streets of Baghdad. Not sure which place is more dangerous these days.
The first installment of Generation Kill, a seven-part mini-series airs Sunday on HBO, adapted from Rolling Stones journalist Evan Wright’s account of traveling with the First Recon Battalion (probably the best book I didn’t finish reading this year. Library fines suck.)
Generation Kill follows the highly trained Marines of First Recon Battalion through the first 40 days of the Iraq war. The seven-part mini-series portrays the true story of the young Marines’ experience at the tip pf the spear of the American invsasion, as they contend with equipment shortages, incompetent commanding officers, ever-evolving Rules of Engagement and an unclear strategy.
Check out the trailer below, and a recent New York Times review. Looks like a guaranteed winner! I’ll be back on Monday with a review.
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June 25th, 2008 by adam arseneau — HBO
In case you missed them the first time around over the last two decades or so, HBO2 will marathon through all the George Carlin HBO specials today and tomorrow. The man did a lot of specials for that network, so it’s great to see them showing the love.
For everyone who only gets HBO proper, fear not: they will be showing ‘George Carlin: IT’S BAD FOR YA’ on Friday, June 27th @ 9 p.m. Beats the alternative of no George Carlin specials at all!
HBO2 schedule:
Wednesday, June 25th
8PM George Carlin at USC (1977)
9PM George Carlin Again! (1978)
11PM Carlin at Carnegie (1983)
12AM Carlin on Campus (1984)
1AM Playin’ with Your Head (1986)
Thursday, June 26
8PM What Am I Doing In New Jersey? (1988)
9PM Doin’ It Again (1990)
10PM Jammin’ in New York (1992)
11PM Back in Town (1996)
12AM You Are All Diseased (1999)
1AM IT’S BAD FOR YA (2008)
Everyone get those TiVos ready.
(via HBO)
June 23rd, 2008 by Jim Thomas — HBO
Scientists have discovered that saliva causes stomach cancer–but only after swallowing small amounts over a long period of time. –George Carlin
I first encountered George Carlin’s singular combination of wit and profanity in 1975. My best friend Jeff had bought FM & AM, along with Class Clown, and we were both hooked. This guy cut through the inherent silliness in human behavior, and was popping cultural balloons right and left. Eight years in a Catholic school made me particularly receptive to Class Clown, though I gotta confess that I never had the stones to ask Sister Mary Reginald if God could make a rock so big that even He couldn’t lift it; Sister Reginald wielded a vicious ruler. I promptly recorded on my spiffy new cassette recorder (Suck it, RIAA!) so that I could listen at home. Listening was a cautious, often nerve-wracking affair; if my mother, vice-principal at my Catholic school, actually heard some of this stuff, the consequences would have been grim indeed.
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April 24th, 2008 by vvaldivia — HBO
Some enemies you just don’t want. In the pantheon of people you’d rather not tangle with, Sonny Barger, the infamous leader of the Hell’s Angels, would probably rank right up there with the biggest and the meanest: Al-Sadr, Gotti, Harvey Weinstein. Yet this article at MSNBC.com reports that Barger is suing HBO and writer/producer Michael Tolkin (The Player), asserting that they conspired to develop the upcoming series 1%, which is set in the world of outlaw bikers, with Barger and then cut him from the project without paying him. If Barger’s allegations are true (no trial date has been set yet), that would be an astonishing display of, let’s say, piss-poor rock-bottom judgment on the part of Tolkin and HBO. As anyone who has read Barger’s gruesome and graphic autobiography Hell’s Angel knows, he’s just a wee bit rougher than the typical H’wood celebs who throw a hissy over a bad latte order. In one particularly memorable chapter, he recalled how members of a rival biker club once stole his motorcycle. So he sat the misguided lads down and calmly and reasonably explained, using such recognized teaching aids as bullwhips and ball-peen hammers, why that was probably not the wisest decision they had ever made. I, for one, certainly learned my lesson, and I wasn’t even born then. While 1% itself sounds quite promising (it’s just started production with Donal Logue in the lead), I have only one piece of advice for Tolkin and HBO: out-of-court settlement. Your skull and vital internal organs will thank you for it.
March 10th, 2008 by adam arseneau — HBO
And so ends the finest show ever to grace the airwaves of a cable television network. The Wire, HBO’s operatic, complex and spiraling police drama aired its final episode last night, drawing to a close a spiraling novelistic narrative of unprecedented depth and quality. Last night’s swan song was—and I am sure you fans will agree—nothing short of Dickensian.
Discussion points and spoilers below.
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March 7th, 2008 by Michael Stailey — HBO
The wheels are turning at HBO. If the big screen wrap-up of Sex in the City makes good box office bank, we may see a resolution to The Sopranos as well. Rumor has it the studio has requested one New Jersey developer to hold off on redevelopment plans for one of the series’ set pieces… just in case. So, for everyone who hated being left hanging as to Tony’s fate, there may be hope yet. ( Gawker )
March 5th, 2008 by Michael Stailey — HBO
Looking for a solid Sopranos replacement, HBO and gifted creator Alan Ball are harvesting the garlic and sharpening the wooden stakes for True Blood, an adaptation of Charlaine Harris’ vampiric romance starring Anna Paquin (X-Men), Stephen Moyer (Quills), and Alexander Skarsgard (Zoolander).
February 25th, 2008 by molly1216 — HBO
HBO and Youtube have kissed and made nice. HBO has made a deal to air highlights from some of the premium cable net’s most popular shows on Youtube —Entourage, The Wire, Flight of the Conchords, Real Time with Bill Maher, Extras, Def Comedy Jam, Stand Up Comedy specials and Real Sports, and Sex and the City. Additionally, there will be special YouTube-only features. If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em, eh folks? At least this fight didn’t throw the file-sharing baby out with the bathwater. www.youtube.com/hbo (E! News)
