Show Me A hero (New David Simon HBO Miniseries)

[irondarts]

HBO just gave the green light for a new miniseries from David Simon (the creator of The Wire) called Show Me A Hero. It'll be a 6 hour mini series and will star Oscar Isaac from Inside Llewyn Davis. Here's the full article:

[quote]HBO has given a green light to a six-hour David Simon miniseries about race relations, poverty-stricken low-income housing, and the general ineffectiveness of bureaucracy

[fsvr54]

Hopefully it's better than Treme.

[irondarts]

Treme was awesome. Loved that show.

[Nick Young]

Paul Haggis oh god:facepalm

Dont think Simon will ever top the wire or get near those heights again. Seems like he just wants to keep rehashing the same themes in different settings.

[irondarts]

Grantland: On The Set Of Show Me A Hero With David Simon (http://grantland.com/features/david-simon-show-me-a-hero-hbo-the-wire-treme/)

Great, great article with lots of info on the miniseries.

[RidonKs]

this story is so perfect for david simon it makes me scream

just saw this cover article at grantland on the show (http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/show-me-a-comeback-david-simons-return-to-form-on-hbo/)

two hour premiere this weekend, can't wait

[Thorpesaurous]

I'm pumped too. It is a perfect setting for Simon. And it doesn't hurt that Oscar Isaac has become among the best actors in the business.

I also just read the Grantland article. It sounds as promising as I'd hoped it'd be.

[irondarts]

On tonight. Looking forward to it. It's been getting great reviews.

[ZeN]

Been waiting for it, for sure...

[Levity]

how are you guys liking it? gonna find some time this week to watch the first two.

[dazzer87]

I recognized 3 actors from the Wire.....

[Thorpesaurous]

That first episode was a little clinical, but I did like it. I just wonder if 2 hours at a time is a bit much for something this technical. Shane from The Walking Dead was excellent.

[RidonKs]

great start to the show. i can definitely see why simon doesn't believe this will be any sort of an instant hit. it's got the exact same feel as the carcetti administration, except much more emphasis on the main character. which is good because Nick (will not spell his last name) has a lot of depth. the actor is doing awesome, he seems recognizable but i couldn't peg where i'd seen him.

best casting: the jewish lawyer is dead on imo with those big 80s glasses and tough actin attitude; belushi is perfect as the ex-mayor who knows more than he lets on; that thuggish looking councilor who keeps voting no; catherine keener is killing it, i have no idea where that role will lead but i sense a reluctant alliance pending between her and Nick

winona ryder's character is already annoying but the whining about not being in the spotlight anymore didn't go on too long and it was funny to see Nick attempt to change the subject about the crazy racial uproar but she swings it right back to how "nobody looks at her"... it's not often you encounter stories about ex-politicians returning to a regular job.




the fact that it's only 6 hours total and is based on a true story that is incredibly apropos for the current political climate in america... might mean more viewers will tune in. it's obvious this first weekend was mostly set up and we'll get the meat in the next two.

9/10 on set-up from me though. the crux of the story is the back and forth between federal court and town council. judge hammers home integration in the court, council rejects, return to court. its a nice tactic to build anticipation.

but then you got enough narrative digressions, into the lives of people eventually making the move or yonkers residents being forced to live with it.... still the majority of screentime is devoted primarily to cultural tension, rather than spending too much time exposing character depth.



nice work mr simon!

[RidonKs]

That first episode was a little clinical, but I did like it. I just wonder if 2 hours at a time is a bit much for something this technical. Shane from The Walking Dead was excellent.
do you mean like predictable in narrative format thorpe? like the mostly back and forth between court and council? i agree with that assessment but i don't think it will hamper the direction of the show. in fact it's probably helpful since the issue at hand, a low income/affordable housing construction project, is a little parochial and not exactly a gut-wrenching issue for most people. by simplifying the first two episodes, they first stand a better chance at hooking the viewer but also have more flexibility to concentrate on the issues that matter down the road.... rather than feeling forced to resolve character arcs that are tangential or completely irrelevant to the story being told.

[Thorpesaurous]

do you mean like predictable in narrative format thorpe? like the mostly back and forth between court and council? i agree with that assessment but i don't think it will hamper the direction of the show. in fact it's probably helpful since the issue at hand, a low income/affordable housing construction project, is a little parochial and not exactly a gut-wrenching issue for most people. by simplifying the first two episodes, they first stand a better chance at hooking the viewer but also have more flexibility to concentrate on the issues that matter down the road.... rather than feeling forced to resolve character arcs that are tangential or completely irrelevant to the story being told.


It's a little of both the way it was presented, and the subject matter.

We got to Mayor Wasicsko pretty fast. And the layout of the housing issue happened awfully quick too. It just felt a little like a data dump, which is not uncommon for a first episode, I just thought maybe two hours is a bit much for that much info.

And probably in an effort to keep the data clear, I felt like it went a little by the books in terms of the way they assembled the narrative. Although the bouncing to a couple of the interesting side characters helped probably more than I'm giving it credit for.

I do agree about the ability to short end some of the side characters. The latino family, and Katherine Keener's character, and a few of the other characters are really there more to show the affect of what's going on. But once it's resolved, there lives will go on. We don't need to follow these characters to the end of the earth, and we don't really need to learn anything. Some of the characters can continue to just be bigots, some can keep living up to the stereotypes the bigots have for them, and more can change, it doesn't really matter, they're more an illustration of the story than part of it.

Obviously Wascisko is going to be chewed up by this thing. Too young, too optimistic, too idealistic, and already drinking Stoli and Mylanta. And Oscar Isaac was already great. And I really really loved Jon Bernthal.

I still loved it, and I'm hopeful we'll see it get even more nuanced.

[RidonKs]

It just felt a little like a data dump
yeah that's true

my solution whenever this happens to be the case on a show that didn't meet my expectations is just two add an episode or two. then again i've never been a show runner. i'm sure there is a lot more to it than just plugging in some more exposition and slowing down the pace a tad.

i think the format is good for the story. you don't want to drag this on too much. it's a snapshot of a political figure buried in controversy and trying to figure out the next right thing. you don't capture that tension with a long tragic story of how meaningless it all is, kinda like the wire... rather you get really intense snapshots of the character in the most vulnerable instances. you put him in purgatory between popularity and nobility.


I still loved it, and I'm hopeful we'll see it get even more nuanced.

yeah i definitely think it will get more dense in the next eps. Mayor Nick is a perfect guy to walk that tightrope though, even if he does trip and fall at the end like u said. young brash self-righteous alcoholic who will still think he's the smartest guy in the room even when 150 people are booing him as loud as they can :lol

[RidonKs]

season finale this weekend

show got even better last weekend

[Thorpesaurous]

season finale this weekend

show got even better last weekend

Last weekend was really excellent. I liked the accelerated time line.

[RidonKs]

Last weekend was really excellent. I liked the accelerated time line.
me too man

another tremendous project by simon.

i'm not sure you could execute this story much better than what was done.

great length, story worked well as a miniseries



interview with simon on democracy now (http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/26/two_separate_americas_david_simons_new)

quote from the interview

Lisa Belkin’s book. And Bill Zorzi and I, who worked on the scripts, we felt the need to—we have to get the voices, as well, as well as the prose story. So we went to Yonkers, and Bill, particularly, dug into the story, and of course he met Mary. And Lisa tells a fascinating story about reading to Mary her book, when she was finished with the manuscript. Mary is reading visions of herself from when she was one of the most vocal and furious opponents of the public housing, and she denied saying those things. And Lisa had to go back and show her the record, what she had said at hearings and at protests. And Mary, at that point in life, didn’t recognize herself. She didn’t recognize her earlier version of herself. She was astonished. It really was a hero’s journey for her. And she’s—you know, Catherine Keener plays the turn so beautifully.

[Thorpesaurous]

Finally got to the end of this last night. Oscar Isaac is really remarkable. I won't spoil the end for anyone who hasn't seen it, but Isaac's performance builds to it in these small nuanced ways that sometimes felt awkward when they were happening, but then all made perfect sense (and seeing as it's a true story, you can easily read about it if you prefer). I have some reading on it of my own to do, because there are a few things I'd like to know (mainly the investigation in Wacsiscko, and weather it had any validity at all, or if it was really just an attempt to end his reputation).


I had some small gripes with it as it was happening, with what I felt was too much time spent on the families. The issues felt complicated and it felt like lost time, but after a heavy drop of info in the opening few hours, it didn't feel nearly as complex, and it's a nod to the performances that the time jump felt natural with characters that we really didn't have much time with. In the end there weren't as many characters as it felt like early on, and it all felt pretty intuitive.

Most of the performances were really excellent. Isaac, Carla Quevedo as his wife, the Spanish girl who was on the waiting list, Doreen, Winona Ryder, and Catherine Keener were all excellent in parts that had some meat on them. Then even the smaller rolls were really well done. Particularly Alfred Molina and John Bernthal.


Just a really good six hours of television that managed to stay lively in spite of what could've been a really dry topic.