crackerjack
Well-known member
I'm three episodes deep into the re-run of Mad Men and it's just not doing it for me yet. Does it improve?
The Wire, Arrested Development - Prototypes of a new type of telly?
- Thread starter Gabba Flamenco Crossover
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john eden
male pale and stale
I remember liking it from the off - I think it did get more into as time went on tho.
crackerjack
Well-known member
i think the detail is great - the smoking, the pre-feminism, the casual racism - but it's lacking much by way of plot at the moment. Soon come, I hope.
Yes, me too. It's a beautiful looking show; with a hyper-polished, over-stylised and aspirational perfection that's just like an advert. (Hmm, clever.) It's not a strongly plot-driven show, which again, I liked: each episode has a langorous, luxuriant pace, twisting around a central idea while weaving in a lot of almost extraneous detail (for example, the magnificent Rachel Mencken). But there is a larger plot that involves the background of Donald Draper and is, if a little far-fetched, a smart and absorbing spin on the show's subject matter. That subject matter itself being, as I mentioned, a refreshing change from cops, gangsters, lawyers and doctors.
crackerjack
Well-known member
why on earth would anyone want a change from that?
owengriffiths
Owen
Talking about good accents, the actor who plays Stringer Bell is English. Amazingly convincing.
The Wire is something else, I have a lot of respect for HBO throwing good money after bad. Am I the only one who thinks that Twin Peaks (series 1 at least) is similarly complex and groundbreaking.
The Wire is something else, I have a lot of respect for HBO throwing good money after bad. Am I the only one who thinks that Twin Peaks (series 1 at least) is similarly complex and groundbreaking.
nomadthethird
more issues than Time mag
I don't know much, but I know some things about clothes, and the costuming for the women in Mad Men (not to mention the makeup styling) is pure 1945. The pencil skirts cut on a bias, the sheath dresses tailored to the waist. The hats they sometimes have on the woman are certainly 40s and not 50s. Even the fabrics they use are more common in the 40s (wool and linen...cotton...few synthetics)
In the mid- to late 50s, the trends were such that dresses were mostly fitted on top (with shortsleeves and sometimes a mandarin collar and botton front, cinched at the waist, with a puffy a-line skirt with plenty of gathering. usually these had a but of crinoline underneath to keep their shape.
nomadthethird
more issues than Time mag
nomadthethird
more issues than Time mag
Nope I don't really have a favorite TV show, but if I did I don't imagine I'd care.
Didn't really mean Mad Men is a pile of shit, just that it's boring unless you're into voyeuristically getting off on the poetic good old days of sexism. Which I can't help but thinking is ultimately the point of that show.
Oh, come on! Don't be like that! I wasn't trying to be a massive dick, and I am quite possibly in love with you Nomad, so let's leave it at that.
...and I'm sure I know far less than you do. But something nags me here. I know a man who runs a company that dresses sets for anything from BBC dramas to big Hollywood period productions. He has a large terrace house in Ealing and every room is stuffed with objects from every period relating to every situation possible. (Amazing house to roam around, by the way.) He's friends with Barbara Streisand, for example, so it's no small affair. And I know, from talking with him, you cannot get away with any period or stylistic mistakes in this business. As it's very competitive, for example.
So, it seems to me that a company of set and costume designers working on an important US TV series, with worldwide franchise rights, and, to a large extent, basing its appeal on period detail, would be unlikely to get this so catastrophically wrong. Mainly because it would, at best, compromise, or at worst, destory, their future careers.
I don't know, but it would surprise me. I mean, the show was shot in HD, so I feel sure they researched its look quite thoroughly.
nomadthethird
more issues than Time mag
Aww that is sweet.
I know what you're saying about period detail in big productions, but what I usually notice (Marie Antoinette is a good example) is that sometimes more authentic period details are glossed over or changed up a bit so that people get a certain feel that fits better with the thematics of the production. I know this is just my subjective reaction but I get this feeling that there was a reason why they used 40s clothes rather than 50s, and that's because the "sexy secretary" look benefits from the more form fitting sultry looks of the 40s rather than the more house-wifey 50s practical dresses. I love the 40s glamor look myself but it seems men love it even more.
Mad Men like a lot of shows gives a sort of fantasy of what things were like that's tinged with our nostalgia for better times.
I know what you're saying about period detail in big productions, but what I usually notice (Marie Antoinette is a good example) is that sometimes more authentic period details are glossed over or changed up a bit so that people get a certain feel that fits better with the thematics of the production. I know this is just my subjective reaction but I get this feeling that there was a reason why they used 40s clothes rather than 50s, and that's because the "sexy secretary" look benefits from the more form fitting sultry looks of the 40s rather than the more house-wifey 50s practical dresses. I love the 40s glamor look myself but it seems men love it even more.
Mad Men like a lot of shows gives a sort of fantasy of what things were like that's tinged with our nostalgia for better times.
IdleRich
IdleRich
Lovefilm sent me the first disc of Mad Men the other day totally by accident and I was ill in bed so I thought that I would give it a go. Basically enjoyed it as far as it went but I don't think that I will make any particular effort to see the next disc. I liked the way it looked but I have to agree that, if pressed, I would have guessed that they were trying to represent a period earlier than that which they actually were. I just put that down to the fact that I probably have a misconceived view of what the sixties (even the early bits) were like - you know how when you see footage of sixties film the mods in it look nowhere near as authentic as the people you see at Mousetrap or wherever (same goes for seventies obviously) in a weird kind of way.
Anyway, I kind of liked the use of a situation where things happen as opposed to a plot (in the five episodes I saw anyway) and the slick dialogue - although it was slick in a rather cliched way. Never really saw the Sopranos but that was big on psychiatry (right?) so it seemed a bit strange to do the same thing here, although the obvious links between advertising and psychology make it relevant. I saw Thank You For Smoking recently and a lot of what I was seeing in the first episodes of Mad Men reminded me of that. Also, for some reason, I saw The Devil Wears Prada and the start of that is very similar with the inexperienced but attractive(?) girl starting at a new company and being taken under the wing of a possibly jealous older girl who is doing basically the same job. The way it ended on a crooned type tune reminded me of the Singing Detective (as did the look now I come to think of it).
So, bit of a mish-mash of other things but done in a very contemporary and watchable kind of way is basically how I would sum it up.
Anyway, I kind of liked the use of a situation where things happen as opposed to a plot (in the five episodes I saw anyway) and the slick dialogue - although it was slick in a rather cliched way. Never really saw the Sopranos but that was big on psychiatry (right?) so it seemed a bit strange to do the same thing here, although the obvious links between advertising and psychology make it relevant. I saw Thank You For Smoking recently and a lot of what I was seeing in the first episodes of Mad Men reminded me of that. Also, for some reason, I saw The Devil Wears Prada and the start of that is very similar with the inexperienced but attractive(?) girl starting at a new company and being taken under the wing of a possibly jealous older girl who is doing basically the same job. The way it ended on a crooned type tune reminded me of the Singing Detective (as did the look now I come to think of it).
So, bit of a mish-mash of other things but done in a very contemporary and watchable kind of way is basically how I would sum it up.
crackerjack
Well-known member
crackerjack
Well-known member
Depends which sites you end up on seeking further information.
crackerjack
Well-known member
mos dan
fact music
*coughcoughplugplug*
i saw a piece on the guardian website about how the office (us) was about to 'jump the shark'. this angered me as the episode in question hasn't even been bluddy filmed yet, and i think the office (us) is absolutely superb, american tv/team writing at its finest. i said so at greater length here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/28/comedy-television
i saw a piece on the guardian website about how the office (us) was about to 'jump the shark'. this angered me as the episode in question hasn't even been bluddy filmed yet, and i think the office (us) is absolutely superb, american tv/team writing at its finest. i said so at greater length here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/28/comedy-television
started watching Dead Wood this week between the holidays and i must say it's a pretty entertaining little vitual bubble to get sucked into. characters are strong and although cliched, believeable; story engaging... if ultimately pointless, at least it doesn't shrink away from straight forward depictions of the real stuff America is founded upon: greed, complete disregard for human rights/life, and violence.