Louis CK's Horace and Pete

     Louis CK is a busy guy. He's both an acclaimed stand up comic, who's the only comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden three nights in a row, but he also writes, directs, and edits a critically acclaimed tv show Louie. He hasn't stopped there. Instead Louie has put out another self created show called Horace and Pete.

    Horace and Pete is a pretty experimental project even for a creator whose show is often described as surreal. H&P is only available on Louie's website and are pay per view. The first episode runs 67 minutes and costs $5. Each remaining episode runs progressively 10 minutes shorter and costs $3. Stylistically the show is a strange set up for television in 2016. The set is plain and the lighting is flat and it's clearly a multicam but there are never any shot reverse shots, only different angles. This lack of cutting and this open set design makes the show feel more like a recorded play than an episode of television.

                          

The show is about a bar in New York called Horace and Pete's which was founded 100 years ago by a Horace and operated in conjunction with his brother Pete. It has passed down for generations to the current Horace and Pete's, Horace portrayed by Louis CK and Pete portrayed by Steve Buscemi. 

The cast is filled with older comedy and drama stars: Alan Alda plays a curmudgeonly Uncle Pete, Steven Wright plays a bar patron, Edie Falco plays Horace's sister, and Jessica Lange as the dead Horace's old girlfriend. All the actors obviously have the entire script memorized and their are no cuts to help with lines or no close ups to convey emotion.

     Thematically the show is sort of an anti-Cheers. There is a surprising amount of topical discussion, in the first episode the bar patrons discuss Trump and the coming election and the Super Bowl. However this banter is the only place, if any, the jokes lie. Steve Buscemi's character is the only one that seems likable and he's having a mental breakdown. The family drama hinges on keeping with the old and going with the new and none of the characters seem to like each other very much. If Louie is a surrealist comedy, Horace and Pete is a tragic play.

      

     I wrote about Horace and Pete because it's something I'm trying to do with this thesis. I usually make comedies, between stand up and sketches that's what people know me for. I, like Louie, want to try something new and more realistic. But I'm not sure I like Horace and Pete. It's draining and gives me a sense of anxiety as all the characters fail to get along. Hopefully I can make a film that is emotional significant, yet not emotionally taxing.

Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire is an HBO show created by Terence Winter. It is an American period style show based around the prohibition era of the U.S.A. It follows a group of characters that are involved in the illegal sale of alcohol throughout the New York/New Jersey area.

The show aired from September 19, 2010 to  October 26, 2014 having five seasons. I have not completed the series as of now, but am in the middle of the second season. I personally love the show. It is unique and the writers have done a good job crafting creative characters for the audience to interact with. My favorite character is Jimmy, played by Michael Pitt. Jimmy is a Young man that does what needs to be done, and also has an interesting past that is unknown to him in the first season. 

The show also incorporates real characters from history such as Al Capone played by Stephan Graham. 

The show expands on american history to help tell a fictional story that keeps its audience on the edge of their seat and wanting more with each episode.


HBO invested a lot into this show. The pilot episode alone cost around 18 million dollars according to wikipedia, and in my opinion it payed off. The series ended up winning 2 Golden Globes and 4 Emmy's.

Fargo

It was long overdue for me to watch the Cohen brothers' film, "Fargo".  After a long editing session in the library, I headed back to my room and pulled it up on Netflix.  This 1996 film was billed as a "homespun murder story", but it is so much more than that.  The Academy award winning screenplay written by Joel and Ethan Coen fires on all cylinders.  It can readily be described as a thriller comedy, featuring both very dark and very hilarious moments.  It definitely satirizes and turns a mirror to the Minnesotan lifestyle that the Coen brothers grew up in.  "Fargo" currently has a rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, holds two Oscars (one for the original screenplay and one for lead actress Frances McDormand).   Joel Coen also received the award for best director at the '96 Cannes Film Festival.

This film takes place mainly in Fargo, ND and Brainerd, MN.  It follows the story of Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) as he pays two criminals Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife.  Lundegaard's big plan is to get his very wealthy father in law to pay off Showalter and Grimsrud to get his daughter back.  Then the kidnappers would receive half the ransom, while Lundegaard receives the other half.  Lundegaard is in financial trouble and is in desperate need of the money.  Well as one would imagine, things don't go quite to plan.  As the kidnappers make their escape things are all well and good, until a trooper stops them on the highway in Brainerd, MN for not having plates on their car (a car Lundegaard gave them from his father in law's dealership).  It is at this point that the shit hits the proverbial fan and guns start blazing.  I won't get much further into specifics (spoilers!).  Once the dust has settled, Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) proceeds to investigate the situation.  In this pregnant police chief, we see a lot of the satirizing of Minnesotans that the Coen brothers' script is filled with.  These four actors pull off truly amazing performances, made easy by the beautiful script.  Macy did receive an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor.

"Fargo" also pulls a lot of it's power from the beautiful cinematography.  All credit here goes to the great Rodger Deakins.  Every shot in this film is very intentional and well crafted.  Deakins has incredible wide shots, as well as strong close ups/reverse shots.

I could post even more stills from this film, hundreds of stills.  The shot composition is consistently strong, with everything being lined up with such care.  Deakins is also well known for playing with light in a profound way, which we see in all of the above images.  In particular I love the way the light falls on Buscemi and the way car lights play in the dense snow.  The focus pulling that occurs during the heavy snow is incredibly beautiful as well.  Overall I can not recommend this film enough!  Take a look at the trailer (best quality I could find) and then head over to Netflix to watch!! Don't wait for it to be taken off Instant!  

The Dude Abides

I've waited an abnormally long time to watch The Big Lebowski. I saw my first Coen Brothers movies in 2007 when I had to watch O Brother Where Art Thou for an english class, and then again when No Country for Old Men came out and convinced me that Javier Bardem was the thing that nightmares are made of. I've seen - and enjoyed - a lot of their films, both the critically acclaimed (Fargo, True Grit) and the not so critically acclaimed (Burn After Reading). Recently, it's started to feel like Lebowski was intentionally avoiding me; my parents decided to rent it on Netflix when I was at school and the library hasn't had it every time that I've gone in to check. So I was thrilled when my roommate spontaneously sat me down earlier tonight and insisted that he rent it on his Xbox for us all to enjoy. The next two hours were perfect.

I had heard most of the famous quotes from the movie, but I really had no idea what I was in for. The plot itself is almost too complex to describe, especially after just one viewing. For those that haven't seen it, however, Jeff Bridges plays "the Dude," an unemployed stoner who loves bowling and just happens to get caught up in a kidnapping conspiracy. Knowing the Coen Brothers, I was expecting the film to be a fairly dark dramady, so I was surprised when I found myself laughing throughout the entire film. Lebowski is, through and through, a comedy.

I've always been fascinated by writing - it's something I'm hoping to make a career in - so Lebowski was really a treat for me. Lately, I've been working on ways to make dialogue seem really authentic, and this film was a breath of fresh air for me. The character of the Dude is just so incredibly natural and believable that while watching it, I was consistently torn between taking mental notes of things and just letting his Dudeness wash over me and take control. This is in part due to Bridges' Oscar nominated performance, but you have to give Joel and Ethan Coen so much credit for writing an incredibly believable sounding (while over-the-top in every way) screenplay.

On the other side of things, I was totally blown away with the cinematography and was both surprised and not at all surprised when I found out that it was the work of master DP Roger Deakins. Deakins has worked with the Coen Bros on numerous occasions (including Fargo and No Country For Old Men) and his style really shone through in Lebowski. Deakins used cuts sparingly, and this immediately reminded me of the video we watched in class the other day about how filmmakers are starting to believe that cuts are always necessary all the time. Deakins seems to abide by the old-school method of longer, lingering shots; these, along with some really cool POV shots (inside a bowling ball? Come on. That's awesome.) made for a film that was always visually interesting.

With an incredible supporting cast lead by John Goodman as the Dude's Vietnam war-ravaged, psychotic pal Walter ("shut the fuck up, Donny") The Big Lebowski holds up perfectly well, even on the 15th anniversary of its release. I loved everything about it; from the trippy bowling/porno sequence to the three nazi-nihilists to the rug, which really tied the room together. It was a great piece of comedy filmed with the utmost precision, something you rarely see. I'm excited to rewatch it and pick up a little more of the dense plot, but until then, I'm just going to sit back, chill, and let the dude abide.

Boardwalk Empire Season 2 Finale

Last night I re-watched one of the best season finale's I have ever seen, the season finale of season two of Boardwalk Empire. The show itself is one of the best on television. Combining great authenticity from the time period and a great story with great characters. The realism in the show is what makes it great to me. Many of the characters in the show are real people (although many are also made up) such as Al Capone and the main character Nucky Thompson. However what made the season finale so great was the shocking sequence at the end of the episode.

Jimmy Darmody was a World War One veteran returning to Atlantic City to work for his uncle, Nucky Thompson. Quickly Darmody started to neglect Nucky and work against him instead of with him, with the help from his dying father. By the end of the season two Nucky and Jimmy were enemies, and the two threatened to kill each other multiple times. It was Nucky who finally got the last laugh.

The entire episode it appeared that Nucky was the one that would be getting killed. As his life was threatened by more than just Jimmy. Instead it was Nucky that killed Jimmy. Killing off one of the shows main characters in shocking fashion. Other than Nucky Thompson, Jimmy was the biggest character in the show till his demise. Killing him off seemed to kill off one of the main story lines of the show as well. A very risky and shocking decision by the writer of the show (Terrence Winter).

Boardwalk Empire will begin its fourth season this summer. The third season was just as good as the second one, so losing Jimmy's character didn't really ruin the show at all.

Coen Brothers

     I recently watched No Country For Old Men (2007), directed by the Coen Brothers, for the first time. This movie was on my list of movies to watch so I sat down by myself and enjoyed the film. There is mostly natural sound throughout the movie and no music to accompany the characters. The sounds of wind and the environment reflect the main character's motives and convey a feeling of isolation and loneliness. Javier Bardem plays the 'villian' in the movie and is truly insane and dynamic. After seeing Skyfall (2012) last weekend, I respect Bardem for playing such diverse characters and being able to become the character he is casted as. The movie is now on my list of favorite movies and accompanied by it are many other Coen Brothers movies. Ethan and Joel Coen are two of my favorite directors and I've been making an attempt to watch all of their movies. Thus far, I've seen No Country For Old Men, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski. I plan to watch True Grit and Burn After Reading. Why do I like their movies? The Coen brothers direct movies with the most unusual characters and unlikely stories. The cinematography is amazing and the actors featured in the movies are some of my favorite actors (John Goodman, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Steve Buscemi, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and many more). Below are Coen Brothers trailers for movies I've seen. Watch their movies.

                                                     No Country For Old Men

                                                          The Big Lebowski

                                                 O Brother,Where Art Thou?

                                                              Fargo