Red Mosquito

Dev wrote:maybe the biggest problem is the new director/ editting. the show just isnt paced properly abd the mood is hardly effective

The MVPs from season one were McConaughey and Fukunaga. Lacking both if those forces hurts.

But I'm still enjoying this. It's kind of a convoluted mess, plot wise. But it's still fun.

I wish Pizzaletto would let himself stay weird. This thing really clicks when he trusts himself to go there without apology.

And Rachel McAdams isn't getting enough live & respect for her work in this. She's KILLING it.

I agree with McConaughey, but I doubt Fukunaga could have done anything better with this material. The possible exception being the shoot-out scene, which wasn't choreographed or shot well. Particularly when you compare it to the big action sequence from last year.

McAdams has been OK.

This show lacks consistency, mood, tone & pacing. Fukunaga would have aced each of those aspects. So much of why season one succeeds is that man.

It hurts that they've had 4 directors over 5 episodes this season.

It has plenty of mood and tone. It just rings hollow because of the poor characters, dialog and acting. And really pacing is more about the writing than the directing. So...

There's just no getting around shitty writing.

I thought Pizzoleto even said he only had an idea for one season. There's no shame in accepting that. It was a great season. He had the worlds aligned with it - 2 great actors, an amazing script, and I think the mysterious bayou setting was his pocket Ace. LA was probably a poor follow up. It's just been done to death.

Wonder if they'll go with a different writer for the next one.

durdencommatyler wrote:

Dev wrote:maybe the biggest problem is the new director/ editting. the show just isnt paced properly abd the mood is hardly effective

The MVPs from season one were McConaughey and Fukunaga. Lacking both if those forces hurts.

But I'm still enjoying this. It's kind of a convoluted mess, plot wise. But it's still fun.

I wish Pizzaletto would let himself stay weird. This thing really clicks when he trusts himself to go there without apology.

And Rachel McAdams isn't getting enough live & respect for her work in this. She's KILLING it.

Agreed on McAdams, for me she's far and away the highlight of this.

numbers wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:

Dev wrote:maybe the biggest problem is the new director/ editting. the show just isnt paced properly abd the mood is hardly effective

The MVPs from season one were McConaughey and Fukunaga. Lacking both if those forces hurts.

But I'm still enjoying this. It's kind of a convoluted mess, plot wise. But it's still fun.

I wish Pizzaletto would let himself stay weird. This thing really clicks when he trusts himself to go there without apology.

And Rachel McAdams isn't getting enough live & respect for her work in this. She's KILLING it.

Agreed on McAdams, for me she's far and away the highlight of this.

Mick gets it!

she deserves an MVP for being able to walk in those painted on jeans.

I should stay away from this thread. I've only watched the first episode from season two (well, I watched s1 which was fantastic, but just started this new season).

I loved the first one. It was great TV

Mecca wrote:I mean, Farrell is easily the best character in this

I would easily disagree.

i really like Frank.

Frank is probably the most interesting character in the show. I just wish Vince Vaughn was doing a better job with the role. There's so much there to mine and he's barely scratching the surface.

i don't know...i really like his performance. And the scenes with his wife are really good too.

He's trying, god bless him. But he's missing so much. He's not awful, he's competent. But I really wish he was taking full advantage of the material. I just think it's beyond him, even at his best.

I do enjoy the scenes with his wife. But again, he's missing the depth and breadth of the character.

durdencommatyler wrote:But I really wish he was taking full advantage of the material.

turned2black wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:But I really wish he was taking full advantage of the material.

I'm talking about Frank specifically.

Look at the speech patterns. Notice the instances where he uses a double negative and when he doesn't. He has real objectives and massive obstacles. Think about those monologues and what he's really saying. NP seems to really love the character. He's put so many wonderful clues in the dialogue for him. There's a fantastic struggle with Frank. And the script really reflects that. VV is kinda getting in the way of the writing, actually.

There are almost as many interesting layers to Frank as there were to Rust. Almost. Imagine how fucking terrible and unmemorable Rust would have been with VV playing him. Really anyone besides McConaughey playing him.

durdencommatyler wrote:

turned2black wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:But I really wish he was taking full advantage of the material.

I'm talking about Frank specifically.

Look at the speech patterns. Notice the instances where he uses a double negative and when he doesn't. He has real objectives and massive obstacles. Think about those monologues and what he's really saying. NP seems to really love the character. He's put so many wonderful clues in the dialogue for him. There's a fantastic struggle with Frank. And the script really reflects that. VV is kinda getting in the way of the writing, actually.

There are almost as many interesting layers to Frank as there were to Rust. Almost. Imagine how fucking terrible and unmemorable Rust would have been with VV playing him. Really anyone besides McConaughey playing him.

I just don't think there's much there beyond overly "pulpy" cliches and clunky dialog. I mean, "Back in Chicago my daddy was really mean to me." Really? The Chicago gangster that tries to make a name for himself out West is so fucking tired. The dialog then becomes so vapid and trite when your dealing with those kinds of cliches.

As you and I have both said in this thread, the main problem is him deciding to go straight pulp instead of keeping it quirky. The dialog and character don't work if you are gonna play it straight. I mean by the first episode of Season 1, you were thinking, "What a crazy fuck!" Then all the long, bizarre dialogs and staring into the camera becomes magical instead of stupid and pretentious.

team '2black

turned2black wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:

turned2black wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:But I really wish he was taking full advantage of the material.

I'm talking about Frank specifically.

Look at the speech patterns. Notice the instances where he uses a double negative and when he doesn't. He has real objectives and massive obstacles. Think about those monologues and what he's really saying. NP seems to really love the character. He's put so many wonderful clues in the dialogue for him. There's a fantastic struggle with Frank. And the script really reflects that. VV is kinda getting in the way of the writing, actually.

There are almost as many interesting layers to Frank as there were to Rust. Almost. Imagine how fucking terrible and unmemorable Rust would have been with VV playing him. Really anyone besides McConaughey playing him.

I just don't think there's much there beyond overly "pulpy" cliches and clunky dialog. I mean, "Back in Chicago my daddy was really mean to me." Really? The Chicago gangster that tries to make a name for himself out West is so fucking tired. The dialog then becomes so vapid and trite when your dealing with those kinds of cliches.

As you and I have both said in this thread, the main problem is him deciding to go straight pulp instead of keeping it quirky. The dialog and character don't work if you are gonna play it straight. I mean by the first episode of Season 1, you were thinking, "What a crazy fuck!" Then all the long, bizarre dialogs and staring into the camera becomes magical instead of stupid and pretentious.

Obviously, I agree. The writing has a lot of flaws. I'm just looking at Frank as an isolated entity away from the larger construct and I keep noticing things that I think a better actor could turn into something really interesting in spite of the clunkier chunks.

But, yeah, on the balance, you're totally right.