Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Dave's Yes/No Television Review: Bates Motel (Season One) A&E
Yes. (And no one is more surprised than I am).
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Lessons Learned from Season Three of Boardwalk Empire
I enjoyed Season One of Boardwalk Empire.
I liked the world, the performances (for the most part) and the writing was pretty good too.
Season Two sucked. Characters hit the same beats over and over as the stories treaded water for no reason that I could see. I was glad when it was over. I was finished with it and I didn't see how it could proceed into a third season based on the thinly spread elements at the end of a second.
Then came Season Three.
From the first scene of the first episode of the season it grabbed me and held my head under water until I surrendered.
It would be too simple to say that a single character saved a show. There was an infusion of new talent creating the stories and shooting them too. History helped out the story department too.
But I'm never going to under-estimate the power of one character to turn a world on its head the way Bobby Cannavale's Gyp Rossetti's did. Rossetti raised the stakes in every scene he was in. He forced every character he came in contact with to take a stand. He always made me wonder what was going to happen next. And he did it by making choices and following through on them.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Why Downtown Abbey Season Three Sucks.
Ken Levine makes a calm and lucid case of the rant I've been making for the past couple months.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Dave's Yes/No TV Review: Downton Abbey
No.
(Hate me now, thank me after the Season Three Christmas "special".)
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Dave's Yes/No Restaurant Review: La Grotta Del Formaggio 1791 Commercial Drive
A sandwich counter more than a restaurant but...
Yes.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Mad Men... "The Other Woman."
Finally. The return of Mad Men!
It seems like I was the only one to find the writing uneven this season.
Weird humour. Strange "act outs".
But "The Other Woman" a return to the great writing of earlier Seasons... or at least a return to the pleasure I felt at watching the first couple of seasons. The interconnectedness -- yes! "interconnectedness"!-- of the episode's theme was beautiful and felt organic and truthful. It wasn't just interesting observations, or great moments, or terrific lines, or terrific performances-- it was everything.
And the truth is, there are so many chances for things to go wrong it's a miracle when something great happens. That was some truly great TV.
Game of Thrones on the other hand...
Friday, May 11, 2012
Saturday, March 03, 2012
What do writers wear!
Wow.
That's the question that drives people to this blog. More than any other single question.
I suppose it makes sense.
I'm imagining some creative writing majors in university-- or a lonesome high school kid scratching out poems and wondering-- "Man, I bet Tolstoy didn't walk around the house in his underpants all the time."
But he did. Or whatever the pre-revolutionary Russian version of a tracksuit was.
And if he didn't-- I do. I do all my best (which I'll admit may not be good enough) writing while dressed in a very relaxed fashion. And I recommend you do the same... Unless you're Tom Wolfe.
That's the question I'd like answered-- preferably with a little picture-- what does Mr. Wolfe wear as he sits himself down to work? I'm imagining a lot of neutral-toned cotton and leather slippers.
Hmmm. Isn't there a special edition of the Paris Review where all this has been shared?
That's the question that drives people to this blog. More than any other single question.
I suppose it makes sense.
I'm imagining some creative writing majors in university-- or a lonesome high school kid scratching out poems and wondering-- "Man, I bet Tolstoy didn't walk around the house in his underpants all the time."
But he did. Or whatever the pre-revolutionary Russian version of a tracksuit was.
And if he didn't-- I do. I do all my best (which I'll admit may not be good enough) writing while dressed in a very relaxed fashion. And I recommend you do the same... Unless you're Tom Wolfe.
That's the question I'd like answered-- preferably with a little picture-- what does Mr. Wolfe wear as he sits himself down to work? I'm imagining a lot of neutral-toned cotton and leather slippers.
Hmmm. Isn't there a special edition of the Paris Review where all this has been shared?
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