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Review: 'True Detective's' slow and steady pace a winning formula
Los Angeles Times ^ | January 10, 2014 | Robert Lloyd

Posted on 01/18/2014 1:32:05 PM PST by PJ-Comix

"True Detective," a quietly terrific new series debuting Sunday on HBO, takes its title, though not its style, from a famous old real-crime magazine, popular back when people turned to reading for the sort of stimulation they get mostly through television now.

The title might be misleading — there is nothing fact-based about the show, but like its namesake it is planned as an anthology. As in FX's anthology "American Horror Story," each season will tell a discrete story — a strategy that, if nothing else, might attract commitments from name artists interested in long-form storytelling, or prestige television projects, but less sanguine about signing on to a series that could run for years. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson star in the first season, which has been entirely written by novelist Nic Pizzolatto and entirely directed by Cary Fukunaga ("Jane Eyre").

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: truedetective
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To: Bender2

I understand, Sir Bender2...and may the Gays by the Bays win tomorrow night.


21 posted on 01/18/2014 7:01:34 PM PST by GOPsterinMA (You're a very weird person, Yossarian.)
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To: GOPsterinMA
Re: Your prose has inspired me to watch “Yentl”.

Okay, to quote Yentl/Anshel: :Why is it people who want the truth never believe it when they hear it?"

As it is with sleeping with young girls these days, it is so damn easy... but in the morning you have to talk to them!

22 posted on 01/18/2014 7:05:52 PM PST by Bender2 ("I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me." RAH Beyond this Horizon)
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To: Bender2

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


23 posted on 01/18/2014 7:07:25 PM PST by GOPsterinMA (You're a very weird person, Yossarian.)
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To: GOPsterinMA
Re; and may the Gays by the Bays win tomorrow night.

Perhaps as it is with your beloved Yossarian... you maybe be a very weird person, too--

And I ever so hope you... are wrong!

For those nasty niners to win another Super Bowl is way too horrible... to contemplate!

24 posted on 01/18/2014 7:16:51 PM PST by Bender2 ("I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me." RAH Beyond this Horizon)
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To: Bender2

I’ve been a fan since I was in diapers. Watching THE GREATEST QB IN NFL HISTORY win SB after SB after SB after SB was inspirational.

Yossarian had it right - f**k it, I’m outta here. :)


25 posted on 01/18/2014 7:25:10 PM PST by GOPsterinMA (You're a very weird person, Yossarian.)
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To: PJ-Comix; Zeneta; Bender2; fella
It's shaping up to be a great show! Way better than episodic network TV cop shows.

@ Zeneta: It's a mini-series -- 8 episodes in total. Long enough to tell a story well; but not strung out into an endless soap opera, as most of the network cop shows are. It requires about the same time commitment as reading a detective novel.

@ Bender2: A character said that -- a character who is obviously messed up (probably because of the death of his daughter -- but, that's just my guess). It's part of what makes the character interesting. You aren't required to actually believe any of it. In fact, I suspect it was as over-the-top as possible, so that even the densest viewer could see that the character is a mess. (As are the thousands of academic philosophy profs, who actually do believe that stuff.)

@ fella: It's on HBO -- no commercials. (You're paying to not watch commercials.)
26 posted on 01/22/2014 1:37:35 PM PST by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA; nutmeg; big'ol_freeper
Sorry, USFRIENDINVICTORIA, guess I am just another boob too dumb to recognize 'quality' entertainment when he is told to do so... I'll just stick with the endless cop soap operas of "Justified," Major Crimes" and "Elementary" that are simple enough for a simple fellow like myself to follow and understand but not believe at all--
27 posted on 01/22/2014 2:24:19 PM PST by Bender2 ("I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me." RAH Beyond this Horizon)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA; Allegra; big'ol_freeper; Lil'freeper; shove_it; TrueKnightGalahad; ...
Re: A character said that

Okay, let us compare quotes from two Southern Characters:

Louisiana Police Detective Rust Cohle in HBO's "True Detective"

"I think human consciousness, is a tragic misstep in evolution. We became too self-aware, nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself, we are creatures that should not exist by natural law. We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self; a secretion of sensory, experience and feeling, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when in fact everybody is nobody. Maybe the honorable thing for our species to do is deny our programming, stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction, one last midnight, brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal.:

Opposed the above I offer a quote from the 1993 film Gettysburg. Brigidier General Lewis Armistead just before leading his men in Pickett's Charge to to British Observer Col. Fremantle, on the irony of his uncle defending the original "Star Spangled Banner" at Ft. McHenry in 1814:

"Colonel Fremantle, it does not begin or end with my uncle, or myself. We're all sons of Virginia here.

"That major out there, commanding the cannon - that's James Dearing, first in his class at West Point, before Virgina seceded. And the boy over there with the color guard - that's Private Robert Tyler Jones. His grandfather was President of the United States. The colonel behind me - that's Colonel William Aylett. Now, his great-grandfather was the Virginian, Patrick Henry.

"It was Patrick Henry who said to your King George III, 'Give me liberty, or give me death.'"

There are boys here from Norfolk, Portsmouth, small hamlets along the James River... from Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, to the Shenandoah Valley. Mostly, they're all veteran soldiers now; the cowards and shirkers are long gone. Every man here knows his duty. They would make this charge, even without an officer to lead them. They know the gravity of the situation, and the mettle of their foe. They know that this day's work will be desperate and deadly.

"They know, that for many of them, this will be their last charge. But not one of them needs to be told what is expected of him. They're all willing to make the supreme sacrifice - to achieve victory, here... the crowning victory... and the end of this war.

"We are all here, Colonel. You may tell them, when you return to your country, that all Virginia was here on this day."

Now, which would you rather watch?

28 posted on 01/22/2014 4:12:40 PM PST by Bender2 ("I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me." RAH Beyond this Horizon)
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To: Bender2

In retrospect, I could have worded that differently. When I mentioned the “densest viewers”, I wasn’t referring to anyone on this forum. Perhaps, if you’d watched a bit more than a half hour of the program, you’d see things differently. Or not — your loss.

FWIW, I watch two of the three programs you list (not Major Crimes). BTW, “Justified” is a hybrid — serialized and episodic program (which also happens to feature a “morally ambiguous” lead character). The plots are better than network shows. Watching “True Detective” is like reading a detective novel. Watching “Justified” is like reading a series of detective novels.


29 posted on 01/22/2014 4:14:54 PM PST by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: Bender2

You’re asking me to chose between two programs, based on out-of-context quotes. As I’ve seen some of “True Detective”, I know some of the context. I haven’t seen any of the other one. If I had to chose right now, I’d chose “True Detective”. But, that’s both a provisional choice, and a false dichotomy. It’s a provisional choice, because I might change my mind if or when I see the other program. It’s a false dichotomy, because those aren’t my only choices.


30 posted on 01/22/2014 4:21:26 PM PST by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: PJ-Comix

I heard there is some good boobage.


31 posted on 01/22/2014 4:24:40 PM PST by Perdogg (Ted Cruz-Rand Paul 2016)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA
Perhaps you not being from here, I mistakenly offer up a quote from the film of one of the greatest battles in United States History that most, if not all, Americans would instantly recognize even if they had not seen the film.

My apology, I should have known better.

My intent was to use those two contrasting bits of dialogue to show how badly written "True Detective" is in my opinion. That is why I switched it off after barely 30 minutes.

So, I fall back on my original comment in Post #14 in reference to Matthew McConaughey's Rust Cohle's long, nonsensical, esoteric quote, "It takes a heap of milk of magnesia to write such carp, then have an actor say that crap and then watch that crap. Sorry, cannot stomach such--"

That remains my feeling still as far as I am concerned.

32 posted on 01/22/2014 4:48:24 PM PST by Bender2 ("I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me." RAH Beyond this Horizon)
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To: Bender2

I got the “historical” context; but, not having seen the movie, I’m unable to situate that speech in the context of the movie. Perhaps it’s good, in that context. If I had to judge it standing alone; I’d have to say it’s rather preachy, stilted, melodramatic, speechifying, pompous and pedantic. IOW, not good movie dialogue at all. However, if I were an American myself, I’d probably appreciate it more.


33 posted on 01/22/2014 5:01:39 PM PST by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA
Re: I’d have to say it’s rather preachy, stilted, melodramatic, speechifying, pompous and pedantic. IOW, not good movie dialogue at all.

Gadzooks! Then it is a good thing you were not sitting next to me saying that in 1993 the first time I heard it watching Gettysburg with tears in my eyes at theater in Dallas.

We shall have to agree to disagree... or else put up your dukes--

34 posted on 01/22/2014 5:14:45 PM PST by Bender2 ("I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me." RAH Beyond this Horizon)
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To: PJ-Comix

Much to like and a bit to despise. The two leads are excellent, especially in the 2012 flash-forwards, as is the supporting cast. It’s intelligent, complex, challenging, and the last episode won me over with references to the King in Yellow and Carcosa from the Bierce / Chambers / Lovecraft mythos.

What I couldn’t stand was the usual casual contempt for Christians. We, the audience, are expected to giggle at their sheer obtuseness. Plus there is the anachronism of “the governor” authorizing a task force to investigate “anti-Christian” crimes. The governor at the time was Edwin Edwards, probably the furthest thing from a holy roller in Louisiana politics at the time. I cannot imagine Edwards authorizing the fundie witch-hunt in the show.


35 posted on 01/22/2014 6:05:36 PM PST by denydenydeny (Admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt one has for others.-Tocqueville)
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To: Bender2

I like the show; and they show some great female full frontal nudity on it to boot.


36 posted on 01/23/2014 5:46:14 AM PST by GOPsterinMA (You're a very weird person, Yossarian.)
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To: Bender2

As soon as I pressed “Send”, I realized that I went a bit too far there. I can understand any American having a visceral reaction to a movie about the Civil War, and I didn’t mean to diminish that in any way. To the extent that I did, I sincerely apologize.


37 posted on 01/23/2014 10:37:57 AM PST by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA
Anybody else suffering withdrawal symptoms due to "True Detective" not being broadcast last night?

Okay, here are some speculations. Although it seems that Reggie Ledoux is a bad guy and probably a murderer, he probably isn't the murderer they are looking for since in the flash forward to 2012 they are looking for a perp who committed similar crimes. My suspicion centers on preacher Joel Theriot since it was in his former church where the weird crown wall drawing was discovered. To a lesser extent my suspicion also falls on Rev. Tuttle.

But wait! Maybe that is what the writer wants us to suspect and has another perp that we don't suspect at all. But WHO?

Anyway I can't wait to see Episode #4 this Sunday.

38 posted on 02/03/2014 5:25:48 PM PST by PJ-Comix (ObamaCare unsubsidized PAID Enrollment Prediction: 66,666)
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To: PJ-Comix

I record almost everything I watch, so I’m not very attuned to schedule changes. I normally like to save up a batch of episodes of a serialized program, such as True Detectives; so that I can binge watch them. However, I’m pretty much up to date on TD, and will likely keep up to date with Game of Thrones later on. I’m too curious to wait; plus, with popular programs, there’s the problems of spoilers popping up where you least expect them.

I know that, by the rules of detective shows and books, you just get a fleeting glimpse of the actual perp, until somewhere near the final third. IOW, too early to speculate.


39 posted on 02/03/2014 6:10:29 PM PST by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

I read some interesting comments on a True Detective forum that perhaps the lawnmower man at the school was the perp. Remember, Rust said he just needs to talk to someone for a couple of minutes to figure out that if he was guilty but Hart honked his car horn after only about a minute. Plus the lawnmower guy was said to have some scars on his face below the beard. I have to watch that part again.


40 posted on 02/03/2014 6:43:05 PM PST by PJ-Comix (ObamaCare unsubsidized PAID Enrollment Prediction: 66,666)
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