I thought this was the best episode yet. I actually think this could be the turning point for the series to really take off. The characters at the office are finally starting to feel a little more "lived-in" and naturalistic. Plus, I think the casting of David Proval was genius in a very meta way. Richie Aprile,…

The TV Club

You'd be slapping all day to knock this stache off, my friend.
Just to clarify though, I loooove Coppola's Godfather. I just don't mind viewing the story through Puzo's more lurid and sleazy pulp prism.

The thing about The Godfather novel is that 75% of it and the main throughline IS basically the movie. Its the other 25% of extraneous nonsense that was excised from the screenplay that drags it down.

His Bond sets were outstanding. I really did a deep dive into the franchise for the first time a few years back and the spaces he designed were really amazing. There's a clear delineation from the style of the 60's and 70's entries he worked on and the ones that he didn't. I hope he didn't get a chance to see that…

Yeah but it was mostly in the form of that lame purple river under the city or what was essentially a matte painting of a jello mold. So not used well.

I kind of liked it. If only because it embraced the SLIME which was the coolest part of the old toys (but wasn't used well in the shitty Ghostbusters II or not much in the cartoon.)

Logistically, it can definitely be questioned. But I like the fable-like quality it ends up wrapping the whole show in. A guy sold his soul for riches (by pimping out Gillian) and in the end it caught up to him and brought about his downfall.

At first glance, this topic seems kind of silly and petty. I mean, if a show is truly great, faith should be placed in the creative team to navigate the character pool.

Owen Sleater's death scene (or lack thereof) was sooooo good. That's were the production values and care that went into the show really elevated it above so much else. When he enters the bathhouse for his failed assassination attempt on Joe The Boss, there's slow ominous war drum pounding on the sountrack, intercut…

Remember in Jurassic Park when the scientists didn't have enough dinosaur DNA to clone perfect replicas and used frog DNA to fill in the gaps? The Alice Cooper clone was close but some of the gaps in the squence seemed to be filled with Nic Cage DNA (which wasn't necessarily a bad thing).

In regards to Warhol, I can never get enough depictions of him in media. Maybe its because I'm from Pittsburgh where we claim him as a proverbial "hometown hero" but anytime an actor brings the guy to life, its usually a treat.

Best Scene: When Warhol's camera is zooming in on Olivia Wilde's character's face as he susses out that she came to him to exploit his name to raise some money. A great little exchange and shot that earns the "its not TV, its HBO" tagline for the week.

Speaking of ghosts, I'm curious if Tony Burton gets an obituary today. Better odds than the number of AVClub editors that have watched a Rocky movie before Creed?

Learning that everyone speaks English in the sequel is pretty funny and very Netflixy.
Welcome to the Netflix's crowd sourced future where everything is designed to placate as many people as they can. Their strategy of aggresively acquiring documentaries is still admirable though (although, Showtime, of all networks…

I've always thought the production design was a little lacking. A lot of the sets are too clean, sparse, and look unlived-in. The most interesting shots are when they shoot at real locations like the outside of the cut-wife's house.

Raiders looks still looks better than (at least) 90% of action adventure movies released since then. Timeless cinematography.

Good to hear. I enjoyed Freedom but preferred The Corrections by a good bit.

Finished Island of Vice, a chronicle of Teddy Roosevelts time as a NYC police commissioner. A little lighter on gilded age sleaze and a little heavier on court cases involving police reform than I would have liked but still highly entertaining.

Allen Coulter is the real deal. He's one of the more unheralded tv directors out there, but he's had his fingerprints on some great, great stuff over the years.