LOOKING- Page 19

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 7:48pm

Ask anybody, I thought Brokeback Mountain was a travesty and Heath Ledger's late-career Sam Elliot vocals were not the least of the reasons why.

I feel like a good actor could convey all of the aspects of what you're saying about your friend from that specific background and STILL modulate his voice in ways so as to bring some dynamics to the conversations the character has. As I am sure your friend could.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 8:13pm

I dunno, Namo, what you're describing doesn't feel quite right for the show or for the character. This isn't Shakespeare in the Park. I should add, I'm certainly not a huge fan of films and tv shows that are sometimes referred to as mumblecore, but I don't feel like that's an accurate description of what Looking is doing.

Anyway, if this show isn't cutting it for you, drop it, right? Why keep watching? We're in tv's golden age, there's plenty of other good stuff out there you can enjoy. I had a similar reaction when I started watching Boardwalk Empire. A show which, on paper, seems to be right up my alley -- HBO, Marty Scrorsese producing (and occasionally directing), Terence Winter writing, a-list actors, major $$ spent on production design -- and yet I struggled to get past the first couple of episodes. The show and Steve Buscemi just weren't clicking for me.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 8:21pm

I think Robbie said he thought that was what Richie is doing, not what Looking is doing. Perhaps there will be a big reveal that Richie is a PTSD patient and then his flat affect will make sense.

I kept watching because I loved the first four episodes. I watched the sixth because the previews indicated (and overstated) the involvement of the other non-Richie characters in the show. I was on the fence about watching any more and then they revealed there are only two more episodes. Perhaps they can salvage things and end the series on an up note. So maybe I will tune in.

And I do not agree that this is a golden age of television. I have ZERO tolerance for cable series about the intricacies of male hierarchies, be they mob related or non.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 8:36pm

It's not a golden age for situation comedies, I'll grant you that, but as far as scripted dramas go, 1999-2014 has been an unbelievably rich period in which television has become far more culturally relevant than film. I challenge you to find a 15 year time period in which there have been this many high quality scripted dramatic television series produced and easily accessible to view. Mad Men, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Wire, Friday Night Lights, Treme, Carnival, Sons of Anarchy, Big Love, Lost, The Shield, The Fall, Prime Suspect, Oz, Game of Thrones, The West Wing, Deadwood, The Shield and on and on.

Edited to say:
Sorry, this is a sidebar convo which should probably be taken elsewhere. Carry on with Looking chatter.

Updated On: 2/25/14 at 08:36 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 9:00pm

Except for Prime Suspect every one of those titles is about men and their hierarchies and at the risk of sounding like a lesbian separatist, I could not care less about those stories. I'm just not interested. I've sampled some, been loaned boxed sets of a few that I was "going to love" but didn't.

Give me "Broad City" over the execrable "Girls" and I'm happy. "Looking" had a chance to be something but it doesn't look like it's working out.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 9:02pm

Just watched the episode and I LOVED Raul Castillo and understood every word he said and that he was not at all expressing Latino-self-hatred but aping it, giving Patrick back some of the objectifying he thought Patrick was feeling about dating a Latino--the equivalent of the straight female Christian wife of my straight male Jewish lawyer cousin saying "I always wanted to marry a nice Jewish lawyer. Well, at least I found a Jewish lawyer." (My cousin has never been very nice.)

I overheard a gaggle of gays this weekend saying that they knew one of the actors in the cast from the porn he did. Does anyone know which one they meant? (The one who plays Agustin's boyfriend, maybe?)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 9:15pm

It was probably Jack or Randy.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 9:19pm

Now, THAT would have been a great Elder Gay scene: They should have cast two aging 70s pornstars.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 9:20pm

Still hunky ones. Paging Broadwaybabywannabe!!!!!

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 9:44pm

Oh, 70s gay porn stars. So beautiful in their tube socks and jockstraps. Now that was a golden age. But it's so hard to watch vintage 70s porn without the sad realization that many--the majority?--of those men died well before their time.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 9:55pm

Some did, some didn't. Some post here.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 10:10pm

Ha. Namo, that's my favorite of your contributions to this thread.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 10:14am

Really digging Carlos' new avatar.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 10:16am

Why thank you!

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 10:51am

My comment won't make any sense in a day or two. We really should have a "What's Carlos' avatar today?" thread, don't you think? If for no other reason, than to catalog your excellent taste in... photography.

SPOILERS (FOR NEXT WEEK):
Saw the preview for next week's ep. As much as I'm rooting for team Richie-Patricio, I don't mind witnessing some more sexual tension between Kevin and Patrick.

[swanjewel]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 12:50pm

Looking Officially Renewed!!

http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/hbo-renews-dramedy-looking-for-season-2-1201121232/

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 12:59pm

Woot

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 1:01pm

An according to Hollywood Reporter the following cast members have been bumped up to regulars

[spoiler]As part of the renewal, HBO has promoted recurring players Lauren Weedman (Doris), Raul Castillo (Richie) and Russell Tovey (Kevin) to series regulars. Weedman plays Dom's roommate; Castillo is Patrick's love interest; and Tovey portrays Patrick's boss.[/spoiler]

I wish I knew if it was the same episode number order.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 1:03pm

Ugh f*ck

Sorry guys--and with my account it's impossible to go back and edit or delete posts. Blargh.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 1:54pm

Yaaay!! Great news!! So glad Raul Castillo got promoted to series regular. Too bad OT Fagbenle didn't but he really hasn't been doing much of anything on the show. I wonder if he'll stay recurring or they'll write him out.

#teamraul #teamrichie

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 2:01pm

'Too bad OT Fagbenle didn't but he really hasn't been doing much of anything on the show.'

He might be my favorite actor on the show. He's attractive, funny and I understand every word he says

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 3:13pm

Here comes Season Two...




EDIT: Scooped by SwanJewel!
VARIETY: HBO Renews Dramedy ‘Looking’ for Season 2

Updated On: 2/26/14 at 03:13 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 5:25pm

"He might be my favorite actor on the show. He's attractive, funny and I understand every word he says"
And yet his native accent is quite strong British. (Then again, Murray Bartlett is Australian, but I've only seen him act with an American accent, whereas I've only seen OT act in his native accent before on flop shows like Quarterlife.)

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 7:11pm

Oh, yay!!! This seemed far from certain. I'm so glad that HBO is keeping the faith, at least for one more season. And the casting upgrades all make me smile. I'm so glad we'll get more Richie, Kevin and Dorris. I seriously want to be friends with "Dorris". What a broad! No mention of Bakula. I wonder if that means his storyline will wrap up this season. I hope not, I've really enjoyed his work on the show. I wonder if they'll expand to 10 eps in s2.

Also saw that Getting On got renewed. Kind surprised as it seems like that show has zero buzz. I'm going to have to check it out though. Love that Laurie Metcalf.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/26/14 at 8:22pm

The ratings this week were higher again, and now it's not really doing much lower than Girls, which gave me faith (sorta, kinda.) I also think it's the kind of show (I know, I've said this) that will pick up at least some viewers during the off season with binge viewing -- which to some extent is true of most HBO shows (sadly not Enlightened.)

It'll be interesting to see where they take it in the second season, and since they had already filmed it, how open they left this season finale (I'm assuming fairly open since it seems like "that kinda show" -- no SFU death montage :P ) Sophomore seasons usually are really the true test of a show (especially one with so few episodes.)

Bakula is headlining the new NCSI -- set in New Orleans or North Korea or somewhere... (annoyingly that's gotten a ton of press yet in the article they don't mention him on Looking.) That said, particularly if he's only in some episodes I think he could easily still do Looking.

I thought usually HBO mentioned how many episodes they were picking it up for straight away, but I guess not this time. I can't see it going to 12, but I could see it going to ten. Usually they bump up the low numbered seasons (though again with Enlightened, which had far worse ratings, they cut it from ten to eight which seemed to lead to their new system of ordering new shows for eight episodes only.)

I need to check out Getting On... It didn't have much buzz but did get more consistently good reviews than Hey Ladies and Family Tree. (Horsey, for someone who always mentions how this thread shouldn't go into other topics, related or not, you sure like to introduce them :P )