The HBO Original Programming Thread

[MartyFunkhouser]

I want to watch the Action Park doc. That place looked awesome.

Really good documentary. It avoided the latest trap of HBO docs being there to damn long

[swampfrog]

how does she feel about sex scenes with strong latina characters?

I don't think she would do them, but she might surprise me.

What if they paid her welder's money?

[Pelado]

What if they paid her welder's money?

She might surprise me.

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[UVACoug]

I'm mixed on Perry Mason. Acting was very good, especially from Rhys and Tatiana Maslany (as always). The mystery was a bit too confusing for me (maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it), and I'm not sure I like how they turned it into noir as opposed to legal drama. The high drama courtroom scenes are what I loved about Perry Mason, and there weren't that many of them until the end. And the way they undermined the most dramatic courtroom scene was kind of annoying. The outcome of the trial wasn't that satisfying. It may have been more realistic (not really), but Perry Mason has never been about what was realistic. The ultimate fate of the main villain was also pretty stupid. I do think it could improve a lot next season when some of the noir elements are not as overt. I'm usually a sucker for serialized dramas, but I think this show would be better if they take more of a "case of the week" approach next season.

Started out really liking Lovecraft Country. The first episode was great. The second was still pretty good, but a bit weird. I think I'm over it after the third though. Horror just isn't my genre. And the special effects are really jankie. Do love Jurnee Smollett and Michael K. Williams though, and Courtney Vance was fantastic in the first two episodes. May give it a few more episodes, but I don't see myself sticking around for too much longer.

[Katy Lied]

Never saw the original Perry Mason, but loved this version. Like Tim, I am a sucker for any "golden age of Hollywood" period pieces. Loved the references to Chinatown, one of my favorite movies. Specifically, in these two dialogues in the series: (Spoilers ahead)


When Sister and her mother are arguing about her role in the church, and Sister says, "Am I Sister to you? Or am I your daughter?" This references the Faye Dunaway, "She's my sister / she's my daughter..." scene.

When the bad guy ultimately meets his end in one of the final scenes, it is very reminiscent of the courtyard where a death occurs in the beginning of Chinatown. "Water bad for fish." And also, the bad guy foreshadows the reference to the fresh water fountain when he talks about the popularity of "those fancy fish-- I think they call them koi"

I also loved the casting of the strong Latina woman. I looked up the actress and found out she is celebrated in Mexico for her talent. And I thought she was unattractive, but I still admired her for her determination, and the fact that she did what she said she was going to do. I thought the role as "ugly but sexy" was very well done.

The only thing I didnt like that much was the fact that the baby's eyes were stitched open. Supposedly to trick the parents into thinking it was alive. But those horribly disfiguring stitches, using thick black thread, would have nothing but the opposite effect. It would have stood out yards away. I thought on a dead body, you can prop the eyes open. Or use glue. Stitching the eyes open was where the director chose sensationalism over rational behavior.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I'm mixed on Perry Mason. Acting was very good, especially from Rhys and Tatiana Maslany (as always). The mystery was a bit too confusing for me (maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it), and I'm not sure I like how they turned it into noir as opposed to legal drama. The high drama courtroom scenes are what I loved about Perry Mason, and there weren't that many of them until the end. And the way they undermined the most dramatic courtroom scene was kind of annoying. The outcome of the trial wasn't that satisfying. It may have been more realistic (not really), but Perry Mason has never been about what was realistic. The ultimate fate of the main villain was also pretty stupid. I do think it could improve a lot next season when some of the noir elements are not as overt. I'm usually a sucker for serialized dramas, but I think this show would be better if they take more of a "case of the week" approach next season.
...

This matches my view. The acting and visuals were top notch, but the series overdid the film noir moodiness, and there was too much of the Amy Semple MacPherson-ish subplot.

Edit: And KL, I also liked the various Chinatown references/homages. The "She's my sister AND my daughter!" line gets used occasionally in my family when arguments get out of hand, a totally random quip that defuses the situation.

[Scott R Nelson]

So, how many years until I can watch these shows on Hulu?

[MartyFunkhouser]

What if they paid her welder's money?

I wouldn't need to be paid welder's money to do this, SJBH.

[Donuthole]

The HBO Original Programming Thread

So, how many years until I can watch these shows on Hulu?

Probably 4-5 years. You’ll be dead or have full-blown dementia by then. Better just pay up now and enjoy. Or maybe JL will let you use the plan he illegally shares with his adult kids who live in other homes. But if you go that route, you better believe he’ll VenMo bill you for your 1/8th of the bill every month on the first of the month. And he has enforcers all throughout the Morridor. Now you know.

[Bo Diddley]

Probably 4-5 years. You’ll be dead or have full-blown dementia by then. Better just pay up now and enjoy. Or maybe JL will let you use the plan he illegally shares with his adult kids who live in other homes. But if you go that route, you better believe he’ll VenMo bill you for your 1/8th of the bill every month on the first of the month. And he has enforcers all throughout the Morridor. Now you know.

[UVACoug]

Binged the first three episodes of The Vow, which is a docu-series about the MLM/Ponzi Scheme/sex cult NXIVM/ESP that included several celebrities. It's batshit crazy and I suspect it is going to get even crazier in the coming episodes. It's very well made. Much better than most of the recent HBO documentaries I've seen. I think the thing that's stuck out to me the most is how closely the MLM model fits with the typical characteristics of a cult. I've seen people make that comparison before, but I've never taken it seriously until I watched this. This organization really just looks like a typical MLM at first, until you find out what was going on behind the scenes. The members refer to it as a business and it became their career to recruit new members, who had to pay quite a lot of money to get involved. I think it also says a lot about the "self-help" industry in general, and how it can be abused to manipulate people. I realize they didn't show everything the guy behind it was teaching, from what they showed, it sounded like pretty basic self-help concepts that you'd find in a Covey seminar from the 90s. Yet, people were duped into believing this guy was some kind of mega-genius that had the secrets of the universe locked up in his curriculum that you could access for the low price of $500 a day.

Also reminded me a little of the "reparative therapy" industry, which in hindsight really looks like a similar "self-help cult" in many ways. I never got involved with that stuff, but one of the guys that founded one of the leading "reparative theory" groups lived in my stake when I was in law school and I had a bishop that recommended that I talk to him. My bishop was a great guy and probably had no idea what it really was, so I don't fault him at all for it. I did some research on it after getting that recommendation though and never ended up contacting the guy because it creeped me out. I've since concluded, from having encounters with others that did attend some "reparative theory" camps led by the same group, that I made a good decision. Everyone I encountered that was involved in the group at the time was super secretive about it and behaved very weirdly. They'd talk about how going to these camps changed their entire lives and would act overly spiritual and "fake happy." Many of them got married to women at a very young age, despite acknowledging that they were gay, and several had kids and claimed their marriages were amazing. Now, I don't know of a single one that isn't divorced and in a gay relationship. And now that I know a little more about what went on at those "camps," its pretty clear there was quite a bit of abuse.

Tl;dr: Stay away from self-help cults.

[Donuthole]

Also reminded me a little of the "reparative therapy" industry, which in hindsight really looks like a similar "self-help cult" in many ways. I never got involved with that stuff, but one of the guys that founded one of the leading "reparative theory" groups lived in my stake when I was in law school and I had a bishop that recommended that I talk to him. My bishop was a great guy and probably had no idea what it really was, so I don't fault him at all for it. I did some research on it after getting that recommendation though and never ended up contacting the guy because it creeped me out. I've since concluded, from having encounters with others that did attend some "reparative theory" camps led by the same group, that I made a good decision. Everyone I encountered that was involved in the group at the time was super secretive about it and behaved very weirdly. They'd talk about how going to these camps changed their entire lives and would act overly spiritual and "fake happy." Many of them got married to women at a very young age, despite acknowledging that they were gay, and several had kids and claimed their marriages were amazing. Now, I don't know of a single one that isn't divorced and in a gay relationship. And now that I know a little more about what went on at those "camps," its pretty clear there was quite a bit of abuse.

Tl;dr: Stay away from self-help cults.

Not sure of it counts as reparative therapy, but the Tony Robbins doc on Netflix is pretty interesting. The amazing thing to me about it was how Robbins approved and thinks it paints him in a good light.

[Brian]

"Class Action Park" was about this insane amusement park in NJ designed by amateurs, run by teenagers and very few rules. Pretty entertaining.
As someone who grew up in the 80s, it made me a big nostalgic for the good old days where we jumped on our bikes and went out for adventures.

[BigPiney]

"Class Action Park" was about this insane amusement park in NJ designed by amateurs, run by teenagers and very few rules. Pretty entertaining.
As someone who grew up in the 80s, it made me a big nostalgic for the good old days where we jumped on our bikes and went out for adventures.

The book was really fun. Made me wish I had gone there. I'd sign a wiaver.

[Uncle Ted]

"Class Action Park" was about this insane amusement park in NJ designed by amateurs, run by teenagers and very few rules. Pretty entertaining.
As someone who grew up in the 80s, it made me a big nostalgic for the good old days where we jumped on our bikes and went out for adventures.

Thanks for the pointer... Looks entertaining from watching the trailer.