The HBO Original Programming Thread

[falafel]

If you aren’t watching We Own This City, you need to be. From the creators of The Wire (best show of all time, imho). About the rise of a corrupt unit of cops in Baltimore. John Bernthal puts on an amazing performance. It’s only 6 episodes long, and four have been released. If you like The Wire even a little bit, you should definitely check this out.

Jamie Hector is in it and he does not play Marlo???

Edit: damn, this thing is full of Wire alums. Marlo, Herc, Jay,

[UVACoug]

If you aren’t watching We Own This City, you need to be. From the creators of The Wire (best show of all time, imho). About the rise of a corrupt unit of cops in Baltimore. John Bernthal puts on an amazing performance. It’s only 6 episodes long, and four have been released. If you like The Wire even a little bit, you should definitely check this out.

[SteelBlue]

New Tony Hawk documentary “Until the Wheels Fall Off” is excellent. If you grew up in 80s skate culture you will absolutely love the trip down memory lane. All the old heroes are included. Music is great. Tons of old footage. The 90s to present time portion is excellent as well. Some crashes that are hard to watch. Tony at 53 is certifiably crazy with the risks he takes. I believe he broke his femur just a few weeks ago.

[Non Sequitur]

Do you mean literally or figurative?

Apparently - it can swing both ways with this show.

Going off the last episode, he has nothing on Spencer Haywood.

[clackamascoug]

I love it. John C. Reilly is a great Jerry Buss, and I wonder if Jerry West was as big a dick as he is portrayed in the show.

Do you mean literally or figurative?

Apparently - it can swing both ways with this show.

[jay santos]

Couple episodes into Winning Time. So far it's great. Feels like a PT Anderson film back when he actually made good movies. I wish the nudity and sex wasn't so much so I could more easily recommend it to kids.

[Commando]

Anyone else watch Our Flag Means Death? It's hilarious. Another piece of genius from Taika Waititi. Rhys Darby (from Flight of the Conchords) plays a "gentleman pirate" who abandons his wife and children to seek adventure on the high seas. Taika plays Blackbeard. Definitely recommended if you like Taika's style of humor.

Nice! I tried to watch that a couple times before it was actually out so I had a false start or 2 there. Can't wait to watch it.

[Non Sequitur]

Enjoying Winning Time. Also, lots of nudity so that is a nice plus.

I love it. John C. Reilly is a great Jerry Buss, and I wonder if Jerry West was as big a dick as he is portrayed in the show.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Enjoying Winning Time. Also, lots of nudity so that is a nice plus.

[UVACoug]

Anyone else watch Our Flag Means Death? It's hilarious. Another piece of genius from Taika Waititi. Rhys Darby (from Flight of the Conchords) plays a "gentleman pirate" who abandons his wife and children to seek adventure on the high seas. Taika plays Blackbeard. Definitely recommended if you like Taika's style of humor.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Disappointed with this so far. You get similar production and style to DA, but I am really struggling with the characters - I don't like most of them. And the acting is stiff as a board. Not sure we will keep at it.

We've watched the first couple of episodes but had the same reaction you did. LIke the sets, costumes, and that time period, but the story hasn't grabbed us and the acting seems surprisingly not good... We may bail on the rest.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Anyone plan on watching The Gilded Age? Premiere is tonight. Written and produced by Julian Fellowes, who gave us Downton Abbey. This time the series is set in 1880's America and features wealthy families in NY.

Reviews have been interesting. The big rags like NYT and WaPo have been panning it, but most other reviews are very positive (84% on RT). It seems as if the big woke papers can't bring themselves to say something positive about a series focusing on rich folks. That's my theory anyway.

Disappointed with this so far. You get similar production and style to DA, but I am really struggling with the characters - I don't like most of them. And the acting is stiff as a board. Not sure we will keep at it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Bump. Here you go, PBW. Not sure why we have separate threads for HBO and HBO Max, but here we are.

Threads merged.

[Donuthole]

I watched The Last Duel last night.

1 - I'm really glad I didn't pay to see it in the theater. It was OK, but not something I'd want to pay for.

2 - It is also something I never have to watch again. I won't say I totally regret spending any time watching it, the story (based on actual people and events) is somewhat interesting. And I appreciated the Rashomon approach. I just can't say it was interesting enough to spend any more time.

My wife was in the same room working on something on her laptop. As we headed through the 3rd telling of the story from Marguerite's perspective, and the exact same phrase was stated for the 3rd time from the same character, she looked up and asked "haven't we seen this part before?" I had to explain that this is the third time she was seeing ALL of it. I think that is probably the best testament as to the lack of captivating story-telling.

Bump. Here you go, PBW. Not sure why we have separate threads for HBO and HBO Max, but here we are.

[Non Sequitur]

"Landscapers", highly recommended. A very stylized account of a true story about the death of a couple by the daughter and son in law. I thought the acting was excellent, better than a lot of series that I've watched in years. Olivia Colman stands out above everyone else, but David Thewlis was great also. Some really great sets and cinematography. One of Mrs. NWC's friends recommended it to her, calling it 'Coen-esque'. That sounds about right.

Just 4 episodes, so even if you don't like it you'll just lose 4 hours of your life.

I liked it a lot. David Tewlis, who was great in Fargo, was also great in this.