(11-27-2022, 01:29 AM)Sol Wrote: Yellowstone is turning out to be one of my all time favorites...
1883, the spin off, has proven to be ok. Nowhere close to Yellowstone though, even if Sam Elliot steals the show.
House of the Dragon - Nowhere close to being as good as the books and the acting was meh. Nowhere close to Game of Thrones, the CGI even sucks at times, seems to be on a very limited budget. I hated the time jumps where they changed all (or just about) the actors. Like they keep doing on "The Queen", which fucks up the character depths.
Am getting to the final episode of Andor, which has proven to be a good Star Wars spin off.
Suggestions on what's good, what's not?
I loved Yellowstone, but had to stop watching it when I got that ugly letter from Paramount. Evidently, Paramount does not want me watching their stuff, and since Yellowstone is a Paramount property, I had to give it up.
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I've been binge watching "Justified". Great show. It's based on works of Elmore Leonard, and the setting is right around here (just across the state line in Harlan County, KY), but with a US Marshal in the mix. It's uncanny how well some of the actors got the accents and culture down, and the subject matter is, well, pretty close to ground reality sometimes. I never was a US Marshal or Deputy US Marshal, but I DID do some contract work for them to the point that they wanted to deputize me, but the security outfit I was working for at the time wouldn't have it. Weird that, since I know for fact that some of their operatives in New Mexico at least have been deputized by the US Marshals Service, but still work for the company - they have "value added" status . I reckon it was a local office decision.
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I also liked "Hell on Wheels", but in my opinion it kinda went downhill after Bohannon switched from the Union Pacific railroad to the Central Pacific Railroad. It' follows the construction of the first trans-continental railway spanning the US through a fictional character named Cullen Bohannon. My son swears that Bohannon is just like me, right down to even facial expressions, but I can't see it myself.
Doc Durant played by Colm Meany in the show was a real person involved in the construction of the transcontinental railway and the Credit Mobelier scandal. A quote from the Durant character goes something like "Swede, half of these men are cutthroats, and the other half outright murderers... and ALL of them are afraid of Bohannon. That's what makes him valuable to me."
Some samples:
Trailer -
"The Swede" (actually, a Norweigian, as he has to constantly remind folks, "real" name Thor Gunderson) is the nemesis of Bohannon, through almost the entire series. They take an instant dislike to one another upon meeting, and the relationship goes downhill from there. Bohannon had been a Confederate Cavalry Captain from Mississippi during the Civil War, and The Swede had been a clerk for the Union Infantry who had gotten captured and did time in Andersonville Prison Camp. They were never going to warm up to one another. It wasn't in the stars.
This is what happened to the first posse sent after Bohannon. Gunfights were a bit different in the days of black powder, when every shot had to count because you'd eventually have to reload -
This is what happens to the posse sent after Bohannon and Elam after Bohannon rescues Elam from the saloon hanging mentioned above -
Bohannon had been a slave owner before the Civil War, and it's a bit amazing that he and Elam become best friends and equals over the course of the series.
Bohannon executing a friend, because the friend requested him as executioner. After having survived the Civil War, Doc just didn't want a Yankee bullet to be what finally took him out.
The series is 4 or 5 seasons long, covering the years 1865-1869, so there is a lot more complexity than just the shootouts and whatnot posted here.
Bohannon's pistol is supposed to be a Confederate Griswold and Gunnison like Betsy, according to the dialog, but at no point did I ever see one in his hand. The prop master kinda dropped it on that one. Most of these scenes show an 1861 Colt Army revolver in .44 caliber. The Griswold was a Confederate copy of the 1851 Navy in .36 caliber, but with a brass frame and a round rather than octagonal barrel.
That's my curse - I notice details.
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A couple more series my son recommended to me, but which I have yet to watch, are "The English" and "Tulsa King". "The English" is a revisionist western set in 1890, and "Tulsa King" is an organized crime drama set in the modern day.
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