Vinyl - "Mad Men was too subtle." - Martin Scorsese

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Vinyl - "Mad Men was too subtle." - Martin Scorsese

TheRationalRedditor: Jul 17, 2000; WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

I've been a fan of Cannavale for years, but 'Vinyl' is shaping up as the very worst attempt at a new flagship drama HBO's had in a long time. It actually made start to watch 'Billions' instead, which is conversely the best actual prestige drama Showtime has had since I can remember.

TheRationalRedditor fucked around with this message at 13:18 on Mar 28, 2016

# ¿ Mar 28, 2016 13:07

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 10, 2024 14:20

TheRationalRedditor: Jul 17, 2000; WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

Hannibal is a fictional amalgam of R&B stars they invented.

A big part of the show's attitude problem is that it keeps sticking in sneering, rib-elbowing dismissals of perfectly fine acts that the audience is nevertheless supposed to take at face value as bad to be "in the know", like that Jethro Tull dig early on. Every now and then it's like having someone's alcoholic grandpa over your shoulder waiting to blurt out "NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC!". "rockist" in the free world, maaaahn!

Also, the show commits a huge HBO sin I haven't seen anyone else mention - the opening loving suuuuuuucks. 2 minutes of compulsively skippable noise and boring visuals

# ¿ Mar 28, 2016 22:28

TheRationalRedditor: Jul 17, 2000; WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

That impersonator's performance was legitimately one of the very best things in the whole show so far, he was extremely good at playing middle downward spiral Elvis

# ¿ Mar 28, 2016 22:39

TheRationalRedditor: Jul 17, 2000; WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

savinhill posted:

Oh, also agree about the opening credits sequence. The whole weird, super close up imaging of the needle on the vinyl record was interesting to watch the first time, but not so much after that, and the rest of the opening seems like some cliche generic commercial to make some new product look cool and hip

Exactly, the very first time I was like "oh this microscope LP is neat". And then it gives way to vibrating cocaine and stock b&w in AfterEffects filtervision for 2 fuckin minutes. Seriously, it's longer than GoT's intro without a memorable, triumphantly tuneful theme to justify any of it

# ¿ Mar 29, 2016 01:33

TheRationalRedditor: Jul 17, 2000; WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

JethroMcB posted:

I was really enjoying this episode until the reveal started, then I said "gently caress YOU!" and fast-forwarded until I saw, yeah, Richie's still a piece of poo poo. I just can't fathom where they're taking this...it's like the writer's room read the litany of thinkpieces about how every "prestige" drama is built around a white male anti-hero and they took that as some kind of challenge. I hate Richie! I don't want to see this rear end in a top hat get a redemption story! At this point all I want to do is see his coked-up rear end fall through a glass table and die at the end of the season, and HBO to pull a "whoops we sobered up and looked at these ratings and we're cancelling the renewal on this show" like they did for The Brink.

Well, Cannavale isn't exactly white, so you could call it some kind of reaction

There's nothing wrong with a protagonist being a selfish piece of poo poo in good drama, it's a huge part of what made 'The Sopranos' so masterful. Vinyl's problem is that Richie's story is nowhere near interesting enough to justify what a loathsome hunk of garbage he is, and there is no sign yet of any room for revelatory growth or potential that's worth getting invested in. This is a bad place to be 7 episodes deep into a season of 10

# ¿ Mar 29, 2016 04:10

TheRationalRedditor: Jul 17, 2000; WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

Binary Logic posted:

doo doo doo doo SA TVIV Headline Compilerbot interrupting this thread with breaking news:

Blessing in disguise for Winter despite the purposed "creative differences", this is his biggest cable drama misfire by a landslide in a relatively distinguished career. The ejector seat is merciful for him

# ¿ Apr 12, 2016 14:51

TheRationalRedditor: Jul 17, 2000; WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

'Billions' is really good. Aty first it starts like "why should I care about any of this", much like 'Vinyl', but then the characters and dialogue quickly coalesce into something engaging and interesting, unlike 'Vinyl'.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2016 18:57

TheRationalRedditor: Jul 17, 2000; WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

JethroMcB posted:

The Alibi Records launch party rages into the night, with middle aged shitheap Richie Finnestra leading the charge to spraypaint all the biggest cusses on the walls. In time, the guests fall away to continue their own parties at proto-CBGB's or Max's Kansas City or any number of other namedropped venues. The White Mailroom Kid who is busy appropriating Black dance music to single-handedly create Disco winds up hanging out with an acquaintance at a CBS Radio building in Midtown when he says "This would make a great nightclub venue...'The STUDIO on 54th'..." and he looks directly into the camera.

Juno Temple goes home with John Nastybits and watches him overdose for a second time in 24 hours. He dies. She realizes maybe this world isn't so glamorous and goes back to her ill-defined aristocratic family to live a life of luxury.

Richie keeps his own party going in his office, doing fat rails of coke well into the night. He decides to celebrate sunrise with a line that runs the length of the receptionist desk. He takes it down and shouts out some Nasty Bits lyrics before grabbing his chest and falling down dead from a massive coronary. Zak and the Partner With the Moustache come in a few hours later to find RIchie dead in the lobby. They hug, crying, and Zak says "Finally, we're free." Richie's wife is more than happy to turn control of the company over to the other partners; she will sell as soon as it is profitable or they can find a buyer. They set about undoing all the damage Richie caused. Alibi Records is immediately shuttered, and the Nasty Bits' stock is destroyed. The records that did make it to retail distribution find no audience, are promptly moved to the discount bin and are ultimately forgotten. The album does gain some mythical cachet through the years, going on to become a collector's item decades later, but only as a curiosity for vinyl completionists. Music blogs pick up on its cult status and review it only to savage the actual music - Pitchfork's review ends with "A lot of Change the loving Channel's legendary story has to do with the fact that the lead singer died on the day of the album's release. A typical rock and roll sob story, but if this is all that he had to offer I'm glad he's dead."

American Century's remaining execs manage to turn the label around, relying heavily on compilations and rereleases. They're not artistic pioneers, but they do run a solid business. A few years later Polygram comes around again and offers them another deal. This time, without Richie around to sink the whole thing, the sale goes through and everybody gets paid handsomely.

I was digging the zinger-filled first half but then it seemed to turn into earnest "happy ending" fanfiction for the homestretch, haha

# ¿ Jun 23, 2016 22:40

TheRationalRedditor: Jul 17, 2000; WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

JethroMcB posted:

And speaking of fanfic happy endings - Lester starts singing again with his "damaged" voice and critics/white kids go crazy for his "unique" sound, his career takes off. They really never sold me on the "Uniquely talented blues guitarist with an insanely raspy voice couldn't be a performer" stuff.

Yeah, as though the majority of blues legends weren't howlin' heroin addicts. The whole hackneyed organized crime angle was garbage, that Andre the Giant-faced fatso made a terrible crime boss. If you're wondering if you recognize him, it's because the actor played "Coco", the Leotardo toadie who Tony literally curbstomps the teeth out of in the final season of 'The Sopranos'

# ¿ Jun 24, 2016 00:36

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 10, 2024 14:20

TheRationalRedditor: Jul 17, 2000; WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

Professor Shark posted:

Does anyone actually remember the final season of The Sopranos?

Yes, it's a loving peerless final season of drama

# ¿ Jun 24, 2016 07:59

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Vinyl - "Mad Men was too subtle." - Martin Scorsese