UPDATE: Watched HBO's 'The Wire,'.......

[FAST FRED]

.....Season 1, so far, from NETFLIX.

I enjoyed it, but my wife didn't.

Gritty, interesting crime drama to me; too much ghetto language and violence for her.

She liked "The Sopranos" much better, while I thought they were both very good.

Several more seasons of this show are available and I think I'll watch them.

Not much new that seems worthwhile to me is on at the movie houses just now, but I'll keep my reviewing eyes open for some interesting flicks wherever I find them.

My wife and I just saw "Juno" and we liked it, especially for its excellent casting and fine acting and the quirky, but very realistic, storytelling

I thought "Into The Wild" was pretty forgettable, in an unforgettable way, mainly because it was so long.

To me, it was kind of a meager and minor movie-making mashup of "The Grapes of Wrath," "Grizzly Man" and "Napoleon Dynamite," although I fully realize that's a completely unfair assessment of "Into The Wild" or those three other movies I just grouped with it in this sentence.

"Sweeney Todd" and "Atonement" are arriving from NETFLIX soon to pretty much finish out last year's offerings that I haven't seen yet.

 

[ilsa]

keep with it, seasons 3-4 are the best IMO. If she didn't like the ghetto language she might like season 2 a little more because there is less focus on the ghetto and more on the docks.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

Indeed keep with it.

The beauty of the show is how each season seems to focus on a different character, it is quite good.

 

[Texas Sandwich]

You should definitely continue watching the following seasons. The second season was my favorite, but I think the fourth was the most powerful of the series.

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[Nuclear Bear]

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[sanf81]

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[FAST FRED]

Too late, I just watched and enjoyed "Sweeney Todd."

I indeed did know that "Into The Wild" was based on a true story; but I just didn't much care for it, particularly after he got to Alaska.

Thanks for your reply and your courteous warning, sanf81

But, different strokes for different folks and so on and so on.....

 

[nych 1]

As a former high school teacher in the inner-city of Houston, I can so relate to the frustrated teachers in Baltimore (season 4 - The Wire). The focus on standardized tests (at my school, the social studies and english curriculum was based around TAKS), the need for grant monies, the high teacher turnover rate, the fudging of attendance figures, gang/drug issues (Cholo v. La Primera in my case), etc. hit home with me. The beauty of the show is that it presents issues/people in three-dimensions; along with the problems presented, it also showed teachers who could think "outside" the box and truly cared for their pupils.

What you need to do is watch seasons II, III, IV, and V (out in August) and tell me that this is not the great American drama of our time. You feel me.

 

[Texas007]

I loved season 2 perhaps the most. I liked season 3. I thought season 4 was perhaps the most riveting and powerful television I have ever seen outside Band of Brothers. I loved season 1 for its raw street look. Leep at it. It is without a question in my mind the best show tv has ever produced.

 

[FAST FRED]

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[wedgie]

McNulty becomes a self centered piece of crap in the final season.

 

[steve perry]

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[Texas007]

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[Nuclear Bear]

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[falloutboy]

I recently watched 1-4 ($7 on dvd...gotta love China), and have just begun season 5. I would say that 2 and 4 are my favorite. I love how each season focuses on a system or an institution and shows how the characters are a product of their respective systems. Different characters react differently (ie Namon and Mike, or McNulty and Bunk etc.), and the writers nail these responses.

And yeah, I thought that was Rawles in the gay bar as well (I'll check again later). I'm kind of surprised they threw that in there without expanding on it.

Anyhow, I have a feeling someone important is gonna drop as well. My guess would be Omar...seems like his occupation lends itself to an early exit, and the writers of this show would not make him an immortal hero.

 

[nych 1]

It is Rawls in the gay bar. In one of the dvd commentaries, it was mentioned how Rawls grabs one of Sgt. Landsman's nudie mags and does a quick scan to keep up appearances. Pretty funny moment if you catch it.

 

[austingirl25]

I'm only on season 1, but honestly I find it WAY less violent than The Sopranos. I didn't think I'd like it because I was anticipating a lot of violence, but it's growing on me. I liked The Sopranos, btw -- just thought it was really violent.