Deadwood

The ornery barkeep looks just like my dad

It seems like one of those shows that'll provide the best performances to date for most of the people in it; I've never disliked Timothy Olyphant, but I never expected to be impressed by him, either; and Keith Carradine was the best thing, one of the only good things, about Dead Man's Walk, but he's so much better here, like that earlier performance was the rough draft for this.

It's become my second-favorite show of all time (sorry, but no one touches Kramden and co), I just don't know what I'm going to do for the next few months without it.

I'll be furious if HBO pulls one of their two year gaps again - I was a pretty big Six Feet Under fan, but I found last night, watching the first episode of the new season, that I really couldn't care less anymore. That's what happens when you wait two years to premiere the new season.

Deadwood's only weak link is Olyphant. Why does he always have to be so laughably "intense?" Ian McShane is brilliant.

What did yall think of the season finale? Lots of loose ends....

$70 at Amazon

The Deadwood website at HBO.com is better than most of their show sites -- some meaty, if short, interviews, historical trivia, etc. Maybe there's just more to say about this show.

The thought of forty eight more episodes of Deadwood causes me to drool uncontrollably.

And one thing it shares with The Wire is that it takes politics seriously -- not as abstract talking-head stuff, but as part of on-the-ground daily life.

however my main problem with show is--well, i have a few problems.

1) too much good-guy olyphant. i like the actor when he goes roguish but i don't really like watching him as bullock (buttock? what is his character's name?)

2) while i'm a fan of the long-game, long-arc tv show (ie buffy, the wire esp., i claudius etc.) i feel like deadwood isn't really handling it that well. it puzzles me why a lot of the show's strands get so much time, almost like milch is stalling while he warms up the good stuff. it's all b-plot!

ok two problems.

x-post
yeah, nothing about it works quite as well as The Wire...but I'll take it in the absence of.

Of course, the worst is Catherine Zeta Jones and her terrible American accent in the T-Mobile ads. Horrible!

Welcome to fucking Deadwood! I'm glad it's back.

Also, in case anyone hasn't read it yet, Frank Rich had interesting things to say about the show this week:

Its linguistic gait befits its chapter of American history, the story of a gold-rush mining camp in the Dakota Territory of the late 1870's. "Deadwood" is the back story of a joke like "The Aristocrats" and of everything else that is joyously vulgar in American culture and that our new Puritans want to stamp out. It's the ur-text of Vegas and hip-hop and pulp fiction. It captures with Boschian relish what freedom, by turns cruel and comic and exhilarating, looked and sounded like at full throttle in frontier America before anyone got around to building churches or a government.

... It reminds us of who we are and where we came from, and that even indecency is part of an American's birthright. It also, if inadvertently, illuminates the most insidious underpinnings of today's decency police by further reminding us that the same people who want to stamp out entertainment like "Deadwood" also want to rewrite American history (and, when they can, the news) according to their dictates of moral and political correctness. They won't tolerate an honest account of the real Deadwood in a classroom or museum any more than they will its fictionalized representation on HBO.

(cf The Searchers, Red River, bonnie And Clyde, Heavens Gate)

the lack of white hats, heros, honour, etc--is perfect for the bush era.

It seems to me the perspective on Deadwood and The Wire too is kind of a left-libertarianism -- which is a weird place to be on the American political spectrum, because it's kind of the dominant voice of our mass entertainments, but it's almost totally unrepresented in actual political dialogue. And lacking political representation, it tends to run and hide whenever bipartisan bluenoses start yammering about values. I'm so sick of reading allegedly "liberal" columnists say things like, "Of course, our pop culture is an open sewer, and nobody can blame parents for wanting to protect their children..."

(Which is also another reason I like Frank Rich, because he's one of the only major liberal voices in the media who's sounding alarms about all this "indecency" stuff -- it's like he actually sees it for what it is. We need more pundits with arts backgrounds, maybe.)

I'll shut up now. But I do love this show.

Indeed.

What are y'all favorite lines from Deadwood? Put them here.

I like the little speech Swearengen gives about when he and Dan came and built Deadwood from scratch, "bucktooth fucking beavers slapping their tails in the water as if we were hired entertainment". Haha.

Well, he's good on Deadwood.

OTMFM. Swearengen is the REAL hero of the show; Bullock is this sort of confused teenager.

I personally think the whole thing is what MOST great ensemble cast stories are: a personification of the inner life of the chief writer. Bullock THINKS he's the superego, but he's really the id; Swearengen THINKS he's the id, but he's really the ego.

Trixie
Doc
Alma (ooh, I just know she's a con-artist. I know it. I used to hate her, until it occured to me she was an evil bitch. Now I like her tons.)
Starr (getting better, and I hope to see him allied w. Trixie against Bullock).
and Ricky Jay's character. Is he back this season?

and, naturally, Swearengen.

That, if I may be motherfuckin' permitted to voice my goddamn opinion on the topic which we have at here to fuckin' hand, could possibly be concieved as my favorite episode to date, despite the motherfuckin' surfeit of Al, speaking of his estimable (yet lacking in coherence) contributions in the matter of dialogues. This sonofabitch Mr. W - and if that's not a name evocative of our ways and times I'll be doubly fucked as to what could qualify - is representing a shadowy, powerful, distant motherfucker who's very name puts a shake in the boots of everyone in this shithole camp from a craven cocksucker like E.B. to the icewatery veins of Cy Fuckin' Tolliver? Oh, he's a body to keep your bloodshot peepers on of a one hundred percent certainty.

The sequence where Trixie told off the Jew ("fuck the whole lot of you. i wish i was a tree") was as brilliant and clean and incisive as anything I've ever seen on television.

OTM with Dan crying. Such a great character.

Did anybody else notice that the actor who plays the new Hearst man is the same guy who killed Wild Bill?

1) Trixie / Jane
2) "Don't look me in the face."
3) "Don't spread the rumors. About the claims. Don't."
4) "Maybe I'm wrong on account of me being perpetually fucking drunk."

ahem.

(it's fun to post in Deadwoodese!)

This got better after the first two and moved onto incredible about episode five.

- the second episode with kristen bell, aka veronica mars, was some of the most brutal shit i've seen anywhere, anytime. the payoff in the next episode (with joanie walking past the pigs and seeing the hat) was great.

- brad dourif was the best thing about the lord of the rings trilogy and he's up there with mcshane in this show.

- i like how timothy olyphant is our "hero", but is basically a fucked-up dude with a temper and a badge who happens to have more conscience than everyone around him.

- wild bill's "cunt" speech to jack mccall was perfect as both an insult and a moment of self-loathing.

- molly parker is wonderful, just barely keeping it all together even living in deadwood and i loved her moment when she watched her father beaten to a pulp (as bullock was defending her) and yet still told that whore at the bella union to look after him.

- paula malcomson as trixie has some great moments and that first setup of her character over the course of the first episode (killing a man who was hitting her, getting beaten by al, ready to kill him but in the end just giving him the gun) is really wonderful.

- the aforementioned veronica mars episode is awesome precisely because it really shifts the villain role from al swearengen to cy tolliver, which is sort of underlined by the final episode when tolliver tries to buy off a general to protect his interests while al is gently putting and end to the reverend's suffering.

- yeah and ian mcshane is doing something similar to what daniel day-lewis did in gangs of new york but he's more charismatic, deeper, smarter, and more complex. probably one of the best performances of any actor in any medium that i've ever seen.

- this is so much better than any series HBO has ever aired, and nothing else comes close with the possible exception of "band of brothers".

Season 2 DVDs will most likely be out in May. They would have been out this month, to coincide with the new series starting in March, but unfortunately the series has been pushed back to June so HBO can use the Sopranos as a lead-in with Big Love.

When Altman dies, AO Scott in the NY Times called this an obvious desendant of McCabe and Mrs. Miller, only "pretentious and sentimental" by comparison -- and I agree while still liking the show a lot. I'd never listen to one of David Milch's commentaries all the way through, but I did hear him say he doesn't see Swearengen as "a villain, but one of God's fallen angels" (or somthin).

Sorry, but motherfucking Swearengen is a villain, Milch, you cocksucker. (Why I found the weepy bathos around Swearengen's kidney stones icky.)

I had better see some Bullock buttock before this show is over. (saw Timothy Olyphant do The Santaland Diaries off-Broadway years ago, he filled out candystripe tights verrry nicely.)

Dorrity's gay!

uh, did I fall asleep at some point?

And when are Season 3 DVDs out?

I don't think of him as a villain, especially compared to Wolcott or Tolliver or Hearst. By comparison, Al has a strong moral core that is compromised by his cruel business sense.

I like to think of Al as Batman to Bullock's Superman (in the Frank Miller sense).

(I like my superheroes uncomplicated, hv never touched that Frank Miller stuff)

Maybe it was the layoff between 2 & 3, but the voting stuff just confused the hell out of me.

John from Cincinnati better be really fucking good.

http://www.outputnet.com.au/~peter/web/deadwood.htm

i think a deadwood drinking game would be pretty easy to create.

i'm only up to S01.E03 but there better be some suggestions here when i get back

http://www.exhibit5a.com/?p=855
http://chimpzilla.blogspot.com/2007/07/deadwood-drinking-game-that-aint-for.html
http://vernontbludgeon.com/blog/archives/2004/05/deadwood_a_new.html

So is the mini-movies thing just dead? It ended Season 3 and no more?

The complete series box had a featurette with David Milch supposedly explaining how it would have ended. Though I haven't seen it, I imagine that is the end of that.

Also, I did the "everytime a person takes a shot, you take a shot" game once with whiskey.

Yeah, that shit is rough. The second game up there looks pretty fun though.

Someone who has seen the featurette needs to spoil this.

i think the ending was good as was. would have preferred more seasons obviously.

same here. just watched the last episode last night and was prepared for a letdown but i kinda liked the low key, poignant way they wrapped it up. was v disappointed that we didn't get to meet this supposed badass knife-wielding midget though.

There is nothing wrong with the ending of Season 3. The movie wrap-up sounded really cool to me.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3275293849_f20c55f7a8_o.gif

More: http://calamityjon.livejournal.com/1119852.html

Do we want a Kings thread?

no.

lol @ valentines

we have one: Butterflies have crowned Ian McShane: NBC's WTF Drama KINGS

and it deserves it.

halfway through season 1 now. it's amazing how ricky jay can make anything he says sound like a mamet line.

reading 'warlock' makes me want to get back into deadwood

deadwood is good but my roommates watched big chunks of the first & second seasons without me, so now i'm kinda lost :\

"Well, a lot of fellas, you know, are outpaced by white pussy's price."

this show is the best. got the complete box set for christmas and just watched through the whole thing. simply stellar work on every level imo

what did bother me though was the dvd packaging, the first dvd had great looking menus but then it got worse with each season. and no commentary or behind the scenes stuff is just downright offensive

? i got discs thru netflix and there was commentary on every episode

Yeah, there was a lot of extra stuff! Did they cut all all the bonus material that was always on the last disc?

okay this is the version i got, must be some budget edition then. the only bonus material was a couple of photos on one disc.

sounds like the americans get a better deal. i rented mine on lovefilm and got nada.

idk why the f they drop features for the region 2 version. does it cost more to burn the extra content or something? sounds unlikely.

Yeah, I'm noticing the Complete Series Box for the US has 19 discs, vs. your 12. There was a good amount of extras, come to think of it.

UGH. I always get my hopes up when threads like this pop up randomly. WTF is Milch doing these days? I know it'd probably be a logistical nightmare to get the cast together for that wrap-up movie, but I'm willing to bet most of them would be willing to fit it into their schedules if it were to happen. Right?

maybe UK distributor didn't want to pony up for licensing bonus features

this show is pretty great but has some incredibly slack moments. i think the overall pretentiousness would bother me more on second viewing once i knew the plot mechanics.

milch was working on at least two pilots for HBO last i read.

iirc s.thing to do with horse racing w. michael mann?

Oh, I see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1174038/

"A veteran New York cop takes a young detective in under his wing." Way to journey into throroughly unexplored territory there, Milch...

horse racing w. michael mann

would be great if this were the title of the show.

followed by

foosball with kathryn bigelow

Well, tbf, it's not like John from Cincinnati set the world on fire.

should i bring myself to watch that one?

I loved JFC but everyone else hated it.

Last of the Ninth is Dead (not the capital d). This new one, "Luck," seems like it has a good chance, with Michael Mann on it. Dennis Farina and John Ortiz were just cast (neither is the lead, though, supporting roles).

I loved John from Cincinnati a lot.

horse racing show gonna star... dustin hoffman!?

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118015910.html?categoryId=14&cs=1

i must have prosopagnosia or something cuz i didn't realize until tonight that the guy who played jack mccall (punk who shoots hickok) in season one is the same guy who played francis walcott (hearst geologist/whore killer) in season two.

They look fairly different.

they're very different characters also (although both are cowards and cocksuckers), but now that i know it just seems so apparent. the type of thing that makes me think superman's clark kent gambit could totally work.

Francis Walcott was one of my five favorite characters on the show, I think.

I would make a point to watch anything with Garrett Dillahunt (until that Raising Hope show) because of Walcott.

The confrontation between Wolcott and Ellsworth outside the mines is among my faves.

and he is the only watchable thing in that raising hope show imo xp

so many amazing characters on this show - Joanie, Silas Adams, Ellsworth, Charlie Utter, Ricky Jay's character

seven episodes in, the joys. mcshane doing magnificent work with swearengen.

I want to start it over again. I love Wild Bill so much

gf and I rewatched the whole thing this summer. Still my favorite show ever.

I crank out my blu-rays every summer. Gorgeous stuff.

Wish I could forget it just to rewatch w/ fresh eyes. So fucking great.

Otm

so much 2 love

WHY DID IT HAVE TO END?!?!? etc etc

Timothy Olyphant was on Nerdist podcast this week, told some A+++ stories about Deadwood including

- Season 2 story arc with the little kid getting shot apparently came about because the child actor's mom pissed off Milch - Milch came to Olyphant's trailer one morning and said something like 'We're gonna kill the kid. It'll be good for you though. Don't worry."

- Olyphant and McShane spent a good portion of Season 3 re-negotiating their contracts. After about 8 episodes had aired they finally received their checks for that work. Olyphant bought a house with the money. 3 weeks later the show was cancelled. DOH. To keep the house he 'shaved his head and went to Bulgaria' (ie filmed the movie 'Hitman' lol) He said if HBO had planned to can the show all along, they would never have paid out those checks. So it was definitely a very last minute, spur of the moment thing. He thinks that HBO pushed Milch too hard and Milch went 'oh yeah well fuck you'. he didn't give specifics though. He did say he thinks it's funny when people ask him if he's going to make a sequel to Hitman. He's kinda like, 'Well I still have the house, so..."

Some good stuff relating to that in Sepinwall's book. Interestingly nobody involved can get the story exactly straight. The way Milch tells it, the execs were iffy on a fourth season due to costs and falling ratings, and floated the idea of a shortened one, to which Milch balked. They hadn't really come to any decisions but Milch knew that Olyphant was buying a house, so he supposedly called him up and told him that there might not be a season 4, which supposedly led to Olyphant's agent floating it in the trade press that Tim was suddenly available because there wouldn't be a fourth season, and everything went to hell.

Also some good stuff with the writers, who said that only the first four episodes were ever written in advance. From then on scripts were were written the day before or the day of (Milch would convene the writers in the morning and they would bounce off ideas). They had general historical events to hit, but things like Hickock's letter to his wife were put in because everyone knew about it, but they had no idea what they were going to do with it until they wanted EB to interact with Walcott, and then further they didn't know what to do with it until Utter needed to confront Walcott and they saw a resolution.

Also ex-HBO, now Starz, exec said that John from Cincinnati didn't work because Milch's style was suited for Deadwood as they had these permanent sets and backlot they were working on, whereas in JFC they did a lot of location work and you had to plan in advance. Apparently some of the tension on Luck had to do with Mann taking control and refusing to Milch work like that as well, forcing him to have completed scripts.

http://vimeo.com/88681835

Shame it ended. WAtched the 2nd 2 series a couple of weeks ago cos I didn't think I'd gone right through them when I dl/ded them a few years ago.
Probably should watch the 1st series again. Moved onto Justified cos Deadwood ended way too soon.

JUst about to watch the beginning of Hell On Wheels after watching the first series of Copper yesterday.
Keep getting hit with the thought that Copper is like an American Ripper Street or vice versa. Like similarly set with similarly historically tied storylines that are almost like how you'd tell an equivalent story on either side of the Atlantic at about the same time, Ripper St is about 20 years later though. Well have enjoyed both.

Wish there was more Deadwood. I've been salivating over some of the clothing and thinking that's what I want to get into making. WAnt to get the patterns for western shirts like that Cavalry/bib thing the guy Dave wears and the stripey collarless one the other Swearingen minion wears as well as some of the more complex stuff others are wearing . I just think the pattern for the 2 shirts is available in the same set from Folkwear.

resurrection?

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/12/hbo-deadwood-movie

nice

what a weird sentence

Like many HBO dramas back then, it quickly became sick with Emmy noms in categories like best drama, best writing and best acting.

Emmy noms are poisonous

"Emmy noms" what a ridiculous thing to type out

nom vom

that piece makes a lot out of two tweets from Garret Dillahunt

still seems very unlikely given that McShane is always in high demand and several of the others are regulars on other series right now (Paula Malcolmson, Kim Dickens, is Molly Parker still doing House of Cards?) but this is the era of the reboot so who knows

Yeah, but this isn't like Twin Peaks, where the vast majority of its cast have had very low-key careers since its cancellation. That was a one-time hat trick that certainly won't work (or won't work without a lot of logistical scrambling) with Deadwood's cast.

I'm in. Shit was just about to get super-exciting when they shut the show down.

I wanna know what became of George Hearst!

well, HBO at least officially commented on it:

In reference to Garret Dillahunt’s tweet regarding the rumored Deadwood movie, there have only been very preliminary conversations.

pleeeeeeeeeeaze

Is it that difficuky

Oops

...difficult/impossible to get some people together for a movie

Deadwood, which focused on life in the South Dakota town in the late 1800s, boasted an all-star cast of character actors who went on to headline more critically-acclaimed cable shows. Among them: Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, John Hawkes, Paula Malcomson, Dayton Callie, Robin Weigart, Kim Dickens, Powers Boothe, Titus Welliver, Anna Gunn, Sarah Paulson, and of course, Dillahunt.

i know dick all about hollywood pay scales but half of these people are like 4x the household names they were when they were on DW

i love this show so much but eh

I did not know ian mcshane had been in stuff since btw

I'd think one of the stumbling blocks for a potential movie, in terms of coordinating scheduling, is that a lot of the people whose careers have taken off post-Deadwood are still working in television. P.S. I coordinate scheduling for the Hollywood movies, if it isn't clear that I know exactly what I'm talking about.

yeah well my uncle works for nintendo!!!

j/k

i'm super happy all of these people got big after that show. as a lover of actors it's almost consolation if a finale can't get made

I did not know ian mcshane had been in stuff since btw

but has he been in anything worthy of his talent?

i'm still holding out hope he'll pop up in the new Tarantino

mcshane did Pinter on Broadway

you know, next to which tarantino is horseshit on boots

also he's joining that elves n' fairies HBO show that i will never see

hearing stories from the actors about what a nightmare it was just in terms of actually working, i dunno if this will get off the ground. to be clear: they all seem to love the show & milch, but practically he is nuts.

idk how on earth a movie wouldnt turn into heaven's gate crazytown

I think the big roadblock to this is that they struck and sold-off their enormous and incredibly expensive sets back in 06, not sure hbo would really want to recreate them for some two hour decade-late wrap-up

Maybe for the movie the whole Deadwood gang could move into an apartment building in NYC, have a hot-headed landlord and wacky neighbors, the whole nine. Much lower production costs, for sure.

do it von trier-style without sets

feeding corpses to the unseen pigs just aint the same

I did not know ian mcshane had been in stuff since btw

TONS of stuff actually, almost universally garbage (film/TV-wise)

eg John Wick

the current season of Ray Donovan as well, that is some garbage

I only ever watched the pilot of that, 'twas awful

John Wick was not garbage >:(

they should bring back lovejoy, forget this prestige bs

lol he probably wouldn't turn it down

McShane was mostly in garbage before Deadwood as well

it's just slightly higher profile garbage now

I wonder how Deadwood woulda panned out if Milch got Ed O'Neill like he originally wanted

Glad Morbs's Tarantino Tourette's lives on.

ehhhh... as a fun, i'd take any deadwood stuff they had to offer, but i really can't see it working as a movie. what made the show so great was all the slow-building connivery and shifting of character relations. it would be super rushed in a movie.

He was in Scoop. Might be my favorite Woody Allen. (I hate Woody Allen. Have seen very little. The pathetic weirdness of Scoop is at least kinda interesting.)

I remember the thing from late 70s/possibly early 80s where he played a neonazi robbing a bank by going through the Parisian sewers.
Am I thinking right that he has a minor role in Battle of Britain as one of the RAF pilots?
I used to like Lovejoy.

http://tvline.com/2016/01/07/deadwood-movie-reunion-hbo-premiere-date/

My big takeaway from this development is that there's still no script. Don't hold your breath.

its hard not to hope that its real this time, but i'm hardly optimistic

"He pitched what he thought generally the storyline would be — and knowing David, that could change. But it’s going to happen.”

an appropriately swearengen-esque grammatic flow to this

Crossing my fingers that no horses used in the production die before this airs.

good thing they waited until half the cast are major stars (well that prob helped in some way too idk)

they are?

Kristen Bell's ghost cameo is gonna be 'spensive, for sure.

damn i try to put that scene out of my mind whenever i think about it

Yeah, it was brutal.

no one in the cast has gotten prohibitively famous. I'd have thought Olyphant might but I guess he missed that boat when he lost out on Iron Man

i forgot that anna gunn played olyphant's wife in deadwood.

would be psyched for this.

better hurry while McShane is still nimble

McShane was anything but nimble for the majority of a season of the original series.

AFAIK of the surviving cast of characters there's only one who definitely won't be returning

rip

breathing, then xp

His inert portrayal of a dead Swearingen would probably still be pretty damn compelling.

Weekend With Swearengen

considering this latest round of hope started w/ garrett dillahunt i do hope they find some way to work him in again

swingen looked pretty nimble in john wick

swearengen didn't do much except sit at a desk and walk around and occasionally slap around/stab a flunky, i think mcshane can pull it off with ease.

it mcshane can do an episode or two of game of thrones he can easily put on a dusty suit and call a guy cocksucker

had the newspaperman already been busted for kiddie porn when Deadwood was shooting or did that come later?

jeezus you ppl have all the dirt

jeffrey jones got busted for kiddie porn well before deadwood

oh it was HIM! Yeah, long ago.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Jeffrey_Jones_mug_shot.jpg

he's done almost nothing since deadwood, just three projects

does who's yr caddy hold up?

The film had received negative reviews from critics. In particular, many critics have deemed this film a "terrible rip-off" of Caddyshack.[2][3][4][5] Overall it is ranked a "Rotten" rating of 6% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus calling the film "unoriginal, unfunny, and just plain forgettable."[6] However, former U.S. president Bill Clinton "loves" the film.[7][8]

lol

Milch profile:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/david-milch-made-100m-gambled-866184

welp that helps explain the reunion talks

"He is working on an adaptation of Peter Matthiessen's novel Shadow Country, with Jeff Bridges attached to star as 19th century outlaw Edgar "Bloody" Watson."

this sounds promising

https://twitter.com/WEarlBrown/status/716327411650985984

whaaaaaaat

good excuse for me to rewatch the series imo

Yeah, dude, it was announced a while back. We discussed it somewhere but apparently not this thread? But I think it's gonna be a movie or two on HBO, iirc.

he's doing it again https://twitter.com/WEarlBrown/status/758556004980289536

Milch needs the money

excerpt from the new Seitz/Sepinwall book on the 100 best US TV series, putting Deadwood in the top 10

https://theringer.com/deadwood-hbo-tv-the-book-dadb4007790e#.9o27jvi19

?

Yeah what happened here?

Last I heard Milch was doing some work on True Detective S3 (now starring Maherhsala Ali)

There was something said somewhere

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/deadwood-movie-david-milch-hbo-1202507726/

I need to go back and rewatch the third season - I remember it being pretty incoherent (esp. at the end) but don't remember much in the way of details.

once again

“For now nothing seems set in stone, with rumors circulating that the film will explore the burning of the town in 1879, which destroyed much of its infrastructure. But with all the key players on board, including Ian McShane as saloon keeper Al Swearengen, [HBO series creator David] Milch has a good chance of appeasing fans—if his script”—which has evidently already been written—“maintains the visceral allure of the original series.”

http://lwlies.com/articles/deadwood-movie-production-2018/

If it happens, I wonder how much CG will be employed to make the actors look like they did 12 years earlier.

doesn't seem right to go any further with this w/out Boothe

I forgot about him. Boothe was excellent, but as long as Olyphant, McShane and the women are there I think it can be done.

I like Cy but he's not an essential character imo. No Jeffrey Jones either, I assume.

it all hinges on Milch though, really

just curious how they pivot from the series finale to where they start the film. show ended on a fuckin cliffhanger.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/deadwood-movie-is-finally-happening-at-hbo-1129743

Production on the film is set to begin in October, Bloys said, and he's hoping for a premiere in spring 2019 on HBO. Deadwood creator David Milch is writing it, and Daniel Minahan, who helmed four episodes of the series, is attached to direct.

https://ew.com/tv/2018/12/19/deadwood-movie-photos/

oliphant has aged but mcshane clearly does not age

lookin' good

would be tempted to think that Olyphant has barely worked since Justified because he's either a complete dick to work with or maybe he can only do one type of character - which he happens to be very good at tbf.

he's the male lead on a currently-running series where he's doing a super broad comedy thing (not well imho but other people are into it)

actually most of his post-Justified stuff has been in sitcoms AFAIR

oliphant has aged but mcshane clearly does not age

he looked older in American Gods than in that one photo

(also he looks significantly older than the baby-faced fluffy-mulleted 52-year-old of Lovejoy tbf)

as noted elsewhere, McShane is a year older than Keith Richards

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/BN7A9A/lovejoy-tv-ian-mcshane-BN7A9A.jpg

McShane looks older but he's aging very well, he's sharper-looking than he was back in middle-aged the Lovejoy days.

Olyphant is 50! my understanding is he's a v chill and low-key guy.

his talk show / late-night appearances are reliably actually funny

"It’d be a pity not to recognize what’s at stake."
#Deadwood: The Movie premieres May 31. pic.twitter.com/IQpwOmDOwL

— HBO (@HBO) March 21, 2019

I’m in.

let's gooooo

i miss seeing dayton callie in things

Hard to imagine this not being good, can't wait.

Holy shit.

:D

Hawkes is the only one who looks significantly older.

sold.

gonna rewatch the whole thing in the next month i think; partner's never watched it.
don't think i've seen it since it was on tv... wonder how it aged?

It's aged pretty well, I rewatched a chunk of it a few months ago.

it clunks a bit around the seasonal format but has incredible moments

yeah it holds up real good, helped by the fact that nothing that's come since is all that similar

I've seen it thrice through and it loses none of its lustre.

Television event of the year, right here.

film takes place 12 years after s3

i got so excited to see Hearst again

<3 McRaney

morbs have you seen this show? i thought you eschewed tv?

I believe Morbs made some allowance for golden age HBO and Star Trek.

film takes place 12 years after s3

no wonder everybody looks exactly one year older than they should

this is the only TV series I've seen in its entirety post-Larry Sanders Show, probably

Worth a read, very sad news re: Milch

https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/david-milch-deadwood-movie.html

aw, didn't know. what a bummer.

The New Yorker Miltch profile is all time

I hope he does get around to writing his autobiography. That’ll be quite a read.

you might want to click that link, it's not sounding likely

I did. Milch mentions it in the article as a possible thing he might be working on post-Deadwood: The Movie. I understand the likelihood of it not happening; I just thing it'd be a helluva book if he got to write it.

I would read the hell out of it, that's for damn sure.

if you haven't heard these, his (extemporaneous) ~4 hours of lectures during the 2007 writer's strike are worth listening to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85FYtguoxEs

(the rest are easy to find on youtube and they're archived as audio at http://theideaofthewriter.blogspot.com/)

that may be the closes to you get to a memoir

yeah i hate to say it but “i hope he writes a book” is not the best takeaway from that article, even with only a passing understanding of alzheimers

Born on this day 1940: Al Pacino - legend. pic.twitter.com/SsPE1XBuqw

— Balderdash (@notDcfcBoss) April 25, 2019

New trailer, anyone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0WrXmhvXTA

"murdering, thieving, cocksucking..."

96% sure the one on the right is a reference to the one on the left pic.twitter.com/TMHUkiDdUk

— Matt Prigge (@mattprigge) May 7, 2019

hey you know what's a good show that's just started that has a lot of the DNA of Deadwood?
https://www.hbo.com/gentleman-jack

^ that's written by Sally Wainwright who did the incredible Happy Valley (amongst other things) a few years back

Two eps in and it’s really really good!

http://www.splitscreensfestival.com/event/deadwood-the-movie-viewing-party

I think that episode 4 is the one that really hooked me.

of jack or deadwood?

i started a separate thread: Gentleman Jack on HBO

Deadwood gets somehow even better when Brian Cox comes to town pic.twitter.com/wpK5Qozln8

— Matt Prigge (@mattprigge) May 21, 2019

Milch’s career earned him a fortune—more than a hundred million dollars from “Hill Street Blues,” “NYPD Blue,” and “Deadwood” alone. This made possible both a history of philanthropy and promiscuous nondeductible one-to-one largesse. Several years after I published my Profile, as Milch was writing early episodes of “Luck,” he called and tried to persuade me to work on the series. I reflexively declined the offer. He kept at it, and I kept demurring. At last, he said, “Let me just send you some money.” To Milch I owe the strange pleasure of once upon a time hearing myself say, “Please do not send me money.”

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/27/david-milchs-third-act

jeez, that's a heartbreaking read

Singer: One of the things we haven’t talked about is fear. Do you have fear?

Milch: Yeah. You need some?

Milch: I feel the past falling away and the attachments of regret for what wasn’t done or was done badly or was done without sufficient sympathy, and it was for that reason that our granddaughter’s visit was such a redemptive and compelling occurrence. Everything is an adventure for her and a delight and a surprise, an opening up, and that’s a big gratification.

Singer: I’ve never thought of you as a sentimental person, but maybe I misread that. How would you characterize yourself?

Milch: As an unsentimental person.

Man.

Singer: Do you feel like you’re in a race?

Milch: Yes.

Singer: You’re racing to finish this memoir?

Milch: More so a larger enterprise, of which this is just a part.

Singer: Can you be more specific?

Milch: I’m trying to make work, the undertaking in general, coherent. To restore a dignity to the way that I proceed, and it’s a demanding process. You’re tempted to . . . toss it in. Just to quit.

Singer: Before this, were you someone who had preoccupying fears?

Milch: No.

Singer: And now what is it you’re afraid of, if you could identify it?

Milch: I intuit the presence of a coherence in my life which I haven’t given expression to in an honorable fashion.

And a pretty great interview w/ Olyphant.

Satisfying wrapup, and the closing line is perfect.

i forgot how much i enjoyed just seeing al swearengen on that balcony

Absolutely wonderful.

holy shit! this is out.. literally counting the minutes till I watch this tonight..

just started rewatching the whole series and holy fuck it holds up alright.

I watched season 1 recently, but then stalled out after the overly wordy season 2 premier.

my gal is watching it for the first time with me and she's pointing out how this was clearly made in the "pre-binge" era; things move fast and characters pop up and are quickly dispatched. Watching the show in batches of three eps a sitting is like eating an omakase in a half hour.

Thinking about the similarities between Deadwood The Movie and Avengers Endgame this morning — two fan-servicey films offering needy fans a chance to say goodbye, and also metacommentaries on an audience's need to say goodbye. Milch, as always, with more tough love -- "I'm giving you this thing you want but maybe you should toughen up a bit and not confuse want for need."

just watched the movie. does something very difficult - cramming about a season's worth of major incidents into a movie format - quite well, if a little inelegantly in certain moments. all the actors brought their A-game for the occasion.

McShane obviously v good, though he gets saddled with the most overtly sentimental material, but Olyphant really did a great job showing how time/age had and hadn't changed Bullock - considerably better socialized, but still stubborn as a mule

I felt like this was a strong case of how sometimes giving the audience exactly what they want, but not in a lazy or complacent manner, can be a very very good thing.

It was a bit compressed and would have preferred a new season .. but it was a blast seeing these characters again.

overly wordy

Apocryphal!

heretical

Jane's opening soliloquy gave me chills, and then it settles into a lot of loose-end-tying, familiar faces smiling wistfully at each other, flashbacks (ugh), character-arc resolutions and at least two wholly satisfying showdowns (gritting my teeth when reading Slant compare this to an Avengers movie, I kinda see what they were getting at now). I liked it, but it was far more postscript than the Grand Statement I was expecting.

I saw the flashbacks as a (mostly) necessary evil

Still have the last 1/2 hour to go and I'm enjoying this, it's great to see everyone again, but the rhythm feels off. Idk, it has a stilted quality that the show didn't have for me. It's more like Deadwood: The Play than Deadwood?

I liked Jane's thing, too! I was so excited to watch this, but by the time they got to the Charlie Utter train station scene it was clear to me that I have completely lost the ability to sit through even a couple of minutes of flowery, mannered, sentimental period dialogue

xpost

I can't justify them on any grounds: who is watching this movie who isn't familiar with the show?

Stilted, yes exactly! xpost. I haven't re-watched the original series, but I don't remember it ever feeling stilted, except maybe for some of the theater troupe scenes

The dialogue in the film is far more expository than the series ever was.

who is watching this movie who isn't familiar with the show?

I hadn't watched the last act of s3 in quite a few years and had forgotten the particulars of the Hearst/Trixie affair at the very least. (The Alma/Bullock flashbacks definitely a bit much.)

I guess I had the advantage of having just rewatched the show in anticipation of the movie, but the flashbacks felt like hand-holding. Not the only time the film does this, mind: a crucial late moment has Jane verbally reflect back on how said event relates to a much earlier in her (and the show's) history. The series never did anything like this.

Well, the series never had to cram a season's worth of incident into under two hours while also providing a sense of closure. It's basically impossible to do without some major changes in approach.

i'm about halfway through the second season in my first rewatch since this originally aired with the intent of seeing the movie fully prepared. damn does this ever hold up. the language in the second season is so florid and precise; I'm finding lots of quotes I had forgotten but that became catch phrases around the house, including Richardson's "i LIKE you...you're purrrdy" and Trixie's "i wish i were a tree." I'm partner watching this, somewhat unfortunately, and she's not as binge likely as i am or else we'd have knocked this out in a week. As it is, I imagine I'll hit the movie by end of July.

I’m rewatching too, at about the same pace. It’s my third time watching this and not only does it hold up it’s even better than I remembered. Really rewards both bingeing and repeat viewing.

The slow reveals on e.g. the kidney stone or Hearst’s hand in camp affairs start earlier than you think, and it’s a pleasure to be able to rewind the really good bits, of which there are really too many to count.

I enjoyed the movie a bunch and thought it was very good given the various limitations: two-hour time frame, passage of time, Milch's condition.

No one mentioned the Dillahunt cameo as "Drunk #2?" I was joking with my wife early on that they should have him play another character, then nearly died laughing when I saw him near the end.

Not enough Farnum for my tastes, but I realize they only had two hours to hit on a bunch of things. McRaney is so good as Hearst - one of my favorite TV villains. Feeling pretty satisfied and grateful overall.

We binged 11 hours of season three on july 4; truly the most american way to watch this show.
i appreciated the movie, actually surprised by how strong an emotional reaction i had to seeing the characters older. Everything felt squeezed and rushed though, definitely needed at least five hours to sprawl out and get comfy. I think the actress who played trixie commented on how it required different muscles to work with. I'm grateful it happened at all, even with the dumb wrap up and maudlin ending; that fanservice aside, I was glad to see where everyone landed. Charlie, tho!

basically i'm still lamenting lost seasons four and five. I'll watch them in heaven i guess.

I've been avoiding this thread since I decided to also go back and rewatch the whole series with my wife (who gave up after one season back in the day).

Season 3, with the boring-ass theater troupe subplot, definitely dipped a bit in quality, but I still love the show so much. Glad to see they just completely dumped that plotline from the movie.

*****MOVIE SPOILERS*****
I was glad to see Hearst get some amount of comeuppance, although it's hard to tell if he will ever face any real consequences.

Al's plot was very sad, and I hoped for something more for him. He seemed to be prepping for some kind of murder/suicide plan for Hearst, but then just ends up fading away.

The moment between Bullock and Samuel was really poignant. I love to think of Charlie singing in his last moments on the earth.

In the end, the movie was fine, while a little clunky (did we need flashback scenes?). I would have vastly preferred another season or two, though.

although it's hard to tell if he will ever face any real consequences.

I mean
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst#Final_years_and_death

it's true that this is an indignity to end up with on your record

Criticism
Joe Rogan and various other media outlets have attempted to bring attention to Hearst's involvement in the prohibition of cannabis in America.

Well I guess he died a couple years later :P

Isn’t that his son?

William Randolph is George's son, yeah.

I hastily searched Hearst and grabbed the wrong wiki, embarrassing!

no relation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABytIdNXKsg

Finally saw the movie, it was OK, kind of like an extended final episode of the show, albeit with not enough story to tell and too many people on hand through which to tell it. But I liked it fine.

Satisying enough.

"Any man worth the name knows the value of being unreachable." - Al Swearengen refusing a mobile phone

did we need flashback scenes?

As a middle-ager who watched the series ONCE, I would say yes as I pretty much forgot the entire Trixie-Jen-Hearst plotline.

Did they scale down Calamity Jane's makeup? Robin Weigert looked younger to me than she did during the series.

“What’s your feeling about a prosthetics gig? I know you’ve said you hate it,” it was my agent on the other end of the call.

My mind flashed back to my days of misery spent as the demon, Menlo, on the tv series, ANGEL. I had eagerly jumped at the chance...

1

— W. Earl Brown (@WEarlBrown) October 30, 2020

Nice.

aww

The best <3

While everybody is talking about Timothy Olyphant let it be known that he once asked me if I could play my best sad song ‘Olyphant’ for him

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) October 31, 2020

Tim said, “that sad song you wrote about me...”

Jason looked perplexed.

“...you know — ‘Olyphant’”

— W. Earl Brown (@WEarlBrown) October 31, 2020

"God rest the souls of that poor family. And pussy's half price next 15 minutes."

Finally got around to the film a few years ago and surprised at how well it ties everything together, considering all the time passed and etc.

"Let him fucking stay there" a great send-off.

Just watched the last episode of season 1. Goddamn what a good show.

those 2 sentences need about 200% more “fuck”s but otherwise yes, agree

Best thing prestige tv ever gave us.