(Picture from here)

Generation Kill writer Evan Wright has signed up to script Cocaine Cowboys.

The Dark Knight is doing some incredible business, now outgrossing the entire domestic run of Batman Begins.

Robot Chicken are going to a galaxy far, far away again.

Here's an interview with the Luna Brothers.

Is The Devil's Advocate a modern cult classic?

Footage from Tron 2 has been revealed at Comic-Con.

DiS talks to The Hold Steady, as all should be given the brilliance of their new record.

They also chat to Noah and the Whale, a charming upcoming group.

Aaron Eckhart talks to The Guardian.

Songs to slack to.

Not much love for the return of CSS. Time passed?

Neil Young is all about high-resolution sound.

How can print adapt to the digital age?

Most romantic gestures in movies, in list form.

Russell Brand is taking over the VMAs.

The second season of Mad Men is reviewed here.

Here's a 1990 profile of Barack Obama from Vanity Fair.

Keitel joins Life on Mars.

A coffee table and a learning experience.

Is porn star Buck Angel a new feminist hero.

Robocop is officially coming back, with Aronofsky in the hot-seat.

Season 3 of Dexter is also being previewed at Comic-Con.

So is Alan Ball's True Blood, the new HBO vampire deal.

Twitch has a review of Death Race with Jason Statham.

Tim Burton has found his Alice to venture into Wonderland.

Fiddy is pissed with Taco Bell.

Jim DeRogatis shows some praise for Canasta.

Here's a quick look back at the first half of 2008 and the best in movies, music and television:

MUSIC:

The Autumns- Fake Noise From a Box of Toys

The Autumns show no signs of slowing down (or repeating themselves) on their fourth full-length album. Keeping with the spirit of the band's never-ending quest for undiscovered musical terrain, 'Fake Noise' makes the most out of a very fresh and unique sound. I call it lullaby metal/rock. This recording is populated by things that you'd expect to hear during dreams shared with Little Nemo. The album is memorable, ambitious and unflinchingly original. It also happens to be filled with songs that you'll want to hear again. How many bands can that be said about?  Check them out.

Kyte- Self-Titled EP

I've been following these guys from the U.K. for years now after they captured me within ten seconds of hearing their first song. This is ethereal pop brilliance that puts the similar landscapes of Sigur Ros to shame. Kyte is what U2 have tried (and failed) to become. Check them out.

Elbow- The Seldom Seen Kid

Think of Elbow as Coldplay from the other side of the tracks. Elbow is another British act, and their latest offering (the fourth full-length) is a beautiful although uneven mix of melodies and lyrical sincerity. Lead singer Guy Garvey is a kind and tired soul, which is unmistakable if you're lucky enough to catch their live act. When Garvey raises a glass of booze and toasts the audience, you know he means it. On the opening song Starlings, he sings: "at the top you're stopping by your place of work and acting like i haven't dreamed of you and I and marriage in an orange grove. You are the only thing in any room you're ever in. I'm stubborn, selfish, and too old." Love songs are rarely this earnest.  Elbow have released better albums, but this is still far ahead of the usual pop-rock drivel. There are moments of greatness in this mix.  Check them out.

TELEVISION:

The Wire- Season 5

I'm not gonna lie- this was the best achievable finale to what became my favorite piece of entertainment ever. This show had everything. It was Shakespeare, Dickens, hope and tragedy. The Wire will endure as perfection, and will serve as a historical snapshot of the corrupt and divided times that we live in. I hope that doesn't make it sound dry- you've never seen characters and story arcs like this before.

Generation Kill

There should be no surprise here considering that The Wire's writing team of David Simon and Ed Burns are back at the helm. Their work is once again finely tuned; you'll be especially impressed to see the way they capture the voice of young Marines if you're used to the complex adult characters of The Wire. This show shatters the cliches about machismo and war. The young cast is outstanding, but it's relative newcomer Alex Skarsgard who steals the spotlight. That shouldn't come as a surprise- his dad is the very talented veteran actor Stellan Skarsgard. No relation to Peter Sarsgaard obviously.

MOVIES:

The Dark Knight

I'm going to see this again tomorrow night and will probably have a more accurate take on it afterwards (Chris Nolan's movies are intended for repeat viewings it seems). But The Dark Knight got it right. It's an improvement on the fantastic Batman Begins, and we finally got to see the relationship between The Joker and Batman handled correctly. Multiple origins for Ledger's Oscar-worthy portrayal of a psychopath? That was lifted straight out of the famous and pivotal Batman graphic novel The Killing Joke. Can you blame us Bat-geeks for smiling with glee? I thought the first two hours were pitch-perfect, and I'll be watching closely to see if my initial problems about the final half-hour are relieved (having to do with character choices and anti-climactic outcomes).

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I might love this movie more than I should. Funny, but in a more subtle way (aside from the prolonged shot of the protagonist's penis) and written with skill that usually isn't found in romantic comedies (at least not since John Hughes' hay day). Great characters and chemistry between the leads.

Question: what have you liked so far in 2008? Tell me what I missed.

Generation Kill is an American war mini-series on the US cable channel HBO that explores the lives of the men in a U.S. Marine Corps battalion as they serve their country during the early days of the second War in Iraq.

The mini-series comes from the creative team behind HBO’s critically acclaimed The Wire. It is based on Evan Wright’s book of the same name, which finds its origins in a series of essays published in Rolling Stone Magazine. The essays were written during his stint as an embedded member of the Marines’ First Reconnaissance Battalion. It was adapted by David Simon and Ed Burns.

Wright’s portrayal of the soldiers in Generation Kill is the first glimpse of a fighting force raised on a palpable culture of violence (slickly produced war movies, gangster rap and rock in particular), who are street-savvy beyond any generation of soldiers prior, and how they deal with the disjunction between Hollywood war and actual war, their biographical influences and bureaucracy.
Vaughn From Filthy Skies

Just like some of the other wars in the last century were socially and psychologically dissected, Generation Kill does the same for the Gulf Wars. It is much needed since these types of incisive examinations in popular culture are rare for the moment, as there is no palpable end in sight for the war on terror and that soldiers are living through these moments as we speak. This makes the Second Gulf War a controversial subject to say the least.

The focus is the newest generation of American soldiers, bred on ultra-violent video games, slick Hollywood movies and a culture of violence that was absent in media for most of this century.

* * * * *

A deft treatise like this was needed. What The Wire did so successfully to the portrayal of the results of poor urban life and its obstacles, Generation Kill may just be able to do with popular misconceptions of modern warfare and its impact. At the end of the day, has soldiering changed much in the last 20 years?

This series is controversial, informative and paints a inclusive narrative of the first 40 days of the Second Gulf War. Since it is produced by HBO, adult situations and language are present. The series isn’t for the faint of heart.

I recommend this series. It leaves you shell shocked about what exactly was going on in Iraq. In fact, isn’t this still going on right now?

* * * * *

The Marines move into Iraq. They face a dangerous mission. The mission they trained for isn't the one they are doing. Still, they face some action and some of them are ecstatic, while others are losing it already.

* * * * *

The Marines are driving into Iraq. They join up with the rest of the division. They gets stuck in a traffic jam of military vehicles. Ray complains about slogans that the Marines have painted on their vehicles. They aren't real enough. He's not happy that they got pulled from the bridge mission. The Sarge wants them to respect the fact that missions change.

At night, the Sarge goes for a combat dump. Naturally, he gets a call as soon as he steps out. The Captain found an AK. He's pretty happy. Ray forgot to tell the Sarge that the LT wanted to see him.

Hey reporter, if you lay against the ground when a tank drives by, it feel f*cking great. Do it.
Ray to the reporter

The Marines are shitting all over the place. It's funny how the Marines always listen to the BBC for news.

The LT gives Sarge Brad new orders. He tells him that they are supporting another the regiment at Nazariyah. There's been a change in the ROE. If people walk by with weapons, he tells Brad to consider them as hostile and shoot them. The Marines get ready for combat and drive off.

They are ordered to wait the other side of the river. They are getting shelled heavily from inside the city. There a friendly fire mishap and some Marines are injured in another company. Godfather informs Captain Harrison that the change in the ROE has been approved. He can engage unarmed civilian targets, suspected being advanced recon from the enemy.

The general isn't happy. There has been a mess up. A kernel explains that they have problems with their supply lines. The general doesn't care. He wants the regiment through the city to hook up with other forces. This is just a sideshow, he doesn't care about the resistance in this city. He tells Godfather to keep his Marines back, but he wants the regiment through ASAP.

Brad talks with a Marine from Alpha company. He looks shell-shocked.

Godfather informs his troops what the marching orders are. He says that they have allowed the enemy to dictate their tempo. General Madison has informed him that once they clear the Euphrates that they are in combat. Once they are over the river, they will detach from the RCT, push north, and flank and destroy anyone in their path.

Pole talks with the reporter about what the US is doing in the world.

The Captain tells the LT that Bravo is on point for the advance into the city. They were supposed to go in during the night, but they leave early in the morning. They enter the city across the river.

The Marines are ordered to halt in the middle of their advance to give chance for wounded to be evacuated. They are sitting ducks. They are ripe for an ambush. The captain shoots his AK at a SUV. The Marines are finally ordered to proceed. They make it through the city without any incidents.

Now look at us. Tremblay hasn't killed anybody, I'm half a world away from good Thai pussy, and Culbert is out here rolling around f**k butt Iraq hunting for dragons in a mack suit that smells like four days of piss and ball sweat.
Ray

The Marines are in the cradle of civilization. Brad tells Baptista that he speaks Portuguese when he gets excited.

Ray says that maybe they did issue the right color of combat fatigues. Maybe our blouse is actually desert beige. Colors actually look different when you are sleep deprived. Maybe our blouse is orange green, we are just so f**ing sleep-deprived that's the way they look to us.

They come upon a lot of civies shot up by the other company.

The LT is pissed that his company hasn't got enough batteries to run their night vision. He tells the Captain as much. He tells him to conserve resources.

On the way, they see some irregulars with RPGs. They are setting up optics. They get sniped and killed.

Bravo is moving on to flank. They are moving without air support. Ray sees some hotties. He puts on some shades. Thanks to the commander, they are lost. They took a wrong turn at the bridge. Brad isn't happy.

They question some civies who tell them that some bad dudes are ahead. They are told to hold this position. Godfather tells the captain that they are going to go through the city.

A few moments earlier, Brad told Tremblay that if they went through the city they would get smoked.

Brad got dumped. His fiance married his best friend. They are all still best friends. They are the type of couple that takes lots of pictures. Sometimes he goes over to their house and sees all the things his best friend does with his ex-fiancée that he used to do with her before.

They are ordered ahead. The enemy engages them. Baptista drives over a car with his HUMVEE. They make it through without any casualties. One guy got shot in the arm, but that's it. The Sergeant Major wants them all to shave their mustaches.

Godfather says that in his darkest hours he fears that he might do something that General Mathis won't like. Tonight is not such a night.

Brad is told by the LT that they have a mission. They have to find an officer who's lost. He went out for a shit and hasn't come back.

* * * * *

Relevant Links

• Generation Kill official HBO site
• Impressions of Generation Kill on Filthy Skies
• Generation Kill Wikipedia page

* * * * *

Relevant Posts

Generation Kill S01E01

Generation Kill is an American war mini-series on the US cable channel HBO that explores the lives of the men in a U.S. Marine Corps battalion as they serve their country during the early days of the second War in Iraq.

The mini-series comes from the creative team behind HBO's critically acclaimed The Wire. It is based on Evan Wright's book of the same name, which finds its origins in a series of essays published in Rolling Stone Magazine. The essays were written during his stint as an embedded member of the Marines’ First Reconnaissance Battalion. It was adapted by David Simon and Ed Burns.

Wright’s portrayal of the soldiers in Generation Kill is the first glimpse of a fighting force raised on a palpable culture of violence (slickly produced war movies, gangster rap and rock in particular), who are street-savvy beyond any generation of soldiers prior, and how they deal with the disjunction between Hollywood war and actual war, their biographical influences and bureaucracy.
Vaughn From Filthy Skies

Just like some of the other wars in the last century were socially and psychologically dissected, Generation Kill does the same for the Gulf Wars. It is much needed since these types of incisive examinations in popular culture are rare for the moment, as there is no palpable end in sight for the war on terror and that soldiers are living through these moments as we speak. This makes the Second Gulf War a controversial subject to say the least.

The focus is the newest generation of American soldiers, bred on ultra-violent video games, slick Hollywood movies and a culture of violence that was absent in media for most of this century.

* * * * *

A deft treatise like this was needed. What The Wire did so successfully to the portrayal of the results of poor urban life and its obstacles, Generation Kill may just be able to do with popular misconceptions of modern warfare and its impact. At the end of the day, has soldiering changed much in the last 20 years?

This series is controversial, informative and paints a inclusive narrative of the first 40 days of the Second Gulf War. Since it is produced by HBO, adult situations and language are present. The series isn't for the faint of heart.

I recommend this series. It leaves you shell shocked about what exactly was going on in Iraq. In fact, isn't this still going on right now?

* * * * *

<!--[if !mso]> <! st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } -->

A squad of HUMVEEs is getting into a skirmish. An Apache helicopter is their air support. The driver of one of the cars keels over. The others think that he is hit. He's fine. They are just in a combat simulation. The officer in charge says that they should have left the vehicle and moved on out of the kill zone. A soldier comes up with another solution and he accepts it.

They are in Kuwait. One of them says that they haven't even cleaned things up from the last war. One of the soldiers is taking a piss.

The LT tells Bravo 2 squad that there was a negligent discharge in another squad. He wants everyone to brass check their weapons. One of the soldiers heard that JLo was killed. He wants an update from the LT. He says that he didn't receive a sitrep from the commander on that.

One of the soldiers puts on some bags filled with rocks. He straps on his gas mask and takes his gun. He goes out for a job. It's not really a job, it's more like a sprint.

The commander tells his squadron that they have to take a bridge over the Euphrates. The unit is an elite advanced recon US Marine unit.

Some of the mechanics aren't happy. They don't have the parts they need. A soldier comes up with the right parts. The Sergeant Major is on a LT's ass for having his shirt out. The LT tells him to tuck it in. The SM is on another soldier's ass for having a moustache that isn't regulation.

The squad gets some mail from home.

The squad is expecting a storm. One of the tents collapses. The marines have to secure it. A chemical toilet goes flying.

A writer from Rolling Stone is going to be embedded with the squad. The squad is on his ass until he says that he used to write for Hustler.

A white supremacist soldier starts spouting his BS.

The next day, the marine who shaved a few millimeters off his moustache, gets some more grief from the Sergeant Major.

The LT is told that his RTO just got burned in the face because he used a portable stove. The issue is handled well by LT Fick.

They have the reporter get them the stuff they need from the PX. They need the batteries for their night-vision. If the Army goes to war, they bring everything. When the Marines go, they just make do. Nothing will get here in time.

The Marines need to get their own shit. The marines spent 500$ of their own money to fix up the HUMVEE. The next day, the marines get some Pizza Hut pizzas. They are selling the pizza for 10$ an extra slice. The LT checks with the Captain. He tells them that they have to be ready to move in 48 hours. They are moving into war.

The marines get their new pants. They are woodland camouflage. They will all stick out like a sore thumb in the desert.

The next day, the Sergeant Major gives a speech before they are deployed. The Marines have been waiting for over 4 hours. They are waiting for their translator. They have one translator. They leave Camp Mathilda.

The soldiers are briefed about what to expect. They will be shooting at civilians. There is a simulated gas attack and the reporter has some trouble. His gas suit is too small and he swallowed his chewing tobacco.

Rudy has sowed a cut up Keffiyeh all over his woodland camouflage gear.

Rudy wants to move to San Fransisco with his girl Sharee. There is another gas attack. They hear mortar fire.

The commander briefs his squad. He wants the moustaches to be shaven.

The LT is told that they aren't going to get any tanks or Cobras as support.

It's lack of pussy that starts wars.
Ray

The squad is going ahead into the war zone. As they go into Iraq the next morning, some Iraqis wave at them.

The squad has to head north. They come across two pick-up trucks with armed civies. The chain of command wants them waved off.

The reporter asks the Kernel why his voice sounds like the Godfather. He says he had throat cancer. He's not a smoker.

During the night, they spot Iraqis fleeing the combat zone. They say that they are just civies fleeing Basra. They says that 30 km further away, there are Iraqi death squad killing fleeing soldiers. They have white SUVs with red diamonds on them.

The Kernel wants them to move on. They can't deal with the surrenders. Alpha team just got hit by artillery fire.

* * * * *

Relevant Links

• Generation Kill official HBO site
• Impressions of Generation Kill on Filthy Skies
• Generation Kill Wikipedia page

(Above is a picture of Sunn O))) live from here)

Better, snappier title coming for the now Tuesday/Friday link round-ups. Any suggestions, comment away.

James Ransone, Ziggy from The Wire and now Person in Generation Kill, talks to PaperMag.

The Teen Menace. Seventeen films to scare the parents.

Tori Amos talks record-label independence.

Portishead's Adrian Utley talks ear-splitting noise and the ordeal of drone gigs.

Seventy-five things a man should do before dying.

PopSugar UK attended T4 on the Beach and now may be leaving me either for McFly's Harry or Skins-star Joe Dempsie.

Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss is profiled in NYMag.

Paul Westerberg embraces the online game.

Mercury Prize further smashes relevance by nominated Radiohead (again) and Robert Plant... a bastion of new, unheralded British music?

Ebert and Roeper will no longer have either Ebert or Roeper.

Fictional bands, as voted by Rolling Stone readers.

Here's a comparison of the trailer for Watchmen and its comic-panel counterparts.

A fourth Scream movie?

Jamie Bamber is joining Law & Order.

Travel writers choose their favourite city films.

Are schools able to handle the complex issues which accompany the increasing youth of people coming out?

In praise of Generation Kill.

Full-album concerts. I'm all for em. More on this later in the week.

Jonathan Jones argues that 70s cinema has never been bettered. (Obviously missed The Goonies)

The Beeb is kicking serious ass with the iPlayer.

The Dark Materials trilogy could be left as a single entity if Christian protests continue.

How much money could drop from the asking price of a Banksy if he is unmasked?

The concept album returns. Did it ever really go away?

Financial illiteracy. An American problem?

Ebert discusses Werner Herzog and madness.

Stephen Hawking in Lego form.

Here's ten wonderful tattoos, all with spelling mistakes.

3D TV is moving forward yet further.

These are all the comic book movies being created ready for shipment to you local cineplex.

Episode Two

Man, what a difference a week makes.

Well, actually, scratch that: there's really not much to separate, in terms of content, the first two episodes of Generation Kill. While our heroes, of sorts, see more action this time around, there's still that sense of military blue balls driving the action and what we get in terms of the further bureaucratic incompetence is right in line with what we saw in last week's opener.

Rather, the difference is that we have a much better sense of the smaller character differences: it's easier to tell people apart now, and some of them are even getting some good ol' fashioned character development in the process. However, the other difference is that I'm losing some of the command structure: while I can tell everyone apart, telling you exactly what they do in any sort of organized fashion just isn't going to happen.

And I don't know if that was really the point here, as this episode is rather about the actions rather than the buildup; Bravo Company gets to see some honest to goodness combat this time around, and what really makes it stand out is the visceral uncertainty of it all: moment by moment, it's hard to know exactly what's going on, which can be dramatically confusing but also very satisfying in the end.

I won't have too much to say about this one, to be honest: this isn't because it wasn't dramatically engaging, but rather because it plays as a series of small moments. The movement of the troops is fairly confusing, but it appears to follow the path of Bravo taking a backseat on one town, and then heading off on a recon mission (And getting lost), followed by an unnecessary and harrowing trip through another town. The difficulty in following it all is really all about recreating the perspective of this journalist: how confusing would it be to be sitting in the back seat and watching all of this happen?

It's all the fault, mostly, of bureaucratic bumbling, but the point of the show is that things have to go on: they can't stop and complain, and in many cases (Whether Captain America's breaking of the RoE or Hitman Actual's Wrong Directions) can't even voice any complaints out of fear for the chain of command (In this week's "It's just like The Wire" moment, chain of command is of course a big issue in one of Simon/Burns' universes). The result is that we have to simply watch as other trucks roll by, and as the war never goes exactly as it should, or as some people want it to.

My favourite elements of the episode were, as per the first episode, our time spent with the Number 2 Humvee - I love that Ray was in debate (As a fellow debater, I know his type a little bit), and that we learned where at least some of Iceman's "cold" reputation comes from in terms of relationships. We get Tremblay struggling to come to terms with not killing people, but greatly wanting to, and we see as more and more frustration starts to boil over amongst the ranks.

But yet it can't: I love the scene where Colbert sees the men with the RPG Tube and he has to make the call. Over the comm units, they have to start getting authorization, and he has to make the call to start the process without confirmation. His cautiousness is such a contrast to America's AK-47, and seeing everything unfold is a great piece of tense action for the series.

And that's about it: like The Wire, reviewing this episode by episode is more about tracking the series' themes and characters than really waxing nostalgic about the episode itself. It's still keeping my attention, most certainly, so this is something to enjoy.

Cultural Observations

• I still love the Sergeant Major being literally obsessed with nothing but the grooming standard - you know that Simon was geeking out while reading Evan Wright's book and seeing this clear potential to have bureaucratic ridiculousness on this show (And for it to be so funny in the process).
• Interesting to see the Godfather's position here, as someone who makes decisions that really are misguided and dangerous but as part of a broader plan for how to make this invasion work. It's not wrong, just reckless especially considering the fire they sustain.
• Speaking of which, I loved the choking scene - I presume that actually happened, and it was damn interesting to see on film.

This week's installment of HBO's Generation Kill was a big step in the right direction.  Slowly but surely, we're starting to put names to faces, individual personalities are emerging from the homogenous whole, and the action is heating up.  Ooo plus, we got our THIRD Rescue Me sighting, with former priest Mick Gavin (Robert John Burke) appearing as some general on a bridge.  Sweet.

There's still plenty of Ed Burns/David Simon dialog to go around-- this show is so inundated with military jargon its often times impossible to discern what anyone is talking about.  But some pieces are starting to come together.  For instance, we know our boys are in Bravo Company.  We know their company Commander is a huge idiot who gets them lost and never effectively relays orders from Godfather.  We know that Pete from Rescue Me (Neil Jones) is a Sgt. Major (who is, by the way, fantastic on this show and steals every scene he's in).  We know that the team leader of Bravo 3 is easily spooked and shoots up a car for no apparent reason.  And we know that the boys we follow most are part of Bravo 2.

Unfortunately, Those Scenes From Next Week did not look at all promising.  They make next week's installment seem like a major lull in action and a recession to the political pov swapping chit chat of Part 1.  Honestly, I'm having a tough time staying committed to this show.  As always, I'm going to give it a full 3 episodes before I think about cutting it off, but as of now, I just don't feel compelled enough to keep watching based on the quality of the program alone.  I'm hoping that with each new installment, I'll grow to care about these soldiers as individuals more and more.  Otherwise, I just won't have enough invested to warrant the 70 minutes a week for the next month this miniseries requires of me.

Grade: B 

When HBO commits to a seven-part miniseries, and brings in David Simon and Ed Burns of The Wire to do it, expectations are automatically (and probably unfairly) raised very high. The Wire achieved a sweeping dramatic complexity while also providing trenchant commentary on American urban life and modern life in general, with its focus on the various corrupted systems that we all participate in, and consciously or unconsciously must bow down before - the crappy bureaucracy, the tyrannical market.

So when Simon and Burns take on the Iraq war, we expect something that sets that conflict in a broader context, and shows us something new about it. There's no shortage of literary, high modernist material that fits the Wire sensibility: American hubris and ignorance of the world - not just of other cultures, but of geopolitics and war itself. The blood-for-oil factor. The missing WMDs and the media's credulousness. Rumsfeld's determination to use Iraq as a lab for his ideas about a lighter, nimbler - and non-nation-building - military.

All those things have been hashed over in books and movies and are still fuel for the flames of punditry, of course, but HBO, Simon and Burns had an opportunity to get beyond all that and explore the whys about what went wrong here, the vintage 21st century American absurdity of the whole enterprise. Maybe we're not ready for this. Maybe no one would want to watch it. But boy, wouldn't it be something.

Instead, Simon and Burns take a narrow, documentarian's approach. We spend all our time with a single unit of Marines in the heady days and weeks of the initial invasion. Watching it and knowing what subsequently happened in Iraq, you do get some sense of the innate ridiculousness of the mission. You also see the idiocy and arbitrariness of the chain of command - which, we now know, went all the way to the very top. The unit commander makes a wrong turn against the advice of a subordinate, then blames the subordinate for the mistake once it's discovered. The battalion commander decides the Marines must push through a hail of gunfire in a town in their lightly-armored Humvees rather than taking the safe way round - solely to show the Iraqis how tough Americans are. Afterward a lot of Iraqis are dead and the Marines feel fucking great.

Some great post-9/11 metaphors, there! But these are only lightly allusive, and secondary to what, underneath its irony and attitude, so far appears to be mainly a conventional war picture about soldierly camaraderie, a "Band of Brothers" for the millennials.

More than 400 penguins, most of them young, have been found dead on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro state over the past two months, according to Eduardo Pimenta, superintendent for the state coastal protection and environment agency in the resort city of Cabo Frio.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25740110/&GT1=43001

I have to say that I am disturbed by this. You're down in Rio at the beach watching the beautiful women in barely there swim suits walk on the beach and what should destroy your day... dead penguins. It's sad as my favorite animal at the zoo besides monkeys are penguins. Have always loved them. What is wrong with the world, freaking penguins are drowning? This should be an indicator to people that global warming just might exist. Either that or the penguins are trying a sea assault on Brazil.

Alright, I need something more lighthearted now..

Well, weekend is almost over. Generation Kill is on tonight, so that's something to look forward to.

]]> http://dickdastardly.wordpress.com/?p=15 Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:24:42 +0000 dickdastardly http://dickdastardly.wordpress.com/?p=15 *Note to self, when attempting to archive, DO NOT CLICK DELETE. It will not ask you if you really want to delete*

Is it too early to be tired of the hot weather? I'm ready for the 8 months of 50's and rain we generally get. Followed by "Winter Storm 200x" in which we get a half inch of snow and temps drop into the 20's. I just find it so much easier to stay warm inside than it is to be cool inside. My local natural gas provider has filed papers to raise the cost of natural gas this winter 42%. I guess staying cool won't be hard this winter...

I am desparately waiting my favorite show of the Summer to come on, Burn Notice. I love the show and it's right up there with one of my other favorites... The Closer. Great shows that are realy worth watching. Sunday I started watching Generation Kill and I am really impressed with that. HBO also appears to have a new vampire show coming, can't wait for that.

I noticed today that my cubicle is becoming a mess. On the outside I have a clipping device pinned to the wall. In it contains about 10 pages of Chuck Norris jookes and another 10 pages of quotes from the greatest cmed ever, Anchorman: Legend of Ron Jeremy. The first time I watched it, I didn't think it was funny at all. Since then, it just gets funnier. Has there ever been a movie with more one liners for every occasion? "I would like to extend to you an invitation to the pants party." "You are a smelly pirate hooker!". "Why don't you go back to your home on Whore Island!" "It smells like Bigfoot's dick!." "That's how I roll." Useful at home, in the office or basically anywhere.

Here's another song to get stuck in your head. My friends and I made it into a ringtone at one point, but I was forced to change phone service and my new phone will not support it :(

Tem-se realizado, por estes dias, o habitual encontro, promovido pela Associação de Críticos de Televisão, entre a imprensa e as estações de televisão norte-americanas. Estes encontros são propícios à apresentação, por parte dos canais, das suas apostas a curto e médio prazo. É um resumo das principais novidades apresentadas pelas estações o que fazemos nesta série Projectos 2008/2009.

Primeiro as séries que a HBO tem em pré-produção e que conta estrear durante a próxima temporada, provavelmente no Verão de 2009. Uma comédia, com duração de meia hora, com o título Washingtonienne, baseada na blogger Jessica Cutler que escreveu sobre as suas aventuras sexuais com figuras políticas reais em Washington. A produção deverá arrancar no Outono e entre os produtores da série estará Sarah Jessica Parker.

Um novo drama está também a começar a ser trabalho por David Simon (criador de The Wire - A Escuta e da mini-série deste Verão na HBO Generation Kill). Chamar-se-à Treme e a sua principal temática serão as consequências do furacão Katrina.

Um outro drama, Boardwalk Express, do qual já tínhamos falado aqui, está também em desenvolvimento a pedido da HBO e, na sua equipa de produção, conta com nomes como os de Terence Winter (produtor executivo d'Os Sopranos), Martin Scorsese, Mark Wahlberg e Stephen Levinson (produtor executivo de Entourage - A Vedeta). O foco deste drama são os meandros do crime organizado em Atlantic City, nos anos 20.

Já para Setembro estão programadas as estreias da 5ª temporada de Entourage - A Vedeta e das novas True Blood e Little Britain USA. Por definir estão as estreias da novas temporadas de Em Tratamento, Big Love, Flight of the Conchords e Tell Me You Love Me. Confirmado está o regresso de Larry David e da sua Curb Your Enthusiasm - Calma Larry em 2009.

A HBO apresentou ainda as suas intenções fora da televisão, isto é o mesmo que dizer no cinema. Uma sequela do filme O Sexo e a Cidade e a continuação d'Os Sopranos no grande ecrã continua a ser hipóteses em cima da mesa. De fora está a possibilidade de haver um filme para televisão de Deadwood (que encerraria a trama).

Sabe-se que a HBO adquiriu ainda os direitos sobre o piloto Fat Sells, um drama familiar de uma hora passado no mundo da milionária industria dos suplementos alimentares. O argumento é de Gren Wells e a produção de Dave Broome e do galardoado Forest Whitaker.

A fechar aquela que deverá ser a cereja no topo do bolo para a HBO: a mini-série The Pacific, que deverá estrear no fim de 2009, principio de 2010, ambientada durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial e que tem como produtores executivos Steven Spielberg e Tom Hanks, que se haviam juntado anteriormente para a mini-série Irmãos de Armas.

The wide shot lasts for a mere few seconds as we transition from one scene to the next, but it's a telling few seconds — previous generation's warriors might climb into the base ring and go at it for a few rounds as a physical way of blowing off steam. Today's soldiers and Marines (and by extension, today's civilian 20-somethings) are bred on MMA and video games (and as we see in this episode too, irony and satire) and are more likely to engage in driveway boxing or backyard wrestling as they are a game of baseball on the base. As Mark Kriegel once wrote of this generation (he was talking about civilians), "These are the guys who made 300 a huge hit."

I don't know if it is too early to call it a profane version of Band of Brothers or merely the Marines version of The Wire, but after watching that premier episode for the third time, I am ready to be hooked again on another David Simon show, if only for the seven-episode arc of this miniseries adaption of Evan Wright's book.

But that transitional shot aside, I am hoping that the new HBO miniseries will go beyond the War is Hell and the They're Different Millennial/Gen X Soldier themes we've already seen in Iraq War (I and II)-related movies, like Three Kings (one of my favorites) and Jarhead. Those movies, to varying degrees, covered the nihilism apparently necessary in modern warriors, along with the misogyny, racism and homophobia which is presented at times as a coping mechanism in a World Gone Mad and also as something obviously deadly and seriously wrong (sometimes all in the same scene or in the same line of dialogue, though certainly not always or with all characters).

You never really saw any of this to the same degree in previous war movies about previous wars, with one notable exception that I can think of — Full Metal Jacket.

More to the point, and where I think and hope this new show is going, and as the Newark Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall has observed, Generation Kill's first episode is already setting up the David Simon theme of the individual vs. the institution which he explored for five seasons of The Wire — the futility of One vs. The Machine, the lack of Voice for the knowing rank-and-file vs. the obliviousness of management (even if this obliviousness is occasionally necessary).

This is all not to say that older warriors never used gallows humor or said things among themselves that they'd never say in public — shhhh, go into any locker room in the country, or for that matter, spend time in an all-male office.

And, as Sepinwall also noted, it's interesting getting thrown into a new show and being thoroughly confused and not understanding a thing about it for the first 30 minutes, and then still needing repeat viewings of the same episode to gain greater understanding. I used to enjoy mocking those who complained that the Baltimore world of The Wire was too dense and difficult to understand for novices, but I forgot how hard and yet how rewarding it can be discovering a new world on an intelligent TV show.

Este lunes, los espectadores de la HBO vieron el estreno de la nueva miniserie de David Simon y Ed Burns, los creadores de The Wire, esa maravillosa serie sobre la policía y el ghetto de Baltimore, calificada por muchos como la mejor serie de la historia, y sobre la que escribiré unos cuantos posts en algún momento. Se trata de Generation Kill, y no cuenta ninguna historia sobre traficantes de heroína ni policías alcohólicos, sino que es la adaptación del libro homónimo de Evan Wright, un periodista de la Rolling Stone que estuvo incrustado en un batallón de marines del ejército norteamericano.

Hacía sólo dos días que vi el último capítulo de la temporada final de The Wire, así que he tenido la suerte de no tener que esperar desde marzo, como la mayoría de fanáticos de la serie, entre la que se encuentran Barack Obama o Carlos Boyero, aquí una gran prueba de ello, por citar dos personajes ilustres. Y, gracias al BitTorrent (lo siento, señores de la HBO, si viviera en su país estaría abonado a su cadena, lo juro), he podido disfrutar del primer capítulo de la nueva serie, que aquí se puede ver, en inglés, claro, y sin subtítulos.

Y me ha gustado lo que he visto. No he estado luchando en Iraq, no sé si es realista, pero al menos parece realista, y eso no es poca cosa. Como en The Wire, no hay héroes perfectos, ni siquiera estoy seguro de que nadie sea un héroe, lo que hay es un grupo de tipos entrenados para matar que, en los días previos a la guerra, están más preocupados porque han oído que Jennifer López se ha muerto que por lo que haga Saddam Hussein, tipos a los que sus superiores les dicen diariamente cómo se tienen que afeitar el bigote, tipos que reciben la visita de Pizza Hut a sus barracones con más alegría que si fueran sus familias.

En esta serie no hay héroes virtuosos y perfectos, no se glorifica nada, y, ¿no es así la mejor manera de la que el mensaje que quieran transmitir Simon, Burns o Wright sobre la guerra? ¿Qué sentido tendría sobresimplificar la realidad, la verdad? ¿Quizás porque la realidad no es tan digna de ser contada? Cualquier historia puede ser interesante, si se cuenta bien. Mucho más si, en lugar de una historia, hablamos de Historia con mayúsculas. Repito lo de antes, no estuve en Iraq en el 2003, no sé si lo que contaba el periodista de la Rolling Stone es real, pero al menos lo parece. Y no puedo evitar comparar esta serie con un producto nacional (¡vaya si nacional!) que también trata sobre una guerra, no tan diferente a la invasión estadounidense de Iraq.

Me refiero a la superproducción que Esperanza Aguirre encargó a Telemadrid sobre el 2 de Mayo, con franceses muy malos, madrileños muy buenos, muy españoles y muy liberales, e incluso con algún niño definible como picaruelo (es odiosa esa palabra, ¿verdad?), de esos a los que Joaquín Reyes pondría en su boca palabras rollo ¡Señor, deme un penique! A priori, una comparación así tiene poco sentido, pero teniendo en cuenta que la televisión autonómica madrileña se gastó 15 millones de euros en la superproducción, podían haberle insuflado un mínimo de realismo, un realismo que veo en pocas, muy pocas series de televisión españolas.

Viendo Generation Kill, veo a soldados dentro de la pantalla, y si hiciera un ejercicio de imaginación y pudiera entrar en la pantalla, me vería en medio del desierto, al lado de marines con ganas de sangre iraquí. Viendo Dos de Mayo, la libertad de una nación (hasta el título se las trae) lo que veo dentro de la pantalla es a actores vestidos de época, lo que veo se parece más al escenario de un teatro que a las calles del Madrid de 1808. Y si me metiera en la pantalla, tendría alrededor a un montón de señoras de 70 años (Hernán Casciari lo clavó hace casi un año) con el abanico, sentadas en sus butacas, mirando a los actores vestidos de época declamando perfectamente, pronunciando hasta el último fonema, y a mí, eso no me cautiva en absoluto. En realidad, no recuerdo ninguna serie española con la que no me haya ocurrido eso.

Anticipation directed in the general direction of:

- new TI record, it's not coming out till september, but I mean, cop some mixtape, Swing Your Rag is the anthem.

- new Primal Scream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (hope there's no mandolin or eukalele)

- Generation Kill, bout it, bout it.

Monday brought some great XBox 360 news from E3 2008. Some great trailers for Resident Evil 5, Fallout 3 and the awesome announcement of Final Fantasy XIII, exclusive to the XBox 360. Viva Pinata 2, Rock Band 2 (with AC/DC content, yes!) and Lips. So many titles, guess my wallet will be much thinner.

Tuesday I really didn't feel too well and I was up until 6:30AM, before finally taking a pill and falling asleep..I woke up several times which added to the discomfort and I spent the majority of the day with a bad headache. Happy 28th birthday to my cousin Erin.

I did get to watch the first 2 episodes of Big Brother 10, as well as a couple of Showtime Big Brother After Darks. Too early to judge the contestants, but we'll see what happens when someone goes home on Wednesday night and someone new takes control of the house. Generation Kill still sits unwatched on my DVR. Hopefully I'll get to it this week.

Tuesday I was looking forward to watching Part 1 of the internet mini-movie "Dr. Horrible" but the demand was so high that it crashed all of their servers! Hoping they fix it and better prepare for Parts 2 & 3!

[s1e01] I söndags hade omtalade krigsdramat Genereation Kill premiär på HBO. Serien är baserad på en bok skriven av en journalist på tidningen Rolling Stones, och kommer visas i sju en timmes avnitt nu under sommaren. Jag har ingen aning om hur det ser ut i Irak eller hur det är för soldaterna att vara där och kriga (såklart), men jag fick ändå känslan att serien skildrar livet där på ett väldigt realistiskt sätt. Mycket väl skulle det kunna vara exakt så här. Och eftersom den baseras på en bok av någon som har följt dessa människor en tid så skulle väl annat vara konstigt. Men ibland kan det vara svårt att överföra realismen från en bok till en tv serie, men här har det gått riktigt bra. Precis som Friday Night Lights ger lite av en dokumentär känsla gör också den här serien det. Alla TV kritiker verkar vara mer eller mindre enade om att det är en riktigt bra serie, absolut sevärd och också ganska viktig. Det kanske är svårt att se den som "bara" en TV serie eftersom vad den handlar om, men för mig personligen tittade jag faktiskt inte för att jag ville se en realistiskt beskrivning av kriget i Irak, utan jag såg det helt enkelt som villket TV serie som helst. Och kanske just därför föll den mig inte i smaken, trots väldigt bra skådespelare och en dokumentär känsla som jag bruklar älska i serier.

Men så brukar jag inte gilla krigsfilmer eller krigsserier för den delen heller. Jag säger ju dock alltid att man ska ge alla serier fler än en chans att bevisa sig, och såklart kommer jag följa Generation Kill ändå till slutet, det är trots allt bara sju avsnitt och jag tror definitivt att det kommer bli bättre ju mer vi lär känna karaktärerna. Väldigt roligt också att se Alexander Skarsgård spela en stor roll i serien, han är väldigt bra dessutom. Jag undrar egentligen var storyn kommer gå vidare, eftersom jag inte läst så mycket om vad själva serien handlar om i storhet, så undrar jag om några karaktärer kommer bli dödade, eller om dom kanske alla kommer hem helskinnade i slutet? Det jag ogillade mest med det här första avsnittet var nog att det kändes som samma scener hela tiden, eftersom det är ett väldigt begränsat område soldaterna är på lämnar det inte mycket till variation (sol, värme och sand hela tiden). Också gillade jag inte hur killarna hela tiden hållde på att reta varandra och kalla varandra för en massa namn. Ja, visserligen kanske det är så i verkligheten, men jag tycker inte att det ska visas så på TV, som att det är helt okej och som att man ska skämta om sånt för att vara någon. Som att man måste vara precis som alla andra och inte sticka ut, för att kunna respekteras som soldat. Det är sjukt hur långt efter dom ligger.

I dig all combat documentaries, films, books, anything that covers conflict of the past and present, so this HBO mini-series is totally up my alley!  It's only the first ep so far, but I get that BoB nostalgia out of this one, since it starts off with the build-up to the inevitable war.  Like Easy Company of 506th PIR, First Recon's Bravo goes off into combat in less than favourable conditions as they spearhead the northward thrust into the heart of Iraq that marked the start of the invasion phase in March 2003.

OH SHI-

Viewers are not really treated to niceties like character intros and whatnot, so it could be a little disorientating, especially with all the jargon and inside-jokes.  I'm already pitying that embedded Rolling Stone journalist for that nasty session in Platoon 2's tent, it look like they were really gonna jump him for no good reason!  I guess the only stuff Wright could possibly write about at this point of time is whatever theories that poured forth from Ray, since the latter's been shooting his mouth off since the drive across the border.

The action up to this point is pretty much authentic (in comparison with many other films out there, as well as BoB).  Hopefully the combat scenes would be as good in the episodes to come.

Generation Kill Official Website

As with The Wire, in Generation Kill, the object is not to make you feel.  The object is to make you think, and to me, that's a death knell for any series that hopes to make me a dedicated viewer.  Yes, the series (I'm going to stop saying "as with The Wire" every time, as its pretty much always the case) provides an in-depth, firsthand look into a fascinating, cliche-busting world the average viewer has never thought to explore, and for this, it should be applauded and appreciated.  But this focus on the world as opposed to the people in it is also the series' downfall in terms of emotional impact, as the circumstances and actions are the heart of the work, not the characters themselves.  Take my favorite show Rescue Me for instance (a good choice, as both Chief Riley's son and Sully from season one are on Generation Kill).  Yes, its the only show you've ever seen about New York firefighters and the only show you've seen that explores the psychological effects of 9/11 on those who were there.  But is the show really about firefighters?  No.  It's about Tommy Gavin (Dennis Leary) and his fight to hold his life together, to be a father and friend to his fellow firefighters, and to deal with the demons that haunt him daily (too much alliteration?)  The Wire is not the story of Jimmy McNulty keeping his life together, it's not the story of Avon Barksdale trying to rise up in the criminal world, it's not the story of Bubbles trying to score those WMD's (We got yellowtops!  Got them red tops!)  Rather, it's the story of how cops, criminals, and politicians interact in the complicated web of Baltimore life.

Generation Kill  is the same way.  Like The Wire, its an ensemble piece, meaning there's no one to really latch on to, no individual perspective through which the narrative unfolds.  This individual perspective is of course not a necessity for good television, but it is a necessity for emotional involvement: whose story is it?  As viewers, we need that surrogate, that character with whom we connect and support as we go through his/her (though its really our) journey.  You know its a bad sign when you watch a 70 minute episode and the only names you can remember are Godfather (the commander with throat cancer) and Randy (the handsome dude with J Lo sunglasses).  

Think about HBO's other wartime miniseries, Band of Brothers, a.k.a. the Best Miniseries of All Time.  That epic series had everything Generation Kill has in terms of an insider look into a world you only know about from the news or stories or movies, but its focus was on the characters.  That show was about the men of Easy company, not just about World War II.  Generation Kill is about the Iraq War, not about the marines who fought it-- do you see the distinction?  It doesn't help Generation Kill's cause that aside from one dude with glasses and the characters I recognize from other shows (one of the random cops from The Wire is here as well as the Rescue Me dudes), every other character looks and sounds exactly the same.  Hopefully this homogeneity will dissipate as the series progresses, but even then, I doubt I'll begin attaching to specific characters or caring about them individually.  

David Simon is a smart, smart dude.  That much is clear.  He never shies away from dealing with important, contemporary issues in important, contemporary ways, like racism, disillusionment, corruption, hope, and many more.  But at the same time, it's also crystal clear that David Simon began his career as a journalist, not an author or screenwriter.  David Simon looks for the story, the verisimilitude, the interesting idea.  He doesn't look for the emotional hook, the character arc, or the vulnerability of his primary players.  And until David Simon can crack this code and find a way to combine his journalistic eye for riveting stories with the human need for emotional connection, not only will his projects struggle to find viewership as The Wire did and Generation Kill surely will, (yo David: people like to care about who they watch!!), but I'll sadly feel the same way about everything he does: intellectually engaged + emotionally bored = neutral.

Grade: B-

July 13th, 2008

When watching Generation Kill, a miniseries event from HBO, it's impossible not to draw the obvious comparisons to The Wire. While usually shows from the same creator bear moderate resemblance to one another, David Simon and Ed Burns have a style so distinctive that it's hard to write a single sentence about this series without discuss the other. The Wire was a show about dropping the viewer into a world they didn't understand without holding their hand about it, developing its own language, identities, and pacing. It wasn't about telling a story about something, but rather telling the story.

That story, here, is the journey of a Marine Corps Battalion, and their embedded reporter Evan Wright (Who wrote the novel the series is based on), as they invade Iraq in the opening throes of the 2003 invasion. There's a lot of people thrown around, and like The Wire you never really pick up their names so much as begin to identify them based on other characteristics. Although the first segment is not eventful in the traditional sense, the various bits and pieces we see give us enough of a background so that, when things do go down, we'll know how people should or do react.

What makes Generation Kill compelling is not just Simon and Burns' usual sharp writing and ear for realistic drama, or even the great cinematography/direction - rather, it's seeing all of this play out in a context where we know the basic story at hand. In most stories, there would be attempts to shoehorn politics into this story; to not only show the wrong camouflage being sent to the army, but to show some stuffshirt politician making the decision so as to villainize. Here, the authority is a villain by omission - we as an audience have information they don't, and that isolation is incredibly compelling.

It is also, however, intoxicating - when a show requires flow charts, you know that you're not in for a normal television watching experience. Thus far, though? It's a damn good one.

From a story perspective, it's all very simple: they go from training in Kuwait to their first journey into Iraq proper as the segment progresses, but they aren't all of a sudden leaping into battle. That first altercation with the Iraqi death squad (or so they are described by one of their surrenderees) is really the nature of this conflict: their orders are fluid, constantly changing and unwilling to commit to any real form of action. Which makes it a bit of a confusing viewing experience, but that's part of the point: if we're confused, something tells me the people being given the orders were more confused.

Those people are, thus far, wide-ranging and interesting. There's just the right balance of high and low rank individuals, and there's a good portrait painted for most of them. Iceman, in particular, gets the most sympathetic characterization here, establishing him (besides the first spot in the credits) as our lead. His struggle to outfit his vehicle, including attempting to Fedex part of his turret to get it there beyond an Army postal service, individualizes him over any of our other soldiers.

Probably most interesting beyond that point is Nate, the Bravo Lieutenant, mainly because of something that Simon and Burns love: chain of command. I watched the premiere with HBO's Organizational flow chart at the ready, and it was helpful in contextualizing someone like Nate. There's something intensely likable about him, whether it's covering for his unit's incompetence with the espresso machine or having to be the one to deliver the bad news when the word comes down regarding the various tactical issues later in the episode. He's a victim of the chain of command, essentially - what little we see of his own character shows someone who is willing to protect his soldiers, the only really important part of this equation.

And then we come to Ray, Humvee 1's talkative driver. I have to wonder how James Ransone feels about being under "Annoying as F*ck" on David Simon's rolodex, because between this role and Ziggy on The Wire the guy's got the market cornered. I don't say that as a criticism - while it was jarring on The Wire where it felt out of place to a certain extent, here it feels totally right: if they were looking to capture the cockiness of some members of the Marine Corps, he succeeded. And, more importantly, I think it actually evens out as charming here: by the time he was warbling Sk8er Boi while taking a piss before breaking into Loving You, I was enjoying his character (And his interactions with "Iceman" Colbert).

There's still a lot of things we haven't seen: we don't yet have a good lead on Wright himself, mostly by design. We get a sense that he's having issues adjusting, particularly in the groin region after that particular incident, but since this is his story being put on screen it's natural that we spend more time with the people he interacted with.

But what keeps me most compelled here is Simon and Burns playing in a universe of public knowledge - most of the people watching the series already know the story of how screwed up this mission was, so seeing them slowly take that into account is just good television. Yes, it's a slow burn, but even to this point it feels like the right direction: the humanizing of the people on the ground fighting a war that we know all too much about in terms of its end consequences.

Cultural Observations

• I'm fascinated by the fact that "Fruity Rudy" is actually played by the marine himself, after they couldn't find an actor who could pull off the dialogue to their liking. It must be weird to be playing yourself in such a realistic environment that's clearly not real, per se. I enjoy the character, though, so it should be quite intriguing to see the character (can we call it a character?) develop.
• I only recognized a few performers, but I spent way too much time remembering that I last saw one of them as the pilot's Terminator model on Sarah Connor Chronicles.
• And, can't not mention the great boss Sergeant Major and the fantastic "Police that Moos-tache!" line that Alan Sepinwall steals for his post title. Just a hilarious little scene, and a sign that like The Wire this show will have its own sense of humour.

Overall, it was well done and I'll be turning back in next week. So far, films about this Iraq war (and the overall War on Terror) have been less than successful (to put it kindly). For whatever reason, people just haven't been willing to tune in (me included). However, this show will break through that mold. It helps that it's airing on HBO, who has a excellent track record for producing solid series; John Adams, Band of Brothers, Entourage, etc. You may end up not like the show, but you will know it's going to be done right.

Based solely on the first episode, the producers did a fine job keeping the show about the characters. The platoon (is that what they're still called?) was your basic on-screen platoon; the funny guy, the white racist, the cool black guy, the laid back whitey, the stoic leader and the crazy general (I don't think he was a general, but he was in charge). For good measure, they throw in a Rolling Stone reporter. Time will tell his impact, since he barely said two words so far. The men are bored, waiting for war. They curse, they love their porn and they hate their fan mail (from children).

In fact, the first 45 minutes of the film was the movie Jarhead. They're bored, they want to fight, they want to kill and even with the war does officially again, there is no one to kill (the few Iraqis they do encounter, surrender).

The one common theme I see developing is the 'blame game'. Not with the soldiers, but with 'higher ups' we never see. These are the people who are failing to deliver the goods needed to fight the war and it is the higher ups who send down orders to not let the Marines kill (the one time they do run into some bad dudes). The soldiers, despite knowing they're being asked to go fight a war with one arm tied behind their back, go do it anyway.

In the end, not a lot happened in the first episode, but I kind of liked that. They kept us embedded with the troops, leaving out the world outlook and/or politics of the situation. I think the show will be well received by active duty soldiers and 'pinko commies' like me. As long as the show stays focus on the characters and their development, then I see no reason why HBO doesn't have another hit on their hands.