'Luck' on HBO - Page 5

Very good episode yesterday. Did John Ortiz [Escalante], play Calderone, in the original Miami Vice???? Calderone....

Original? No. Movie? Yes. Calderone? No. IMDB is your friend.

Good episode. Nolte is doing a great job.

larry

That's because there's multiple plot lines or sub plots.

larry

Thanx Larry, forgot about Imdb...

Or here

http://miamivice.wikia.com/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Yero

As I get older and CRS kicks in more and more places like IMDB help keep frustrations in check when "it's on the tip my tongue".

larry

Agreed!!!

I have absolutely no interest in gambling, or horse racing. Since it was a Miltch production I figured I'd give it a chance. The dialog is great, and the race scene this week was outstanding! I don't care for the Jerry sub-plot, but the rest has been pretty engaging to me.

Good show so far, beautiful horses for sure.

Borderline tear-jerking scene with Nolte and his horse near the end.

Loving this show more with each episode.

While watching the 3rd episode this past week, it finally clicked for me. I can't say specifically what happened - it wasn't any change in the show, but in my own brain. Anyway, I now empathize w/ the characters, the plot makes sense, and I appreciate the various economic layers revolving around the track, which might or might not intersect at various points.

And, while watching the 4th episode, I realized that watching w/ the 5.1 sound (vs. the TV speakers), that the dialogue is much more intelligible. I only had to rewind and turn on the CC a couple of times.

Wasn't the race sequence w/ Nolte's horse and the Irish jock thrilling and moving? I loved the string quartet accompaniment.

Also, it's funny that we first see Dennis Dun at a gambling table, which is an echo of his role in one of my favorite movies, Big Trouble in Little China.

Doug

Pretty standard Milch story telling. It's about the whole community, not just one part of it. So each episode will attempt to move the story in several of the factions whether they intersect or not. Whatever effects the whole community will effect each faction in different ways. I'm sure we'll see events that effect everyone, but that's not necessarily the point of the whole story. It's about the journey for each of the factions. Addictions of various kinds will play a big part in more than one story here.

I really like "Luck." It's developing nicely. Dustin Hoffman is marvelous. Nick Nolte is splendid. And the supporting cast, with John Ortiz really a standout as the conniving trainer, are strong. David Milch, Michael Mann, and others behind the scenes are shaping this new series very nicely. Those horse racing scenes are powerful. And it's absorbing seeing how desperate some of the characters are (the four losers who gamble their lives away just hanging out at the track). "Luck" is the kind of show, I can tell, that will also be great to follow on DVD and Blu-ray. Just going from one episode to the next.

Did anyone notice the most recent episode was directed by Philip Noyce? They are bringing some heavy hitters to this one, not just the usual HBO suspects. Kudos to Milch, Mann, Hoffman, etc..

Yes, and he's done several episodes of ABC's "Revenge" as well, I think he's also a producer of the show.

I think the dialogue in LUCK is the best thing on TV right now (with Justified a respectable second).

Clearly the most enjoyable sound coming from television these days is their back and forth banters. I loved this episode's Hoffman and Farina hotel room chats, and the sickly horse owner with his poker-addicted partner talking about the difference between buddies and lovers.

This ranks with the lyrics of Deadwood-- and this style was evident in NYPD Blue but not yet perfected.

By the way, don't remember if this was talked about here, Milch was involved in the racing industry. He had a good horse back in '92 Gilded Time. Here is an interesting link. http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/talki...vid-milch.aspx

you mean like "dirt chute"
I had to pause to explain that to the wife

not nearly as profane as DW, not even close but the style is still similar & has its funny moments The dialog in DW was lyrical, darn near poetic

hey, it was nice to see "Jewel" get another cameo appearance. Milch seems to take care of his own actors, keep them in work.

It took several episodes but I'm finally catching on to the characters, their roles and the lingo.

The episode before this past week's, with Smith watching his thoroughbred's debut and the emotion behind those scenes. That was great! and the story seemed to slow down just enough so that everything started to fall into place.

My wife was ready to bail since she couldn't understand what was going on. I watched that ep & convinced her to give it 1 more try and was able to explain things going on in that episode so she's going to continue watching. I think she's finally catching on, too.

Turning into an excellent show. I really like Hoffman's portrayal...you can just see the wheels turning in his head, especially setting up the "kid" to be part of his plan for revenge And Marcus' antics are starting to grow on me. Too funny!

It's going to be a fun ride watching Ace's plan unfold.
I think DW & Boardwalk Empire were better. But this is still a winner.

So what is Ace's plan? He's buying a controlling interest in the Race Track, that I understand. He really loves his horse! That I understand. Horses are positively fetishized in this show. But what kind of pressure is Ace putting on his former partners? Is he trying to get them to invest in the Track, and then he'll somehow run it into the ground (but get out himself) thereby ruining them?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't know the answers to these questions.

You're thinking of Gerri Jewel, and that's not her. They both do have cerebral palsy though.

I don't know the answers either But that's part of the drama, watching someone trying to get even. With Nucky in BE, it was pretty straightforward, just shoot the guy Here, it's very subtle but I have no doubt eventually we'll be let in on the scheme.

Ace could launder the money, have the races rigged, siphons off the till, pulls out before it goes bust...anything is possible.

I believe this will be told in very small bits, and need patience by the viewer to wait for the reveals. Probably be like The Sting where we, the viewers, didn't know exactly what was going down until it was played out at the end with Hooker's faked killing. That was part of what made the Sting a great movie - aspects taken at face value were also part of the scam.

I certainly have no idea of all the possibilities someone could cheat a bunch of gangsters without their knowledge, but I have confidence it'll eventually make sense, just like the racing & gambling aspects.

Sorry, maybe I need my eyes checked. The actress in Luck, to my eyes, really resembled the actress that was in Deadwood. But I haven't watched DW in a number of years so apparently my memory is wrong.

Who is the actress then in Luck?

Edit - I just did some googling. Alcatraz had Gerri Jewel in an episode and that's what I was thinking of when I saw this last episode, I knew I had seen GJ recently.

But isn't it remarkable that 2 current shows featured cameos with 2 different actresses with the same affliction? interesting....googling on Luck and still haven't found that actress' name. Maybe someone can help on that

Funny you bring her up. She was just on Alcatraz a few weeks ago. Who the actress is in Luck...I have no idea. Loved the interaction between Marcus and the rest of the "Foray Stables" owners as he was sitting there and she was staring at him.

The actress is Dina Belle Garcia. She's got a Facebook page.....

Dina Belle Garcia had a recurring role in Milch's show "Deadwood" as a barmaid/worker.

Geri Jewell was the actress in Deadwood and Alcatraz.
Dina Belle Garcia is the actress in Luck.

^^
thanks! now we have that cleared up

Sure do love the theme song to this show! (Hope it doesn't turn into an "earworm". And I apologize if I've just done that to any of you.)

IMO, it's one of the best HBO has done, right up there with 'John from Cincinnati', 'The Sopranos', 'Deadwood', 'Six Feet Under' and 'Rome'. I hated 'Big Love's opening theme/montage, and I'm kind of ambivalent about 'Boardwalk Empire'.

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