Isaacs Picture Conclusions

TRUE DETECTIVE EPISODE ONE: THE LONG BRIGHT DARK

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 Well – here we go – ever since I’ve been doing this out here I have wanted to do an entire TV series. I have previously failed to start up DEADWOOD, CARNIVALE, SPARTACUS, GAME OF THRONES and this sitcom from my childhood called SLEDGE HAMMER! But, there’s always time I suppose. I mean – I even made up this beautiful graphic for DEADWOOD but then never got going.

DWX

 I also spent a lot of time doing a bunch of old (and new) Doctor Whos at my old Doctor Who site but that was cumbersome and I moved all of those over to THE ENIGMA MACHINE site which is silently and slowly going absolutely nowhere. But we keep our chins up and press on and now we have a wonderful, brand new series from HBO to watch and roll around in.

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 Longer term readers (all three of you) will remember that I pretty much hate Woody Harrelson and put off watching ZOMBIELAND because of him – when I finally did watch it I loved it even if Jesse Eisenfuckingberg was in it. So – when I heard about this I had my doubts about it being a little dodgy but I had to take a half day off the other day and didn’t have anything to do and my man LEM had been talking it up so I popped on the first one and I was totally all about it about five minutes in. WOO HOO!! Go team TRUE DETECTIVE!! This thing is all kinds of good!

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Told in flashback through interview sessions, a couple of nowadays cops are trying to figure out what happened on a particular case back in the 90s – because the records were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and………. it appears the killer is back at it again – even though Harrelson and Matty M caught him a decade ago. See that poor woman up there? That’s their first case together and it’s pretty dark. I mean, I’ve only seen the first two episodes so it could be their ONLY fucking case together for all I fucking know but it’s a good one. 

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In any case, I suppose I should go on the record and say that I use to love Matt M (let’s just go with MM for this series) back when he was doing things like REIGN OF FIRE and U-571 and FRAILTY and such and then he went and pussed out and made all of those stupid romantic comedies so I was really down on him for some time. But now he’s back to being a stud and proving that he can really act and GODDAMN he’s good in this. I mean, aside from the weight loss and all of that – he really acts his ass off here. I don’t know if anyone else could pull this off.

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I also like what Woody’s doing here but he’s a little stiff in Episode 1. I got use to him by the end of EP 2 but I’m not 100% positive he’s doing anything out of the ordinary – he gets drunk and talks southern – what’s new? There we go – MM and WH play Southern Cops trying to figure out who murdered a poor prostitute and left her mangled body in front of a tree all ritualistic-style. It’s damn good and I can’t wait for more.

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As far as doing this series goes… good stuff? Bad stuff? Go fuck yourself, Isaacs? I guess, if no one has anything to say – I guess if I get even one like I’ll do another one – I know this isn’t the type of thing we normally see out here. Lemme know?

Good job, HBO!

Hey!! Look at this!! Our man Lem just showed up! Let’s see what he has to say ~

From the main title I was hooked –

That’s the Handsome Family doing a song that came out in 2003 – (I only know cuz I looked it up on Spin.com)

Shout out to the Music Supervisor and whoever pulled together that main title – perfectly sets the tone.

HBO has a love affair with Louisiana of late – True Blood, Treme and now this (also seemingly they are loving series titles that start with the letters T R – -hmmm – note to IPC rename “Raising Hell” – maybe call it “Truly Raising Hell, or Truly Hell Raising – or Tron – the Juarez episode and pitch to HBO).

MM and Woody are great in this – I know Eric isn’t sure – but I’m all in with Woody’s character – the stiffness in his performance works for me.   But really MM is the “Must See” reason to watch –  between this and Dallas Buyers Club – he is delivering performances that you want to watch multiple times to marvel at the physical details he brings to each character and ponder the nuances of his delivery.  I noticed it more in episode 3 but – aspiring actors out there could do well to study the difference in the way he walks and his posture on this show versus DBC – and how that tells you something about the man he’s portraying.

I was a fan of the series “The Killing” – and this is reminiscent in the way it gradually develops the detectives characters revealing more about them as they slowly piece together clues for the case they are working.  But this is even better in terms of the way they are using the setting of rural Louisiana, where “the Killing” felt like “a TV Show” in look and scope – this has much higher artistic aspirations and it is shot with a meticulous attention to detail carefully sucking viewers into the landscape.

To partially contradict what I said earlier – part of what makes MMs character work is the stark contrast between him and Marty (Woody’s character).  Woody/Marty  thinks of himself as a pragmatist – very common sense, there’s a reason for everything etc – but it is MMs character who (so far) seems to be seeing more of what’s really going on and speaking the truth (albeit in cryptic ways).

Wow – I guess I really like it – sure hope they don’t let me down!

*

You know, that’s a really good fucking point, Lem. The opening sequence to this is absolutely goose-bump inducing beautiful – I don’t normally do this but, here’s the opening sequence:

And you know what – as we near zero hour for pushing the schedule button for this thing and I’ve been listening to this song over and over while I type – I realize now that I FUCKING LOVE THIS SONG!!! Here’s the whole thing:

and here’s the lyrics:

From the dusty mesa her looming shadow grows
Hidden in the branches of the poison creosote
She twines her spines up slowly towards the boiling sun
And when I touched her skin, my fingers ran with blood

In the hushing dusk, under a swollen silver moon
I came walking with the wind to watch the cactus bloom
And strange hands haunted me, the looming shadows danced
I fell down to the thorny brush and felt the trembling hands

When the last light warms the rocks and the rattlesnakes unfold
Mountain cats will come to drag away your bones
And rise with me forever across the silent sand
And the stars will be your eyes and the wind will be my hands

“Mountain cats will come to drag away your bones”??? Are you kidding me??? BEAUTIFUL!!

Hey – this post was all kinds of fun! Let’s do this again sometime!

61 comments

  3. GaryLee828

    Cannot read this until I watch the show. I am going to wait until the season ends to watch. I’m looking forward to it.

    Okay, so before SF and being bombarded with crappy films, give “Sleep Tight” a watch. I think you’re going to like it. Next up for me “Seasoning House”. I’m going to try to give it a go today. This one better not suck like “Here Comes The Dull”!

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    • theipc

      I keep looking for Sleep Tight and can’t find it. It’s not on iTunes or Netflix which is where I get all of the things I watch and I can’t look at that link you sent me where I watch movies.

      I’ll keep looking though –

      I really liked The Seasoning House….

      Like

      Reply
  4. table9mutant

    “Jesse Eisenfuckingberg” – haha! Yeah, Zombieland was great despite him. But what are you doing to me, man? A TV show?! I don’t watch TV shows!!! Oh wait – I don’t watch most the things that you review anyway… Lol. ; ) Nice review! I think I actually saw this advertised – it must be starting here. Hmm… I don’t really watch TV………… !

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    • theipc

      Fucking Eisenberg…. GOD!!! You’re gonna love next Wednesday… maybe… HAHAHAHHAHA!!!!

      This is a TV show that demands to be watched, young lady.

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  8. Joseph@thecinemamonster

    I love this show!! Everyone hates me because slow-burn is quite possibly my favourite sub-genre, but this is such a slow-burn and I loveeee it!! Surprise to see you not mention Alexandra Daddario’s…umm…acting? I think that’s what it’s called. But yeah, love this show, look forward to it every week!

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  9. Smash

    I’m watching, and I love it! I love MM’s tortured soul schtick and Woody’s douchebag counterpart to that. I’m so curious about how the hell they’re going to catch this guy though! And dammit if the end of episode three didn’t leave us off in the most creepy way possible!!! Keep doing these posts, I will read them religiously!

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  13. Victor De Leon

    I’m 3 eps in and I totally dig it. So off the wall and strange. The slow burn dynamic and the character development is amazing and well written. The two leads (neither of which I am a big fan off) rule and they own this show. I even like Kevin Dunn, lol. Good job recapping this show. It’s the shit!

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  14. Pingback: 5 reasons you need to watch True Detective. Now. | Screenkicker!

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