And Abrams, who is a God in Hollywood - one year he did both the Star Trek and the Star Wars films simultaneously(!) - has had years to perfect his craft, plus, he can pick up the phone and bring in the Nolan Bros if he wants to.
BANSHEE TV REVIEW SERIES
Appearing as if out of nowhere, this series has individual episodes as good as or better than some of the product JJ ABRAMs is currently doing. Shickler and Tropper, who seem to have very few credits on IMDb outside of this series, are astonishing. I am halfway through Season 2 and this series has me gob-smacked.
My job is to report on the extraordinary. As I write this, most of the shows I follow have already gone slightly bonkers (LONGMIRE and JUSTIFIED pop to mind) but so far Banshee is holding up. That simple feat is not so simple and is possibly the key, the secret, to successful TV. The seem to instinctively know how far they can push the viewer's sensibilities without causing blowback. But the ones to watch are Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler who are relatively fresh to the game and I predict will be at the edge of their craft for years to come. The idea of writing not one but two supervillains into the story and letting the audience try to figure out which one is worse - brilliant. OK, for the record, the acting is superb, the casting is superb, the scripts are to die for, and even the direction is in a class by itself (just finished s02e02 and the opening sequence did a match-cut of two parallel story lines with a wonderful sultry audio track over the top).
I thought I had already done a summary review of the series but then found I had not. I am watching the series in sequence, just started the second season, and I have been reviewing individual episodes in the IMDb because frankly they are some of the most amazing episodes I have ever seen in mainstream TV. Favorite films: Lesser-known Masterpieces: Favorite Low-Budget and B-movies: Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: My favorite guilty pleasure at the moment. Up until now, every episode felt like an injection of pure testosterone (and let's be honest: sometimes, that's just what the doctor ordered). The production values are among the best I've seen on TV and the cast is fantastic. Granted, it's pulpy, trashy, sometimes even down-right ridiculous – but I loved every minute of it so far. This show is raw, gritty, brutal and over-the-top it's got everything most action films lack these days – and it's absolutely NOT PG-13. What I got instead is high-octane pulp cinema that gets your heart pumpin' with adrenalin from the first second, and an opening chase/shoot-out that wouldn't have to hide behind any mega-budget action production Hollywood has churned out recently. When I started to watch the first episode, I expected a decent, but low budget 'neo-noir' crime show with some sexy women and a few good shoot-outs. It has its fans, sure, but as far as the amount of steady viewers is concerned, it's nowhere near playing in the big leagues – yet. It's amazing this show hasn't found a bigger audience. That's what happened to me with 'Banshee'.
Every once in a while a show comes along that catches you completely off guard you only want to check out the pilot because you've read a comment or two on IMDb comparing it to some other show you kinda like – and BOOM: you're blown away.
0 kommentar(er)
