"The Deuce" - HBO Series with James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Tone, Jul 17, 2017.

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  1. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Was pimps still hanging about 42nd Street in 1983?
     
  2. ex_mixer

    ex_mixer Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Yes! in fact after moving back to NYC in early '83 , I was not surprised to see the slimy and xxx Times Square of my youth was still intact.
     
  3. NickCarraway

    NickCarraway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gastonia, NC
    Only one song (a rap by Paris) was anachronistic. Pretty much everything else was '82-'84. However nothing (at least not in the premiere) by the Mount Rushmore of 80s pop (Michael, Prince, Bruce, Madonna).
     
    alexpop likes this.
  4. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Wasn't last years (Elvis) song a rerecording, at least of the vocals? They can afford to have Debbie go in and crank out another vocal version out if the tracks are all set. This is prestige TV, don'cha know.
     
  5. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston
    Not exactly. It was a remix of the original Elvis Costello recording with some of Elvis's lines replaced by some female singer.

    This new theme music sounded like a re-recording or alternate version. The music sounded different, but it sounded like Debbie Harry to me, maybe even the original vocal track. I need to hear it again to be more sure.
     
  6. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    This was kind of the end of an era...you'd see an occassional hooker or pimp in Times Square, but most of the massage parlors were gone....

    Which leads to one of my questions about the show, in which I doubt a massage parlor (which were just pretty open , and were not private hidden spaces) would still be operational in the same location for over a decade (like on the show).

    Also, I wonder if ladies doing sex work like Lori and the other hooker that is now doing porno flicks for Franco's character would still look as good as they do after over a decade of that type of work. They would probably be more like Shay- completely wasted and worn out.

    Those are the only issues I had. Elsewise, I love this show.
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2019
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  7. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Wonder what Martin Scorsese thinks of the series?

    I would imagine S3 is the last.
     
  8. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    Yep, this will be the last season, sadly.

    Interstingly, I thought the Scorsese produced series "Vinyl", also set in NYC in the 1970s, was just OK, and not nearly as good as "The Deuce"
     
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  9. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Vinyl was awful imo. MC ( S1 ~episode 1) Boardwalk Empire was excellent !!!!
     
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  10. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    Boy!
    That 'Franco-on-Franco' kiss seemed pretty damn real to me!
     
  11. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    That was pretty seemless how they interacted
     
  12. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    The fact that the music on the show's being discussed more than the plot says something! I felt that the reality of the Deuce was depicted somewhat softly in the past. But the 1st episode felt bleak and tired, EXACTLY how the principals should be feeling after dealing with one of the most infamous meat markets of all time! Gotta feeling everybody's not getting to the finale!;)
     
  13. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    Well...
    considering it's been a few weeks since anyone's written on this thread....
    I would assume we all agree it's gotten a little.....
    I don't know...
    I don't wanna say boring...,but...
    Sometimes reality is just that.....
     
  14. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    Here’s my problem with this season so far.

    Even though it’s mostly all of the same characters this season (except no pimps), there’s no overlap of the stories now. There’s almost no interaction or connection between the various main characters now. It’s just a whole bunch of isolated stories - and none of them really have enough time to develop into anything at a compelling pace.

    Also the lack of pimps, i.e. the bad guys, has taking away a rooting interest. I realize this is probably accurate to the era, but it’s still a void that hasn’t really been filled.
     
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  15. Dayfold

    Dayfold Forum Resident

    No sign of it over here yet. Previous seasons have shown on Sky Atlantic but I've seen no indication so far that Season 3 is on the way.
     
  16. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    FWIW, It’s only 4 or 5 episodes into Season 3.
     
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  17. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    By the timeframe of the current season , street prostitution had pretty much disappeared from Times Sqaure (except for a persistant continuation on West 45th Street off of 6th Avenue. There were a few sleazy hotels on that block- most of which are now very fancy "boutique" hotels) . By then, most street hookers were on the Lower East Side, Madison and Lexington Avenues in the 20s, and the Far West Side by the piers
     
  18. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    Yes, that’s why I specifically wrote “I realize it’s probably accurate to the era” (although my vague and anecdotal memory of the area in the mid-80s was there was still some street prostitution).

    The salient point was there are no unambiguous bad guys to root against with this season. And with no bad guys, there is nobody to really root for either.
     
  19. ascot

    ascot Senior Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    What we have seen so far this season is a repeating themes with some characters. Laurie is still under someone else's control and made to do things she'd rather not. Candy has done things for money in the past she is not proud of but will she do it again? Vincent yearns for a traditional family life but still works for the mob and stays in a failed relationship with Amy.

    I agree it has not been an exciting season so far.
     
  20. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    Any of you guys catch the HBO(?) documentary series about the working girls up at Hunts Point in the Bronx a few years back? Now THAT was the real deal. For the life of me I can't recall the exact name. If I recall it right, one season they went out to the streets of Las Vegas. S'funny, blatant outright street-level prostitution is something I grew accustomed to in NY buy I still find it somewhat jarring when I see it in other locales!
     
  21. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    By the mid-80s (when I was travelling through Times Square) , you saw relatively little street hookers in the the day or early evening. Maybe they were around very late at night. It was nothing compared to what I have read it was like in the 1970s, as shown in movies like "Taxi Driver" or described in books like "Tales of Times Square" by Josh Alan Friedman . There were still a lot of peep shows and bookstores at that time , but it seems most of the massage parlors had been closed down
     
  22. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    That’s why I said “some”. But thank you again for reiterating what I wrote.
     
  23. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    I recall that documentary. I think it was actually called "Hookers at the Point" or something like that
     
  24. whoman4says

    whoman4says Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    There are only 6 episodes in this season, I believe.
     
  25. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    I don't think both twins are making it outta this alive! Bad twin's getting on the mob boss's nerves, so logic dictates he's a goner (never smart to cross the mob in NY!). BUT, I can easily see good twin being taken out, perhaps by mistake!?

    Man, seeing Gylenhall doing topless scenes at her age shows her to be a truly ballsy, fearless actor! Many actresses do nude scenes when they're younger but success, and age, makes most shun nudity. It takes a ton of moxy to show off 'the goods' when they're not perfect anymore! There was a ton of unspoken stuff happening in that bedroom scene, Maggie's a powerhouse!
     
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