Anyone watch the FX series The Americans

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by kwadguy, Jan 31, 2013.

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  1. rogertheshrubber

    rogertheshrubber Senior Member

    Location:
    Freehold, NJ, USA!
    Beautiful version and very effective during the scene. But odd how, for a show set in the mid 80s, they used a recording from 1971--and definitely a period sounding piece. I guess they've moved away from using an 80s soundtrack!
     
  2. aoxomoxoa

    aoxomoxoa I'm an ear sitting in the sky

    Location:
    USA
    Wow. I may have to check out so Roberta Flack. Great tune.
     
  3. aoxomoxoa

    aoxomoxoa I'm an ear sitting in the sky

    Location:
    USA
    Can you blame them?
     
  4. rogertheshrubber

    rogertheshrubber Senior Member

    Location:
    Freehold, NJ, USA!
    Ha!
     
  5. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    The first three Roberta Flack albums are terrific and all of a piece: First Take, Chapter Two, Quiet Fire (the album from which the Bee Gees cover comes). The fourth album, Killing Me Softly, starts to move more towards her later, more mainstream (and, frankly, less interesting) pop style, although it's still worthy.

    You can get First Take, Quiet Fire and Killing Me Softly as part of the 5CD budget mini-sleeve box. The Bee Gees cover doesn't make it to her best-of collections, so you will need to get Quiet Fire to get it, and the box is the most economical way to do that (the individual album is out of print):

    http://www.amazon.com/Original-Album-Series-Roberta-Flack/dp/B008MMFBMA/

    Unfortunately, for unknown reasons Chapter Two is not on this box.
     
  6. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    I agree with this.
     
  7. This is a great show and I'm surprised. Great writing and acting. "felicity" kicks ass I had no idea she was this good an actor. Love the show.
     
    Vidiot likes this.
  8. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Senior Member

    It's not the mid-80s, it's 1981. And judging from the glimpses we have gotten of Gregory's apartment, he's still living in very much of a 70s frame of mind. I didn't find the soundtrack jarring at all.
     
    JimC likes this.
  9. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Yeah, I don't think that if they'd scored that scene to Warm Leatherette it would have had the same impact...
     
    subzro likes this.
  10. i don't think Jim Croce recorded any records before the civil war but sure enough there is one in Django Unchanged. Wow.
     
    Tex_Writer, Vidiot and JimC like this.
  11. shokhead

    shokhead Head shok and you still don't what it is. HA!

    Location:
    SoCal, Long Beach
    I think knowing he couldn't have Elizabeth and that going out that way would take some heat of her maybe was why?
     
  12. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Was it just shown over the end credits, or was it source music that came out of a radio or TV? If it was the latter, it's wrong; if it's diagetic music -- that is, music that comes from out of nowhere, via "movie magic" -- it's not that horrible.

    I find The Americans to be an interesting show because the characters are so interesting and unpredictable. You hate and admire the Russian spy family at the same time: they seem to be good parents, they try to do the right thing, they're fighting for what they believe in... and yet they're deadly killers, doing all kinds of awful things, and lying to everybody they know (even each other). It's one of the most unique shows I've ever seen because of the layers upon layers of lies and contradictions, but the fact that they force the audience to have sympathy for some fairly detestable people. And we also hate the really evil Russian spies, like the older woman -- and I enjoyed seeing Keri Russell beat the living crap out of her a few episodes back.

    Hell, even the main FBI agent is a lying, cheating bastard who has some admirable qualities. I haven't seen a show this complicated since Rubicon, which was another spy show I liked very much, one that I think was cancelled because it was a little too smart for the audience.
     
  13. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Last night's episode was good, and it was probably the first time I've ever heard Squeeze' Slap & Tickle used prominently in a soundtrack :) Also a good discussion of Air Supply, Christopher Cross, and Leo Sayer.
     
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  14. shokhead

    shokhead Head shok and you still don't what it is. HA!

    Location:
    SoCal, Long Beach
    BTW, I'm enjoying Richard Thomas in this role. A good job.
     
  15. I like him too but the first thing I think about each and every time I see him is The Waltons. :)
     
  16. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Eh, give the guy credit for trying something different. That show has been off the air for more than three decades.
     
  17. I do give him credit. I think he is good in The Americans. All I was saying is that some actors remain forever remembered for one previous role and for me he is one such actor.
     
  18. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I never saw The Waltons, so the first thing I think of whenever I see him is Shad from Battle Beyond The Stars.

    Doesnt' get in the way of accepting him in this role, though. He's playing it well.
     
  19. JimC

    JimC Senior Member

    Location:
    Illinois
    And "Rough Boys"!
     
  20. Well he has been doing car commercial voice overs for quite some time.
     
  21. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Senior Member

    I thought this week's episode continued the stunning run this series has had so far. In my opinion, all of the spy hi-jinks are tangential to the real core of the show, which is the relationship between Elizabeth and Phillip. In that regard, the pretend marriage between "Clark" and his girlfriend, whatever her name is, was a stroke of genius, as it once again forced Elizabeth and Phillip to confront their own troubled pretend marriage.

    On another level, I think this show is not so much about spying as it is about the American immigrant experience: Elizabeth and Phillip are like an extreme version of every other person who has ever left the "old country" and come to America - how long do you remain loyal to the culture of your birth when you are living in an new country and a new world? How do you deal with raising children who only know life in America and have no understanding of the culture you grew up in?

    This week's plot twist of having the Russian rezidentura girl turn on Stan - going from double agent to triple agent - was really interesting. I'm presuming her boss won't ship her back to Moscow, but will use her to feed misinformation to Stan - or worse.
     
    socorro likes this.
  22. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    That poor woman. She's going to be absolutely devastated when this comes crashing down.

    I really like this, as Irina is my favorite character on the show. When she was being used by Stan for information earlier I feared she would come to a bad ending and soon, but this latest turn gives her a chance to stick around awhile.
     
  23. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Senior Member

    Yep. I saw an online review which (correctly, in my opinion) noted that Phillip pretending to marry what's-her-name was a more horrible thing than any of the assassinations or violent things that that Phillip and Elizabeth have done.

    I like all of the major characters, but, yeah, Irina is great, and cute, too, if I may stoop to that level. I'm assuming the actress who plays her is actually Russian?
     
  24. shokhead

    shokhead Head shok and you still don't what it is. HA!

    Location:
    SoCal, Long Beach
  25. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    Driver, you don't mean Irina, you mean Nina; her father is Indian and her mother Russian. Lovely lady.
     
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