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

Me, I need pimpin' else I get lazy.

 

i quit after episode 2....got real old, real fast, for me anyway.

and not very well acted at all.

 

I'm going to trust that the producers have done a bit more research with a slightly larger sample size than that for the show.

 

I'm just talking about porn stars I knew personally. I've seen hundreds of interviews with "Golden Age" (pre-video) porn actors, and only a handful of them were sex workers before porn.

The New York scene drew upon aspiring actors. Heck, Swimming To Cambodia monologist Spalding Grey was in a couple of porn films back then! Before home video, it was considered a way to make some money for something that would play in a few seedy theaters and disappear after a few weeks. They didn't figure it would come back to bite them in the ass.

And, for all the grimness this show portrays, the late Seventies were a wonderfully libertine time when people seemed to honestly believe they could make the world a better place by having sex with as many people as possible.

 

at first i wasn't so sure about franco and definitely not sure about double-franco-vision. also never been a huge fan of maggie gyllenhaal but after episode 4 i'm hooked. lots of time for MG to shine and make me realize i need to revisit my criticisms about her. also, less of the lame-o franco twin is better. everyone seems to have settled into their roles now.

 

Yeah but this is set in 1971. The Nixon years.

 

Already got renewed for a second season.

 

You really should check her out in "Secretary". I'm fine with Franco, though the one managing the bar seems like a fully fleshed out character and the loser brother seems like a gimmick. They could kill him off and just have James play the one character and that would be fine with me. I'm distracted whenever they have the two brothers interact with each other.

 

Just re-watched the last episode, and now I ask you, music nerds:
Was the needle in the right spot for "The Man Who sold The World" on that record?

 

In the 'that's-not-from-the-'70's''sticklers' department:
Marlboro didn't start making 'menthols' until the '80's......

 

You have to wonder just how much money the production company gets from the cigarette makers.

 

Check out The Honourable Woman mini series. She's great.

 

Do the hookers other than Candy actually live anywhere? Or do they just crash in the back seat of their pimp's car or the bathroom stall at a bar (we saw one sleeping there, I think) from time to time?

 

I'm guessing the hookers would stay in flophouse hotels that were everywhere at the time.

It's a bit before my time, but I loved the depiction of The Loft, one of the first underground gay discos that was run by David Mancuso. Even better was that the guy spinning the records looked like Mancuso. The show is really being true to the times as far as I can tell, and even if it fudges every now and then it doesn't matter because the acting is so fine.

 

I have a feeling that at some point the show will do just that.

 

I'm not sure why I can't seem to start this show. Have 4 episodes stored on the DVR.

 

This episode, although it delved deeper into 'the life', didn't really advance the narrative in any meaningful way. I'd rate it a 3 outta 5.

 

I don't think the narrative is going anywhere completely unexpected. The acting is pretty astonishing across the board and I'm in it for the characters. Each one embodies an aspect of a complex scene but they come across as people, not just representations.

In a Fresh Aire interview the creators mentioned talking with the ever cheerful Veronica Hart who implored them to avoid the old porn = doom routine and yes it's possible for a woman to do what she wants and be just fine. The convention that Bad Girls Go To Hell has been a predictable staple of film and literature for a long time so hopefully they will go somewhere fresh while at the same time being upfront about the perils of life on the edge.

The actress who plays Abby was a Russian gymnast!

 

And she apparently actually has a degree in Economics from NYU!

L.

 

I’m up to date on episodes but find myself struggling to stay interested. The twin brother bit is just weird and inconsequential to the overall storyline

 

Each time Margarita is on screen, I get in my mind the image of her as "Lisa P." in Adventureland, dancing to Rock Me Amadeus.

 

So Maggie Gyllenhaal (Candy) should be firing up her Emmy speech-she's the clear star of this show, and this particular episode sealed it. That encounter on the street with Method Man (Rodney) was the scene of the season. She's certainly the only character I'm rooting for.

 

I've caught just two episodes, this most recent one and most of the first one. Are they intentionally downplaying the role of heroin here? The lack of that crucial component is a bit distracting, although I like the tension/drama so far.

Great scene.

 

Mancuso's NYT obit from last year:

David Mancuso, Whose New York Loft Was a Hub of ’70s Night Life, Dies at 72

 

Maggie is, if nothing else, a brave actor. Most American female actors (of some repute) wouldn't do those
nude scenes.