Luck - New Drama HBO [** Spoilers **]

JP Liz V1

Two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman has been cast as the lead in HBO's drama pilot, Luck, the network announced on Monday.
Luck looks at gambling and the gritty world of horseracing through the eyes of several characters. Hoffman will play a tough, intelligent man in his late 60s who has just served a four-year prison sentence.
Hoffman joins Dennis Farina and John Ortiz in the series, which is executive produced by Michael Mann, David Milch, Carolyn Strauss and Henry Bronchtein.

Should be good with both Hoffman and Mann on board

djkeogh

I've got some hopes for this. Absolutely loved Milch's Deadwood so fingers crossed he can get some quality back. Cast wise is looking very impressive and Michael Manns involvement all point to a high level show on the horizon.

funkyjebus

HBO is back baby. With this, the pacific and a new one from Scorcese. life is looking good!!!

paddyismaddy

hbo really has some great new dramas in its line up

Richard Dower

http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/hbo-picks-up-luck-to-series/

Picked up to series.

opr

Can honestly say I have never been more excited by reading about an upcoming TV show in my life!

The 'Miami Vice' director's return to the small screen is part of a migration of top talent. But what sets it apart is the stellar company he keeps in HBO's upcoming series 'Luck.'

With his arms folded, and showing just the slightest of smiles, Michael Mann stood in his office on a recent afternoon and watched the opening title sequence to the first episode of "Luck," the HBO series that will air next year and give Mann his first television directing credit in 22 years. On the screen, a montage showed racehorses, gamblers, mob men and money as the Massive Attack song "Splitting the Atom" pulsed along with its languid whispers of desire.

"I wanted to nail — in an abstract, free-form way — the yearning," Mann said later. "Just that, the yearning." At his best moments — in films such as "Heat," "Ali" and "The Last of the Mohicans" — the 67-year-old filmmaker has shown a profound gift for connecting human emotion, music, color and light on the big screen. Before that, as executive producer of "Miami Vice" and "Crime Story" in the 1980s, he brought a new cinematic sensibility to television dramas.

His return to the small screen now is part of a broader migration of big-name talent as adult drama opportunities shrivel in film. But it was still a surprise to many in the industry when it was announced in June, because of the company Mann will be keeping with "Luck." David Milch, the creator of " NYPD Blue" and "Deadwood," is the screenwriter, and Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte lead the cast.

Mann and Milch, who each have an executive producer credit on "Luck," have been described as talented tyrants when it comes to putting their visions on the screen. "They're very respectful … but, as Michael describes it, 'not great with committees,'" said David Lombardo, the HBO programming president who brought the pair together. Hoffman, who is not exactly meek himself, says he sits back and watches it all.

"The sharing of the paintbrush is always a tenuous thing," Hoffman said. "In film, the writers hand over the paintbrush, but in television the directors have less power. But with this one, Mann is more active because he's not just a one-time director, he is the [executive] producer of the show too. It's exciting to see Mann do some scenes there and then talk to Milch and Milch is glowing because it's just wonderful work."

Milch was uninterested in any projected clash-of-egos subplots: "There are challenges in every collaboration, and a challenge is an opportunity in disguise." When asked what Mann brings to the project, Milch did have a glow in his growl. "He brings what he brings to every piece of work of his that I've seen. He's an extraordinary shooter. Michael realizes the visual possibilities of the material with a compression and an intensity that is very, very gratifying. The final product is extraordinary."

The return of Mann to television has another subplot. He is regarded by peers and critics as a signature director of his generation, but Hollywood studios aren't banging down his door after his most recent films. The 2006 film "Miami Vice," a remake of the television show with very little evidence of that heritage, was seen as a creative misstep, and it grossed a lukewarm $164 million worldwide (its production budget was $135 million). "Public Enemies" in 2009 pulled in $214 million around the globe but did not live up to commercial expectations or even award-season hopes for a film starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale.

Fair or not, Mann also has that industry reputation as a bulldozer personality and exhausting perfectionist. Asked if he feels misunderstood or misrepresented, he gave a shrug that was pure Humboldt Park, the tough Chicago neighborhood where he grew up. "Oh, I wouldn't know. Do I care? We're human beings, we care. But I don't really dwell on that. I confess I'm pretty ambitious about what I do, so I don't spend a lot of time looking at that."

Mann is by no means surrendering his big-screen directing pursuits. He has two projects — a European period-piece set after the end of serfdom and a tale set in the future that would be his first science-fiction project — so, like Martin Scorsese and "Boardwalk Empire," the "Luck" pilot might be more creative tourism than career tilt. Mann said he went for a ride with "Luck" for one reason alone: "Milch's script is one of the best I've ever read."

The style of 'Vice'

In the 1980s, "Miami Vice" brought a cinematic sensibility to television. Its neon glow, MTV soundtrack and pastel audacities established Mann as a true stylist. That reputation grew in film, in which, with months of preparation and then endless takes, the director could find the precise compositions he wanted visually and the street authenticity he insists on for his characters.

There's a streak of the investigative or journalistic in Mann's work, and it dates to the 1960s. Inspired by Stanley Kubrick's subversive mainstream success with "Dr. Strangelove," the son of Chicago grocers studied at the London School of Film and won a jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1970 for a short film about Paris student riots. Back in the States, he trekked cross-country in 1971 to film "17 Days Down the Line," a documentary about working-class life that was equal parts Studs Terkel and John Cassavetes.. That instinct to investigate is still with Mann — it defines him, in fact, according to actor Bale.

"An extraordinary detective is what Michael is," Bale said. "His methodical nature and desire to turn over every single stone — which may end up having no relevance to the movie and certainly may not end up in the movie — gives him all this subterranean information at his disposal. What you see in the movie is the tip of the iceberg."

Bale said Mann's obsessions make him feel better about his own exhaustive preparations, but not all actors sync up with the filmmaker on the set. Depp and Mann, for instance, barely spoke at some points during the "Public Enemies" filming.

Perhaps no actors embraced the Mann method more than Will Smith, who earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as boxer Muhammad Ali in "Ali," and Daniel Day-Lewis, who played the rangy frontiersman Hawkeye in "The Last of the Mohicans" (a film that last week hit store shelves in a lavish new Blu-ray package with an expanded director's edition).

Both Smith and Day-Lewis spent close to a year bending their bodies into shape for their intense roles; Smith sparred five days a week at a gym not far from Mann's Olympic Boulevard offices, and Day-Lewis went off into the wilderness, and his stomach grew hard from the diet of berries and nuts. Mann said that that labor paid off on the screen because moviegoers knew the real deal when they saw it, even if that determination was made by the emotional part of their brain.

"As very, very smart animals, we have great perceptions — particularly when some of that stuff is routing through the amygdala and we're intuiting more than we're cognitively labeling, knowing and inferring — and we will see a hand movement, the way somebody picks something up, and we'll sense an ownership," Mann said. "There's attitude, there's a readiness, and we sense it. That's Will in 'Ali' or Daniel in 'Mohicans.' Daniel could walk up behind you, and you wouldn't know he was there because he matched your footsteps and your breathing, and he's stalking you."

The Mann approach has made him a role model for younger directors. Christopher Nolan, the director of "Inception" and "The Dark Knight," says one of the key moments in his own cinematic life was when, as a teenager, he saw a television commercial for Mann's 1986 film, "Manhunter." Nolan had no knowledge of the film, just of the image of a glowering serial killer, played by Brian Cox, peering out from a prison cell with white bars.

"That image was forever burned into my mind," Nolan said, adding that Mann's singular affinity for the use of color, architecture, music and light makes him a stylist of highest order but also one who uses those approaches only in service of story. Later, watching "Heat," Nolan was struck by how the film resisted the ironic shadings and referencing that came into vogue after Quentin Tarantino's " Pulp Fiction." "He reclaimed the stylized approach to filmmaking," Nolan said, "and made it respectable again."

Mann, a compact man with a square jaw, is reluctant to revisit his films in detail. Asked about specific visual decisions — the use of an equestrian wall mural to show the slippery hold on reality by Russell Crowe's character in "The Insider," for instance, or the wandering coyote in "Collateral" — he shifts the talk to the actors on the screen. He also records the interview himself and requests permission to review his direct quotations, a bid for some control, since, in this case, he can't have a say in the edit.

Over the course of a two-hour, far-ranging interview at his office, he was at a loss for words only once. The man who expounds on European adventurism of the 18th century, the narco-politics of Latin America or the cultural effect of the video game Halo stammered only when he was asked how he is a different man today than he was a decade ago.

"I think I'm drawn to … I think I've always been drawn towards being impactful — cinematically, emotionally, dramatically impactful," he said after searching the ceiling for some kind of answer. The director doesn't like close-ups, so he changed the point of view back to the world and away from him. "People are less dependent of the kind of setup that we all thought was mandatory. We're freer, because of where audiences are, to insert you, to parachute you right into a fast-moving stream if the story is carefully architected."

He looked down at his desk, where he had handwritten notes to himself. "I don't know," Mann said, "if that answers the question …"

Mann is most interested in discussing "Luck" and the changing perceptions of audiences. He pointed to "Inception" and David Fincher's "The Social Network" as films that drop the viewer into a world and benefit from a Digital Age audience that is accustomed to taking in information with a different frequency and form.

"It's liberating to jump into the stream of a story and jump into the stream of a character and convey by attitude, ambience and the tone of that person — and their surroundings and how they're reacting to those surroundings — the magic of what's happening. When you can bring the audience into understanding and they have leapt over that little gap, and they're getting it on their own, it's a much more intense involvement."

Mann said the Milch script for "Luck" was one of the richest and most compelling that had ever crossed his desk. Milch certainly is no tourist when it comes to the subject matter — he owned Val Royal, the French-bred colt that won the 2001 Breeders' Cup Mile — and Milch said it only increases the pressure to get the voice, vocabulary and vibe just right.

The pilot opens with a career bookmaker named Chester "Ace" Bernstein (Hoffman) leaving prison and wearing a shirt that still has the department store packaging creases. Waiting for him in a Mercedes is Gus Economou ( Dennis Farina), an old crony who's ready to help the parolee with his mysterious revenge plans. At the track, the show introduces a conniving trainer ( John Ortiz), jockeys and the betting regulars who seek their fortune at a venue that is sinking into bankruptcy. Underpinning all of it is the juxtaposition between the majestic horses and the desperate people who exploit them and one another.

Mann is especially pleased by the shadows in the plot. Who is the target of Bernstein's vendetta? What is the past of Nolte's secretive loner, a trainer who confides only in the horses when he speaks of a dark past on the East Coast? All of it is a puzzle to be solved, and Mann, the detective, seemed giddy to be on the case.

"To make these characters be alive, you have a sense of them intuitively and viscerally," Mann said. "The challenge of it is obvious, but the economy of it is wonderful — if you can make it work."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-1010-michael-mann-20101010,0,6409892,full.story

Opr

JP Liz V1

http://michael-mann.blogspot.com/2010/10/michael-mann-back-in-tv-saddle.html

Some more information and interviews are coming to light for the forthcoming "Luck" TV series directed by Michael Mann. With it are revelations on future projects, which interestingly seems to point to a future set sci-fi genre movie! We will have to wait and see on that little number. In the meantime, enjoy the introduction to this recent interview with Mann on the first screening of "Luck". If first impressions are anything to go by, everybody on the project seems very, very excited with it. My prediction: This is going to be a Mann heaven return to TV glory. I can't wait. And I don't even like horse racing.

Michael Mann and Nick NolteDustin Hoffman (left) talks to Michael Mann


With his arms folded, and showing just the slightest of smiles, Michael Mann stood in his office on a recent afternoon and watched the opening title sequence to the first episode of "Luck," the HBO series that will air next year and give Mann his first television directing credit in 22 years. On the screen, a montage showed racehorses, gamblers, mob men and money as the Massive Attack song "Splitting the Atom" pulsed along with its languid whispers of desire.

AnonoBoy

When does this start in the US?

pickarooney

Autumn some time.

opr

We finally get the first look and it looks AWESOME!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8yOQJ288GQ

Opr

JP Liz V1

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/hbos-luck-teaser-trailer-gives-240024

^ New teaser promo

JP Liz V1

Teaser Promo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLvtAl_t2sI

opr

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- HBO will give audiences its first look at the Dustin Hoffman-led drama "Luck" on Sunday, December 11 at 10:00/9:00c following the season finale of "Boardwalk Empire," network sources have confirmed to the site exclusively.

The full 57-minute pilot will debut on said date prior to its formal rollout in January (exact date TBA).

Dennis Farina, John Ortiz, Kevin Dunn, Richard Kind, Jason Gedrick, Ritchie Coster, Ian Hart, Tom Payne, Kerry Condon, Gary Stevens and Nick Nolte also star in "Luck," from executive producers David Milch, Michael Mann and Carolyn Strauss.

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2011/10/31/exclusive-hbo-to-debut-luck-pilot-behind-boardwalk-empire-finale-on-december-11-164410/9509/

Opr

opr

New trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M67XCzfr7o

Opr

JP Liz V1

http://www.digitalspy.ie/ustv/news/a348631/dustin-hoffmans-hbo-drama-luck-for-december-preview.html

HBO has revealed plans to premiere new drama Luck next month.

The series - from Heat director Michael Mann - will officially launch on the cable network in early 2012.

However, viewers will be able to watch the first episode as a special preview on December 11, according to Variety.

The Luck pilot will air immediately following the season two finale of Boardwalk Empire.

Richard Dower

Another trailer: http://www.spoilertv.com/2011/11/luck-season-1-new-trailer.html

opr

I am so excited to get a first look at this show. Pilot airs tonight on HBO.

Opr

Richard Dower

Yup....pilot is on well....now!

[edit - any reviews of said pilot should be spoiler tagged for now, as this is an early preview]

Richard Dower

Ratings news: Luck (HBO, 10 PM)
-1.143 million viewers (-62% from Boardwalk Empire)
-0.36 A18-49 (-72%)

expectationlost

hard to figure out who was who

and its not just me http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1578887/board/nest/192219644?d=192219644&p=1#192219644

opr

I thought it was excellent. I have to talk about the direction first which is amazing but you don't expect anything less when you know it's Mann directing. The use of color, light etc and the slow motion shots of stuff like the horses with steam rising --> Drool!

I loved all the jargon and muttering which was hard to follow at times. I can see why it will alienate people but Milch doesn't spoon feed stuff. He is obvious trying to immerse you in the world of a real track and its characters.

Looking forward to more just a pity it's such a long wait

Opr

expectationlost

i really don't buy this rubbish about spoon feeding, can we hear they are bleeping saying!

if the characters in the show can hear what the person talking to them is saying why can't we?

AnonoBoy

expectationlost wrote: »

if the characters in the show can hear what the person talking to them is saying why can't we?

I haven't watched the show yet but could it be for dramatic tension?

expectationlost

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I haven't watched the show yet but could it be for dramatic tension?

BS

Richard Dower

expectationlost wrote: »

BS

He might be trolling.

AnonoBoy

expectationlost wrote: »

BS

It was a genuine suggestion. I haven't watched Luck yet so I don't know how the audio of people's conversations are being handled.

The Black Oil

Any ideas if the December version is the same one that's going to air in January?

opr

Yeah it's the same one. It's just episode one shown early as a promo type thing.

Opr

FloatingVoter

The pilot was confusing - dropped you in at the deep end without establishing a relationship between the characters. Still, good actors and looks promising. I'll need to rewatch before it airs properly in January. Michael Gambon is in the series trailer, not in the pilot. Something to do with the mob (Hoffmann ?) turning the track into a casino.
I assume the track bums will be an ongoing chorus to the machinations of the big fishies (Hoffman, Nolte and Gambon).
Fingers crossed my Boardwalk Empire / Breaking Bad fix will get a Spring fix.

AnonoBoy

Just watched the pilot there yesterday. It definitely benefits from a second viewing.

Yes, hard to follow all the dialogue but not hard to get the gist of what's going on. Slightly odd sound mix alright - with dialogue very low int he mix at times. However I prefer shows that don't spoon feed you everything like a child. As with something like the Wire I imagine after a few episodes the viewer will have become immersed in the world.

Serious talent involved in this and great racing scenes. Can't wait for the full thing to start.

expectationlost

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Just watched the pilot there yesterday. It definitely benefits from a second viewing.

Yes, hard to follow all the dialogue but not hard to get the gist of what's going on. Slightly odd sound mix alright - with dialogue very low int he mix at times. However I prefer shows that don't spoon feed you everything like a child. As with something like the Wire I imagine after a few episodes the viewer will have become immersed in the world.

Serious talent involved in this and great racing scenes. Can't wait for the full thing to start.

never had a problem understanding the wire, this not spoon-feeding meme is bs

AnonoBoy

expectationlost wrote: »

never had a problem understanding the wire, this not spoon-feeding meme is bs

I didn't mean anything to do with the audio in The Wire. I mean it's similar in that it drops you into a world and doesn't explain things slowly but rather just starts telling the story and lets the viewer catch up.

Despite some bits of conversation you couldn't hear did you have trouble following the story though or are you fairly sure you know mostly who the characters are and where their place in the world of the story is? Personally I found it a bit tough at first but on my first viewing of it by the end of the episode it was pretty obvious who everyone was and what their relationship to each other roughly was.

I don't even get what you mean by 'not spoon-feeding meme'. How is it a meme?

JP Liz V1

Luck starts 18th of February 2012 at 9pm on Sky Atlantic

Jimmy Iovine

Just saw the ad for it on tele there. Looks promising. I'll have a look at the pilot later. Have been looking for a new show to watch since Boardwalk finished up.

RVD420

Checked out the pilot last night. It was decent, but I'll admit 90% of the betting / gambling jargon went way over my head. It was also a tad confusing trying to establish the relationships between different characters. I'll give this a few eps anyway, I've found a lot of the HBO shows need a few eps to get the feel of them. The "This season on Luck..." trailer at the end of the pilot does make out that it will take off and looks to be a pretty decent show, with multi layered storylines going on. Just once it doesn't turn out like "John from Cincinatti" I'll be happy .

expectationlost

should TV drama need research, re-watching and rereading of the transcript

Dermighty

I watched episodes 1 and 2.

I found it quite confusing.

The gambling jargon and all that made sense but it was Dustin Hoffmans character that was just a mess.

Mindkiller

I can't tell if this is good or not. Some really impressive talent involved but so far I'm not really convinced. Maybe I'm too stupid.

Giruilla

expectationlost wrote: »

should TV drama need research, re-watching and rereading of the transcript

Only if you want it to.

Thought that pilot was phenomenal for a tv series. Hope the other directors can keep up the style Mann layed down.

I don't think you need to be able to understand ever bit of dialogue straight away. Thats something you'll appreciate in later episode when you get used to the characters way of speaking.

expectationlost

Giruilla wrote: »

Only if you want it to.

Thought that pilot was phenomenal for a tv series. Hope the other directors can keep up the style Mann layed down.

I don't think you need to be able to understand ever bit of dialogue straight away. Thats something you'll appreciate in later episode when you get used to the characters way of speaking.

i want TO BE ABLE TO HEAR IT

expectationlost

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I didn't mean anything to do with the audio in The Wire. I mean it's similar in that it drops you into a world and doesn't explain things slowly but rather just starts telling the story and lets the viewer catch up.

Despite some bits of conversation you couldn't hear did you have trouble following the story though or are you fairly sure you know mostly who the characters are and where their place in the world of the story is? Personally I found it a bit tough at first but on my first viewing of it by the end of the episode it was pretty obvious who everyone was and what their relationship to each other roughly was.

I don't even get what you mean by 'not spoon-feeding meme'. How is it a meme?

nope

Giruilla

expectationlost wrote: »

i want TO BE ABLE TO HEAR IT

Its recorded that way on purpose.

Personally I quite like that style. You don't need to completely understand every single line of dialogue.

KERSPLAT!

Subtitles?

Will definitely be watching this, trailers look great

opr

This is from another forum. A guy has done a kind of commentary track, thought some might be interested in reading it. Obviously spoilers for the first two episodes.

Commentary on episode one.

Here's the YTF "commentary track" for Episode One of Luck:

6:15 This is the toughest scene in the show to follow, because of Turo's accent. Escalante gives Leon (bug boy) his instructions, stripping him of his riding crop: "You don't need no stick. I've got to stay here. Jog him around once the wrong way around (the track), loosen him up for his race this afternoon." The kid remarks, "We run big with this horse today." Now Escalante has to make sure the kid understands the instructions he was just given--the last thing we need is some idiot jockey sprinting around the track and wearing out the horse before the race. "What??? Is this morning today? Or this afternoon?" The kid has no idea what the problem is. Puzzled, he asks, "What?"

Escalante is a busy man and has no patience for this kid's nonsense. "Pinhead, is this morning today so far?" When the kid replies in the affirmative (with the brilliant, "I guess sir, yes so."), Escalante repeats the instructions, "Then jog him once the wrong way around, and shut up on what you don't know, before I call Porky Pig on you." The kid takes it, bites his lip, and rides off.

The vet, making conversation, asks, "You met the limo driver yet?" Escalante scoffs, "And buys this horse for $2M? You pro'ly too think they really landed on the moon."

The blues music cranks, and Turo engages in this tough-to-hear exchange with the groom.

ESCALANTE: Yap, yap, yap, esta nino.
GROOM: Senor HablaMucho.
ESCALANTE: (chuckles) HablaMucho, si.

9:00 Nolte remarks to the night watchman, "I was wonderin' if maybe the last quarter (mile) the girl should loosen up, let him stretch the hell out." Then he asks the horse, "Feel like stretchin' out?" Then, as the music indicates something important is about to be said, he instructs the girl, "Maybe you'd let him stretch out a little in the lane." The girl can't hide her excitement. "Great! Cuz he's been pullin' my arms off!" For you horse newbs, this is her way of letting US know that she's been holding the horse back, and letting NOLTE know that this is an incredibly strong horse.

11:15 The Big Horse isn't just farting around any more, he's settling down into a jog. God, this music is kick-ass!

12:17 Marcus is studying his form, we see a brief close-up of his program, opened to the 4th race, a $12.5k claiming race (which would make these some of the cheapest horses on the grounds at a major-league track like Santa Anita, or the classiest horses on the grounds of a ****hole like Suffolk Downs or Mountaineer) 1 Mile on the main track (on the dirt, not the turf course).

He's got a circle around the 2-horse; a ton of notations around the 4-horse, which the program tells us is the 9-to-5 favorite; and a couple of cross-out marks in the blank spaces around the name of the 5-horse, Mon Gateau. The program lists each horse's owner, trainer, jock, morning line odds, and weight to be carried (the fine print at the top of the page, "the conditions", give a two-pound allowance to any horse who hasn't won at this distance since January 24, and one pound for every $1000 the owner knocks off the claiming price, up to two pounds; I'll explain claiming in the following post). Of the eight horses we see listed (the bottom of the page is out of frame), only one is carrying the entire 123 lbs. A couple carry 121, a few carry 119, and two stand out for carrying 113--each of these is a longshot with an apprentice jockey. The 3-horse's jockey has an asterisk next to his name; our 5-horse, Mon Gateau, trained by Turo Escalante, is ridden by Leon Micheaux, who has THREE asterisks next to his name. In army terms, he's not even a Private First Class yet, he's an E-1. You wouldn't think a 6-10 pound difference would matter much to a strong young horse, but in racing, it's a big deal.

14:08 The Big Horse is really starting exert himself now as they begin to turn for home. The rhythm of the hoofbeats has picked up substantially (14 minutes into the first episode, and ship the Sound Editing Emmy--the same sound editing you guys hope they "clean up" before the show runs in earnest???). The rider has her feet up on the dashboard, which means exactly what you think it means: she's dug in, trying to hold this horse back. Another nice touch: you'd have to pause it to see it, but the blanket under the saddle says "WS". Nolte's character is named Walter Smith. The camera angle makes it seem like the horse is coming around the turn so fast, he's fish-tailing like the cars in a Steve McQueen chase scene! I'll bet that little photographic stunt caught the attention of the novice viewer.

14:20 The moment they pass the quarter-pole (which marks a quarter-mile from the finish--it drives me nuts every time Chris Berman calls Week 4 in the NFL "the quarter pole", when there is still THREE-QUARTERS of a season to go!), the girl drops her fanny and crouches as low as she can, loosens the reins, and starts "scrubbing" the horse's neck, urging him to take off. Nick Nolte hits the stopwatch, and the horse literally JUMPS at the chance run as fast as he can. It's what he was BRED to do! His trainer has been bringing him along slowly--not a scam like Escalante pulls later in the episode, this is what a responsible trainer does with a young horse who's not nearly ready to race yet. He's not being whipped or kicked or shouted at, he's not being forced to perform under any duress--all that's happening is he is being given the opportunity to run as fast as he wants in a wide-open space. What more could a strong young horse want? The background is flying by in a blur, every muscle on this running machine is flexing...does tv have a cinematography Emmy?

15:39 "You singled the fourth? I had the fourth a semi-spread." "For a triple-bug apprentice who hasn't won ten races in his life, he's going to single a horse that hasn't run in two years." The quick close-up of the DRF text tells us young Micheaux L has 48 career mounts, 6 wins, 7 places, 3 shows, a win % of .12--not bad for a bug, but not HOF numbers, either. That's an average WEEK for some jocks! The chances to get on the track are few and far between for a bug at a big-league meet.

16:55 When Porky Pig is done chewing out the kid for running his mouth, the kid promptly runs his mouth. He drops his voice to a whisper, and confides that this horse is really fit. The kid just doesn't get it. Beneath the saddle is a red blanket with the initials "TE" on it.

17:15 "Mr Walter, listen, this guy's got nine more gears!", she pants. Riders get in sync with their horses, she knows what she's talking about. She knows that when she asks for it, the horse will be able to give her even more--a LOT more. This horse is a monster.

23:41 First authenticity problem: Kagle holds out a $50 bill for Jerry's picks. Everybody knows horse players think $50 bills are unlucky! (Lest anyone hold Milch in contempt for this oversight: in the script I read, it was $10!)

27:57 Escalante gives his instructions: "Listen to me: you keep'n'm covered up, so he don't go; when you ask o' him, you take'n'm WIDE, so you don't get'm stopped." He later repeats, "He gonna finish for you. Get'm'n WIDE, don't get'm'n STOPPED."

34:04 The kid's trapped on the rail (not bad riding, totally bad luck). When he sees an opening on the rail no wider than the horse's nose, he doesn't hesitate, he LUNGES for it! An incredible move for any jock, let alone a bug. This only makes Escalante's chilly reception in the Winners Circle even funnier.

39:45 Nolte mentions to the horse that he might be ready to race in a few weeks.

43:30 "What's her name?" "Tattered Flag." This is called "foreshadowing". Milch may as well have called her, "Purina Dog Chow", cuz that's what she'll be by the end of the week.

43:50 My favorite sound editing yet: as the starting gate moves into position, we hear chains dragging, a tractor puttering, and those gates creaking and slamming, each and every one of them. In this shot, the SOUND is setting the scene even better than the PICTURE is!

44:01 For the first time, we hear the voice of track announcer Trevor Denman in the background as the horses go into the gate. I'm hoping we hear a lot of Trevor over the course of this series. He's the best ever at what he does. He was featured prominently in Richard Dreyfuss' horse race comedy "Let It Ride", a film that I highly recommend (shocker!). Hey, it's funny. Ask anybody.

47:28 The kid is making his move, Gary Stevens urges from the stands, "The outside's the upside, bug!", the music is building to a crescendo...and I can't make my palms stop sweating, because I know those sound editors are standing by with a stalk of celery to make the sickest sound effect in all of sports.

47:33 SNAP! The crowd gasps. Even Gary Stevens has to turn and look away.

48:43 The boys win. The rising music obscures one of my favorite lines: we hear Lonnie shout "Champion of the World! Heavyweight Champ!", but it's tough to hear my favorite part: "Everyone kiss...my...ass!"

49:00 They may have cut out Kagle offering a 33% kickback of the IRS withholding, but they didn't cut it out of Marcus' summary: "$2.68 million and some, plus 33% of the withholding, plus 15 consolations."

??:?? I went back to add this, after I had finished watching. I've never seen a "night watchman" watching a single horse overnight before. "He slept through the night...licked his bucket clean"??? There's usually Track Security prowling the grounds, that's it, and they're not there to watch any one particular horse. I've also never seen a trainer hang around the barn all day, doing nothing, never leaving his horse's side. I don't know what happened to this horse's daddy 2000 miles away, or what Nick Nolte was supposed to do about it back then, but he sure seems intent on not letting it happen a second time.

54:11 Dustin Hoffman is talking to himself. You'll note I haven't mentioned him once in this write-up. As far as that arc goes, you guys are on your own.

This post is an explanation of the the claimer race in which the horse is entered into in episode two.

The cheapest horses are called "claimers", and run in "claiming" races. This is a safeguard to prevent high-quality horses from entering races against old lame nags for an easy payday. The track doesn't want races like these, where it's obvious who's going to win. They want competitive balance in every race. They want the class horses racing the other class horses, and the cheap horseflesh matched up against one another, so they came up with the claiming system.

It comes down to this: every horse in a claiming race is for sale. In Mon Gateaux's race, the claiming price is $12,500. This means any licensed owner can put in a "claim" on a horse before the race with the track stewards (racing officials), and as soon as the starting gate opens to start the race, they are the horse's new owners (if more than one claim is put in on a horse, they draw for it to see who gets it). The old owners get any purse money won by the horse in the race, but the new owners are responsible to retrieve the horse from the track, take it back to their barn and cool it down and feed it. It's their horse now.

So if you think your horse is worth $12k, you don't enter him in a $6k claiming race. You'll probably win the race, but you'll lose the horse, and get far less than he's worth. Conversely, you don't enter him in a $15k claiming race, because he's not as good as the other horses in the race and has no shot.

You can see how this system keeps the competitive balance finely tuned.

There are drawbacks to this system. For example, if you put in a claim for Tattered Flag, there are no refunds. You are told to go get your dead horse off the track, AND you get a bill from the vet who administered the shot. Tattered Flag's old owner goes from despondent, to "just won the lottery" elated when he hears the horse got claimed (he isn't told before the race, or else he might scratch--withdraw--the horse before the race begins).

In the previews that ran after the pilot, we see a horse getting a "claimed" tag attached to his bridle after a race, and Escalante goes pale when he sees it.

Commentary on episode two.

4:50 Part of the learning curve for a young horse, he has to learn how to get comfortable getting in and out of the starting gate. Walter Matthau had a great scene in Casey's Shadow, leading his young horse in and out of the gate, keeping him relaxed with his voice, showing the colt that the big metal contraption was nothing to be scared of. Once he's used to loading in, standing there a while, hearing the bell and taking off by himself, then he has to learn to do it "in company", surrounded by other horses. That's what we see here.

And oh yeah, without any urging, he left those other two behind by a mile. I can't wait to see what this horse can do.

13:00 Rider and trainer swap notes, and both couldn't be more pleased with the hores's progress. "Broke great, no hesitation...went in like a gentleman, stood there perfect, and when they sprung it, he left like a champ...wouldn't blow a match out now." That last part is the most exciting. This horse blew away those other two, without even barely trying.

14:00 In my best Trevor Denman voice, "And if you HAVE your money on Dan Dority in the First Deadwood Cast Member to Show Up Here pool, you can GO to the window, and be amongst the first to collect!"

14:54 "Slickest trainer on the grounds enters this horse cheaper off a win this week, which is like hanging a 'Please Buy This Nag Now' sign off the animal's neck, and you propose we claim him?" Horses never drop down after blowing away a field like Mon Gateaux did last time out. The only possible reason you'd do so, is if the horse became unsound (lame), and you wouldn't mind losing him. Marcus, and anyone else with a brain, wants nothing to do with buying him.

17:36 "I just gave your $8000 horse his $20 shot of Lasix." The vet thinks Escalante is nuts to risk losing this horse in any claim race, let alone a cheaper one. Escalante confides his plan to dress up the horse in unneeded bandages "to scare away all the vultures". Sounds hairbrained to me, but this Escalante seems to know what he's doing. Maybe he's done it before? It's nothing new, the vet calls it "an Old School headfake."

19:35 "You think you're a real scamster, huh? Meanwhile, they probably got you signed up for a life insurance policy or something!" Nice call, Marcus!

24:00 Joey the Agent sees the kid, fresh off the Tattered Flag fiasco, is worried that maybe Mon Gateaux is a risk to break down as well (at least Escalante's "head fake" fooled this bug). Joey puts on his Mentor voice, and warns the kid that worrying about accidents is a leading CAUSE of accidents. You just can't think that way, and be an effective rider. He says that sort of thinking is what led to Ronnie's recent spill (mentioned earlier when Nolte mentioned, "Heard you had a bad spill," and Ronnie quick to point out, "Yeah, but I'm up and at 'em now."), a spill which Ronnie "is just coming back from now."

25:55 I like how Ace and Turo don't shake hands when introduced. They're very cordial to each other, there's no animosity. I can only imagine that the trainer doesn't want to be seen shaking hands with a Known Felon, and that Ace is entirely cognizant of this...while they both pretend it's not an issue.

28:20 She's not in the credits, but I'll bet my right nut that's Jerri Jewell. I'd recognize that twinkle in her eyes when she smiles anywhere. And as the self-proclaimed Biggest Deadwood Mark On 2+2, I should know.

28:51 "Ace, this is the biggest bet I've ever made by $195." Line Of The Week winner.

29:21 Love that the last horse kicks after they get him in the gate. Can't script that.

36:45 "They took out an insurance policy on Delphi for $30M. And they killed him. They broke his legs. They said it was his fault. You know what breaking legs sounds like? Branches snapping." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alydar#Suspicious_death

50:30 "You figure your guy Jenkins will have rode a few by Saturday week?" The booklet Nolte slides over to the agent is The Conditions Book, a list of the races announced by the Racing Secretary so the owners/trainers can decide which races to enter their horses into. He's got a race circled. He's ready to let The Big Man race, now he needs a jock. Sorry, Rosie, but we got Triple Crown Winning Gary Stevens available. You'll get here some day, but this ain't where you start.

I don't think reading any of this is necessary, as others have said you can follow the general gist which is enough and as time passes I am sure it will become easier to understand more and more. I do think repeat viewings of this show will be awesome when I am deeper immersed in the world.

Opr

AnonoBoy

expectationlost wrote: »

nope

Which of my questions were you answering there? Because none of them that I can see could be answered with 'nope'.

Perhaps you should actually engage in the conversation and not just stubbornly answer 'nope' to posts that you don't like.

Look, I know this annoys you, but plenty of people found the style enjoyable and you really seem like you're getting annoyed at the fact that other people could follow it but not you. Just stick with it and you'll be fine.

robby^5

I love the gambling slang, reminds me very much of getting to grips with The Wire initially. If we think its tough, the yanks have it extra rough with the Irish girl jockey (Rosie) "I'm like a chancer on the dole" I bet they wont be able to make heads nor tails of some her dialogue this season.

Enjoying it so far, though I'm not quite sure why the lads are laying low with the winning ticket.

expectationlost

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Which of my questions were you answering there? Because none of them that I can see could be answered with 'nope'.

Perhaps you should actually engage in the conversation and not just stubbornly answer 'nope' to posts that you don't like.

Look, I know this annoys you, but plenty of people found the style enjoyable and you really seem like you're getting annoyed at the fact that other people could follow it but not you. Just stick with it and you'll be fine.

its not just me

expectationlost

Giruilla wrote: »

Its recorded that way on purpose.

Personally I quite like that style. You don't need to completely understand every single line of dialogue.

if there was some reason to not be able to hear them traffic noise or something i can see the logic in possibly not catching everything they say but otherwise nope.

mikemac1

I'm useless with charecther names

Why won't Nick Nolte give Kerry Condon some races? She's competent and knowledgeable

Instead he advises her to move away and tries to sort out a jockey agent

Is he old fashioned and doesn't want a lady rider?

Giruilla

expectationlost wrote: »

if there was some reason to not be able to hear them traffic noise or something i can see the logic in possibly not catching everything they say but otherwise nope.

What the sh*tballs does nope mean??

TwoShedsJackson

Escalante's from Peru and speaking a language not his first, it's understandable he'd be hard to understand

Guys on some forums in the US are having trouble understanding the Irish girl, that a problem for anyone here? Didn't think so.