Winter in Chicago means, hunkering down some evenings, with a space heater, a cup of hot tea and some cool DVDs. We have a great video store in our neighborhood, and over the years we've seen lots of great movies and cable TV series.
I do think we are in a golden age of cable TV series. Some of our favorites, the ones that have really resonated include: Mad Men (sublime!), Rome (powerful!) and the Tudors (pure, anglophile, trash!)
We just watched the first season of Boardwalk Empire - 12 episodes in about 2 weeks, (the best way to experience the work), and it is just superb. The cast, the writing, and the era (1920's America) are eye-opening and engaging. I love that Steve Buscemi is front and center as Nucky Thompson, and I love that Chicago's own Michael Shannon gets to do his "twisted dude" thing. It is all so beautifully done. And has lots to say about then and now.
And just how much sin are you willing to endure...?
And maybe my favorite part of the series is the opening intro; it's surreal, sort of a Magritte-like, and the music by Brian Jonestown Massacre is just so thrilling. If you've ever seen Dig (an absolutely great rock documentary about two bands), you know a little bit about Anton Newcombe and the rocky road he and his band have traversed over the years. Hopefully Anton got a great licensing deal for letting the show use this shimmering instrumental interlude.
I'm a sucker for chiming, driving guitars, I love the ebb and flow of the track, it's a perfect match with the images of Buscemi on the shoreline, and all those bottles of booze. In some ways, it's so unlike the actual series, the images are so unreal, dream-like, the music is an anachronism, but on the other hand it's maybe the best intro ever, and just captures something so transcendent, and beautiful... and it rocks too!
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