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Thread: BILLIONS on Showtime

  1. #21
    Diamond Hockey Guy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sidewinder View Post
    Lots of gimmicks to designed to keep you interested - lesbian sex, colorful characters that cuss a lot, old men fucking young girls, etc.

    Why can't it stand on its own, without having to be provocative for the sake of being provocative?

    Pretty good acting and soundtrack. I give it 6 out of 10
    I'm gonna say it's because financial stuff, even if it involves "Billions" is still pretty dry &, overall, not all that interesting.

    It has to be about the characters or else the audience would have noticed how quickly that 1 guy, the guy from Jerry Maguire, faced justice & was plea bargaining within a few days of a breaking story by that reporter with a lead given to him by Bobby Axlerod.
    (•_•) ..
    ∫\ \___( •_•)
    _∫∫ _∫∫ɯ \ \

    Quote Originally Posted by Hockey Guy
    I'd say good luck in the freeroll but I'm pretty sure you'll go on a bender to self-sabotage yourself & miss it completely or use it as the excuse of why you didn't cash.

  2. #22
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    Started watching this a few days ago - I'm currently watching episode 5.

    Good show. Would recommend. I was ready to cancel my Hulu sub before I started watching this, but i might hold off for now (unless I find a different way to watch this - if anyone has any suggestions, shoot)

    I did get a little chuckle out of the opening scene in the first episode though.

    I wonder what the conversation was to start off with this scene:

    Creator: "Sir, here's what I'm proposing...we are going to open with one of the main characters being tied up...."

    Executive: "Uh huh...go on..."

    Creator: "And then a leather dressed chick will walk in and tell him what a bad boy he's been"

    Exec: "Ok, this sounds fine..."

    Creator: "And then she is going to extinguish her cigarette on his bare chest..."

    Exec: "Im liking this, im liking this, but I need to discuss it with my colleagues....is there anything else??"

    Creator: " And then...she is going to stand over him and squat, and PISS ALL OVER HIM!!"

    Exec: "My God, you've done it! You sir are HIRED. Start shooting this IMMEDIATELY"

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  3. #23
    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    it kiiinda goes to shit right around now for you.

    also hmmmm a brunette milf therapist guiding her client through the emotional landscape of his dichotomy between family guy and crime boss.... where have we seen that before?
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by sonatine View Post
    it kiiinda goes to shit right around now for you.

    also hmmmm a brunette milf therapist guiding her client through the emotional landscape of his dichotomy between family guy and crime boss.... where have we seen that before?


    Shit - You mean for good or just an episode or two?
    FTR you were right about Homeland too; I stopped watching it right around after the guy was hung. Just turned boring as fuck and I saw no upside.



    But yeah, I chuckled at the whole milf therapist thing myself when i got into this. I was like, really? you couldn't give that actress a different role to maybe expand her portfolio?? All I'm waiting for now is some chick (maybe Axe's wife?) to stab her in the head with a carving fork

     
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      sonatine: seers its like they want to play that fucking card

  5. #25
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    I will say though that Damian Lewis has spread his wings nicely and chiseled his foundation - whether it be skill or luck... to have the ability to play a villain as well as the good guy in his acting career. I can't imagine that this can be an easy feat to pull off. I mean, if you think about alot of well known actors/actresses out there, they usually have their good guy/bad guy niche that they fall into and would probably look awkward if they all of the sudden switched over all of the sudden. I feel that DL could switch around if need be, and not have it damage his image.

    My opinion anyway...

     
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      OSA: hes a better character in Billions than Homeland

  6. #26
    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    So... ok.. this is what rubs me wrongest about Billions I think..

    Axerod is supposed to be some sort of untouchable white collar super criminal but he just seems like a very average mope with shitty taste and too much income. Murakami books on the bedside, cryo-chambers in the office, are they trying to make him look nuveau riche? Because they dont focus long enough on the message to convince me whether hes a fucking basic goon who lucked into a fortune or if the writers simply have no idea how truly wealthy people live/act/think.

    So is he a good guy or a bad guy? Am I rooting for him vs "the man" or am I rooting for justice vs "the shitty dresser who has a ton of money"?

    And Im sorry but we are nine fucking hours into this thing and we have no idea how this guy is getting insider info beyond one (1) underling bribing info from a destitute farmer and an offhanded convo in some goofs shitty living room.

    Look he's either a super villain or hes not. And by virtue of him not being in shackles on D-block, we have to assume he is. So where is the genius? Show me the kill chain of insider info -> money, thats where the crime is for fucks sake. Instead of making his whole schtick "oh yeah a fake Richard Branson leaked some shit to me so now I'll make monies mua ha ha", how about you impress me a little? When real life white collar intrigue is exponentially more interesting than the fiction aping it, you have a problem. And usually that problem is basic ass writers who know exactly fuckall about the subject at bar.

    They are spending so much effort on keeping their profiles 'balanced' between good and bad (ohhhh hes an insider trader dirtbag but he gives money to firemen and the police, ohhhh hes a righteous prosecutor but he bends the rules for his own personal jihad) that they fail to establish a central theme. If youre making a show thats "there is no moral compass because its complicated shit man" ok cool BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO ELEGANTLY DELIVER THAT MESSAGE. And nothing about this show is elegant.

    Also speaking of our crusader, when your sexual tastes find you parked outside an S&M club in Iowa or wherever at 11:00 at night despite the fact that those same tastes leave you open to public destruction, you have a sexual addiction. Maybe your shrink wife should get on top of that.

    AND SPEAKING OF WHICH......

    Lastly: WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THAT WIFE GETTING IN HER HUSBANDS BUSINESS? WHO THE FUCK DOES THAT? BACK THE FUCK OFF AND STAY IN YOUR FUCKING LANE, THE MAN HAS A JOB TO DO. HOLY SHIT.

     
    Comments
      
      Kuntmissioner: Had to be said
      
      Hockey Guy: I can't really argue any of this.
      
      Gordman: Good analysis
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

  7. #27
    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    I'm pretty sure this show is for 19 year olds with popped collars on pastel Izods who know every word of Wall Street and have the directors cut of Boiler Room.

    They really sucked me into it but the spell is wearing off.
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

  8. #28
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    I have been afraid to read your review. I knew grenades aplenty would be thrown.

    Just read your post. I gotta think about why exactly I like this some other time. I will offer this for now.

    So is he a good guy or a bad guy? Am I rooting for him vs "the man" or am I rooting for justice vs "the shitty dresser who has a ton of money"?
    This is exactly part of the appeal. Both sides are good and evil. Kinda like real life. It's the characters. You gotta admit the acting is pretty good here.

    Part of my initial curiousity was to suss out whether Levien & Koppelman the New York Rounders guys were gonna take shots at the boss of bosses, Preet Bharara (yup, the poker AG), or Cantor Fitzgerald (twin towers).

    There are a ton of insights into how inside information is gathered and even the manner and catch phrases that are used to avoid prosecution.

    The hedges are all about insider information. The SEC and the AG's are all about using their understaffed offices to try to prove something that is often impossible to prove. It's a good game.

    One of the best trades I saw that had me golf clapping was when an analyst walks into Axe's office with some trade idea about one entity posing a bid for a takeover of another entity. Usually takeover stories bid the target up. Axe thinks for a minute and shorts the takeover target's stock. This was the Amaya PokerStars scam. Recognize the game to bid up the price, understand the player (Baasov the scammer) and realize it's an empty ploy (a bluff) -->> Axe tells the guy to go short!

    If you are expecting something sexier, Levien & Koppelman try to make you happy with the lesbian, dominatrix, and urination. What does it take to satisfy you Sonatine?

    If you were expecting some earth shattering strategies and insights and feel disappointed I offer this:
    Koppelman & Levien wrote Rounders. Did Rounders offer ANY friggin insight into poker theory?

    Rounders only garnered the love when poker gained popularity. It was appreciated by those who were then in the game. Great acting and caught the general zeitgeist of the phenomenon.

    I gotta tool up.

    You have another Vinyl episode to watch. I don't. We'll meet up on this.

     
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      Baron Von Strucker: i agree with this..... all of it 100%
    Last edited by Sanlmar; 03-27-2016 at 10:54 PM.

  9. #29
    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanlmar View Post
    I have been afraid to read your review. I knew grenades aplenty would be thrown.

    Just read your post. I gotta think about why exactly I like this some other time. I will offer this for now.

    So is he a good guy or a bad guy? Am I rooting for him vs "the man" or am I rooting for justice vs "the shitty dresser who has a ton of money"?
    This is exactly part of the appeal. Both sides are good and evil. Kinda like real life. It's the characters. You gotta admit the acting is pretty good here.

    Part of my initial curiousity was to suss out whether Levien & Koppelman the New York Rounders guys were gonna take shots at the boss of bosses, Preet Bharara (yup, the poker AG), or Cantor Fitzgerald (twin towers).

    There are a ton of insights into how inside information is gathered and even the manner and catch phrases that are used to avoid prosecution.

    The hedges are all about insider information. The SEC and the AG's are all about using their understaffed offices to try to prove something that is often impossible to prove. It's a good game.

    One of the best trades I saw that had me golf clapping was when an analyst walks into Axe's office with some trade idea about one entity posing a bid for a takeover of another entity. Usually takeover stories bid the target up. Axe thinks for a minute and shorts the takeover target's stock. This was the Amaya PokerStars scam. Recognize the game to bid up the price, understand the player (Baasov the scammer) and realize it's an empty ploy (a bluff) -->> Axe tells the guy to go short!

    If you are expecting something sexier, Levien & Koppelman try to make you happy with the lesbian, dominatrix, and urination. What does it take to satisfy you Sonatine?

    If you were expecting some earth shattering strategies and insights and feel disappointed I offer this:
    Koppelman & Levien wrote Rounders. Did Rounders offer ANY friggin insight into poker theory?

    Rounders only garnered the love when poker gained popularity. It was appreciated by those who were then in the game. Great acting and caught the general zeitgeist of the phenomenon.

    I gotta tool up.

    You have another Vinyl episode to watch. I don't. We'll meet up on this.


    This whole post made me physically ill. Like bell to bell. I literally gagged. I gagged, I actually gagged, my throat tightened up and I gagged.


    Oh god...

     
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      Baron Von Strucker: gag rep
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

  10. #30
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    Wounded. Total Sonatine submissive. Maybe I am supposed to enjoy the pain.

    Show runners & writers, Levien & Koppelman on James Altucher's podcast. Levien & Koppelman discuss Billions and their creative process and research. Some Rounders stuff.

    http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2016/01...-billionaires/

    Altucher was a hedge fund manager, binked close to a billion in the dot com game, writes for Finacial Times, TheStreet etc etc. His rags to riches to rags to etc etc is pretty cool in his own right. Altucher was a consultant on Billions.

    Use the time ordinarily spent on Reddit to listen to the writers. A new appreciation should follow.
    Last edited by Sanlmar; 03-28-2016 at 10:18 AM.

  11. #31
    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    This is the best way I can explain it....

    You've heard of Jackson Pollock, the painter? Famous for dripping paint?

    One day, a reporter interviewed the notoriously tempestuous and moody Pollock in his studio while he was working. She couldnt elicit a response so she goaded him a bit about his art was perceived as sloppy, and random, and un-defined.

    Jackson took a paint brush, like a house painting brush, dunked it into a can of black paint, and from about 18 feet away, flicked the wet paint at the door... every drop of which landed in a circle no larger than about 6".

    He said, "That is the door", then continued to ignore her and get back to his work.

    Billions is an uninspired, sloppy, fucktarded mess because no one has the skill or even the vision to actually compose it into a deliberate shape.

    I'm sincerely glad that youre enjoying the show (really) and that it touched on things of personal interest but I wont be giving them a pass on bad craftsmanship.
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

  12. #32
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    In your allegory the writer dismissed Pollack's art as "an uninspired, sloppy, fucktarded mess because no one has the skill or vision"

    Pollack proved with a flick of the wrist at 18' just how deliberate his work actually was.

    Listen to the podcast. Please. Want some feedback

  13. #33
    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    I dont listen to podcasts except occasionally for the Mark Ames 'War Nerds' show.
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

  14. #34
    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    For someone as concerned about stock and value as you, to suggest I spend time on reddit is an act of deliberate self immolation. Your show sucks. Walk it the fuck off.
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

  15. #35
    Plutonium Sanlmar's Avatar
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    I must confess that I have on occasion wondered if some of your clever script was on occasion lifted from Reddit.

    I know, I know it's Reddit but you know, how does Tine keep comin' like he does?

    I accept the denial. I am refreshed that you dismiss that hole.

    Stay pure.

  16. #36
    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    Sunday nights = no half stepping.

    Any other night of the week I'd dismiss Billions as pulp trash and hate watch it quietly.

     
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      Baron Von Strucker: medicine for the soul
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

  17. #37
    Plutonium lol wow's Avatar
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    sonatine is basically donnie

     
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      Baron Von Strucker: pawn rep
      
      Sanlmar: Wow. You mean cause he's dead as a reviewer to me?

  18. #38
    Plutonium sonatine's Avatar
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    I'm just as God made me.

     
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      Baron Von Strucker: tine naked at the computer rep
    "Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness." - Alejandro Jodorowsky

    "America is not so much a nightmare as a non-dream. The American non-dream is precisely a move to wipe the dream out of existence. The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set up by the non-dreamers." -- William S. Burroughs

  19. #39
    Plutonium lol wow's Avatar
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    an entertaining yet revolting mess we know bae

  20. #40
    Diamond DRK Star's Avatar
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    Im guessing they are intentionally making axelrod look like a hero and villain (Robin Hood) so it leaves it up to the viewer to determine which one he is, based on the viewer's own morals.


    I loved the fake office fight last night.

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