HBO Roundup

I’ve been neglecting the discussion of my primary non-Judge Judy source of entertainment: HBO. I’m powerless against the astronomical production values and frequent nudity. I mean, HBO is classy. Novel-like storytelling and no fake boobs.

Here’s some recaps.

Boardwalk Empire
Season two goes a little hogwild with the whole Oedipal angle. Gutsy move killing off your most likeable character. Like “Mad Men”, this show likes playing with American moralty at an earlier stage of development. The convoluted gangster subplots definitely remind me of “The Sopranos.”

Game Of Thrones
Shakespeare reimagined by Tolkien on a soft-core porno set. Trashy in a lavish way. God knows how many millions of dollars each episode costs. Peter Dinklage is totally solid, and makes up for half-dozen scruffy and handsome indistiguishables.

VEEP
Funny. Nice to see Julie Louis Dreyfus and Tony Hale (Buster from Arrested Development) back on TV. Sometimes I felt like I was laughing sort of inspirationally, like if I show some support, the show will become funnier.

Girls
This is the one everyone has an opinion about, at least on the internet. I watched the first episode and thought it was well written. It reminded me a lot of the kids I went to school with. In fact, I went to college with creator Lena Dunham. I remember lamely flirting with her once. We talked about Prison Break, specifically the bolt-cutter toe amputation at the end of the series premiere.

Cross-Dressing the Mind: Think Like A Man

Did I walk out?  Yes. Did I like the movie? 

Sort of, yes. What was my favorite part?  I can’t remember.  But there were laughs. 

This is yet another movie I paid big bucks to see in the theater, and if it were on television, I would change the channel within two minutes.

Think Like A Man is really an advertisement for the Steve Harvey self-help book, Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man.  The book is ostensibly for women; the movie is not.  Though Kevin Hart is the narrator, Steve Harvey often looks at the camera knowingly quotes his book.  I haven’t read Harvey’s book, but it seems like it would be up my alley since I’ve recently, more than ever, imagined the kind of woman I would be.  I have found I have much more confidence in myself when I describe the woman I could have been: good looking, funny, all about the sack, messy hair and apartment