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Post by Mattsby on Jul 16, 2018 18:09:55 GMT
deadline.com/2018/07/the-first-beau-willimon-hulu-series-premiere-date-first-photos-1202427145/Another serious space-drama, coming right before First Man, then Ad Astra, Pale Blue Dot, etc....... I'm more excited for Moonbase 8, ahaha. Word has been so mum on this show I didn't know if/when it'd ever go on. The creator of House of Cards, the great Agnieszka Holland directing some eps, and what's most interesting: Sean Penn in his biggest TV role to date. This seems like a show that could come and go without much notice or maybe could set his career on a new, better path. Hopefully that Andrew Jackson mini is still in the works for him, seems like a sensible follow-up to this.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jul 16, 2018 18:43:38 GMT
Yeah as much as I'd love to see Penn knock one out of the park (there's been a recent thread have you seen it? Oh nevermind .....) - I think this may first and foremost be a chance to see where his head is at and I'm not sure it has good signs. First the space angle is getting played out, it has elements of navel gazing/philosophical things that might not suit his gifts.
Andrew Jackson seems much more in keeping with his personal interests (politics, American history at a crossroads). The best Penn recent performance was in This Must Be The Place where he could lose himself in a character in a way he cared about in the trappings of an exotic character - I'm not sure I see that here or in this material with Holland who has no such background..........but when she's good, she's very great, one of the great female directors ever so we'll see.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jul 25, 2018 8:17:16 GMT
Well I'll certainly give it a shot - when the camera is just on Penn's face I think back on what a great loss its been not having him in movies for a decade much (he's had just 4 significant roles, 2 of them supporting, in 10 years not including small bit parts/cameos) and he is the best American film actor of his generation to me. He brings an almost unparalleled sense of gravitas and presence............on the other hand that can turn into a "he looks silly in that space suit" awfully quick too.
Keeping my fingers crossed.......
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Post by stephen on Aug 29, 2018 5:23:21 GMT
I actually like the look of it (BILL CAMP!).
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Post by pupdurcs on Sept 16, 2018 1:48:30 GMT
No one talking about this? It got released this week.
I'm not the biggest fan of Sean Penn, but I do think Beau Willimon is a talented showrunner, so was looking forward to this because of Willimon's pedigree.
Reviews have been kind of a bummer though. 58% on Rotten Tomatoes suggest this isn't going to be winning any Emmys. But too many of the reviews make it sound like they've stretched out a very thin premise over 8 episodes.
Poor Penn really can't catch a break. Even switching gears to prestige TV has been a bit of a non-event. There's not even much consensus on his performance. Some reviews say he's really good, others say he's an uninteresting lead and he's solid but not much beyond that.
I may get round to seeing this, but this isnt something I have to binge in a rush.
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 16, 2018 2:06:13 GMT
As usual he seems the best thing about it - I doubt putting another actor would fix the problems with the show - and you never know though if it lasts with some tweaks - Ozark may win Emmy's and it doesn't have much better reviews (at least off the limited reviews so far) than this show and has seemingly far less ambition.
I don't think Hulu draws much heat particularly in a show, great actor notwithstanding, who is not exactly popular and in a played out sort of material. I'll see it, I've seen everything Penn's ever done that I can see but hopefully he stays in front of the camera and keeps working as an actor.
The First: Season 1
58%
Critics Consensus: Sean Penn gives an intensely poignant performance as the driven but conflicted Tom Hagerty in The First's rather slow-moving first season.
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Post by pupdurcs on Sept 16, 2018 7:17:32 GMT
As usual he seems the best thing about it - I doubt putting another actor would fix the problems with the show - and you never know though if it lasts with some tweaks - Ozark may win Emmy's and it doesn't have much better reviews (at least off the limited reviews so far) than this show and has seemingly far less ambition. I don't think Hulu draws much heat particularly in a show, great actor notwithstanding, who is not exactly popular and in a played out sort of material. I'll see it, I've seen everything Penn's ever done that I can see but hopefully he stays in front of the camera and keeps working as an actor. The First: Season 1 58% Critics Consensus: Sean Penn gives an intensely poignant performance as the driven but conflicted Tom Hagerty in The First's rather slow-moving first season. I think that RT Consensus was actually written before most of the reviews were in (they have a bad habit of doing that with TV). Penn had some pretty good reviews in the first wave (so did the show itself, so it was looking promising), but a lot of mediocre ones overall for his performance. I've actually read most of them. His reviews got progressively weaker, the more of them came out. Overall,his notices were mixed at best, which is why I said some thought he was very good indeed and others saw nothing much in his performance. But I guess if you contrast his reception for Gangster Squad or The Gunman, it's far less of a relative disaster. Slate: It's no knock on Penn's performance that the most surprising thing about it is seeing how ripped a 58 year old man can be (very)...this is why his crew, the focus of episodes 3 And 4 make for far more interesting television. Rolling Stone: It's a performance so understated it verges on bored. Jacob -Heron gives by the more dynamic performance and is by far by best reason to watch. USA Today: Penn, instead of elevating the material, he simply scowls through overwritten lines and poor facial hair choices, for eight interminable episodes. He's defintely got better notices than this from other outlets, but these are major review outlets not Podunk blogs, and those are not strong performance reviews. So yeah, mixed is a fair assessment from what I've read. Penn isnt going to be giving Bryan Cranston or Jon Hamm any sleepless nights as a prestige TV leading man, but as you said, it could have been worse. Even mixed notices are arguably better than any he's had in a decade. But being a moderately well recieved leading man on a mediocrely reviewed TV show probably wasnt what Penn envisioned when he decided to do this. I presume he's contractually obligated to do a second season, so it'll be interesting to see if he sticks with it or tries to find a way out. |
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Post by pacinoyes on Sept 16, 2018 9:02:52 GMT
To be fair even that one you quoted isn't a poor performance review either though (Slate) and he did get some strong reviews for some of his film work in this spotty past decade too - Fair Game and (his best work in that period imo) This Must Be The Place etc. - where he deserved even better ones than he got.
But I don't think we have to talk about his contractual obligations or finding a way out and things like that......I just want him to do good work in projects he likes be it this or something else and good things hopefully happen from that. I'm not sure what he envisioned but to me doing episodic TV wasn't a good choice to begin with and the state of his overall career goes along with the state of where his head is at and with him.........that's anybody's guess.
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