Luck Review: "Episode Nine" (Episode 1.09)

By Aaron Channon at 12:53 PM on March 26, 2012

There is an element of horseracing that is only addressed head-on in this, the final episode of Luck. That is the point during the race when the jockey should break the steady pace he or she has been maintaining and run full speed to the finish line. In each case — with both of Turo’s horses and Walter’s horse — that moment arrived in the final stretch of the race. During Rosie’s run of Mon Gateau, Renzo’s mother complains that “that girl jockey” could at least try to catch up with the rest of the pack.  read more

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Catch Up With Game of Thrones in 22 Minutes

By Ross Bonaime at 2:23 PM on March 23, 2012

If you’re behind on “Game of Thrones”, which returns in a little over a week, you may have time to pick up the first season DVDs, speed your way through all the episodes, maybe even read a bit of the books from George R. R. Martin.  read more

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Luck Review: "Episode Eight" (Episode 1.08)

By Aaron Channon at 2:15 PM on March 19, 2012

Luck maintained the ramped up intensity from the previous episode as it races toward the season’s (and series’) finish line. This week’s biggest event, however, happened off the racetrack and the set as HBO canceled the show when another four-legged cast member had to be euthanized. And — not to beat three dead horses — it’s probably for the best as Luck turned out to be less of a draw than HBO had anticipated.  read more

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Luck Review "Episode Seven" (Episode 1.07)

By Aaron Channon at 5:15 PM on March 12, 2012

I was prepared for—nay, expecting— this week’s episode of Luck to crawl toward its conclusion.   read more

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Luck Review: "Episode Six" (Episode 1.06)

By Aaron Channon at 3:20 PM on March 5, 2012

The characters and storylines finally broke loose in Luck. All it took was an earthquake. Most notable among these is Ace and The Greek’s mysterious scheme, which had been, well … mysterious. The show showed us the first card in its poker hand and revealed that Ace plans to use his connections to Indian casinos to put slot machines at the race track. How wildly nefarious, indeed!  read more

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Luck Review: "Episode Five" (Episode 1.05)

By Aaron Channon at 12:00 PM on February 27, 2012

HBO’s Luck is improving, and it’s a result of more polished characters with deeper stories than in the first four episodes. Despite representing a dramatic shift, this rash of likeability is not altogether unexpected. Ace and The Greek hadn’t been demonstratively unlikable so much as they had simply drifted to the background of the show and became minor characters. Similarly, Jerry, Marcus, Renzo and Lonnie were all on a general upswing (more or less) in the preceding episodes, and just continued that trend. The writers even tried to improve Joey Rathburn’s character. He’s a long way from an enjoyable character, but he’s clearly risen above Turo Escalante.  read more

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Luck Review: "Episode 4" (Episode 1.04)

By Aaron Channon at 2:30 PM on February 20, 2012

One strongly recurring theme (or a constant — after all, I haven’t seen every series yet) of characters in HBO shows is that their character arcs have downward trajectories. They enter the series (speaking in sweeping generalizations now) largely unencumbered by life-altering problems, and, as the series progresses, that changes. In shows like this, there are few stories of redemption where a character’s lot improves from where he was at the beginning (notable exception: Bubbles on The Wire). So it comes as no surprise that this is happening to the characters in Luck. Cool-guy/degenerate gambler Jerry is (pretty predictably)...  read more

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Eastbound & Down Review: "Chapter 14" (Episode 3.01)

By Garrett Martin at 11:15 PM on February 19, 2012

Kenny “La Flama Blanca” Powers returns in the third season premiere....  read more

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Six Reasons To Watch Eastbound & Down's New Season

By Garrett Martin at 10:06 AM on February 18, 2012

The third season of Eastbound & Down premieres on HBO this Sunday night. If you haven't watched it before, you might need to rethink your priorities.   read more

Found in: Blogs, List of the Day

Luck Review: "Episode Three" (Episode 1.03)

By Aaron Channon at 12:27 PM on February 13, 2012

You know when a movie is the middle segment of what will be a trilogy, so it doesn’t really have a wholly independent narrative arc of its own? Like, you know, in The Empire Strikes Back and The Matrix Reloaded? The filmmakers get so caught up in the idea of a third and ultimate installment that they forget the second one needs a beginning, middle and end with resolution and closure (if you’re into that sort of thing).   read more

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