The New Boy
Yeah. So anyone been watching HBO's Generation Kill? Why the fuck not? Now, some of you know my excitement about The Wire, the best television series of all time (say that without a bit of irony, will you?). Folks from The Wire (Ed Burns, Executive Producer, David Simon, both writers) are involved in the new seven-part series -- it's great. Hard, as was The Wire, profane, disturbing, never taking the predictable or easy road (not unlike the so-called protagonists). It's a million shades of grey.
It's about a Marine recon unit in the first wave assault on Iraq in 2003, as seen (mostly) from the eyes of a Rolling Stone reporter embedded in the unit as it moves into territory that is terrifying and boring and badly-managed. The Marines are racist sexist assholes and you STILL (mostly) root for them. For a leftie like me, it's profoundly disquieting. Luckily, I quite like being off-balance. Based on a book written by the Rolling Stone reporter Evan Wright (who is a writer on the series and played by Wire and Oz regular Lee Tergesen...ETA: I messed up Homicide and The Wire...Tergesen was in the former, not the latter), the guys swear and shit and shoot their way towards Baghdad, killing the 'wrong' people, killing the 'right 'people, and engaging 'the enemy' with candy bars and admonishing them to 'vote Republican'.
Oh, and all music is supplied by the actors, who sing country, rock, hip hop, '60s protest songs -- all badly!
Funny AND dark, my favourite combination.
What? That's not enough? Okay, you force me to bring out....
Hi! My name is Alexander Skarsgard. I'm the son of Stellan Skarsgard, who you might recognize from piffle like Pirates of the Caribbean, but who is actually Quite a Serious Actor. As am I. I understand that you're having trouble taking my acting seriously, given my awesome good looks (I was voted Sexiest Man in Sweden in 1999), but believe me. I can act. Look into my Nordic eyes. Deeply. Acting. I am an actor.
I rest my case. Happy viewers, my sisters at the shallow end of the pool.
It's about a Marine recon unit in the first wave assault on Iraq in 2003, as seen (mostly) from the eyes of a Rolling Stone reporter embedded in the unit as it moves into territory that is terrifying and boring and badly-managed. The Marines are racist sexist assholes and you STILL (mostly) root for them. For a leftie like me, it's profoundly disquieting. Luckily, I quite like being off-balance. Based on a book written by the Rolling Stone reporter Evan Wright (who is a writer on the series and played by Wire and Oz regular Lee Tergesen...ETA: I messed up Homicide and The Wire...Tergesen was in the former, not the latter), the guys swear and shit and shoot their way towards Baghdad, killing the 'wrong' people, killing the 'right 'people, and engaging 'the enemy' with candy bars and admonishing them to 'vote Republican'.
Oh, and all music is supplied by the actors, who sing country, rock, hip hop, '60s protest songs -- all badly!
Funny AND dark, my favourite combination.
What? That's not enough? Okay, you force me to bring out....
Hi! My name is Alexander Skarsgard. I'm the son of Stellan Skarsgard, who you might recognize from piffle like Pirates of the Caribbean, but who is actually Quite a Serious Actor. As am I. I understand that you're having trouble taking my acting seriously, given my awesome good looks (I was voted Sexiest Man in Sweden in 1999), but believe me. I can act. Look into my Nordic eyes. Deeply. Acting. I am an actor.
I rest my case. Happy viewers, my sisters at the shallow end of the pool.