A bird thatâs into The Wire. Kev take note - thatâs what a âkeeperâ is.
The high point of the Stringer/Avon saga is seriously great TV. Iâd nearly forgotten how well they did it.
Has anyone bought dvds from www.bangcd.com or www.zavvi.co.uk? The Wire season box sets available for 12euro on bangcd and 17 on zavvi. Seems too good to be true but may well be worth a punt anyway.
Let me know how you get on there WTB. Could nearly skip the 2nd series though. I just still cannot get into it properly
Second season was my favourite.
I can get how people wouldnât warm to it, especially as a follow on to the first season. Different pace entirely and a different focus. In terms of pure entertainment value I wouldnât have it near the top either. I just happen to really like the whole backdrop of the betrayal of the working class.
Donât get me wrong, I âlikeâ it, but it is nowhere near as compulsive as the first series.
What are yere favourite scenes lads?
Have been watching Season 1 again and itâs even better after having seen the entire series. This is a fucking brilliant scene. Danielâs reaction right at the end caps it off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_eH0Kt4DNA
The second one is from the last episode of Season 5
[spoiler]Slim Charles finest moment. Possibly the most satisfying moment of the whole series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rWuJ3eD6Qc
[/spoiler]
[quote=âPhil Leotardoâ]Finished all of Generation Kill there yesterday. Definately worth a watch as it is an interesting and apparently very real take of life in the US Marines while in Iraq.
The extras on the box-set are good also as you get a feel of the effort that went into the making the show. Some real marines actually act in it and there is an interview where a heap of marines who claim the show does a great job capturing the true reality of the situation they found themselves in.
Alot of US product placement in the 1st episode but thankfully that dies away. In fairness it must have being an expensive show to produce.[/quote]
Where would be a good place to download this? Is Rapidshare worth the money?
Really cool feature in the London Independent this week. Theyâve basically had one of their crime reporters working with the Baltimore Sun and the Baltimore Police Dept. and the Sun have one of their reporters in London.
Good stuff so far and a must read for fans of the wire - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mark-hughes-in-baltimore-the-trials-of-baltimores-boris-1817721.html
Hereâs the latest article:
Mark Hughes in Baltimore: The trials of âBaltimoreâs Borisâ
In the latest instalment of our crime reporterâs job-swap with his counterpart at âThe Baltimore Sunâ, the combustible relationship between politicians and the police force in the Maryland city comes under the microscope
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Sheila Dixon, the Mayor of Baltimore, went on trial yesterday accused of stealing gift cards from the poor
Yesterday, the first female mayor of Baltimore, Sheila Dixon, went on trial accused of stealing gift cards meant for the poor and using them to fund lavish shopping trips. If convicted she faces up to 15 years in prison. For reasons of race and distrust of the police, not many people in Baltimore think a jury will convict her. But in a city where mayors have a history of dabbling all too readily in the world of policing, crime and punishment, it would certainly be ironic.
In Britain, it took only a word in the ear from Boris Johnson and Sir Ian Blairâs three-year tenure as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police was over. There was fury in some quarters; the notion that a politician could hire and fire police chiefs was unheard of. Yet in Baltimore it is the norm.
The world of politics and policing was vividly portrayed in The Wire when the dramaâs young, ambitious mayor, Tommy Carcetti, fired his police commissioner, Ervin Burrell. As is so often the case, it was an example of art imitating life. In Baltimore, the previous four police commissioners left office after falling foul of the cityâs political administration â one of them lasted just 57 days in the job.
It is an administration, I experienced at first hand during my trip. On my second day at The Baltimore Sun, a conversation with a newsroom colleague was interrupted by the kind of announcement that, given my status as a newcomer to the city, took me by surprise. âThereâs someone on the phone for you,â I was told. âHeâs from the Mayorâs office.â
What followed was a conversation during which the Mayorâs spokesman told me how disappointed he was with my story in the previous dayâs newspaper â one in which I had repeated the well-publicised view that city officials were none too keen on the portrayal of Baltimore in The Wire.
He went on to explain that, despite his disappointment, he was happy to help me with anything I may need for my research while in Baltimore. But that did not extend to an interview with the Mayor, Sheila Dixon. Both she and the Police Commissioner, Frederick H Bealefeld III, were âtoo busyâ to speak during my stay. The police blamed scheduling issues. Privately, I was told that the fact my trip would again raise comparisons with a fictional detective series was the commissionerâs reason for refusal. Ms Dixonâs reason may have been similar, or linked to her upcoming court appearance. But the party line was that it was business as usual and while the Mayor was not keen to meet with me one on one, I was more than welcome to attend of the many public appearances she makes each day.
So just before 9am on Saturday morning, I arrived at a tree-planting ceremony at Dewees Park, in the north of the city. I told the Mayorâs deputy spokesman that I would like to speak to her about the crime and other issues, such as drug dealing and poverty, I had witnessed during my visit. He took the message to her. âWhat does he want?â Ms Dixon, 55, was overheard asking her spokesman. She said she did not want to speak about crime and added: âIâm planting trees today.â With that she got on her bicycle, rode to her people-carrier and was driven away.
By contrast, the Deputy Mayor of London Kit Malthouse and the Metâs Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson â both of whom are uncomfortable with comparisons between London and Baltimore â were happy to be interviewed for this series.
Political interference in the British police hierarchy only really became an issue when, on his first day as chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, the Mayor, Boris Johnson, told Sir Ian Blair that his resignation as Met chief would be required. Previously, those who held the nationâs most-senior police job were allowed to stay for the duration of their term, which was fixed at five years in 2008.
The issue has since mushroomed. In September, Mr Malthouse provoked consternation, as well as a mild rebuke from Sir Paul Stephenson, when he claimed that Scotland Yard had been seized by the Conservative Party and that Mr Johnsonâs administration was now in control of the countryâs biggest police force. Sir Paul immediately denied this was the case and reminded the public that the Met was apolitical.
In Baltimore, such political independence would perhaps be considered a luxury, as would similar longevity. Just a few months into her stint as Mayor in 2007, Ms Dixon told Leonard Hamm, who had been police commissioner for three years, that he would have to resign. It is believed a rising murder rate was the issue. Her swift dismissal seemed to work. Last year, the number of homicides in the city fell to a 20-year low and this year they are on course to fall again.
Mr Hamm should not have been surprised he was asked to leave. His initial appointment followed the departure of his predecessor Kevin Clark, who was sacked by the then mayor, Martin OâMalley, following accusations that he was involved in a domestic dispute with his fiance. Clark had been commissioner for 21 months. The claims were not proven.
Ed Norris was the commissioner before that. He was the first man in more than a decade to see Baltimoreâs homicide rate drop below 300 killings per year. But he left after two years in the job amid rumours that he had fallen out with the city administration. He was later jailed for corruption and tax fraud. Then there was Ronald Daniel. Hired by Mayor OâMalley on 22 December 1999, he tendered his resignation just 57 days later â again amid rumours of political clashes with his superiors at City Hall.
During my exchange with Justin Fenton, it has been suggested that British police forces could provide a blueprint for American departments to work from. The UK is, after all, at the forefront of such developments as DNA technology and the use of closed-circuit television surveillance.
But, as illustrated by the sacking of Sir Ian Blair and the now infamous remarks by Kit Malthouse, one trend which seems to be moving across the Atlantic in the opposite direction is the political accountability of senior police officers.
Finally fixed my DVD player so resumed my watching of this.
Just watched the last episode in Series 4. Smashing episode - may be my favourite so far, or maybe itâs just that I hadnât seen it in a while.
FX are 3 episodes into series 4 at the moment on Sunday night. Its still the best thing to watch out there. It was Marlos card game the other night, Joe is some legend.
:rolleyes:
My bird watches Rescue Me and Californication with me, does that qualify? weâre putting off The Wire until weâve caught up with Rescue Me.
How the fook does Kev have 5,749 posts?
Starting The Wire from scratch again this weekend. Iâd rank season 1 and 2 as my favourite, the Stringer/Avon dynamic is magnificent TV.
[quote=âbriantinnionâ]How the fook does Kev have 5,749 posts?
Starting The Wire from scratch again this weekend. Iâd rank season 1 and 2 as my favourite, the Stringer/Avon dynamic is magnificent TV.[/quote]
I agree. The first three seasons are class. Wasnât mad on the last two though. Without giving anything away the writing was much less realistic in them, particularly the final season.
Bubbles is seething here âI lost my trousersâŚmy fucking trousers manâŚI swear to God manâŚand Iâm not even highâ 
âDo it or donât, but I got someplace to beâ
Here, I need to buy some Xmas presents. Has anyone seen either Homicide, The Corner or Generation Kill? Iâd be particularly interested in Homicide because 1. it might be cheap cos itâs old and 2. I just read the book and itâs excellent.
Thanks in advance.
Generation Kill is superb, I finished it last week, couldnât reccomend it highly enough.