Showtime's City on a Hill

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

Stars the great Kevin Bacon as a FBI Agent trying to take down Charlestown armored car robbery crews. Looks darned good. 

 

[TwiceHorn 31440]

Just saw a preview for this.  Not only is it plowing the ground of The Town, but the Whitey Bulger/Departed corruption, also.

 

Southie + Bacon = must watch, pending further notice.

 

[Michael Knight 12977]

Showtime=amazing first season followed by steep decline into utter trash.  See weeds, dexter, homeland etc

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

3 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:

Showtime=amazing first season followed by steep decline into utter trash.  See weeds, dexter, homeland etc

Don't forget the thread appropriate Brotherhood. 

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

Trailer No. 2

 

[Guest Lobo]

Wasn't Bacon an FBI guy in Boston in Mystic River also?  Plus The Town, plus The Departed.  It's been done a lot, but this cast looks phenomenal plus I've got a soft spot watching "organized crime" in Boston fumble around like my sister's teammates in Special Olympics softball.  Only thing dumber than an Italian in Chicago is an Italian in Boston who never got wise enough to get out from under the thumb of the Irish.  

Fucking In.  

[Chet Steadman 940]

Damn, I didn’t know Voodoo grew up to be such a solid actor.  

He’s got quite the IMDB list.  

Edited May 7, 2019 by Chet Steadman

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

I really liked Brotherhood. Season 1 was great. 

This looks better. Credit to Showtime for giving the genre another go after Brotherhood flamed out. 

[lateshow 1304]

On 3/24/2019 at 9:54 PM, Michael Knight said:

Showtime=amazing first season followed by steep decline into utter trash.  See weeds, dexter, homeland etc

Billions is also going down this road. 

[henrygandorf 29189]

7 hours ago, lateshow said:

Billions is also going down this road. 

i actually thought billions s1 was its worst.  glad i kept with it.

[drewcifer 33]

On 5/6/2019 at 9:07 PM, Lobo said:

Wasn't Bacon an FBI guy in Boston in Mystic River also?  Plus The Town, plus The Departed.  It's been done a lot, but this cast looks phenomenal plus I've got a soft spot watching "organized crime" in Boston fumble around like my sister's teammates in Special Olympics softball.  Only thing dumber than an Italian in Chicago is an Italian in Boston who never got wise enough to get out from under the thumb of the Irish.  

Fucking In.  

Patriot's Day, too.

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

Next  Sunday gentlemen. 8 pm. My body is ready. 

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

*Correction* you can stream it right now on the Showtime Anytime App. 

[babysdaddy 2721]

Watched it last night.  Going to continue but can't tell yet.  

[Bama Chick 28596]

Yeah it didn’t grab me.

Felt like a network crime show but with cussing.

[henrygandorf 29189]

kinda felt like a generic crime/political movie.

i don't typically pass judgments on pilots alone, so i guess we'll see where it goes now that we know their relationship.

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

I liked it. However, I didn't care for the ending of the pilot. Just seems like a little much so early in the show. 

I guess if you thought The Town was pretty good, you'll like this show. 

Edited June 19, 2019 by billfromlaketravis

[huge 3793]

11 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I liked it. However, I didn't care for the ending of the pilot. Just seems like a little much so early in the show. 

I guess if you thought The Town was pretty good, you'll like this show. 

The Town was definitely "pretty good"

I haven't watched any of this yet.  Just wanted to drop that in here.

[babysdaddy 2721]

Didn't the Town use old hockey masks for the bank robbers too?  I know Affleck is involved with this too but just seemed.....sterile.  Anyhow, going to continue watching

[BigDHornfan 6545]

18 minutes ago, babysdaddy said:

Didn't the Town use old hockey masks for the bank robbers too?  I know Affleck is involved with this too but just seemed.....sterile.  Anyhow, going to continue watching

Nope.  Nun masks with Habits.

[thrillhammer 683]

I didn't like it that much, but it fills a void on sunday night tv.  i'll watch it til the end most likely.   not sure what's more annoying - kevin bacon, or kevin bacon's mustache.

[66BUFF 2562]

1 hour ago, BigDHornfan said:

Nope.  Nun masks with Habits.

And the skull masks.  Heat used the hockey masks

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

*PSA* All Showtime shows are available on the the streaming app at midnight Saturday. 

[babysdaddy 2721]

Episode 2 was good. Huge step up from pilot

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

On 6/19/2019 at 10:14 AM, babysdaddy said:

Didn't the Town use old hockey masks for the bank robbers too?  I know Affleck is involved with this too but just seemed.....sterile.  Anyhow, going to continue watching

In The Town, Affleck and Renner wore hockey masks to toon up the project guy  that was harassing Affleck's love interest in the film. So technically correct. 

The famous "Who's car we gonna take?" scene. 

Edited June 30, 2019 by billfromlaketravis

[thrillhammer 683]

i'm not digging this show but sticking with it.  there doesn't seem to be too much happening too quickly. a little scant on character development.

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

So 20 years pass since the Father Phil-Carmela BS story line on the Sopranos, and Showtime decides to revive it. Terrific. 

Just waiting for Father Doyle and Mrs. Rohr to watch an Emma Thompson movie. 

[demos 3002]

That was a fat envelope in the offering plate

[Jack Straw 2954]

watched the first two episodes last night.  someone please tell me it gets better from here.  and the actor playing the ADA is not very good

[CurlyDumps 4468]

Not great but it’s grown on me. So I’d say it’s gotten gradually better.

 

[futureman 22444]

these responses are getting me down.  heard someone at work refer to it as “the wire” set in boston and I got pretty excited.  y’all don’t act like it’s wire level. 

[Bama Chick 28596]

Not even in “The Wire”’s zip code.

[yoshi 137]

I'm watching this, but it's pretty meh.  One of those shows where if I missed a week, I probably wouldn't put out the effort to catch up and give up entirely.   The Wire set in Boston my ass.

[JimmyHoffa 1188]

All episodes are on my DVR go ahead and delete then? 

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

Sigh, City on a Hill is following The Brotherhood script to a T. Make the show so gritty and dark that no one likes it. 

So Jackie  just laughs in Minogue’s face as he bleeds out to show us what? He’s the devil? Minogue didn’t do anything to Jackie except refuse his initial request to let his CI skate on a COP SHOOTING. A request he later made good on. 

Bacon is an awesome actor and he plays a darned good anti hero, but what are his redeeming qualities? He’s a bad father, husband, and a corrupt FBI agent. I’m sure his story arc is building towards some redemptive act, but the guy is huge POS right now. 

Showrunners forget viewers liked and rooted for Tony Soprano and Walter White. Why should we root for Jackie Rohr? 

[crony 359]

On 7/10/2019 at 9:29 AM, JimmyHoffa said:

All episodes are on my DVR go ahead and delete then? 

I would. Then get a new box to be sure.

[Brew 3049]

Still watching it but I’m losing interest fast. I’m not sure anyone has any redeeming qualities at this point to hold interest. Bacon is really laying the Boston on thick, but as mentioned above the whole ambulance ride scene was just weird.

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

3 hours ago, Brew said:

Still watching it but I’m losing interest fast. I’m not sure anyone has any redeeming qualities at this point to hold interest. Bacon is really laying the Boston on thick, but as mentioned above the whole ambulance ride scene was just weird.

Al Pacino wasn’t that over the top in The Devil’s Advocate. 

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

It gets interesting this week. Let’s just say Jackie Rohr is going to need to murder a few people. 

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

Season 2 has started. The first episode is free in Apple TV. 
 

I loved Season 1, but Showtime keeps making the Brotherhood/Boss mistake. People won’t stick with bleak, depressing shows. No matter how high the quality. Kevin Bacon is incredible on this show and nobody is taking notice. Kelsey Grammar was amazing in Boss. Nobody cared.
 

Some good stuff needs to happen to the leads or people will tune out. There’s a reason why Billions is their all time most popular show. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by billfromlaketravis

[Brothahorn 10087]

Aldis Hodge is pretty good as a naive prosecutor, trying to serve two worlds. Wife is hot, too.

Glad it finally came back on.

[Sbbruin 21832]

Watched the first 2 eps of season 1 last night.  Can't decide if I'm in or out.

[Chewbacca 7768]

29 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Watched the first 2 eps of season 1 last night.  Can't decide if I'm in or out.

I did the same last year and decided I was out.  Just couldn't get into it enough to keep watching.

[billfromlaketravis 11448]

Stick with it guys. Especially if you’re getting Showtime on a promotion. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by billfromlaketravis

[MissingInAction 25024]

Low rent version of The Wire.

Bacon plays a great asshole which is worth a few eps.

[Doc Sam Beckett 5792]

On 5/6/2019 at 7:14 PM, Chet Steadman said:

Damn, I didn’t know Voodoo grew up to be such a solid actor.  

He’s got quite the IMDB list.  

Just started season 2 and was coming to make this same comment. 

[Guest Lobo]

Half-way through Season 2.  It's good, not great.  Big dropoff in the second season after really promising stuff in Season 1.  But the cast is just so damn good, they can make up for really cliche and forced writing.  My free trial with Showtime will be up before the season wraps and I don't really care.  But I'd highly recommend Season 1 to anyone that enjoyed any of the above series we discussed.  

I like the unmentioned commentary on how the FBI, the BPD, the Staties, the AUSA, the Suffolk DA/ADA, et. al. just kinda float in and out of other's offices/commissions/investigations without any heads-up or even authority/jurisdiction.  Nobody really ever addresses it, ostensibly or otherwise.  That's what I always imagined Boston "crime-fighting" to be.  Local, state, federal, LEO, lawyer, or judge...they just all show up when they need something and are never actually at their office doing the job they are hired/appointed to do.  I mean once every few episodes somebody says, "This ain't your case!" but then it's back to just FBI guys squeezing Suffolk DA, some Judge giving Staties a warrant to fuck up an AUSA, etc.  That's the kind of clusterfuck I take Boston to be, kinda like Chicago.  Anyway, I've never gotten the accolades for Kevin Bacon...but he fucking nails this role. 

[Bash Riprock 1695]

On 5/6/2019 at 9:07 PM, Lobo said:

Wasn't Bacon an FBI guy in Boston in Mystic River also?  Plus The Town, plus The Departed.  It's been done a lot, but this cast looks phenomenal plus I've got a soft spot watching "organized crime" in Boston fumble around like my sister's teammates in Special Olympics softball.  Only thing dumber than an Italian in Chicago is an Italian in Boston who never got wise enough to get out from under the thumb of the Irish.  

Fucking In.  

he wasnt in The Departed.

[Guest Lobo]

1 minute ago, Bash Riprock said:

he wasnt in The Departed.

Yeah, after I mentioned "Mystic River", I put a period.  My next couple references were just to movies, that Bacon wasn't in, but that played heavily on the organized crime/robbery element of Southie, Charlestown, North End, et. al. I meant Bacon was in a movie that played up this plotline.  Then two other movies also dealt with it, that yes, according to you and imdb, Bacon wasn't in.  However, I would argue, strongly with all the rep I have, that Kevin Bacon is very closely associated with the casts of both "The Departed" and "The Town", probably no further removed from any of those actors by more than 1 or 2 pictures.  I'll fight anybody who disagrees with this close association that Bacon has to Boston flicks.  treat this is a game if you want, but I'm dead serious.  

[Bash Riprock 1695]

Just now, Lobo said:

Yeah, after I mentioned "Mystic River", I put a period.  My next couple references were just to movies, that Bacon wasn't in, but that played heavily on the organized crime/robbery element of Southie, Charlestown, North End, et. al. I meant Bacon was in a movie that played up this plotline.  Then two other movies also dealt with it, that yes, according to you and imdb, Bacon wasn't in.  However, I would argue, strongly with all the rep I have, that Kevin Bacon is very closely associated with the casts of both "The Departed" and "The Town", probably no further removed from any of those actors by more than 1 or 2 pictures.  I'll fight anybody who disagrees with this close association that Bacon has to Boston flicks.  treat this is a game if you want, but I'm dead serious.  

he's been in so many i had to make sure i wasnt wrong.