MetaFilter posts tagged with HBO

I Saw Three Hummers

hermitosis — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:56:49 -0800

Merry Christmas From Juniper Creek's Prophet and sister-wives. Video and free album from the cast of HBO's Big Love.

Funny, you don't look HBO Bluish

hippybear — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:20:12 -0800

Non-linear storytelling taken to a new level, HBO's Imagine website features film and audio clips combined with press clippings in a 3D space which you can navigate at your will. It also includes some "cube scenes" which play from multiple angles at once, revealing hidden events which require you to view the scene from all angles to get all the details. [warning - Flash-to-the-gills design] The rather confusing 3D navigation can be gotten around with the "chart your progress" nav button at the top of the screen. Viewing all the segments unlocks a "the dots connected" video which helps provide some linearity to the story.

Flight of the Conchords: John Lennon meets Gary Shandling sort of thing

filthy light thief — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:29:00 -0800

September 9, 2005 - Flight of the Conchords performed six songs and chatted with the audience as part of HBO's One Night Stand, not quite two years before the TV series would air. The show is online for your viewing pleasure (29 minute MySpace video, also available as a youtube playlist of 6 videos). Songs Performed: 1. Jenny (not in the show, but played live, with a bit of Freebird) 2. Think About It, Think, Think About It (in episode 3 3. Business Time (in episode 5) 4. Albi The Racist Dragon (in episode 7) 5. Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros (in episode 3) 6. She's So Hot, Boom (in episode 2)

The Alzheimer's Project

ocherdraco — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:57:18 -0800

The Alzheimer's Project. HBO is streaming online a four-part documentary on Alzheimer's Disease. The Memory Loss Tapes focuses on the experience of people who have the disease themselves, Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am? tells the stories of children whose grandparents have the disease, Momentum in Science looks at the state of research into the disease and advances in treatment, and Caregivers follows the sacrifices and joys of those who care for people with Alzheimer's. From the description of "The Memory Loss Tapes" on the HBO website:

Among the emotionally gripping stories: a mother who holds on fiercely to her simple lifestyle, yet recognizes that her memory failures are making it more difficult to do so; another mother who complains to her daughter "I have lost my independence" after failing a driving test; a woman in a nursing home who thinks her mirrored reflection is her "best friend," and who is haunted by imaginary snakes crawling over her wheelchair; a onetime computer whiz who keeps a blog to chronicle his activities while he still can; a father who no longer can remember his family, but can still steal the spotlight when performing in public with a local vocal group; a daughter who must build a fence around her farm to prevent her mother from wandering off; and the onetime host of a kids' TV show, whose wife brings him to a hospice after his body finally starts shutting down.

Each of these stories are profoundly moving, fascinating, and devastating. I was particularly touched by "Woody's Song" (about halfway through "The Memory Loss Tapes"). Woody doesn't remember who his family is or what he is doing for longer than a moment or two, but when he gets up on stage with his old singing group, he sings a song word for word, and beautifully.

David Simon in conversation with Bill Moyers about The Wire

dougzilla — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:01:19 -0800

Bill Moyers Journal, April 17, 2009 From crime beat reporter for the BALTIMORE SUN to award-winning screenwriter of HBO's critically-acclaimed The Wire, David Simon talks with Bill Moyers about inner-city crime and politics, storytelling and the future of journalism today. Sorry for the one link post.

"How did these two women who had everything end up living in squalor?"

ericb — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:49:15 -0800

This weekend marks the U.S. premiere of the new HBO film Grey Gardens (starring Drew Barrymore as Little Edie and Jessica Lange as Big Edie) -- promo [video | 02:01] || 'Inside Grey Garden' [video | 03:33]. The film is based on the 1975 documentary filmed by the Maysles brothers, depicting the "true story of Mrs. Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie, the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis....[who] live[d] in a world of their own behind the towering privets that surround[ed] their decaying 28-room East Hampton mansion known as 'Grey Gardens.'" Director Michael Sucsy leads a tour of the Grey Gardens estate as it is today [video | 03:22]. The house is now owned by former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee and his wife, author and journalist, Sally Quinn.

The Advocate: The Cult of Grey Gardens. New York Magazine: The Secret of Grey Gardens. A previous adaptation: Grey Gardens -- The Musical.

Previously on MeFi:

Grey Gardens -- The Return of the Marble Faun. Da-Da-Da-Da-Dumm...

Abandoned HBO Soundstage for "The Wire"

dersins — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:19:59 -0800

"So I found out yesterday that the soundstage for "The Wire" still existed. I wasted no time in visiting it and was there almost less than 24 hours [sic]. It's one of my favorite TV shows ever and I had to see this before everyone ruined it. The building is also scheduled for demolition and they are going to build a super market on it." NOTE: LINK CONTAINS SPOILERS There's lots of other goodness (and a lot of crap) at the LJ "Abandoned Places" community.

Flight of the Conchords, Redux

explosion — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:20:31 -0800

The first episode of the new season of Flight of the Conchords is available to watch free online (US only, sorry). "Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo," their first season was chock full of hilarious moments and musical interludes, including some drawn from their live performances. Previously on Metafilter.

No "Preacher" for you.

Four-Eyed Girl — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:57:31 -0800

No "Preacher" for you. Many of you did not think a "Preacher" miniseries would end well. Would fans prefer to be disappointed by the aborted attempt at an adaptation than disappointed at its not meeting viewers' expectations?

The World Beyond What?

not_on_display — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:00:08 -0800

About twenty years ago, HBO aired The Mondo Beyondo Show, a sort-of send-up of avant-garde performance shows like Alive From Off Center and Night Flight. Hosted by Bette Midler (as the character Mondo Beyondo), it showcased artists that covered the broad spectrum between performance art, dance, and absurdist comedy. Strap on your Eighties Goggles; here's the meat of the show: Bill Irwin | La La La Human Steps | The Kipper Kids | Yes/No People | Paul Zaloom | David Cale | and the Divine Miss M as Eudora P. Quickly • The Kipper Kids featured Bette Midler's husband, Martin von Haselberg. Wikipedia Page. More Youtubes of Kipper Madness. • The Yes/No People eventually became STOMP. Here's their Brooms music video. • Who is Bill Irwin? Oh, he's generally done everything. (No hating on Mr. Noodles, please--do hate on the red furball he's with. And hands off the McFerrin, too.) • Paul Zaloom, activist and puppeteer, is also better known to the masses as Beakman from Beakman's World. C'mon and Zalooma-loomaloom-Zaloom. • More from La La La Human Steps. Youtuberances. • David Cale is a monologist. That's all I could find out about him, plus this duet with Syd Straw.

"Yeah I watched the shit out of it."

Kibbutz — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:31:06 -0800

Bob Odenkirk and David Cross are back on HBO with a new comedy, with Cross playing himself and Odenkirk directing. The pilot's being filmed in May in Los Angeles, and apparently they'll be needing "150 audiencers" (and here's Cracked's Five of the Funniest Mr. Show sketches to masterfully pad out the post).

Our Feature Presentation

dr_dank — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:05:32 -0800

If you had HBO in the 80's, you saw this every night at 8pm. HBO put together a brief behind-the-scenes featurette showing everything from the construction of the models to the composition of the music.

Life Is Sketch Comedy and God and the Bible

boost ventilator — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:29:23 -0800

Mr. Show skits that became reality . (Warning: mature language)

The Wire: 4 seasons in 4 minutes

PeterMcDermott — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 02:38:11 -0800

Q. Everyone tells me how great The Wire is, but I've missed the first four seasons. Should I bother with Season 5? A. Yes. Ultimately, you'll want to buy the DVD's, but until then we've got The Wire: four seasons in four minutes. (Single link U-tube)

Who Gets to Tell a Black Story?

whir — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:02:50 -0800

Prior to his critically acclaimed program The Wire, creator Edward Burns wrote the HBO miniseries The Corner, which also focused on the drug trade in Baltimore. Charles S. Dutton, an African-American Baltimore native and former convict probably best known to most as TV's "Roc," was chosen to direct the miniseries. Who Gets To Tell a Black Story?, part of a Pulitzer-prize winning NYT series on race in America, examines Dutton's take on how to make a TV program which portrays a mostly African-American cast of characters, the struggles and differing perspectives of Dutton and Burns, and how race is portrayed in Hollywood. The Wire junkies looking for a pre-season five re-up may be able to stomp some life out of the following package of previous MeFi links, which everybody already posted while I was trying to craft an awesome, meticulous post about The Wire: HBO prequel videos, an outstanding profile of Burns from the New Yorker, the marriage of the real-life people who formed the basis of The Wire's Omar and The Corner's Fran (this article itself is mentioned towards the end of the Burns profile), an examination of the legal principles in Burns's book Homicide, an interview with the actress who plays Snoop.

A history of television hijacking.

ooklala — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 18:05:55 -0800

During the 70s and 80s a new phenomenon appeared. Television Hijacking. It started in 1977 when a man in England hijacked the sound broadcast of a newscast. In 1986, a hijacker known as Captain Midnight hijacked HBO in response to their scrambling of television signals. The year after (20 years ago as of today), a character disguised as Max Headroom (a television character) infiltrated two Chicago television studios in one night. First the man infiltrated Channel 9 (WGN) for a few seconds with no sound, and then moved on to attack another Chicago station, this time with sound. After the Max Headroom incident, television hacking incidents were rare in the United States except for this one in Wyoming.

Much Ado About Shakespeare

crossoverman — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:27:08 -0800

BBC/HBO to film all 37 of Shakespeare's plays Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes will produce the entire canon over 12 years.

The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.

miss lynnster — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:01:35 -0800

Thirty years of George Carlin specials. (Yep, NSFW. Duh.) Yeah, this is the post where people can listen to his stuff and debate whether he stopped being funny ages ago, wasn't funny in the first place, never stopped being funny, or was brilliant but then sucked but then did some funny stuff here and there. Blah blah blah. Knock yourselves out. | Previo usly. On Location: George Carlin at USC 1977 Carlin at Carnegie 1982 Carlin on Campus 1984 Playin' With Your Head 1986 What Am I Doing In New Jersey 1988 Doin' It Again 1990 Jammin' In New York 1992 Back In Town 1996 You Are All Diseased 1999 Complaints & Greivances 2001 Life Is Worth Losing 2005 And in closing... here he is performing at the 2007 Narcotics Anonymous World Convention in San Antonio. His 14th HBO special (apparently taped at this show) will be shown on cable in March '08.

HBO: Flight of the Conchords

srboisvert — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:37:28 -0800

HBO: Flight of the Conchords follows the trials and tribulations of a two man, digi-folk band from New Zealand as they try to make a name for themselves in their adopted home of New York City. The band is made up of Bret McKenzie on guitar and vocals, and Jemaine Clement on guitar and vocals. Episode 1 is available free online. [flash video]

Smile baby, people are looking at you.

miss lynnster — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:42:58 -0800

"Oh, someday, when I am Miss America, I'll tell the world to make things start when you're young. And what fun, it's gonna be, when Regis sings his song to me." In 2001, the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary Living Dolls captured child beauty pageants of the South in a post-Jon Benet world. Parts 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 [Update inside.]

Pathetic little fat man, noones bloody laughing

headless — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:07:45 -0800

"See his pug-nose face." David Bowie, from Extras second season, which premieres tomorrow in USA. Stephen Merchant (from today's RADAR) and Ricky Gervais have been mentioned here before, but I think the David Bowie clip is worth it.

"Preacher" brought to the small screen

Four-Eyed Girl — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 10:07:49 -0800

The comic "Preacher" is finally being adapted for TV. Rumors have circulated about a possible adaptation for some time, but they have now been verified by HBO. The bad news is that the director/writer behind "Daredevil" and "Ghost Rider" is writing the pilot.

Deadwood is back.

JPowers — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 20:06:10 -0800

Deadwood is back.

Only you can prevent a giant nuclear explosion.

clgregor — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 11:55:40 -0800

Last Best Chance is a docudrama that shows the threat posed by vulnerable nuclear weapons and materials around the world and underscores what the stakes are. The plot: al Qaeda terrorists steal nuclear material to make bombs, and then sneak them into the US. The 47 minute film airs tonight on HBO, and is also available as a free DVD. More interesting are the powerful figures behind the film. It was produced by The Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to reduce the global threats from WMDs. NTI's board is co-chaired by Ted Turner and Sam Nunn (D-GA). The hope is that appealing directly to the public will force politicians to act. The film and its creators were profiled yesterday on CBS News Sunday Morning.

(And to help our discussion here, they've even provided a discussion guide.)

When wars were good and men were noble...

rzklkng — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 08:52:46 -0800

The making of a D-Day tradition... I immediately get goosebumps when I hear the score of Band of Brothers...I'm not sure why, maybe it was my local connections (Dick Winters, Bill Guanere, Albert Blithe, Babe Heffron, Thomas Meehan, Ralph Spina, Harry Welsh, and Robert Strayer are all from Philadelphia), the surrounding suburbs, or Pennsylvania), or maybe it was because the original airings took place in the shadow of 9/11 (the premiere was September 9th, 2001, with the D-Day drop occuring in the second episode, Day of Days, on 9/16/2001), but this series will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart. Everything is done so beautifully, from the special effects, to the sound, the music, to the dutiful translation from Stephen Ambrose book to the screen. It's certainly worthy of the 9.5 out of 10 that IMDB readers had given it. Every year now since, either HBO (On Demand - you have to subscribe to HBO plus have digital cable) or the History Channel has played Tom Hanks' and Steven Spielberg's masterful WW2 epic. You can think of it as Saving Private Ryan, but 3 times as long. Even if war movies are not your thing, I can almost guarantee that they will see the human side of the soldier and becomely deeply invested in the characters. Follow the men of Easy Company from training and the running of Currahee, to the parachute jump on D-Day, through the liberation of Europe, the horror of a German concentration camp, and eventually to the end of the war, to Hitler's mountaintop retreat. I'm not the only one - check out the numerous fan sites to BoB (forum shorthand for Band of Brothers) here, here, and here, as well as entries on TVTome, Wikipedia, and Television without Pity. If you want to try before you commit to watching the whole thing, I'd recommend the episodes Day of Days, Crossroads, and the Breaking Point.