Luck (New HBO Series)

[John-Locke]

Dustin Hoffman has signed on to star in the Pilot for the new HBO show "Luck" which has not only been written by David Milch but it's to be Directed by Michael Mann!!!!!!!

Luck centres around a Racetrack and all the gamblers and various other shady goings on, Dennis Farina & John Ortiz are also on board.

CAN YOU SAY BADASS?

Full story here

[Fievel]

Dustin Hoffman to star in HBO pilot 'Luck' - Horseracing drama marks actor's first major TV series role


Holy shit!! Is Dustin Hoffman's career in the shitter?
Or is this a major coup for HBO?

OR... is the material from David Milch (Deadwood) so good that it's understandable that Hoffman is popping his TV cherry in it?
Either way, I'm sold.

With this, Boardwalk Empire, and David Simon's (The Wire) new show Treme, HBO is getting ready to hopefully kick some serious ass!!

[John-Locke]

Beat you by two minutes MoFo



And I don't think Hoffman is slumming it, this is a clear signal that Actors would rather work on stuff that allows them to explore their character fully rather than having to fit it into a 3 act structure with all the familiar beats and clichés that go with that.

TV (and HBO in particular) doesn't have the same stigma it used to have, if anything it can be good for your career.

[Leckomaniac]

DEADWOOD is magnificent and JOHN FROM CINCINNATI was woefully under appreciated.

Will be watching this.

[magicmonkey]

Beat you by two minutes MoFo



And I don't think Hoffman is slumming it, this is a clear signal that Actors would rather work on stuff that allows them to explore their character fully rather than having to fit it into a 3 act structure with all the familiar beats and clichés that go with that.

TV (and HBO in particular) doesn't have the same stigma it used to have, if anything it can be good for your career.

Totally agree. When higher paid stars start appearing on Fox stuff, say 24 then you start to worry for their souls, and their bank balance (if one would indeed worry about a stars bank balance).

[John-Locke]

According to this Nick Nolte is in talks to appear in this now. Also Kerry Condon (Octavia from Rome) has joined the cast, lets all hope she gets nekkid.

[stereosforgeeks]

This shaping up to be one top tier cast.

I may not be in love with the horse racing aspect but I will definitely be watching this.

[John-Locke]

I'm thinking Gambling addicts, loan sharks, Race fixing/Horse Doping, Police, Hookers, Alcoholics, Organised Crime, Pick Pockets and all the other scum bags that you'd associate with the track.

Should be great.

[Fievel]

I'm thinking Gambling addicts, loan sharks, Race fixing/Horse Doping, Police, Hookers, Alcoholics, Organised Crime, Pick Pockets and all the other scum bags that you'd associate with the track.

Should be great.

So Nolte will be PERFECT!

[John-Locke]

HBO orders a whole series of Luck

For Immediate Release

HBO ORDERS NEW DRAMA SERIES LUCK,

STARRING DUSTIN HOFFMAN

--------

A David Milch And Michael Mann Collaboration

--------

LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2010 – HBO has picked up the new drama series LUCK, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. LUCK is a provocative look at horse racing – the owners, gamblers, jockeys and diverse gaming industry players. LUCK begins shooting this fall at Santa Anita Park and other Los Angeles locations.

“Michael Mann delivered a pilot from David Milch’s brilliant script that took our breath away,” notes Lombardo. “We are truly excited that these two artists, and our extraordinary cast headed by Dustin Hoffman, will be bringing LUCK to life.”

The cast for the pilot stars Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Farina, John Ortiz, Kevin Dunn, Richard Kind, Jason Gedrick, Ritchie Coster, Ian Hart, Tom Payne, Kerry Condon, Gary Stevens and Nick Nolte. Jill Hennessy guest stars.

Pilot credits: executive producers, David Milch, Michael Mann and Carolyn Strauss; co-executive producer, Henry Bronchtein; producer, Dustin Hoffman; written by David Milch; directed by Michael Mann.

[John-Locke]

[so sorry]

Looks like Ronald McDonald falling off that horse towards the end!

[Bob Samonkey]

Well they did fire him from the commercials so Ronald's gotta eat!!

[Fievel]

Hoffman, Nolte, and Farina in a HBO series about horse racing and the underworld around it... with David Milch and Michael Mann involved..... FUCK YES!
Saw that preview last night and almost pissed myself.

[Ribbons]

I'm interested in how they handle the horse-racing scenes on a week-to-week basis. That shit's pretty hard to film, at least in a way that doesn't look awful. Arguably harder than car chases because cars don't get scared and poop a lot.

[Ribbons]

The pilot is on right now (EST) if anybody's interested.

[Peven]

this sounds like a show I would really dig, but i don't get HBO....yet. looks like I will be able to get it via X-Box Live soon, though and hopefully a subscription will allow me to watch old episodes so I can catch up. let us know what you think about the pilot, Ribbons

[John-Locke]

I thought the Pilot was pretty damn good, the characters are all interesting and the Horse Racing was brilliantly captured but I did have problems with the dialogue, a bit too fast, dense, and confusing for me, left me wondering what the hell these people were talking about a lot of the time even if I could figure out the broad strokes of what was going on.

[Fievel]

I thought the Pilot was pretty damn good, the characters are all interesting and the Horse Racing was brilliantly captured but I did have problems with the dialogue, a bit too fast, dense, and confusing for me, left me wondering what the hell these people were talking about a lot of the time even if I could figure out the broad strokes of what was going on.

Reminded me of Milch's previous HBO shows in the sense that we are dropped in the middle of this world that is separate from the "real world," yet somehow within it. Came away EXTREMELY intrigued to see what's happening here. Cast is fucking stacked - Hoffman, Nolte, Farina, etc. I appreciated Richard Kind's character being high strung and nervous, but was annoyed very quickly with him, and that's about the only negative I had. I just knew that the horse was going to break his leg in that final race, and liked how they handled it with the jockey staying at its side to the end.

HBO you've done it again.
I'm hooked.

[Ribbons]

Yeah it was awright. I enjoyed it and thought they did a good job of showing the different ways that luck rules the lives of all these characters, from the lowly horse up to Dustin Hoffman's mogul. I agree about Richard Kind though, he seems a little like a caricature. But we'll see how things develop as the season go on. I'm also with J-L as far as the dialogue goes. Milch is a wordy motherfucker. I got the gist of it except for the storyline with the bettors, who I guess are evading taxes or something. I wasn't really clear on what was going on there.

[bill blake]

three episodes in and i'm still not convinced. i love the whole idea of being dropped in a world i am not a part of but i get the feeling if i were a part of this world i'd be wondering why the made a tv show out of it. escalante is less than interesting. i can't understand the nick nolte. and i can't stop thinking about transformers everytime i see shai labouf's dad. don't get me started on the simpleton and jerry. i will say i like the guy who got beat up by the insurance fraud milfs. maybe because he's the type of guy who gets involved with insurance fraud milfs. as far as dusty and denny... well... let's just say, i'm not impressed.

i miss "game of thrones".

[Fievel]

It's really moving slowly, but I guess I don't have a problem with that. It's just like Deadwood/John from Cincinnati in that Milch sets up this world (that I have no knowledge of) and slowly develops the characters and then bad shit just constantly happens. I enjoyed both Deadwood and John from Cincinnati, so I guess I have a bias coming into this. The "Coming This Season" previews at the end of the episodes show a lot of action (meaning people being killed) that isn't even being hinted at right now, so my intrigue will last the season.

I will offer a complaint, though....Hoffman & Farina's "falling asleep in their chairs" moment was one of the worst cheesy moments I've seen in quite a while.

[bill blake]

"pickled peppers, asshole."

finally, a good episode. they've all been "good" in an intriguing sort of way, but this one made everything relevant.

this show challenges me to stay with it.

i'm even looking forward to another season.

[TheBaxter]

HBO has run out of Luck

[Fievel]

I had missed a few weeks and was planning on watching themm all in a mini-marathon.
Now I'm not even going to bother.

Such a waste of a fantastic cast.

[Ribbons]

Some people have been saying that if Luck were pulling in True Blood numbers, HBO would have found a reason to not cancel the show (for those of you who didn't read the article, production shut down because a horse died on set for the third time the other day). I can't say whether or not that's true, but I think they made the right decision.

[The Vicar]

Are the people who make this series saying they can't do it without killing horses?
Three horses down and they throw in the towel.
Whoever was handling their horses in this series was clearly incompetent.
Get new handlers and try really hard not to kill anymore frakking horses, you tools!

[TheBaxter]

how many horses died filming the LOTR movies? yeah, a lot of them were digital, but they also had a lot of real horses all riding together at the same time. if you can stage the charge of the rohirrim or the battle of pelennor fields without killing any horses, i'd think filming a few horse races wouldn't be a problem. i've never seen Luck, but i can't imagine it's THAT strenuous on the horses, certainly not as bad as a lot of horse-based movies would be.

maybe they should replace the horses with digital horses if they can't keep the real ones alive. i bet they could even get andy serkis to play one of the horses.

[minstrel]

i bet they could even get andy serkis to play one of the horses.

Or Sarah Jessica Parker.

[The Vicar]

i bet they could even get andy serkis to play one of the horses.

Or Sarah Jessica Parker.

She doesn't want to get type cast......

[TheBaxter]

i bet they could even get andy serkis to play one of the horses.

Or Sarah Jessica Parker.

that's a good point. can we bring this show back just long enough to kill her off? one more horse put down, then you can cancel it again, mmkay?