QUALITY WILL WIN OUT

No, I'm not talking about The Curmudgeons Inc.ⓒ posts versus those other bloggers - that's self evident. No, I'm referring to the films and TV series I watch on streaming platforms like NETFLIX, NEON, PRIME etc. Most of these are dire, being hastily assembled productions with fatuous storylines, minimal dialogue, poor continuity and scant attention to narrative. Most are made in a video-game format and there isn't much sense or reality to them. I've written about this before: HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

Those who bothered to click on those 'links' will now realise that I was kidding but - I really have written on this before though and here's one of the posts: WATCHING THE DETECTIVES

The dumbing down continues and the captive audience, through continual and even more extreme dumbing down don't have an awareness of how bad it is - like a frog being boiled in a pot of water that goes from warm to hot - they haven't watched older films and series made when quality was an essential value.

In the midst of the '90 minute' dross I have rediscovered and watched some great films like Remains of the Day, The Godfather 1 and 2, A Passage to India, Taxi Driver, Rear Window etc. and outstanding television series like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, True Detective, Fargo, Better Call Saul, Deadwood, Justified, Line of Duty, Happy Valley etc. These are well made, well acted and are memorable.

At the moment I'm watching The Wire which has been touted as one of the greatest TV series made  (American bias but it is significant that the best and leading actors are British).

This runs to 5 series (2002 to 2008) and we started watching it back in 2002. We loved it and watched the first 4 or 5 episodes and then for some reason (maybe moving house, travel, work commitments etc.) stopped even though we thought it was outstanding.

Now, over 20 years later I'm watching the whole thing on NEON. I'm up to episode 5 in series 2 and am engrossed.  It has a very large character list with each being fully drawn, not just sketched and, with each episode and as the series continues, become more intertwined and complex. The writing and direction is superb and I recognise the names of the writers and directors as having been involved in The Sopranos and other great dramas.

The Baltimore street drug operations depicted in the first series morph into wider political and corporate corruption that covers the city and the East Coast. The acting is way above that seen in the everyday offerings and it is filmed tightly and believably to make for gripping  and tense viewing. This is good stuff and I well recommend it*.

* That could of course be an endorsement for The Curmudgeons Inc.ⓒ  blogs.