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Barry (HBO comedy)

Started by c, February 26, 2019, 08:59:23 PM

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c

Started watching this at the weekend (it's available on Sky on demand) and I think it's excellent - a comedy about a reluctant hit man. Like Silicon Valley, you stay for the unfolding story as much as the gags. There are some brilliant characters here. In fact, for me, the biggest issue is that easily the worst character is Barry himself who is boringly written and acted. Meanwhile, Henry Winkler steals every scene he's in (he won an Emmy) and there are a couple of Chechen gangsters who are superbly performed.

Shit Good Nose

I haven't seen it (and unlikely to unless it turns up on freeview or Netflix), but Winkler appears to be playing much the same character he did on CBBC show Hank Zipzer.  Except without the guns, and a similarly also-ran musical past rather than films and TV.

Not a criticism, merely an observation.

Small Man Big Horse

I absolutely loved this, the first episode was a bit slow but then it gradually became fantastic, and the ending to the first season is pretty devastating. I can't wait for the second to begin now, which is sometime next month.

niat

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on February 26, 2019, 09:28:39 PM
. I can't wait for the second to begin now, which is sometime next month.

Hooray! I love this show, best new series for ages.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

I watched it recently. I really liked it but looking at the contemporary thread, it seemed like no one else here did.

I wouldn't say Barry himself is boring as such. Obviously he's not as funny or dynamic as NoHo Hank or Fuches, but that wasn't a problem to me.

I was surprised to see Sarah Solemani appear in the credits.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on February 27, 2019, 01:51:16 PM
I watched it recently. I really liked it but looking at the contemporary thread, it seemed like no one else here did.

I wouldn't say Barry himself is boring as such. Obviously he's not as funny or dynamic as NoHo Hank or Fuches, but that wasn't a problem to me.

I was surprised to see Sarah Solemani appear in the credits.

I checked out that thread too and was surprised I only posted once, and after just the first episode, as it quickly became I show I adored. I was really fond of Barry as well, and thought Bill Hader was extremely strong in the lead role, though like you say a lot of the supporting cast got the funnier moments with Stephen Root and Winkler unsurprisingly being fantastic.

I just checked and it's back on March 31st, and apparently it's the reason we're not getting a new season of Silicon Valley this year as Alec Berg was too busy to do both, but I don't have a problem with that as Silicon Valley's running out of steam and I now much prefer Barry over it.

jofo

Chalk me up for another fan. Really looking forward to the next series.
Really enjoyable and very well acted. I like that Barry's object of Barry's affection  is a bit of a narcissist with her own life going on.



p.s how do you do a spoiler tag?

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth


up_the_hampipe

I've just watched the whole first season over the weekend. Really great, probably one of the best balances of action, comedy and drama I've seen in a long time. Hader deserves a lot of praise for his performance, as does Sarah Goldberg. And Henry Winkler and Stephen Root. Fuck it, all of them!

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Odd seeing Darcy Carden in a bit part as one of Barry's acting classmates.

up_the_hampipe

Anyone watching this season then? Still going strong.

This week's episode was fucking fantastic. Might be my favourite piece of TV so far this year.

Armin Meiwes

Tried this but thought it was ropey af to be honest, just didn't really have any interesting ideas.

McChesney Duntz

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on April 29, 2019, 08:01:28 PM
Anyone watching this season then? Still going strong.

This week's episode was fucking fantastic. Might be my favourite piece of TV so far this year.

Yeah, yeah, yeah! Best extended fight sequence on HBO that evening for sure.

Z

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on April 29, 2019, 08:01:28 PM
Anyone watching this season then? Still going strong.

This week's episode was fucking fantastic. Might be my favourite piece of TV so far this year.
Yep, I've been enjoying this season a lot more generally but that last episode on the whole was great stuff altogether, might rewatch the whole thing this evening.

c

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on April 29, 2019, 08:01:28 PM
Anyone watching this season then? Still going strong.

This week's episode was fucking fantastic. Might be my favourite piece of TV so far this year.

Didn't realise it was back. Thanks Hampipe

rasta-spouse

I thought the first season had some nice moments.

This second season, the whole acting class angle seems like it's exhausted itself...

Which is why this latest Taekwondo Master episode was a real shot in the arm for the show. It seems like a take on the Pine Barrens (not sure about the supernatural elements - as that's never really happened in Barry before, but I should probably give the show a break as it's a half-hour comedy).

Small Man Big Horse

I'm not sure if it was supernatural or if she was just freakishly talented, I watched a couple of the scenes back where she leaps and jumps all over the place and they're technically possible, if incredibly unlikely. Anyway, I loved it too, I think they might have gone a bit too far when the Taekwondo Master gets up after being shot through the face, again it's not impossible but it seemed to be taking it a step too far. Would imagine Barry would leave some blood behind at the house too after being stabbed, there'd be some on the knife at the very least, and I hope they follow up on that.

rasta-spouse

#17
Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on April 30, 2019, 10:01:00 PM
Would imagine Barry would leave some blood behind at the house too after being stabbed, there'd be some on the knife at the very least, and I hope they follow up on that.

Yeah, in terms of leaving evidence behind...a pro hitman would flee the scene as soon as possible. And as for witnesses: he and Fuches hung around the area with the Taekwondo kid snarling on a rooftop, watching them, until darkness fell (ok, so Barry's not thinking straight, but Fuches should be on it). Furthermore, Taekwondo kid has Fuches DNA between her teeth. It's insane if law enforcement don't figure out its them. But then I guess Tony Soprano and most of his pals got away with killing whoever they wanted to without consequences for six seasons.

I really liked how long the gap was between the slow reveals of all the martial arts awards and the eventual point where the guy decided to kick Barry. Chuckling throughout. Quite confident directing from Hader.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: rasta-spouse on April 30, 2019, 11:58:54 PM
Yeah, in terms of leaving evidence behind...a pro hitman would flee the scene as soon as possible. And as for witnesses: he and Fuches hung around the area with the Taekwondo kid snarling on a rooftop, watching them, until darkness fell (ok, so Barry's not thinking straight, but Fuches should be on it). Furthermore, Taekwondo kid has Fuches DNA between her teeth. It's insane if law enforcement don't figure out its them. But then I guess Tony Soprano and most of his pals got away with killing whoever they wanted to without consequences for six seasons.

I really liked how long the gap was between the slow reveals of all the martial arts awards and the eventual point where the guy decided to kick Barry. Chuckling throughout. Quite confident directing from Hader.

I was thinking more about this last night when I couldn't sleep and Barry really should be pretty fucked as a result of last night's episode. There's no way that the supermarket wouldn't have had a lot of cctv that given the death of one of their own the cops would definitely look at, so they would have seen the fight between Ronny and Barry, and Loach shooting at Barry, plus the store employee also got a good old look at him as well. I'm sure they could also trace Barry from leaving the car and entering the shop, so might have Fuches on camera too, along with his number plate, etc.

BeardFaceMan


amnesiac

Quote from: rasta-spouse on April 30, 2019, 01:35:12 PM
I thought the first season had some nice moments.

This second season, the whole acting class angle seems like it's exhausted itself...

Which is why this latest Taekwondo Master episode was a real shot in the arm for the show. It seems like a take on the Pine Barrens (not sure about the supernatural elements - as that's never really happened in Barry before, but I should probably give the show a break as it's a half-hour comedy).

I read an Entertainment Weekly interview with Bill Hader on Ronny/Lilly and he mentions High Plains Drifter as inspiration/ reference point for 'What ARE you' and I've never seen it but really want to now.

https://ew.com/tv/2019/04/28/barry-bill-hader-season-2-episode-5/

AMAZING episode, I was laughing and mind boggled throughout the whole (seemingly) extended thing.

BTW: "King of suckballs mountain" was an IMPROVISED line

Small Man Big Horse

Gah, I wanted to like that one but I couldn't get past the lack of repercussions of last week's episode, it was wrapped up way too quickly and there was no mention of Ronnie's daughter Lily, the store cctv footage of Loach shooting at Barry or the bloody knife or anything like that. It would have taken just a couple of scenes or some more exposition to satisfy me too so it's annoying (and lazy) that they didn't do such a thing, and even if they come back to it, it feels a little weak that they didn't address it here. Now we're back with the acting class and though I love Henry Winkler's Gene the rest of it is a struggle, and I presume it's going to end with Barry getting carried away and strangling Sally during the performance itself. I hope I'm wrong and they do something more interesting, but I've doubts about the series now.

up_the_hampipe

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on May 06, 2019, 02:09:50 PM
Gah, I wanted to like that one but I couldn't get past the lack of repercussions of last week's episode, it was wrapped up way too quickly and there was no mention of Ronnie's daughter Lily, the store cctv footage of Loach shooting at Barry or the bloody knife or anything like that. It would have taken just a couple of scenes or some more exposition to satisfy me too so it's annoying (and lazy) that they didn't do such a thing, and even if they come back to it, it feels a little weak that they didn't address it here. Now we're back with the acting class and though I love Henry Winkler's Gene the rest of it is a struggle, and I presume it's going to end with Barry getting carried away and strangling Sally during the performance itself. I hope I'm wrong and they do something more interesting, but I've doubts about the series now.

That would be ripping off Bojack Horseman a bit. I doubt they'll go for that. I can see Barry and/or Sally finding major success as actors.

As for the repercussions of last week, I'm assuming it will come back to haunt Barry in some way. It's unfortunately quite realistic that the police would see two men who were romantically involved with the same woman kill each other and just close the case without any further investigation. The opening scene seemed to suggest the police were just shrugging it off and moving on. The girl might come back. The only thing I had trouble with was Barry's lack of injuries. His face was bloodied in the last episode, but completely fine here. Also didn't seem to be struggling with that terribly treated stab wound he suffered. I can only assume that we're supposed to see last week's episode as a standalone adventure, largely removed from the narrative, aside from a few key points. Like a cartoon, I guess.

phantom_power

Yeah the police would take an easy win any day and not bother looking for further evidence like CCTV footage.

I really like how they are tying the acting story with Sally's story and Barry's past, both what he is telling Gene (the war stuff) and what he isn't (killing his girlfriend). I also love how Fuches is such a slimy shit and how lovable Hank is, despite not being too far apart morally.

Last week's episode was a fucking masterpiece of absurdity though, brilliantly directed by Hader. That opening scene and the delay between Barry seeing the trophies and Ronnie kicking him across the room was so confident and interesting. It reminded me a lot of After Hours in the way it was a night that started off quite straightforward and got more bizarre as it went on.

BeardFaceMan

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on May 07, 2019, 02:05:11 PM
That would be ripping off Bojack Horseman a bit. I doubt they'll go for that. I can see Barry and/or Sally finding major success as actors.

It feels like Barry is going to make it big and then get recognized as a hitman from that. Probably gets big against his will then has to deal with the hilarious consequences of people trying to kill him.

I still like the bald chap.

phantom_power

I think it is more likely that he can only do good acting when he accesses that dark place that makes him a good killer and he has to struggle with balancing that with not just going around killing people.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: phantom_power on May 07, 2019, 02:44:19 PM
Yeah the police would take an easy win any day and not bother looking for further evidence like CCTV footage.

If only Ronny had died than maybe, but given that a cop was also killed I can't believe a full investigation wouldn't be carried out, at the very, very least they'd visit Ronny's house and see what a mess it was / the bloody knife, and then find out the daughter was missing.

rasta-spouse

That side plot with Fuches rolling around in the forest was seriously pony. Also, isn't man struggling to find the right motivation for an acting role, then suddenly triggering a traumatic memory which fuels his ire, then (yay!) using the trauma to nail the part a massive cliche (I think it's even listed in the cliche thread)? This is HBO lads. Remember when Adrianna enrols Christopher in an acting class and how excellently that plays out? Now that's writing.

All I want from this is a hyper-realistic hitman thing with elements of Antonioni crossed with the Larry Sanders Show, and I want it to remind me a bit of the Sopranos. Is that too much to ask?

phantom_power

But there is the slight twist that the memory Gene thinks he is using to fuel his acting isn't the one he is actually using and he has in fact done far worse, like killing his girlfriend and that is what is fuelling his acting. It also ties into the character he is playing and his relationship with Sally, as well as Barry's relationship with Fuches and how he feels about himself. It is a bit more layered than the cliche described

rasta-spouse

It tends to slip my mind, (unless the show explicitly reminds me) the thing about Barry taking out Winkler's gf. I guess there is more going on in the acting class.

They really need to give Sally and Gene more depth. There's a hell of a lot they could be exploring with the failed actor thing (as the ep with clips from Sally's meagre showreel demonstrated).

Although, I'd really like another failed hit episode (this time feature length) with Barry, Fuches, and also the bald chap.