Month: February 2016

Billions on Showtime, Episode 6: The Deal

The King is back. He loves what he does. He, in fact, lives and breathes what he does. Real or not, he tries his hand a bit in having the good life  — collecting fresh eggs in the morning, quality time with wife and kids, prospect of getting on his new boat and sailing to Galapagos… And maybe, just maybe, there is really a moment where he thinks there could be another life he could be living.

But the fact is Axe Capital is where the good life is for Axe.

Source: Showtime
Source: Showtime

Maybe not the perfect life as the smug on his face is gone the moment he comes eye to eye with the Windbreakers raiding Axe Capital to get to “Dollar” Bill…  But it must be something about the game that he just cannot give up… Axe advises Danzig after his “deer shooting” spree: “What drives you does not understand enough.” It’s obvious what drives Axe does not understand enough, either. Is it the adrenaline? Is it the sweet feeling of winning? What drives Axe? Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Episode 6: The Deal”

Damian Lewis’ New Scarf is the New Roaming Gnome :)

There are two facts that I absolutely LOVE about Damian Lewis.

Fact I: He is gracious with his fans. He always makes time for a little chat or a sweet selfie!

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Fact II: Damian LOVES wearing scarves. And he wears them well. Continue reading “Damian Lewis’ New Scarf is the New Roaming Gnome :)”

Billions ep 5 – The Good Life: Tete a Tete Sur L’Herbe

imageedit_4_8000993631Five episodes into Billions, and I’m thinking that instead of repeating a recap of the episode, already so expertly done by Damianista mere hours after the episode airs, I’ll keep these Wednesday posts to the facets I enjoy the most in any drama: the psychology and emotional reality behind the story.

We’re getting to know all characters more deeply, none more so than Robert Axelrod. Gotta say he was a bit of an ass in this episode, keeping all his most loyal confidantes out of the loop on the facts behind his supposed closing of the shop. Remember how he showed Lara his phone screen when Birch got bit at the fundraiser? And how Wags was always in on every single move Axe ever pulled?  Well, there’s no sharing of the screen here and Wags gets the brush off too, even as he’s imploring Axe with a deeply felt “Come on, you can tell me” in their one on one in the media room in Axe’s Xanadu.

Continue reading “Billions ep 5 – The Good Life: Tete a Tete Sur L’Herbe”

Our Kind of Traitor: On UK Screens May 13

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There’s been a long wait for the whirlwind of projects Damian did while on haitus from Homeland and right after wrapping up his stint. We just learned that one of those long-awaited projects, John Le Carre’s Our Kind of Traitor, will be in cinemas May 13 in the UK. The preview was released last week, and, boy, it sure does look to be a fun ride of a spy drama. Great talent on board with Ewan MacGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Naomie Harris, and, of course, Damian Lewis in the role of British intelligence fixer Hector Meredith.

I’ve been listening to the audiobook since this news came out and been bemused to hear the role of Hector, written as a weathered investigator well into his 50’s, read in a gruff no-nonsense baritone. Happy to report, as gruff as he may sound, they didn’t age Damian to fit the role, and, though he’s sporting vintage horn-rimmed glasses and may be pulling a specific MI6 inflection of a British accent, he is otherwise undisguised. Have a look at the preview here. And read on as we revisit some observations about the story, the characters, and some behind the scenes goodness.

Continue reading “Our Kind of Traitor: On UK Screens May 13”

Billions on Showtime, Episode 5: The Good Life

Well, I give it to the Billions writers that Episode 5: The Good Life has an opening like no other: A No Trespassing sign exactly like in the opening scene of Citizen Kane!  

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Welcome to Citizen Axe’s Good Life!

We leave Axe at the end of Episode 4: Short Squeeze telling Wags to sell everything: Sell 5% of all positions across the board first and then sell sector by sector starting with Telecom.

And now we’re finding him on his Passoni bike, a hand crafted Italian beauty, cycling to Axe Hills, no less, to collect fresh eggs from the chickens. He suggests Tito to “franchise that fucking hen” with the double yolkers and trades his Passoni with Tito’s well-worn bike… But we already know Bobby “Axe” Axelrod is the man of the people, don’t we? 🙂 Axe brings the eggs, cooks “Grandma’s recipe” – his mom was a waitress – signature dish at Empire Diner, an iconic New York City institution, for family breakfast and makes an announcement: The new boat is coming Friday afternoon. What about a trip to Galapagos? Lara does not fall for the idea right away since mid-summer is a crazy time for her restaurant, but it seems some afternoon sex in the pool followed by lying on the lawn with her better half is quite persuasive. She is in! They will be free and say “fuck you” to gravity together. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Episode 5: The Good Life”