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Jacob Pitts played Deputy Marshall Tim Gutterson in the FX series #Justified. Tim is one of my fave supporting characters in #TV - he's deadpan, slick, completely unflappable. Which is good, because our cowboy marshall Raylan Givens lead him into all kinds of scrapes and near-death experiences. He is a facilitating character for Raylan, helping him no matter what ... but that doesn't mean he is happy about it or won't give him shit for it. Tim's also one of the only characters in the entire show who can give Raylan a run for his money, not even antagonist Boyd Crowder can do that!!! 😂😂😂 . . This very honest reply on Pitts' Wikipedia page reminds us that acting is stilla JOB and we are working in show BUSINESS. As a character actor, he's not a huge star and will have bills to pay like the rest of us. As we are seeing now with the pandemic, most creatives are not far away from financial issues if they find themselves out of work. So why not combine great writing *and* great commercial potential? We can have the best of both worlds if we know how target audience works. This isn't selling out, but SELLING ... It's what pro writers do!! 👍👍👍 . . #Bang2write #Bang2writers #B2Wreviews #amwriting #writer #author #authors #screenwriting #screenplay #novelist #screenwriters #book #novels #writersnetwork #writerscommunity #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #writing #TV #movies #authorsofinstagram #writersofig #authorsofig #insta #instalike #instagood https://www.instagram.com/p/B9zo54lJUDi/?igshid=1ncyiylgxoppf

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It's Villain Week on #Bang2write✒ this coming week, but first let's think about #writing anti heroes. There's lots of chat online on #screenwriting #blogs about American anti heroes like Tony Soprano, Walter White and Jax Teller, but not nearly as much about British ones. Played by the awesomely talented @ashleywalters, DuShane in TOP BOY demonstrates gang life is not about 'choice' but necessity. He is presented as 'better' than others like Sully, but from a crucially different angle. DuShane has his own ethics and code, just like Jax in #SonsofAnarchy. Also like Jax we are left in no doubt this was the only road open to DuShane - and how this is society's failing, not his personal flaw. This is reflected in every character's arc, too: poverty is the real villain in this story, what it makes you do is HARSH ... As a teen mother I found myself doing stuff I would never do in 'ideal' circumstances, simply because I was having to live on the fringes. I find this aspect of the show really authentic. #TopBoy was one of my favourite series, so I am delighted to see it return to #Netflix this autumn ✒✒✒ . . #Bang2write #Bang2writers #B2Wreviews #amwriting #writer #author #authors #screenwriting #screenplay #novelist #screenwriters #book #novels #screenplay #writersnetwork #writerscommunity #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #authorsofinstagram #writersofig #authorsofig #insta #instalike #instagood https://www.instagram.com/p/Bye9k3Thguh/?igshid=12kbgw8ggff95

[bang2write]

Looking for a new TV show, movie to watch, or novel to read? Then follow #B2Wreviews on #insta for bite-sized critique with #writing craft in mind! 📽📚❤✏✒ . . There's 100+ reviews now of all sorts of stories - crime, action, kids', comedy, literary, drama ... you name it! Simply follow the hashtag to never miss a review 📚📽✏✒❤ . . #Bang2write #Bang2writers #amwriting #writer #author #authors #screenwriting #screenplay #novelist #screenwriters #book #novels #writersnetwork #writerscommunity #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #netflix #Amazon #authorsofinstagram #writersofig #authorsofig #insta #instalike #instagood #Prime #TV #movies https://www.instagram.com/p/CEHXxeuJa8C/?igshid=n2531xf5tieq

[bang2write]

#Ozark is a crime series on #Netflix about a financial advisor who gets in over his head with the mob and ends up relocating his over-privileged family to Missouri so he can launder money for the cartel. Before long the entire family is involved and they're in even deeper, roping in various Missouri natives, hillbilly drug farmers and the FBI!! ✒📽✏ . . Ozark is waaaaay OTT yet somehow retains its plausibility for the most part, especially in earlier seasons. Powerhouse performances from Jason Bateman and Laura Linney crown a fantastic cast - there isn't a single actor who drops the ball. It looks great and plotting zips along at a rate of knots ❤ . . Overall it's the characterisation that really kept me hooked in Ozark. Unlike so many TV series, every single character large and small is memorable. It would be easy for big stars like Bateman and Linney to take over, but every secondary - and even some peripherals - have their moment. Linney's character Wendy is a REVELATION and a joy - seeing her arc outpace her husbsbd's as she grabs her new criminal life with both hands is so brilliant. It is also great to see older, dynamic female characters in charge too like pragmatic lawyer Helen, or the hardcore violent and ruthless Darlene ❤ . . There is also some great commentary and subversion of expected tropes on gender, age, #LGBT characters and class with ither characters. I particularly love the Langmore family - Ruth and Wyatt steal the show as 'trailer trash done good', plus doomed men like Mason and Ben show it doesn't always have to be female characters who are tragic!!! ❤ . . Seasons 1-3 are available right now, with a fourth and final season due in 2021. Very much recommended. Watch it now!! ✒📽✏ . . #B2Wreviews #Bang2write #Bang2writers #amwriting #writer #author #authors #screenwriting #screenplay #novelist #screenwriters #book #novels #writersnetwork #writerscommunity #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #writing #authorsofinstagram #writersofig #authorsofig #insta #instalike #instagood https://www.instagram.com/p/CEFRm_8Jp-4/?igshid=7az15zp6pqk3

[bang2write]

ALMOST NAKED ANIMALS was a cartoon series that ran for a whopping 52 episodes over 3 seasons between 2011-2013 and was originally on Cartoon Network. The series was created by Noah Z. Jones and based on his 2005 art website. All 3 series are currently on Amazon Prime as part of membership atm in the UK. I remember watching this cartoon a lot when I had cancer, so I decided to revisit it to see if it was as bonkers as I remember or whether chemo had melted my brain ... 📺 . . ... Short version: it is! 🤯😜😆 . . Taking place at The Banana Cabana hotel 'where your pants won't be missed', proprietor Howie the dog runs the joint whilst inexplicably being in his underwear the whole time. His employees include a duck, an octopus, a Narwhal whale, a bunny, a sloth and a pig who are also - you guessed it - in their underwear. (I thought it was one of the hotel requirements, but occasionally we see outside The Banana Cabana and everyone is in their underwear in the outside world too) 🩲🩲🩲 . . Weirdly, all the animals seem to have shed their fur or scales etc as well (presumably so we can see their nipples and belly buttons???). Despite Howie the dog having a name, all the other animals are just known as their species! Characters are broad strokes stuff as you might expect, but even so the 'male' animals are infinitely more differentiated than the 'female' ones. Bunny seems to spend most of her time putting on makeup and Sloth just gets herself wheeled around. In contrast, Duck and Piggy steal the show almost constantly as they give Howie the run around 🦆🐷 . . Each episode focuses on Howie and his band of misfits having some kind of problem they need to fix. How much sense that problem makes is, however, up to personal interpretation. The pilot is the best episode imho - Howie decides to throw a party at the hotel, but every single one of the crew gets locked downstairs in the basement 📽📺 The show is a weird one in terms of target audience ... It's too mad for adults, but probably not mad ENOUGH for kids. That said, if you want to watch animals in their underwear, this definitely fits the bill! 🩲🩲🩲 . . #Bang2write #Bang2writers #amwriting #TV #B2WReviews https://www.instagram.com/p/CCbWzP7JsrU/?igshid=2jdvsdgx2iey

[bang2write]

Dead To Me (s2) dropped recently on #Netflix. The story of two women thrown together by bereavement and a horrible secret, I was interested to see where the second season could go. I mostly LOVED the previous season, so was sceptical the second could measure up 🍷 . . I eat my words!!! In many ways, s2 is far superior. S1 was a thrilling ride with fantastic performances and razor-sharp writing ... But at its heart it took on the cheesy 'lifetime' trope of a 'best friend with an agenda', which I always found distracting. Now Judy has been unmasked, that element is gone ... and 'The Problem of Steve' is a much stronger basis for the series imho 🍷 . . Like s1, this series sets up multiple plotting and pay off expectations and subverts them deftly. 'What's in the pool?' is fantastic in ep1. Judy's character id deepening - we see more of her past with her abusive mother and her new relationship is revelatory in more ways than one. What's more, Jen has swapped places with Judy as the antagonistic one of the two. This could have gone wrong so quickly - Jen is hard-nosed and angry constantly, which makes her a difficult character to empathise with, yet the writers do a brilliant job of making us understand her motivations. She is a woman pushed as far as she can go and her anger is so relatable to so many women, yet she is a female character we don't see very often. VERY MUCH RECOMMENDED 🍷🍷🍷 . . #B2WReviews #Bang2write #Bang2writers #amwriting #writer #author #authors #screenwriting #screenplay #novelist #screenwriters #book #novels #writersnetwork #writerscommunity #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #TV #writing #authorsofinstagram #writersofig #authorsofig #insta #instalike #instagood https://www.instagram.com/p/CCQM0xip-hU/?igshid=454grtwf531r

[bang2write]

Running 2010 to 2015, all 6 series of JUSTIFIED are currently on #Amazon Prime in the UK. Starring Timothy Olyphant as US Marshall Raylan Givens, it is based on the 2001 Elmore Leonard short story 'Fire in the Hole'. Leonard also exec produced the series until his death in 2013. Since Leonard is one of my favourite #authors and JUSTIFIED was one of my favourite TV series when it was on regular #TV, I revisited all the series back-to-back to see if it had aged as quickly as others that came out around the same time, such as #SonsofAnarchy 🤠 . . Wow! JUSTIFIED is as tight and on point as ever ... Its commentary on society & class (especially education and conformity re: the hill people), disability and mental illness (especially veterans), gender and race are still relatable. Raylan thought he'd escaped his roots in Kentucky, only to be slammed back into his past. The cowboy lawman is backed up by brilliantly by colleagues Tim, Rachel and Art who all despair of his methods yet facilitate him because it takes the heat off them. Also, unusually for a maverick Raylan actually does face consequences!! 🤠 . . Raylan and main antagonist Boyd Crowder (the enigmatic Walton Goggins) are doppelgängers: they grew & 'dug coal together' but have gone in vastly different directions. Even so, Raylan is not the 100% hero he thinks he is, just as Boyd is not the 100% villain he thinks he is, too. This is underlined by their shared ex Ava, played to perfection by Joelle Carter 🤠 . . The fantastic antagonists don't stop at Boyd, either. The Bennett family are an absolute tour de force: evil Matriarch Mags is chilling. The fact that Mags' Bennett's oldest son Doyle is in the police is relevant for 2020 and way ahead of its time, especially as he will do ANYTHING - including murder - to protect his mother's interests. Dicky's limp and mental illness, as well as Coover's learning disability are also reminders of how badly disabled people are treated by society, even by their own mother AND the likes of Raylan (who may or may not have been responsible for Dicky's limp). An absolute masterclass in characterisation. WATCH NOW! 🤠🤠🤠 . . #B2WReviews #Bang2write #Bang2writers #amwriting https://www.instagram.com/p/CCOoZXCJgGw/?igshid=sgmodf2kcoln

[bang2write]

PICARD is an #Amazon Original series starring Patrick Stewart as the iconic star fleet captain Jean-Luc Picard. Things have changed in Star Command and the new Star Trek universe is very different: artificial life (including all androids) are now illegal, after a bunch of them committed an atrocity on Mars. Picard must solve a mystery revolving around twin androids who are somehow connected to his great friend Data. In the series, other old favourite characters appear, as well as new ones. The Romulans appear as the antagonists here 🚀🚀🚀 . . First, the good points ... I love the combination of mystery and sci fi; it's not one we see very often (probably because sci fi world building is tough, as is mystery, so writing the two together is doubly arduous). There are some fantastic set pieces, my favourite being the moments in the Borg ship. The series also LOOKS amazing and there are some genuinely fun moments and dry humour I really liked. I also really liked how they flipped various gender and racial tropes in the series. The writers have also had some fun with stereotypes, particularly with fellow starship captain Rios, who has lots of holograms of himself that mine various national caricatures, not to mention actor Santiago Cabrera's impressive range of accents 🚀🚀🚀 . . However,  considering how the threat of the androids is set up and held over us, the mystery doesn't really pay off imho. I was expecting something FAR WORSE than what the real jeopardy ended up being, which felt quite straight forward. Also, more than anything, Picard is quite tonally inconsistent - some episodes are unbearably gory and sad, whereas others are massively playful and a bit silly. Being super deluxe plot-led, I found myself getting less and less interested as the series continued. That said, I think it's definitely worth a watch. Enjoy! 🚀🚀🚀 . . #B2Wreviews #Bang2write #Bang2writers #amwriting #writer #author #authors #screenwriting #screenplay #novelist #screenwriters #book #novels #writersnetwork #writerscommunity #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #StarTrek #authorsofinstagram #writersofig #authorsofig #insta #instalike #instagood #TV https://www.instagram.com/p/CCML8vpJRa4/?igshid=golrqbosrjxk