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Week Around the Ists
One of our all-time favorite TV series is Homicide: Life on the Street. And one of our all-time favorite Homicide episodes is called "The Subway". In it, Vincent D'Onofrio plays a subway commuter who somehow gets wedged between the platform and a subway car. Below the platform, his body is twisted and mangled in such a way that the only thing keeping him alive is the fact that he is squeezed between the platform and a subway car. The moment he is released, his internal organs will collapse and he will die. Great stuff. And terrific acting by D'Onofrio and Andre Braugher (always superb as Detective Frank Pembleton).
Anyway, the reason we bring this up is because the gaps between the platform and the subway cars on Metro Line 2 at People's Square are a little wider than normal these days.
Watch your step. And let us know if you find Homicide on DVD in Shanghai.
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Man, the subway is an incredible episode, D'Onofrio's performance was brillant.
I will check this myself in Shanghai this next Chinese new year.
Wow! I think they must've gotten the idea from HBO's Taxi Cab Confessions. I think this has actually happened before. In what I think is the first episode of Confessions, the cabbie was talking to an NYC cop on the SWAT team about the most horrible way to die…
A serious aficionado of the one-hour American TV serial nighttime drama, particularly of cop shows, HOMICIDE was brilliant. I’ve been on the lookout for HOMICIDE DVDs in Shanghai for a long time. Frank Pembleton (seems Andre Brauer has disappeared) was a TV detective for the ages.
I’m sure you know Dan, THE WIRE – equally brilliant – is done by the same people who did HOMICIDE. I’ve watched season’s 1 and 2 of THE WIRE (available here), but am hard on the lookout for season 3. Critics have called THE WIRE the best television show ever. Ever. Strong stuff given accolades tossed at THE SOPRANOS, SIX FEET UNDER and SEX IN THE CITY. Just kidding about SEX IN THE CITY, it blows.
Alright Detective.
wider platform gaps? Perhaps the local government is trying to cull the careless among the population?
You can order the entire series on DVD at www.amazon.com
The link to the Shanghai Daily is broken, but the paper has another story on the gap here:
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/11/30/298539/Metro_gap_gets_bigger.htm
Full Metal Jacket did it for me. I'd never seen Vincent D. prior to that movie. I began looking for his bio, acting credits, etc., and was speechless when I finally saw this tall, sweetfaced man on Criminal Intent. (Only because I'm not a real movie buff). What a pleasant understated performance this man gives -- but says more with his acting than the script ever could. Bravo, Mr. D.