What's your favorite drama?

[The Blackangel]

I love drama movies. They're my number one pick of all genres, with horror/thriller in second. My all time favorite drama (and movie in general) is The Libertine. It's a Johnny Depp movie (not to mention Samantha Morton and John Malkovich). Depp plays a 16th century English nobleman (earl) that is friends with the king, but pisses him off constantly. His performance is stellar, and he should have won an Oscar for it. Here's the beginning part of the movie:

 

 

[Akun]

I've been watching a lot of HBO's Oz, Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men around three to four months ago (currently on season two of all shows except Oz, where I'm on the fourth). Out of those dramas, to pick a favorite is hard, especially this early on. Breaking Bad's pacing is more suitable for me because it's paced like a thriller than a character study like the four other shows, but Breaking Bad is not even close to the level of depth those other shows provide in terms of characters and plot... not even Oz, the second weakest of the five before BB IMO. That's not to say any of these shows are poorly written by the way - not even remotely close - just that certain shows have more impressive writing than others. Vince Gilligan is great, and Walt's gradual descent is always entertaining, but I like how David Chase made his characters in Sopranos feel ordinary and mundane despite being mob bosses. And then of course, with The Wire and David Simon, it's more about the systemic corruption that traps the citizens of Baltimore, not just with the more obvious drug dealers on the streets, but also the port workers feeling the heat as technology starts to replace manual labor. There's layers to these five shows, and I like that.

I do enjoy drama shows in general, but to be honest, I prefer drama in a fantasy setting, like with superheroes and sci-fi. I like a balance. Mundane settings like mafia bosses and drug lords are great for discussions... but the mundaneness of it all gets a little dry for me after a while (especially with David Chase's obsession with anticlimaxes). I like to have fun with my shows, so when the drama is something like Netflix's Daredevil, that would usually get my attention. I wouldn't rank Daredevil anywhere near any of the five shows I mentioned above though, even Breaking Bad.

In terms of drama movies, there is one: Whiplash. Such a fun and bombastic portrayal by JK Simmons. He often plays some of the most hateful characters, it seems (see Vern Schillinger in Oz).

Edited October 29, 2022 by Akun

[Justin11]

I have seen a hand full of drama movies many of which I can no longer recall their name's but one of my favorite is deadly illusions.