The Point Radio: MOB CITY Heaps On The Noir

TNT’s MOB CITY not only brings to TV a stylized, noir look at a crime ridden Los Angeles, but it also signals the return of acclaimed show runner Frank Darabont. Franks talks about what hooked him on the project and how he chose the cast that fit the era just right. Plus DOCTOR WHO scores big and Warren Ellis takes a crack at MOON KNIGHT. THE POINT covers it 24/7! Take us ANYWHERE! The Point Radio App is now in the iTunes App store – and it’s FREE! Just search under “pop culture The Point”. The Point Radio – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or on any other mobile device with the Tune In Radio app – and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

Transcript

The Point Radio Hey, it's Mike Rock. The new TNT and Noir based miniseries, Mob City, is important for a lot of reasons. The biggest of which is it brings Frank Darabon back to series television. And Frank tells us exactly what got him hooked on the whole thing. Plus, Warren Ellis on Moon Knight and Doctor Who scores big.

Are you surprised? Let's get to The Point. This is The Point. The Point Radio. Get The Point Radio. The new TNT miniseries drama, Mob City, is brought to television by acclaimed showrunner Frank Darabon. And I asked Frank that since the project is based on both true events and a popular novel, how he decided what to keep and well, what to make up.

Excellent, excellent question because this is honestly the loosest adaptation I've ever done. Which is not in any way to disregard John Bond's book, because it really is the inspiration for everything. That's a brilliant book. Definitely our touchstone. But I gave myself license very early on to just make up as much of what I felt we needed to make up to tell the most entertaining, good sort of meaty, mob story, good pulpy, good noir stuff.

I mean, that's the promise that I wanted to deliver on. And not turn it into sort of the Masterpiece Theatre doc and drama version of events. So yeah, we've thrown caution to the wind on this one. And bless us, Art, John is abundant, is very, he seems to be definitely enjoying the fact that we've done that. And so we're weaving fictional elements very much into the non-fictional historical elements and having a blast doing it.

It was a chance encounter that got Frank involved in the whole thing to begin with. It was one of those book-by-its-cover kind of deals. I was in the newsstand at LAX before jumping on a plane. I poked my head in it and saw this book called LA Noire. Noire being right up my alley and LA being a great component of Noire.

I grabbed the book thinking actually that it might be some fictional thing. And I wound up realizing as I was flying it, it was a non-fiction history of this, which actually made the book even cooler to me. I couldn't put it down for a few days. It's just such a fascinating history. I mean, it's just utterly absorbing.

I couldn't put the book down. And John Button, you know, the way he, I so recommend the book because he's just a compelling historian and brilliantly entertaining writer. So yeah, I checked into the rights only to discover that my friend Michael DeLuca, whom I've known since, gosh. In 1986, when we were, I was on my first produced credit as a writer, Nightmare on Elm Street 3. I met him.

He was a young executive just hired by New Line. So we got to be friends on the set of Nightmare 3. I've known him all these years. I call him up and, you know, to find out what he wanted to do with it. And he was excited about my interest.

So we decided to partner up on it. Bob said he has a sensual sexy air to it, which Frank said comes from his love of the period. And I've always had a tremendous appreciation for past eras. I've always had a specifically a very keen appreciation for this era in the forties. There was something very sexy and dangerous about it.

Plus it was a much more, what's the word I'm looking for? It's a much more put together era. It's a much more elegant and, you know, people would dress a certain way. They didn't just walk out of the house wearing their underwear or whatever people, you know, wear these days. They had to put thought into it.

They presented themselves well. And that's a wonderful thing to put on film because everyone just lines up looking so, so of the era, but also just of a different world. It's as it's as unique as visually as it's as unique as doing a science fiction movie because it is such a different world then. I just have always loved it.

I love the I love the clothes. I love the cars. I love the music. And it's a it's a wonderful. It's a wonderful period to depict.

Challenging, of course, because L.A. has changed so much, but we're finding those little corners and those little pockets of, you know, the old stuff. And then, thankfully, with some digital, some careful digital trickery, digital effects, we can, you know, we can enhance the era and make that make it make it even more convincing. That feeling also extended to the cast, including actor Ed Burns. Usually, don't play characters this slick. So, you know, certainly the wardrobe helps sort of put you in the mood, if you will.

But also, you know, the scenes, a lot of the scenes I have, there is a, you know, I mean, Bugsy is cool. And I guess, you know, part of it is, you know, I mean, I guess a little bit sexy. So, no, I don't know that I played a a character that is this sort of smooth and cool. Finding the right guys to fill those suits was a job that Frank took on. And he knew that one of them had to be John Bernthal, who he knew from his days on Walking Dead.

You know, when I first started working with John some years ago, the first time I worked with him, I had the thought in my head. If I ever get to do a noir project, I'm going to want him to play my noir hero. I'm going to want him to play my lead because he's got that very period feel to me. He doesn't come off of like, you know, like a contemporary guy. Plus, he's got this tremendously quiet masculine. It's not forced.

It's not, you know, showboating, but he's got this very testosterone-y kind of masculinity that's quiet. And it's genuine. And it feels like such a throwback to me to Robert Mitchum and John Garfield. You know, an earlier era of actor, of men who came up in tougher circumstances during the Great Depression and fought in those wars and just had to go on, you know, get through life as best they could without making a big deal out of it. You know, it's just such a throwback aspect to it. And he so reminds me of those guys and those generations. So for me, it was, you know, just a self-evident marriage of, you know, a certain kind of story that I wanted to tell.

And this actor who would be so, you know, perfect to tell that story. Actor Milo Ventiviglia Hislril came in just working with Frank. You know, for me, and I've been very vocal about this, you know, Frank's the reason why I'm doing this. Been a huge fan of his work for years. His films, Shawshank is probably one of my all-time favorites. And then also following The Walking Dead when he was involved.

So when I knew he was doing a new show, but then when I knew he was doing a new show and it was based in 1947 Los Angeles, you know, the town that I kind of grew up near and around, I was just, I was dying to be in. So it was one of those things that, you know, being a fan of Frank and then ultimately getting a chance to work with him and seeing his passion, compassion and excitement and everything, every way that he approached filmmaking, you know, was infectious to all of us where we were excited and we wanted to be on set and we were working our hardest and giving our all and really trying to be respectful

and give the words that he wrote a bit of pride and honor. Mob City is a limited series extending through December on TNT. Find out more by checking your local listings and see more on the whole production at TNTdrama.com. All right, before you go over the river and through the woods, let's take a minute to check the latest in pop culture. It's no surprise that Doctor Who's Day of the Doctor racked up some real ratings wins for the BBC America.

The show was broadcast twice, once on a worldwide simulcast on the 23rd of November and again on Sunday as well. And it was a top show on BBC America. We'll be making it the best show ever on that network. And so far, a total of 10 million viewers. Of course, no one's added in the DVR numbers yet.

Those are expected, of course, possibly even double the number of folks who watched it. If you think Silver and Golden Age comics and Magic Cards are selling hot at auction, how about movie props? The original, or at least one of the two, Maltese Falcons from that film, sold for $3.5 million at auction a few days ago with proceeds going to the Film Foundation organization.

Before the sale, the item was billed as arguably the most important movie prop to ever exist. A lot of fans were excited for Marc Malar and Frank Whiteley's Jupiter's Legacy, but a lot of fans also may have missed those first three issues due to sellouts and retailer problems. And now, Image is trying to rectify that with a 64-page Jupiter's Legacy Giant Size Edition that'll collect all three of the first issues in one volume for $3.99

and get you prepared for the next run of issues that'll begin with number four coming to stores in January. The Giant Size Edition will be in comic stores on December 26th. Moon Knight is coming back to Marvel, or more specifically to Marvel now. It'll be a new series written by Warren Ellis, and Ellis has described it as a ground-level title focusing on weird crime. He also promises to unify all the previous incarnations and stories based on the character as well,

with a first issue of the new series hitting comic stores in March. Sci-Fi has announced a premiere date of Ronald Moore's Helix. It'll be a two-episode premiere with limited commercial interruptions and hits the network on Friday, January 10th. New episodes of Lost Girl begin on the network on January 13th as well as another season of Being Human. And the addition to that as well on Monday nights will be the new supernatural drama Bitten.

Again, all three of those premiering on January 13th on Sci-Fi. On the weekend, Black Friday and a great day in the comic stores this week. Plenty of things to stuff into your bags, including a couple of the one for a dollar titles from Dark Horse, Ape Sapien number one and Victories number one, both available for a dollar. Back in the day, Marvel celebrated the underground comics with a series called Comics Book with an X.

And now there's a hardcover collection of that available this week from Dark Horse. Never Ending also is a cool new title from Dark Horse that involves a superhero who has to face the fact that he's immortal, and is not overly thrilled about that. Zero Year continues at DC with two titles, Catwoman 25 and Flash 25 as well. And there's a collection of the 70s Joker title in a new terry paperback called Joker Clown Prince of Crime.

Lois Lane takes her turn celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Superman family, with a hardcover collection that covers from the 40s all the way to recent days as well. A couple of titles you may want to check out from IDW, Half Past Danger. A little link to the party on that one, don't worry, issue six this week. And the other one should easily be available from your retailer.

And The Max is back, well, sort of, it's a remastered edition of The Max. Beautiful work by Sam Keith here from IDW. Max Maximize number one is out this week. And Mr. Peabody and Sherman, your friends aren't going to believe there's actually going to be a comic and a movie on that. First issue is out from IDW.

Black Science is Rick Remender's new title from Image. First issue of that is out with a couple of covers this week. Pretty Deadly number one gets a second printing. Number two is out this week. Rad Queens gets a second printing for number two.

And number three is out this week with two covers. And there's two different printings for Sex Criminals number one, third printing for that one. Sex Criminals number two gets a second printing. And from Marvel, Cataclysm continues with Cataclysm Ultimate X-Men number one. Maybe remind you that more than likely you're going to be doing a little traveling over the holidays.

And you can always check the new comic stores in the area where you're going with a comic book locator service of one 888 comic book. There's an easy link on the front of ComicMix.com or you can check the website findmycomicshop.com. That does it for the podcast. We, of course, spend a little time resting up for the holiday. We'll see you at the start of the new week to catch up on everything that's been going on.

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