Boardwalk Empire

[SwordoftheMorning]

Damn, found out again. I'll have to take my loads of HBO cash to another message board with less discerning residents.

Who says Nucky is too stupid? Nucky knows full well what Jimmy did, but he doesn't have the full gangster mentality yet--you may recall Jimmy telling Nucky that he can't be half a gangster any more--so he's not willing to be ruthless with a kid that he otherwise likes. One might call this characterization, if one didn't happen to give a fuck about Art.

Also, this is a spoiler thread. You don't need spoiler tags on top of that.

Wait ....

he's not in gangster mode, when it comes his driver who is clearly snitching to the feds, but when it comes to some poor drunken immigrant slub, who he is selling booze and gambling to, btw. He's quick to use the Police Dept as his personal hit squad ? If that makes sense to you, then I guess it was a great premiere.

Me ? I need a lot more quality than that to call it even good. It was ok, but had major issues.

[Brude]

Pissed of I watched the 'making of' thing though, feel like I've spoiled myself.

I agree with PDC. The 'making of' stuff didn't spoil things at all for me, and I watched all of them.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Wait .... he's not in gangster mode, when it comes his driver who is clearly snitching to the feds, but when it comes to some poor drunken immigrant slub, who he is selling booze and gambling to, btw. He's quick to use the Police Dept as his personal hit squad ?

Sure. Nucky's not unwilling to use violence; he's unwilling to be as cold-hearted and ruthless as Rothstein, which is a different story altogether. Nucky's a guy who still remembers the day when his late wife died of consumption years ago; who resents Jimmy for leaving Atlantic City behind to go off to war; who takes care of a pregnant Irish woman who can't offer him much of anything; in short, Nucky has a sentimental streak, and it stopped him from pulling the trigger on Jimmy to serve his self-interest.

[Ser_not_appearing_yet]

Thats cool.

Hopefully I don't get too addicted to this thing. Mob shows can really eat into my social life.

[Commodore]

After seeing the amazing production values in this pilot, I have serious reservations about whether GoT will be up to snuff.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

After eating a delicious tofu hoagie this afternoon, I have serious reservations about whether the Christmas ham will be up to snuff.

[red snow]

After seeing the amazing production values in this pilot, I have serious reservations about whether GoT will be up to snuff.

On the bright-side I it's my the same company so wouldn't it be a good sign? As opposed to it looking shit with a higher budget than AGOT.

This is my evening viewing for tonight - new season of "spooks" can be watched on iplayer later in the week.

[Tyrellius]

Everything PDC says above. I could have watched them drinking and talking shit all day, the music, the clothes, everything about the show oozed cool.

Al Capone, played by a dude from Liverpool. Scarface must be turning in his grave. :rofl:

[Guest Raidne]

Wow, I expected to get a thread full of excited people, and instead it's like half of comments are all, whatev, it kinda sucked, or even more inexplicably, well, it didn't suck but that means GoT will suck....WTF?

Anyway, loved the pilot, looking forward to watching the show develop. Thought it definitely had a very Scorsese flavor, especially the end which was that layered on violent resolution of multiple plot lines thing that Scorsese is so fond of and always reminds me of the Godfather films.

[delete this account pls]

Wow, I expected to get a thread full of excited people, and instead it's like half of comments are all, whatev, it kinda sucked, or even more inexplicably, well, it didn't suck but that means GoT will suck....WTF?

I know right?

I thought this pilot was right up there with the best HBO has put out so far. As good as the Deadwood pilot. Buscemi was great, the actor who played Jimmy was great, Nucky's butler was funny, and I laughed out loud when Soap from Lock Stock introduced himself as Al Capone. I had no idea Capone served in WWI.

I also thought it was very funny how Scorcese referenced some of his classic films in a very mocking way. The midget boxing match used some shots that were lifted directly from Raging Bull.

And damn, I saw it coming just before the reveal, but Jimmy surprised me. That kid is ruthless. Obviously this will be a big theme of the show, the 'new breed' of gangster, more violent and more ambitious than Nucky is used to. "You can't be half a gangster, Nucky. Not anymore." Indeed.

ETA; I thought it was another great touch when the feds were surveiling the big gangster meeting that Nucky hosted. Clever and funny way to get out a big chunk of introductory exposition. "That's the concierge." "Serge?" "Sigh. The manager. He. Works. Here." *crosses out Serge*

[delete this account pls]

Also; Steve Buscemi was married to Alma Garrett???

[Ran]

I don't at all get how the high production values of Boardwalk Empire implies that Game of Thrones will look bad... WTF? They have the same budget! From the same channel!

Raidne,

Al Capone did not serve in WWI. He lied about it to explain his scars (which were earned, rather less prosaically, when he pissed off some guy by hitting on his girlfriend). Nice bit of detail and characterization. I think Jimmy knew it was a lie, too.

I thought it was great, for the most part. I thought some bits felt a little flat -- Nucky's first meeting with Kelly McDonald's character mainly, they didn't really seem to have any chemistry in that scene. It felt a bit stiff.

I agree with the read on Nucky's relation to Jimmy. Even the Commodore looked rather fond when he learned what Jimmy had done. He got a get out of jail card this time, from the sentimental Nucky, who'll start letting Jimmy convince him that it's a new ballgame. But eventually, they're going to have to fall out when Jimmy goes too far.

[Calibandar]

I don't at all get how the high production values of Boardwalk Empire implies that Game of Thrones will look bad... WTF? They have the same budget! From the same channel!

That's because Commodore's comment doesn't make any sense. You'd think the production values of Boardwalk would be a very good sign for Game of Thrones, which already looked very nice from the production video that we saw.

[Emery Silverstein]

I enjoyed the pilot and think the series has alot of potential. My wife and I don't normally go for shows like this but it should fill the gap between True Blood and GoT.

[Commodore]

That's because Commodore's comment doesn't make any sense. You'd think the production values of Boardwalk would be a very good sign for Game of Thrones, which already looked very nice from the production video that we saw.

Just because it's the same company doesn't mean the production values will be the same.

I get a very strong Xena vibe from the admittedly incomplete GoT footage (especially the costuming, which might stay the same). When I compare it to BE, which looks vibrant and meticulously detailed, that's where the concern comes from.

[Calibandar]

Come on man, HBO is not going to make something that will give off a strong Xena vibe of any kind.

Secondly, I would actually think seeing the good ( as expected) production values on shows such as Rome, Deadwood or Boardwalk Empire tell you that that'll probably be the case with Game of Thrones as well.

[Ran]

Yeah, all we saw was documentary footage, and that in snippets; or, in the case of teaser material, under a very dark filter. Suffice it to say, it will look rather different when it airs, after all the post work is done.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Getting back to Boardwalk Empire for a second, I notice a number of critics think that Nucky, by offering up the corpse of Kelly MacDonald's husband to the feds, has successfully kept them from looking further into the hijacking. This doesn't make a lot of sense to me. We don't get much from Van Alden (the Treasury agent), but he's both well informed about the mob scene and apparently dedicated to the point of zealotry (if you take his claim that enforcing Prohibition is a "godly pursuit" at face value), so I'm not sure why he would be satisfied with a corpse of a guy who wouldn't have much contact with Nucky or Rothstein beyond playing dice at the casino.

[Brude]

the actor who played Jimmy was great,

That's Michael Pitt. He's very talented and probably would be a bigger star already, but rumor is he can be hard to work with. (I hope that doesn't affect the show, in the future.) Also, he maybe looks a bit too much like diCaprio for his own good. You should check him out in Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Dreamers" (also starring Eva Green). It's a terrific movie, IMO.

[Ran]

Ah, knew I recognized him from somewhere. Yes, Jeffrey Wells was writing about the fact that there was a lot of buzz over him a few years back, and then it sort of petered out.

I agree that from the sound of things, this isn't the end of the matter. If they get wind of the Atlantic City source of the booze, they might draw some lines to Colissimo's assassination and Torrio, and then their recent presence in Atlantic City.