Boardwalk Empire

[55]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

Personally, I thought the pilot was great and am really looking forward to seeing where they go from here. The set decoration and costume design were both awesome and Michael Pitt stole the show just as I suspected he would.

[Beantown]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

Yeah, Pitt was awesome. I definitely need to rewatch the episode soon, to catch more of the backstories of the characters and remember their names, but I'm all in on this show. I'll give it the duration and see where it takes me.

[KG]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

It wasn't bad but there was something missing, maybe a certain grittiness. Everything seemed too clean for lack of a better word. I got this vibe of style over substance or maybe the series has been overhyped to me.

It could be the casting of Buscemi in the lead role. I'm a big Buscemi fan but I don't know if he can carry a series or a movie. He's more in his element as a supporting character. He doesn't seem convincing to me as someone who should be feared and is ruthless just from the way he looks and his presence on screen.

It is to early to judge the series but the debut didn't grab me like it did with other cable shows like the Sopranos and Dexter.

I got the impression that he is more of a businessman/politician than gangster although at times he will do what he has to. From the looks of Ep1 it appears that his hand may be forced to go down that route.

[Beantown]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

I got the impression that he is more of a businessman/politician than gangster although at times he will do what he has to. From the looks of Ep1 it appears that his hand may be forced to go down that route.

I got the same thing. Definitely not a gangster first, as Jimmy said:

"You can't be half a gangster anymore." Or something along those lines.

[Jackdog]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

I got the same thing. Definitely not a gangster first, as Jimmy said:

"You can't be half a gangster anymore." Or something along those lines.

I enjoyed that scene. I'm sold on this show. I really liked the way the wife beating husband was taken care of.

[steelcurtain311]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

I read numerous reviews that spoke sort of negatively of the casting of Buscemi in the lead, since he isn't a "powerful" actor like Gandolfini was in the Sopranos or McShane in Deadwood. But if you watched the way Buscemi played him in the episode, he wasn't trying to be Tony Soprano. He's a guy who isn't afraid to get dirty, but is smart and calculating, he'd joke around, even make fun of himself. But when it came down to business, he was a serious man. He's not an intimidating-looking guy, and I think that's where the criticism comes from. He's playing a corrupt politician, who's dipping into different sorts of rackets, he's not a "gangster". I enjoyed him in the episode and think he's fine in this role.

Definitely going to be Pitt's show, though. Looks like they're giving him the Vorenus/Pullo role(s) from Rome, as he's sort of narrating history through himself by meeting important figures like Al Capone. I loved their scenes together, especially the first one when he introduces himself at the end, where it's just two button men having a conversation outside while their bosses talk, totally unaware one of them will go on to be the most powerful gangster ever.

They did a good job building up the tension between Rothstein/Luciano and Nucky. I'm guessing that will be the main focus of this season.

My only complaint is, what happens when you can no longer use these famous figures on the show? It's not like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano can unravel long storylines in this series, since they're not Atlantic City gangsters. While they're dabbling in semi-fiction here, and it's not 100% historically accurate, you still can't rewrite history in a series like this. So can the show support itself without the Al Capones and other famous gangsters appearing in large roles? My belief is it can, because I think Pitt and Nucky are both intriguing leads.

I loved Marty directing the first episode, too. It was fun to see his odd direction style in a television show for once. Even down to the characters and dialog, that scene where Shannon's character is on the phone with the other agent describing each gangster and what they're wearing, that scene was 100% Martin Scorcese brand film making that you only see from him. I was cracking up.

[fistofrage]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

I enjoyed that scene. I'm sold on this show. I really liked the way the wife beating husband was taken care of.

I thought he'd get some cement shoes, but he was just tossed overboard. Aparantly they wanted him found so they could pin the liquor heist on him.

[KingV2k3]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

OK...we watched all but the first nine minutes...can anyone give a full synopsis of the whole premiere? We think we got the gist of it, but my wife [mostly, LOL] missed a lot. Just like 'The Sopranos', so many details are in the dialogue bits, however brief, I know we BOTH missed things.

However, the one thing she didn't miss, was the typical gratuitious, and the violence against women, which stick out like brightly colored kites on a windy day to her.

Overall, we'll watch again. I greatly enjoyed it, and once someone can explain the nuances to the misses, she'll be on board as well.

I got (almost) the whole thing and LOVED IT...

But I have a potentially stupid question:

Who wacked the Chicago guy (listening to Caruso at the time) and why?

Little help?

[KingV2k3]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

I got the same thing. Definitely not a gangster first, as Jimmy said:

"You can't be half a gangster anymore." Or something along those lines.

I tought Bushemi was perfecto as a weasly little small town, self serving politico, who's about to get in waaaaaaay over his head...

He's the classic little dog with a big appetite, it's about to get very Aesop's Fable's / Greek Tragedy, which is a Scorsece thang...

[KG]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

I got (almost) the whole thing and LOVED IT...

But I have a potentially stupid question:

Who wacked the Chicago guy (listening to Caruso at the time) and why?

Little help?

He didn't want to get into the bootlegging game so his Chicago underlings killed him. He seemed to "old-school" for them.

[JayBee74]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

Definitely going to be Pitt's show, though.

That's a huge assumption, considering Buscemi is the star of the show. Pitt is shaping up to be Nucky's (Buscemi) main muscle, but I could see "Eddie's" (Pitt) ambition having him reaching for the top spot-then again, Eddie seems pretty loyal. Pitt does add a huge dynamic to the show.

Great scene with Nucky telling Eddie not to underestimate him, and that he could have him killed. Eddie acknowledges that he has the power, but wouldn't do it. Then the half gangster remark.

The boat beat down was pretty violent stuff. The wife beater/baby killer deserved the brass knuckles.

Loved the first episode. It set some things up and delivered a lot of great scenes.

[Dr. Sheldon Cooper]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

I got (almost) the whole thing and LOVED IT...

But I have a potentially stupid question:

Who wacked the Chicago guy (listening to Caruso at the time) and why?

Little help?

Read on the history of it and it will tell you. It is said that Johnny Torrio, the guy the brought everyone together for the meeting set up and had James Colosimo murdered because he did not want to get into selling alcohol. Al Capone is said to be one of the mystery people that have killed him even though it wasn't shown in the episode

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

Too bad they killed Colosimo.....he was hilarious.

[Money99]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

I thought the first episode was very 'meh'. Not bad, but not that great.
I'll give it a 2nd episode before pulling the plug or going all in.

[jeremym480]

Re: Boardwalk Empire

Yeah, Pitt was awesome. I definitely need to rewatch the episode soon, to catch more of the backstories of the characters and remember their names, but I'm all in on this show. I'll give it the duration and see where it takes me.

I need to re-watch it too. It's hard to learn who is who and who fits in where and what not. Plus, a lot of the guys look similar to one another. When they nabbed ole girls husband I thought that was Jimmy's boss (Ryan I think his name is) at first. It definitely takes me awhile to catch on. I kind of wish they had a breakdown similar to this one for The Wire:

Spoiler

Although, I guess figuring them all out on you're own is part of the fun too.