Boardwalk Empire on HBO

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by benjaminhuf, Sep 12, 2010.

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  1. benjaminhuf

    benjaminhuf Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese are involved in this new production that looks like it has potential. I don't have HBO right now, so I'll probably have to wait until it comes out on blu...

    Here's the trailer

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KfUNiFlo4c

    Here's the official site.

    http://www.hbo.com/boardwalk-empire?cmpid=ABC458


    Part of a good review from Salon:

    http://www.salon.com/entertainment/...eather_havrilesky/2010/09/11/boardwalk_empire

    "Boardwalk Empire": Gangsters return triumphantly to HBO
    In HBO's breathtaking new drama, Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese bring Prohibition-era Atlantic City to life
    By Heather Havrilesky


    "Without the continued support of good, decent women like you, men like me would be nowhere." This is Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) of HBO's new series "Boardwalk Empire" (premieres 9 p.m. Sunday, September 19), telling a crowd from the Women's Temperance League exactly what they want to hear. But behind the scenes, Nucky thinks good, decent women and other rule-followers and idealists are flat-out suckers, while realists (himself included) recognize that most people are simply governed by what they need. As Atlantic City's treasurer on the eve of prohibition, Nucky figures that the laws against alcohol are merely likely to raise the price per bottle, and he waves off the federal agents charged with enforcing the ban as powerless "dog catchers with badges." "We got a product a fella's gotta have," he explains to his fellow council members and city officials, most of whom soon join him in celebrating the new law with -- what else? -- a huge, champagne-soaked party.

    Perhaps taking its cue from Nucky, HBO is now focused on giving the people what they want: more gangsters. After a long dry spell in the wake of "The Sopranos," the network is finally offering up the kind of drama that a wide audience can sink its teeth into, created by prominent "Sopranos" scribe Terence Winter with a pilot episode directed by Martin Scorsese. And one week before the show's highly anticipated premiere, a little celebration seems justifiable; it's hard to think of a series that's looked more likely to succeed. From its breathtaking cinematography to its meticulous period costumes to its smart, snappy dialogue to its talented cast, "Boardwalk Empire" presents a TV program that's so polished and beautifully executed, each episode feels as rich and memorable as its own little Scorsese film. In fact, the Academy should save itself a little time and effort and just roll a big truck full of Emmy statuettes over to the "Boardwalk Empire" studios right now.
     
  2. benjaminhuf

    benjaminhuf Forum Resident Thread Starter

  3. benjaminhuf

    benjaminhuf Forum Resident Thread Starter

    another strong review

    http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68E06U20100915

    HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" a top-notch achievement

    By Andrew Wallenstein

    Tue Sep 14, 2010 9:03pm EDT

    LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - If the motto "It's not TV. It's HBO" felt like an empty boast before, sample the network's new series " Boardwalk Empire," premiering Sunday at 9 p.m.; the scale of the spectacle on display in the pilot sets a new benchmark for the medium.

    HBO reportedly spent as much as $20 million on the 70-minute premiere, and it shows: "Boardwalk's" re-creation of 1920s Atlantic City is a stunning achievement in production design. Having executive producer Martin Scorsese direct the pilot doesn't hurt either, though it's the subsequent episodes that sink their hooks into viewers by putting story ahead of scenery.

    Not since "Mad Men" has a slice of history been so meticulously re-created for television, from its elaborate sets to resplendent costuming -- though HBO's 2005-07 series "Rome" would run a close third. But whereas few with access to a time machine would want to venture back to war-torn ancient Italy, "Boardwalk" beckons with its depiction of a lively ur-Vegas that seems great fun -- unless you happen to be the victim of its frequent violent crimes.

    That comes courtesy of the series' focus: the city's sleazy underworld operating under the firm grip of treasurer Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (Steve Buscemi). "Boardwalk" begins with the passing of the Prohibition Act, which Thompson treats as an open invitation to water down and mark up illegal hooch with the help of homicidal cronies including his brother, who happens to be the equally crooked chief of police (Shea Whigham). Soon enough this bustling black market attracts a rogues gallery of mobsters and, inevitably, the feds, particularly Bible-thumping agent Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon).

    Thompson and Van Alden are fictional creations, but "Boardwalk" provides a delightful kick by mixing them up with historical figures including legendary gangsters Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) and Charles "Lucky" Luciano (Vincent Piazza). Cameos of other famous real folks are so perfectly handled that to reveal who shows up would represent an act of unacceptable spoilage.

    HBO made a bold move by installing an offbeat figure like Buscemi in the lead, and though there's nothing wrong with his performance, it's possible "Boardwalk" would have benefited from a more conventional choice for such a crucial part. Then again, Buscemi makes sense given that the rest of the "Boardwalk" roster is a veritable dream team of character actors, including Kelly Macdonald, Dabney Coleman, Michael Kenneth Williams, to name just a few.

    Such a top-notch, vast cast makes it almost worth wondering if there will be room for contenders from any other production in the supporting actor/actresses categories for a drama series come Emmy time. But two stand head and shoulders above the rest in the first handful of episodes: Shannon nicely channels the creepy intensity that nearly stole "Revolutionary Road" out from under Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. As the coolly calculating Rothstein, Stuhlbarg does a 180-degree turn from the anxious schlemiel who starred in the Coen brothers' "A Serious Man." He is undermined somewhat in scenes where's he's paired with hothead Luciano; the contrast between the two men is played almost campily, as if they were villains from a forgotten "Batman" sequel.

    Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh strikes a nice balance between showcasing Atlantic City's luxe pleasure dens and darkening the very same halls, an authentic touch for a pre-halogen era. While "Boardwalk's" crime stories beg comparison to "Goodfellas" or "Casino," all the period detail Scorsese soaks up brings to mind a very different gem from his oeuvre, "The Age of Innocence." As in "Mad Men," there's plenty of small scenes depicting antiquated ways of yore that make you chuckle at how people lived during the 1920s (though you might pass out rather than laugh in the third episode when a gonorrhea treatment is shown with a surgical tool the size of a hockey stick). Other influences are nakedly derivative: A montage of murders in the pilot is so blatantly lifted from "The Godfather" that Francis Ford Coppola may take umbrage.

    To some degree, the visual grandeur of "Boardwalk" can overwhelm to the point of distraction. It might take a few more episodes before the characters take on the texture we're accustomed to getting from creator/writer/executive producer Terence Winter, who reliably delivered such rich storytelling as a writer on "The Sopranos." The ghosts of "Sopranos" and "Mad Men" hover over "Boardwalk"; it's even in the former's old time slot. Beautifully rendered as the series is, there's a high-concept conflation of the two shows here in the way it marries the mob melodrama of "Sopranos" with "Mad's" period fetishism. It's a savvy programing strategy but robs "Boardwalk" of a certain freshness that would otherwise elevate it to the same echelon as those TV classics.
     
  4. Todd Fredericks

    Todd Fredericks Senior Member

    Location:
    A New Yorker
    I worked on this show several times. See me as a "silent" member of the Celtic gang and in later episodes a "silent" core in the post office scenes with Michael Shannon......
     
  5. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    Gangsters.... Zzzzzz
     
  6. Mike from NYC

    Mike from NYC Senior Member

    Location:
    Surprise, AZ
    Don't have HBO anymore but the previews I saw were quite interesting. I still won't pay $22 per month for HBO.

    Pretty cool that it was done in Greenpoint, the former home turf of Gretsch.
     
  7. Chip Z

    Chip Z Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH, USA
    Set the DVR to record last night. Looking forward to it.
     
  8. 93curr

    93curr Senior Member

    I was enjoying it until the PAINFULLY (and surely no longer obligatory) cliche-ridden "Gangster getting killed to opera music" montage scene. Also; I get MORE than enough of blood splattering directly into the camera lens on 'Spartacus'' already, m'kay?
     
  9. Jay F

    Jay F New Member

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Is he in this? I don't see him listed.
     
  10. Texastoyz

    Texastoyz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas, USA
    It was pretty entertaining. Nice to see something other than were-panthers on HBO.
     
  11. Stateless

    Stateless New Member

    Location:
    USA
    Good point. I enjoyed it for the most part though. I think it will get better as it goes on.
     
  12. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Huh. I guess its priced to market. Down here in the third world part of the country, it's about $12-15. I was fortunate enough that my cable provider had a promotion where I get HBO and Showtime for a full year at only $15 a month, so that's nice.
     
  13. Mike from NYC

    Mike from NYC Senior Member

    Location:
    Surprise, AZ
    No silly, home of Gretsch Guitars :)

    I remember going there with my dad and we were allowed to watch how they built guitars. It was pretty awesome.

    Having a Tennessean that needed some repairs- the neck warped - I guess they figured the least they could do is let me watch them make some guitars.

    It's now a co-op filled with wanna be yupees.
     
  14. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    HBO + showtime $20 a month for me.
     
  15. Jay F

    Jay F New Member

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    If I want to get HBO, my cable/internet/phone package goes up $55-60 per month, as it means buying the TV package between basicbasic cable and premium cable (HBO). That's a DVD box set (at least) per month.
     
  16. mikestar

    mikestar Friendly Optimist

    Location:
    Capitol Hill
    Enjoyed this last night and looking forward to more.
     
  17. Jay F

    Jay F New Member

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Oh. I thought...well, never mind.
     
  18. ringosshed

    ringosshed Forum Resident

    Location:
    san diego
    I didn't enjoy it. I felt no empathy with the characters. The other thing that bugged me was the over use of ghastly 20's music. I will continue to watch to see if it gets better.
     
  19. Koptapad

    Koptapad Forum Resident

    I liked it a lot. Good point about the music. It's funny but I felt compelled to accept it like a Ken Burns documentary.
     
  20. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I feel like I'm missing something. Who ordered the hit on the Italian restaurant owner? Was it the Rothstein's?
     
  21. Flatso

    Flatso Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I was hoping for a 20's era Goodfellas meets the Sopranos what I got was Bachagulup
     
  22. Mechanical Man

    Mechanical Man I Am Just a Mops

    Location:
    Oakland, CA, USA
    If you're referring to the scene where James Colosimo gets whacked while listening to the Caruso record, that's actually how it went down in the real world. (It is unknown, however, whether or not Capone was the actual assassin.)

    You should probably read up a bit on mob history if you want to get immersed in this show-- much of it is reality-based.

    [​IMG]
     
  23. pencilchewer

    pencilchewer Active Member

    Location:
    far and away
    my brother's lifelong friend and colleague Bob Clohessey was in the pilot (not sure if he reappears in subsequent episodes) ......are you familiar with him?



    i watched the first two episodes back to back and enjoyed them... some parts were pretty predictable, but overall, there was enough there to hold my interest... i couldn't help seeing similarities to the Sopranos, either, as well as Carnivale (i loved that show), which took place in the same era..... the gazing through storefront windows reminded me of Tony Soprano's various sense impressions and visions.... the palm reader and strippers reminded me of Carnivale.... there was one actor with a lazy eye, an older guy, who i swear was in a couple of episodes of Sopranos, but damned if i know his name.... 'course, Buscemi himself - who i adore - was on that show, as well..... and speaking of actors, the kid who plays Jimmy on Boardwalk really sucks.... more than a couple of times i found myself coming out and saying "this guy's a horrible actor", particularly in the scene by the ocean when he's giving Nucky his "cut".....he's about as good an actor as i am a reviewer :D

    the comic relief moments were done well, and i love the chemistry between Nucky and his assistant...

    i enjoyed seeing all the old machinery looking like new and being used, such as the manual clutch and starter in the car.... the phonograph, telephones, etc.... they did an amazing job transporting my mind back in time so i could feel like i'm in the scenes with them.... i've always been a fan of all that old jazz, the big band stuff, all of it, so it's wonderful.... they also featured a clip of Fatty Arbuckle, as they watched it in the theater... it's a treat to watch...

    hopefully i'll be able to catch it enough to follow it, and it'll last a long time, never jumping a single shark before its end....
     
  24. gfong

    gfong Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Two episodes in and I am liking the show. Looks like another hit for HBO!
     
  25. elvotix

    elvotix Forum Resident

    Location:
    Marlton, NJ
    love the attention to details & especially the period music.
     
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