Subject: Boardwalk Empire Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:19 am
"No you're not Charlie. You're with his mother."
Since we seem to have some fans on here I thought it warranted a thread of its own.
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:41 am
This is being shown exclusively on $ky Atlantic in the UK so I'll have to wait for it to appear on DVD before I offer an opinion. (I wouldn't want to view it illegally online. Not now I'm a moderator.)
Salomé Potential 00 Agent
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:07 am
ambler wrote:
This is being shown exclusively on $ky Atlantic in the UK so I'll have to wait for it to appear on DVD before I offer an opinion. (I wouldn't want to view it illegally online. Not now I'm a moderator.)
I suspect you might like it. Nearly all of the female characters are/were or are accused of being whores.
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:08 am
Salomé wrote:
Nearly all of the female characters are/were or are accused of being whores.
Should I have a problem with whores? They're the only honest people left on the planet.
Salomé Potential 00 Agent
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:17 am
ambler wrote:
Salomé wrote:
Nearly all of the female characters are/were or are accused of being whores.
Should I have a problem with whores? They're the only honest people left on the planet.
I think you'll find my statement suggested quite the opposite...
Vesper Head of Station
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Fri Apr 01, 2011 9:42 am
So it's Mad Men with a budget and a plot?
I enjoyed the premiere more than I expected.
Salomé Potential 00 Agent
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:48 am
Vesper wrote:
So it's Mad Men with a budget and a plot?
I enjoyed the premiere more than I expected.
Even though the premiere was good, it clearly had Scorcese's fingerprints all over it. The visual tone of the rest of the season is slightly different.
The White Tuxedo 00 Agent
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It is interesting that cable TV is producing by far the best filmed drama, at least in the US. I stress cable TV. Network TV remains shit, and is probably only getting worse. It's probably because the networks have a relatively guaranteed audience, while cable shows have to be good because there is too much else on.
HBO threw an obscene amount of money at that show, but it was well spent.
It makes one sad to think of all the quality movies and series that could be produced with the money pumped into Stupid Action Flick III and Unoriginal Horror Movie IV each and every year.
It is interesting that cable TV is producing by far the best filmed drama, at least in the US. I stress cable TV. Network TV remains shit, and is probably only getting worse. It's probably because the networks have a relatively guaranteed audience, while cable shows have to be good because there is too much else on.
But TV is what to watch in America, not film.
It is interesting that most of the good writers seemed to have flocked to TV. Though with the kind of movies the modern studios bet on nowadays, there is really little to do for the truly talented in Hollywood nowadays. And I always thought quality TV was a more writer-friendly medium anyway.
Vesper Head of Station
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Sat Apr 02, 2011 2:12 am
I think the "My girl is so dumb" montage was probably my favourite part of the pilot.
Do they try to ape Scorcese or do they branch out a bit? I assume it's the usual stable of cable directors, Alan Taylor, Allen Coulter and so on?
I agreed with a lot of criticisms beforehand about how Buscemi isn't a leading man and having watched it I probably still agree to an extent. Spaced out over two hours it felt more like an ensemble, or at least a dual lead, between him and Pitt. I hope they don't lean on him too much.
Salomé Potential 00 Agent
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Sat Apr 02, 2011 3:43 am
Vesper wrote:
I think the "My girl is so dumb" montage was probably my favourite part of the pilot.
Do they try to ape Scorcese or do they branch out a bit? I assume it's the usual stable of cable directors, Alan Taylor, Allen Coulter and so on?
I agreed with a lot of criticisms beforehand about how Buscemi isn't a leading man and having watched it I probably still agree to an extent. Spaced out over two hours it felt more like an ensemble, or at least a dual lead, between him and Pitt. I hope they don't lean on him too much.
The pilot that Scorcese directed does stand out a bit in terms of visual style, the rest of the series is slightly different, yet internally consistent in terms of style. The end of the pilot was 100% Scorcese.
And many people had your concern about Buscemi, but it should disappear by the end of the season. By then you'll known Nucky Thompson well enough to realize he couldn't be played by someone like say James Gandolfini. Part of his strength is the fact that he doesn't appear - at first glance - as a threat or a huge power player.
Vesper Head of Station
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:02 am
I'm up to episode 4 "Anastasia" and while the show is a bit clunky with its messages, I am enjoying it. I did look around on the message boards and see some people didn't get Margaret stealing the negligee or the rather blatant foreshadowing/point of the comparisons between her and Nucky's LI, so perhaps I'm just hyper aware.
Also I'm enjoying Gretchen Mol in ways I never thought possible.
I'm digging the cinematography and framing a lot. Mad Men is glossy to a fault at times, this is cinematic and stylish without going so far.
Salomé Potential 00 Agent
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:27 am
Something I forgot to mention earlier: I think the guy who plays Luciano (Vincent Piazza) is brilliant.
Vesper Head of Station
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:45 am
I'm still figuring out the characters, is he the bloke Mol's character slammed a door in the face of?
The one with the clap?
Salomé Potential 00 Agent
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:00 am
He is.
Supposedly his Luciano is terrific, and closest thing we ever got the the real thing, if the "experts" are to be believed.
Scorcese gave him a near endless supply of study material, but he sure put it to good use.
Some of the first season's best scenes involve him and Rothstein.
Vesper Head of Station
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Sat Apr 23, 2011 1:28 pm
I'll be sure to pay extra attention then.
I loathe Paz de la Huerta. She has a vacuumous screen presence. This is the second thing I've seen her cast as the slightly trashy piece of erotica. She doesn't make it work. Though I suppose opposite Margaret the ingenue the audience is supposed to loathe her. It could be a cute sexy role with an actress less irritating. As it stands she's prime for a cloudy punch.
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Sat Apr 23, 2011 1:33 pm
Vesper wrote:
I loathe Paz de la Huerta. She has a vacuumous screen presence.
She sucks all around her?
Vesper Head of Station
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Sat Apr 23, 2011 1:57 pm
ambler wrote:
Vesper wrote:
I loathe Paz de la Huerta. She has a vacuumous screen presence.
She sucks all around her?
:)
With those teeth I'm sure in certain contexts she could double as a mohel.
Vesper Head of Station
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:47 am
Just finished episode 5. Think I'm hooked.
Actress who played Pearl is a find.
Vesper Head of Station
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:02 am
Anyone else been watching the latest season? Want to share your thoughts?
I think it's gone from a pretty good series to a great series. The dialogue alone is sharper than anything else on TV and well, if you either think the latest episode was genius or completely over the top, I'm in the former camp myself. This show's never tried to use incest as a selling point of shock and awe but it's made a far better story out of it than the other HBO dreck (Game of Thrones, John From Cincinnati etc) that has tried to tackle it.
Huston is a great find, if you can call anyone with that last name that, and Gretchen Mol, Julianne Nicholson and Charlie Cox have really surprised me this year. Far better than I had them pegged.
And even Spazzy Paz became bearable for the episode or two before she ran off and left shit on the Victrola.
There are a couple of issues I have, but I'm more inclined to discuss them at the end of the season so as not to spoil anything.
And it has production design and a budget Mad Men would kill for. So many great sequences this series.
(that set is incredible)
I'd post more but they'd probably need spoiler warnings.
Salomé Potential 00 Agent
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:09 pm
I love this show but I still can't get over what a weak link Gretchen Mol has turned out to be. She's the Lady MacBeth of this drama, yet she falls woefully short of having the acting chops required for the job.
Polly Walker did a lot more with a similar role in Rome, to the point that you actually looked forward to her scenes, even though her character should have been very unsympathetic.
I agree that season two has more truly memorable moments that season one. On the other hand, some of the things that have happened in the second half of this season are a bit OTT compared to the show's initial, more subdued tone.
Charlie Cox is a very handsome man who has almost too much charisma. He will burn Michael Pitt off the screen if they get to share a scene in the near future.
Dear Nucky Thompson: if you want your paramour to remain faithful, do not hire a driver who is 80% charm.
Vesper Head of Station
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Subject: Re: Boardwalk Empire Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:21 pm
Hmm... I've thought she's been fine for the most part (though I wasn't a fan of 'finish it' in the most recent episode). The writing for the character is at least very well realised, IMO. While she's playing the Lady MacBeth role, I think she's a lot more like Eli (and a bit less like Ms Macbeth) in that while she can be cold and extremely ruthless she's more emotional and prone to lapses in judgement than she would like to think and would be prone to appear. I suppose that's the point of the episode that started with her schtupping the Commodore into the stroke and then slapping him on the bed. I think there's an artifice to Gillian's persona that is a bit more extreme than Atia's due to her background of abuse and exploitation in a pre-psychological age. But that's my point of view.
Quote :
On the other hand, some of the things that have happened in the second half of this season are a bit OTT compared to the show's initial, more subdued tone.
I agree and I have a hunch as to why but I'll wait for the finale lest I put the cart before the horse.
I think my favourite scene all season was the tiny one where Torio is meeting Remus that went something like: