HBO's Boardwalk Empire - Season 1 - Page 2

Cool!

A small detail I really liked: all the deer. Those things are everywhere around here as soon as you get into an area with even a little bit of woods.

Seeing Buscemi as a leading man like this is phenomenal. And his burst of violence at the gambling hall with Schroeder was a really great unhinged and dangerous moment.

Michael Stuhlbarg as Rothstein is a character I definitely want to see a lot more of.

really liked it. I thought Capone's introduction was a bit clumsey though. Sort of an "Ah Ha" moment.

It was a little too "expositiony-y."

"Hey everyone, it's Prohabition! And we're going to run the town because people still want BOOZE! Isn't that right my brother the Sherrif and Mr. Mayor?"

But it's the pilot. I'm willing to bet that kind of stuff won't take place now that things are established. I certainly hope not, anyway.

I actually like how it didn't make a huge deal of it. The lead up maybe, but afterward it was just "I'm Al Capone." Boom. Done. No big HE'S GOING TO BE THE UNDERWORLD KINGPIN!!!!

Really impressive. I almost feel like it's not fair to compare other shows to something like this. With the money and talent involved, it feels like it'll be a mini-movie every week.

Loved Michael Pitt channeling Leonardo DiCaprio...or maybe that's just the way I saw it.

Can someone please change the fucking thread title?

I'm too excited from being able to watch a new Scorsese to think about this critically.

See I didn't mind all that stuff it was just the way they introduced Capone.

Yeah but anyone watching this knows who Al Capone is. A simpler "hey Al" or something like that as if they already knew eachother would have been better I think.

How so? If the guy justsaid his name was Al how would the audience know it was Capone?

Because he looks just like him and has scars all over his face?

The way they introduced Luciano was a little more subtle, I think. Not a deal breaker or anything, just a tad bit clumsy.

I definitely wouldn't be able to recognize that actor as Al Capone and have no idea who Lucky Luciano was other than what the show has told me. I really know nothing about the history of the mob and I'd be surprised if I was alone in that (although maybe it's because I'm from Canada!).

You think most people(I didn't) know about Capone's actions prior to Chicago? I just don't see the big deal about introducing a character. Most shows do it and it can come off clumsy but necessary.

Well, everyone in this thread knew it was Capone right away because we knew the actor was cast in the role 6 months ago.

Anecdotally, I watched it with a couple "civilians" and neither of them knew who he was until he introduced himself.

That big, fat envelope of cash Jimmy handed him might have had something to do with it.

I don't think we should watch this show and be married to the historical accuracy of it. According to Wikipedia (yeah, yeah) the real Nucky Johnson (fictionalized into Thompson for the show) was 250 pounds and 6'1", and Steve Buscemi isn't even in the same galaxy of that.

The show's riffing off history and what we know of these people, and I love that about it. Keeps it suspenseful.

If we're to keep with history (again according to Wikipedia), Nucky's wife died in 1912, seven years before. The show may have changed that about it. We'll see.

I didn't know either, but my knowledge of this time period is pretty much non-existent.

All the people complaining about the show spelling too much out kind of confuses me. I mean, they're right of course, but that's what a pilot is. The only pilot I've ever seen that didn't do that was The Wire (at least, I don't recall it doing that, it's been a while), and you can't expect every crime show to be The Wire.

Even the first episode of THE WIRE was a little more hand-holding and expository relative to the rest of the series. When the security guard is found dead they flash back to him identifying Avon in court. First season also has the on the nose chess scene. Point is, yeah, no show is 100% perfect right off the bat. It was a bit exposition-y, but not enough to really bother me, and it's out of the way now anyway. And I would not have realized that was supposed to be Capone if they hadn't said it

This was great, as expected from Scorsese + HBO + the cast. Don't have much else to add right now, other than HOLY SHIT those headshots caught me off guard even though it's HBO, and Kelly MacDonald's little girl crying was really genuine and thus upsetting. Can't wait to see more, and as others have said I hope they can keep up some semblance of Scorsese's style (and Schoonmaker's editing) throughout the rest of the run.

This is the internet, Pat. That's precisely what we expect.

Ok, I think what I ment to say and what I typed came out all wrong.

I never ment to say that you should know that it was Al Capone just by looking at him. I thought the way he threw his name out was handled clumsily.

If the guy had come out and said "hey Al or hey Capone, start the car we gotta get going." That would have been better than the way they did it. That's all. Let you think hey...that could be Capone or just some random thug named Al.

It's the only instance in the entire show I didn't like them spelling something out for me.

I'm guessing this will go like Deadwood, certain events are set in stone via history (Colosimo's death), but the show will probably go its own way elsewhere, like with Bullock's family.

You know, it seemed perfectly reasonable to draw some comparisons between HBO's new prestige series and some of its previous ones.

But whether it was, in fact, reasonable or not, I don't know that it earned the condescension of "This is the internet."

Either way, it looks like a good series, and if the majority of folks derived more pleasure from last night's debut than I did, I can only be happy for them.

The Wire wasn't a prestige show until a few seasons in. And, to me, it's like comparing Entourage to Larry Sanders. They're both show business comedies! Both on HBO!

No more comparisons from me, promise.

The fact that grown men don't know what Al Capone looked like kinda shocks me, I'm not going to lie. But whatever. Just as long as nobody says, "before my time." Get fucked and die before you think about typing those words.

I was thinking about this the other night but forgot to mention it. Nucky's secretary; anyone else think he's an homage to Tony's secretary from the original Scarface?

If you haven't seen it, check this out, about two minutes in. Same accent, same look, same kind of bumbling. Kinda neat and I wouldn't put it past Scorsese.

When Nucky talks to Dabney Coleman's character, he says it's been seven years, so no, not changed. Can we keep wikipedia out of this thread? Winter admitted they hired Buscemi despite not being anything like the real Nucky, but he also said that once you Google the real Nucky, you've spoiled the show for yourself. That's why they changed his last name. Sure, it'll probably be fictionalized to a degree, but I don't want to know the main points either.

If there was any moment in the show that was overly spelling anything it out, Capone's intro wasn't it. Perhaps the scene where characters names are discussed and one end of the conversation is so retarded that the names are spoken and enunciated repeatedly?

In any event, an episodic staff review of each episode is a' comin'.

What? No, they've repeatedly said they changed the name because they didn't want to be bound by Nucky's real life history when making the story.

This is kind of an odd sentiment, but whatever. I know roughly what Capone looked like but that doesn't mean I'm going to automatically assume every random moon-faced dude in a TV show set in the 20s is supposed to be him.

Seriously? I'm trying to think of any non-contemporary figure whose look is iconic enough that you'd expect people to immediately identify an impersonator on sight (particularly in a piece where they are not the focus). I'm coming up with Elvis, JFK, maybe Marilyn Monroe?

I mean, even if Capone's face was actually that well known today, there's still the fact that he's being portrayed by an actor who was, hopefully, not cast primarily for physical resemblance.

Wait, what? Abe Lincoln? George Washington? This is such a ludicruous statement I don't know where to begin.

Were the history textbooks you guys used in brail? Because Capone's face was one that I'm not likely to forget. We're supposed movie fans on a movie webiste and you're telling me the only iconic faces people would remember are those three? Have people never seen either Scarface or The Untouchables, or have no knowledge of Capone's visage via pop culture? Okay, maybe I'm crazy, but again, I find it hard to believe. Sorry.

It's also very possible that they cast with both in mind.

I knew it was him from the reverse angle of the conversation where they featured the historically accurate two scars on his neck. He didn't need to throw his whole name at the end, but the show was far from subtle throughout.

Definitely! Especially with all the Scarface "X" riffs in The Departed.

Shame on you, Dan - get your ass to Eastern State Penitentiary and brush up on your Capone!

Is it really that important that everybody know the minutiae of his life? Just doesn't interest me that much.

Maybe, just that, you know, they called him SCAR FACE!

ETA: For real, though. He's a pretty important historical figure. And we're movie buffs and there are several movies based on his life. It just seems like a given to me...

Well, I didn't immediately think of Capone either. When he said his name though, I went "Oh duh."

See that it doesn't happen again, Dan. (He's 32 in that photo. Cardio and veggies, guys.)

Bob Hoskins?

I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I'm not a film buff. I'm a film fan, but far from a film buff. I bet a lot of people on these boards are probably the same way, but afraid to say it for fear of...ridicule? Having their opinion discredited? Either way, I don't think it's outrageous for people to not know what the scars on Capone's face looked like, especially if they're not well-versed on that period of history. It's not like it's a face that appears on a lot of stamps.

This all is, of course, awfully similar to "we're stupid/ignorant", so you may be on to something there.

EDIT:




Not SO similar that anyone should automatically know who it is, but similar enough that, like Teitr (or do you prefer Mr. Styrr?) said, after he introduces himself anyone with a passing knowledge of his appearance should go "oh, right, of course".

My only real problem with the pilot is that I didn't buy that Nucky would so easily fall for (or even care about) a sad abused Irish wife. But I'm sure that's the sort of thing that can be corrected in retrospect as the inevitable comparisons between her and his deceased wife begin to pile up.

Yeah, but his first scene with Michael Pitt REALLY goes out of its way to feature the other side of his face, where the two scars are. I don't think it's a big deal that people didn't catch it; it's a fun nod before the punchline for people who are geeks for this stuff.

And yeah, I'm echoing the comments that are hoping this blends history and fiction as well as Deadwood did.

I don't think anybody is ignorant or stupid for not knowing, I was just expressing surprise. I thought the resemblance was strong enough that people would probably guess it was him. I didn't even really have a problem with his introduction on the show, really! My beef was the exposition-y dinner scene.

Movie buff, film fan, cinema enthusiast, celluloid junkie...the important thing is that everybody sees the original Scarface if they haven't already.

Oh Patrick, you can call me whatever you wish, but my real name is Ted.

I think with that scene of Nucky at the babie looking glass gave us some insight that Nucky has an affection of some sort for babies, and her being pregnant might have some to do with that, but I don't know. I'm thinking it's the major reason her husband ending up swimming with the fishes.

I assumed that after that beating she miscarried.

Yeah, you were too quick for my edit. I meant that not that her husband beat her, but that she miscarried was the major reason.

That was stated.

The storefront incubator scene was two baby close-ups from being perfect.

His conversation with Jimmy did it for me along with his speech from all of the trailers about "cleansing" Atlantic City.

I haven't seen a lot of Michael Shannon in films. The role that stands out (besides Bug) was his asshole gambler in that Eric Bana/Drew Barrymore movie that I'm too lazy to look up.

Yeah, it was pretty on the nose. May I also say that Buscemi has the best sad, defeated, sorry, or concerned face ever? His eyes are almost mesmerizing.

The second preemie close up looked like a creepy animatronic baby you'd find at your local Chuck-E-Cheese.

Watched this a second time today...it gets better with a repeat viewing.

Apparently nobody noticed or cared, here or anywhere else, so I gotta mention I was glad to see Officer Murphy back on HBO.

I'm still baffled by the idea that Capone's look is iconic on the level of Abe Lincoln or Elvis. I mean, I knew who he was because I knew about Graham's casting. But a pudgy guy in suit just doesn't scream any one particular individual to me in this milieu, scars or no.

Anyway, we've really jumped right into harping on the small stuff. I thought it was about 97% perfect. Even setting aside how gorgeous everything looked, we got weekly Buscemi, mothefuckers. How awesome is that?