oooh kinda wish I had HBO
― Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 19:13 (fourteen years ago) link
oooh kinda wish my system currently met the minimum requirements for viewing HBO.com
― marc loi-y jagger (history mayne), Tuesday, 16 March 2010 19:57 (fourteen years ago) link
i just don't know about michael pitt. i guess it's nice for scorcese that he can squint and pretend he's directing dicaprio?
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 16 March 2010 23:41 (fourteen years ago) link
fuckin a between this and Luck I really need to figure out how I'm gonna watch HBO again. other than payin for it
― dmr, Thursday, 18 March 2010 06:20 (fourteen years ago) link
is it wrong that i instantly thought for a second, man is he using Gimme Shelter AGAIN
― Nhex, Thursday, 18 March 2010 06:30 (fourteen years ago) link
Premiere date Sept. 19
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 9 July 2010 19:41 (fourteen years ago) link
new trailerhttp://www.televisionaryblog.com/2010/07/trailer-park-hbo-releases-new-promo-for.html
― cozen, Tuesday, 27 July 2010 18:58 (fourteen years ago) link
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/4948984946_10b50e73d1_o.jpg
indeed
― goole, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 17:33 (fourteen years ago) link
nyt not really feelin it - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/arts/television/17boardwalk.html?src=me&ref=arts
― just sayin, Friday, 17 September 2010 14:20 (fourteen years ago) link
like every 21st-century non-documentary Marty project ever
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Friday, 17 September 2010 15:09 (fourteen years ago) link
but Morbs, they've finally addressed that complaint you've been making for years:
MARTIN SCORSESE’S PILOT episode for the TV series Boardwalk Empire finally gives HBO what the cable network has been faking for years: a sense of cinema. Scorsese gives it filmic qualities that have been degraded by most television production practices; qualities that are almost infinitesimal but real—as in the je ne sais quoi of a weirdly sumptuous New Year’s Eve celebration where cascading black balloons convey an impending social disaster as a culture celebrates its self-destruction.
Almost Criminal
― a cankle of rads (Gukbe), Friday, 17 September 2010 15:12 (fourteen years ago) link
i'll check this out but man it looks pretty fucking self-important
― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Friday, 17 September 2010 16:10 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm not terribly excited. A big gangster soap opera is fine and all, but some depth would be good. I've not read much about it, but what I've seen hasn't really mentioned anything about that. Then again, I don't think anyone really noticed it about Deadwood at the start either.
― a cankle of rads (Gukbe), Friday, 17 September 2010 16:12 (fourteen years ago) link
more excited about Sporanos peeps + the cast than Scorcese's involvement, which I assume will decrease past the pilot.
― Simon H., Friday, 17 September 2010 16:14 (fourteen years ago) link
long tracking shots and slow, exalted pans from ceiling to floor. ... in one scene, a man lies dead in a pool of blood as a Caruso record plays on a blood-splattered gramophone.
i mean... i feel i have seen enough of this shit to last five lifetimes.
― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Friday, 17 September 2010 16:15 (fourteen years ago) link
stephen graham plays al capone now after playing was it babyface nelson in public enemies?
― conrad, Friday, 17 September 2010 16:17 (fourteen years ago) link
but some depth would be good
...
this show sounds effing awesome. there's no reason to believe some nyt hack who has binged on screeners. im gonna give it a go at any rate. who knows what depth it will or won't have.
― sexy mfa (history mayne), Friday, 17 September 2010 16:22 (fourteen years ago) link
This take from TIME is heartening:
Having helped build up the expectations for the show, I should put one slight caveat on them: I actually didn't love the show after the first episode, the epic, Martin Scorsese-directed pilot. It's really good: but it was really good in pretty much exactly ways that I expected it to be good—it wasn't an out-of-left-field surprise, a rethinking of a genre like The Sopranos was. By three or four episodes in, though, I could see the show developing its own vision and voice, one I hope (and expect) will be with us on TV for quite a while.
― Jouster, Friday, 17 September 2010 17:59 (fourteen years ago) link
Was always way more excited for this than Treme.
― SourPatchCorpse, Sunday, 19 September 2010 22:37 (fourteen years ago) link
when does it start?
― caek, Sunday, 19 September 2010 22:58 (fourteen years ago) link
Tonight.
― Melissa W, Sunday, 19 September 2010 23:00 (fourteen years ago) link
9 eastern, but it's on three times in a row, so if you miss it another chance will roll around in an hour and fifteen minutes.
― No Good, Scrunty-Looking, Narf Herder (Gukbe), Sunday, 19 September 2010 23:00 (fourteen years ago) link
Sooooo...?
― Excluding Skits and Such (Eazy), Monday, 20 September 2010 03:22 (fourteen years ago) link
A lot of plot. A few off moments but some really enjoyable stuff as well. Over all I thought it was very good for a pilot.
― No Good, Scrunty-Looking, Narf Herder (Gukbe), Monday, 20 September 2010 04:06 (fourteen years ago) link
This was fucking awesome. Ok, not the most illuminating review there, but shit. Sunday nights are shaping up! Next week, This, Mad Men, and Eastbound and Down?!?!?!!?! Treats.
― SourPatchCorpse, Monday, 20 September 2010 08:45 (fourteen years ago) link
I enjoyed this! Aside from the cliche "one mobster gets a shave while another gets blown away as opera plays" climax, I found it pretty enjoyable. Lotta good actors and Michael Pitt makes a pretty good Leo surrogate.
― da croupier, Monday, 20 September 2010 12:32 (fourteen years ago) link
Could see it successfully sating the Deadwood and Sopranos audiences, if not necessarily the entire Wire one
― da croupier, Monday, 20 September 2010 12:33 (fourteen years ago) link
opening credit sequence is soooooo generic HBO though, can't they craft these things to mesh with the shows rather than other credit sequences?
― da croupier, Monday, 20 September 2010 13:01 (fourteen years ago) link
If the Wire was still around I wonder if there's would be McNulty floating slowly over Baltimore set to the Dream Syndicate
― da croupier, Monday, 20 September 2010 13:04 (fourteen years ago) link
Buscemi is an odd choice for a series lead.
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Monday, 20 September 2010 13:47 (fourteen years ago) link
Looks gorgeous but cliched. I'm assuming it'll grow into its own at some point, right now it's a more cuddly Untouchables. I guess they couldn't really do something radical with a massive budget, they're playing it safe, they wanted another Sopranos and they're sort of getting it (Sopranos was much more imaginative coming out of the gate though). That said the cast is awesome.
The Ford book seemed so disjointed coming in the middle of what should have been a gripping conversation about how to deal with betrayal. Why they decided to derail that with a weird historical detail is bizarre!
Please hire somebody who knows typefaces for the historical signage ... was going nuts noticing all the historical inaccuracies. When it counted (closeups) they usually got it right though.
― Brakhage, Monday, 20 September 2010 16:08 (fourteen years ago) link
I enjoyed it a lot - like people say, not the most original thing ever but very watchable and funny, and I really like that period. The Al Capone reveal was well done.
― rhythm fixated member (chap), Monday, 20 September 2010 17:13 (fourteen years ago) link
Loving the dude who is playing Capone too
― Brakhage, Monday, 20 September 2010 17:22 (fourteen years ago) link
Totally didn't clock that Rothstein was Shuberg from A Serious Man
― No Good, Scrunty-Looking, Narf Herder (Gukbe), Monday, 20 September 2010 17:25 (fourteen years ago) link
Michael Stuhlbarg is in this, eh
xp
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Monday, 20 September 2010 17:25 (fourteen years ago) link
Whole lotta Michaels in this thing. I can already tell i'm going to enjoy this a lot more than Treme even if it is slightly generic.
― Number None, Tuesday, 21 September 2010 00:23 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm willing to bet it'll become less generic. Also, Scorsese's sort of allowed to be generic, he's Scorsese and he does it very well.
― rhythm fixated member (chap), Tuesday, 21 September 2010 00:26 (fourteen years ago) link
renewed! after better than expected ratings.
― No Good, Scrunty-Looking, Narf Herder (Gukbe), Tuesday, 21 September 2010 16:47 (fourteen years ago) link
hmmm, that's pretty dicey after one episode.
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 21 September 2010 17:04 (fourteen years ago) link
They were huge ratings. Even with the standard drop off it'll be sustainable. And the press has been huge; it already did its job for the network.
― She Got the Shakes, Tuesday, 21 September 2010 17:12 (fourteen years ago) link
They renewed Treme after one episode iirc, and that seems a lot dicier.
― da croupier, Tuesday, 21 September 2010 17:21 (fourteen years ago) link
"Generic" or not, this blows Treme away.
― SourPatchCorpse, Tuesday, 21 September 2010 20:10 (fourteen years ago) link
did scorsese have any involvement in this beyond directing the pilot? not that this would mean much either way.
― by another name (amateurist), Tuesday, 21 September 2010 20:13 (fourteen years ago) link
don't think so.
― Simon H., Tuesday, 21 September 2010 20:15 (fourteen years ago) link
Dece pilot, amazing supporting cast makes it worth sticking around for.
scorsese's also an executive producer, just like marky mark
― da croupier, Tuesday, 21 September 2010 21:05 (fourteen years ago) link
Terence Winter on the extent of Scorcese's involvement:
"He just directed the pilot, but he's also one of the executive producers of the show as well, so he is involved. He reads all the scripts, he weighs in on our casting decisions, he watches all the cuts of the show. Up until the time we wrapped a couple of months ago, he and I had a standing Sunday afternoon conversation where we would just review what went on during the week. He'd watch the dailies, he would have comments and suggestions along the way. So he is definitely involved in the show, but he has only directed the pilot, he got us launched and then went off to do another movie."
He also plans to direct more episodes apparently
― Number None, Tuesday, 21 September 2010 21:21 (fourteen years ago) link
i really liked touches like this though. you really gotta inject some levity or oddness in there imo or like you mentioned it is gonna be an untouchables retread. which is why i think i really feel ok w/ buscemi as the lead
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 22 September 2010 02:52 (fourteen years ago) link
this was fun! not totally sold on the guy who i really don't want to describe by referencing dicaprio, but can't help it and i'll def give him a chance. buscemi could work this well i think. i'm a sucker for stuff like the ford book and the little person boxing. so is omar gonna be a full-fledged character? it was about as weird seeing him in this as seeing don in "the town"
― a fucking knitted scarf (another al3x), Wednesday, 22 September 2010 03:34 (fourteen years ago) link
i also like seeing lots of people dancing in 20s clothes
― a fucking knitted scarf (another al3x), Wednesday, 22 September 2010 03:36 (fourteen years ago) link
After seeing Get Out, I've been thinking about what a treasure Stephen Root is, especially in this show. I could watch a whole spinoff series about Gaston Means. Had no idea he was Bill in King Of The Hill.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 10 November 2018 17:46 (five years ago) link
Stephen Root is a treasure in every appearance
I’ve been rewatching this and forgot that, with the exception of a couple over the top characters, how it really seems like it’s spinning its wheels by mid season three and then there are TWO more seasons? Sheesh
― mh, Sunday, 12 April 2020 00:10 (four years ago) link
I definitely liked the two last seasons best.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 12 April 2020 00:15 (four years ago) link
I think the two impulses that ultimately hamstring the show are the impulse to give every character and arc, and the inability to be flexible in the arcs of actual historical figures.
Except the ridiculousness of giving Michael Shannon’s character endless arcs, because he’s just so great they kept tagging on more. I think he got typecast for too long after this part, but he just plays emotionally stunted and volatile so well!
― mh, Sunday, 12 April 2020 00:18 (four years ago) link
i never watched past season two but goddamn this show could do sexy v well
― ole uncle tiktok (darraghmac), Sunday, 12 April 2020 00:19 (four years ago) link
despite the thread title I liked the Pitt-having seasons best
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 12 April 2020 00:31 (four years ago) link
was never convinced by Buscemi tbh
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 12 April 2020 00:32 (four years ago) link
not in this role, kind of agreed
― ole uncle tiktok (darraghmac), Sunday, 12 April 2020 00:34 (four years ago) link
i still havent finished bc the final season was so boringPitt seasons def best for me, he was so good
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 12 April 2020 01:36 (four years ago) link
yeah I love the busc obviously but I never ever liked him for this
the closing arc of s2 was the most engaging this show ever got imo, the whole thing was just...painfully not as good as it should have been / as good as the production values and pedigree and tremendous supporting cast all suggested it should be
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 12 April 2020 01:43 (four years ago) link
yeah we just couldnt see any point in moving on after that arc ended, way too much had gotten ridiculous at that stage, despite the talent and quality involved
― ole uncle tiktok (darraghmac), Sunday, 12 April 2020 01:45 (four years ago) link
adding Simon to blocklistthe thing about the Jimmy character is that he was a crucial plot hinge and the few moments where Pitt’s acting was necessary either worked or didn’t, but very few of his ephemeral moments made me want morebut it was such a plot hinge that season three floundered, as did the very end of season two, knowing he’d be written out
― mh, Sunday, 12 April 2020 01:45 (four years ago) link
they obviously thought season two might be the end and it’d be fair — season three does nothing real with the fact Margaret gives the land for the highway to the church other than a bump in hospital credI’m into four now, and have no recollection of Katherine Waterston’s character arc but hope it does well(i’d been drinking the prohibition hooch on first viewing)
― mh, Sunday, 12 April 2020 01:49 (four years ago) link
It has grown for me. It wasn't as tight as a lot of other shows but I think it's ultimately one of my favorites.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 12 April 2020 01:50 (four years ago) link
I don't remember katherine waterston on it at all
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 12 April 2020 01:54 (four years ago) link
I didn't realize she was in this because I wasn't aware of her at the time.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 12 April 2020 01:59 (four years ago) link
she’s Harrow’s (straight up merc half-face guy) sister in season four apparently!
― mh, Sunday, 12 April 2020 02:10 (four years ago) link
ah yes another great character who got nothing of interest to do for multiple seasons iirc
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 12 April 2020 02:18 (four years ago) link
the whole cuba thing i understand storywise/historically but every scene was like whyyyyyyy
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 12 April 2020 03:29 (four years ago) link
I feel like the broad story strokes were sketched out by the producers but they weren’t necessarily where the writers wanted to go, or something they were inspired to write
― mh, Sunday, 12 April 2020 04:01 (four years ago) link
that feeling is v palpable
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 12 April 2020 04:52 (four years ago) link
williams was so damn good on this show. the attention today has understandably focused on omar, but chalky was nearly as complex, and elevated every scene
― grove street (party) direction (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 01:38 (three years ago) link
otm
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 01:40 (three years ago) link
he was so good at showing the inner struggle, and the real emotion of Chalky. and he definitely made Chalky’s story as gripping as Nucky’s, he owned the screen at all times
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 02:09 (three years ago) link
lmao at this
One of my closest friends was a PA on BOARDWALK EMPIRE for a long time and was scared of Michael K. Williams, who he only knew as Omar. The first time he had to call MKW from his trailer, MKW opened the door, stared him down, then tickled him and ran away. RIP— ★ (@corpseinorbit) September 6, 2021
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 05:11 (three years ago) link
I mainly knew him as Chalky, some I watched the Wire so long ago. Chalky is one of my favorite characters in modern TV, just endless depth and so many facets. He was utterly believable in this role.Obv he was great, forgive me for looking askance at the Twitter overload wrt his performance in Lovecraft Country which I never saw anyone mention until today, a show everyone hated. Was it better than consensus was when it was airing?
― akm, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 05:26 (three years ago) link
Lovecraft Country fkn ruled, I loved it start to finish then & now idc what the stupid “consensus” was. And Williams was great in it.
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 05:30 (three years ago) link
ok cool. it seemed like a lot of people hated it and I just didn't get around to it. will rectify that.
― akm, Tuesday, 7 September 2021 06:05 (three years ago) link
highly recommend!
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 06:28 (three years ago) link
VG on the money, it was a great show with a few episodes that were absolutely incredible. Williams was just one of the incredible cast members - Jonathan Majors, Wunmi Mosaku and Aunjanue Ellis were all amazing.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 14:53 (three years ago) link
yeah i def don’t think everyone hated lovecraft country. it was ambitious and a bit inconsistent but was truly excellent at times. and yeah, mkw’s performance was stunning, same with majors and courtney b vance
― grove street (party) direction (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 15:23 (three years ago) link