Michael "Omar" Kenneth "Little" Williams, Steve Buscemi, and ehhhhh Michael Pitt in Martin Scorsese's BOARDWALK EMPIRE

yup. oh no there goes omar!!

thinking of omar's lynching story and the cunny story this week: in both cases, two of three lines in i am bored, i can see the punchline but i feel like i've got to sit through another minute of "aria" writing to get to it, i don't believe the other character's reaction, and i'm thinking about the writer not the show. it's shitty writing that ruins suspension of disbelief. i don't have a problem with speeches in drama per se. maybe these two just sucked.

― caek, Friday, October 29, 2010 4:01 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

yes! completely otm

these speeches try s0 hard and fail

also abe rothstein's poolball story

paz's reaction was even less plausible though.

paz is kind of a performance art interloper on the show, i think

'Read over your compositions, and where ever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.'

Paz de la Huerta is basically playing a parody of Paz de la Huerta.

those stories feel like FMV computer game cut scenes/end of level transitions from the 90s. designed to impress, but don't belong.

Pretty much agree with the criticism of the monologues/speeches; look to Breaking Bad for a show that does those well, and not in a self-conscious "oh, here's a big speech" way.

I actually fell asleep during Chalky's monologue. Glad I didn't for Margaret's this week though: BURN

lol at the phantom of the opera joke

hahah, this show does love the monologue "set-pieces". at least they kept my attention this week.

the gratuitous softcore shoehorned into every episode is kind of getting insulting.

i agree why the need for a sex scene in every episode. more killing less boob.

more sexy murders imo

This show is the ultimate embodiment of post-Wire/Deadwood HBO IMO - impressive on the surface, but naggingly safe/conventional. (Mind you I've not seen the last few eps.)

what other shows embody that?

the gratuitous softcore shoehorned into every episode is kind of getting insulting.

Yeah, last night's was particularly insulting.

mostly post-s2 Big Love, Hung, Treme (in that case, gutsy form vs. predictable content). Entourage is just sort of crappy. I do like In Treatment and Eastbound and Down.

That being said, Game of Thrones is a pretty ballsy endeavor.

the 22 minute lighter hbo stuff seems to have been fine-v.good for the past few years. the big ticket drama not so much.

Yeah that's fair. They've been overtaken by AMC and F/X pretty handily since their flagship shows ended.

It's almost as if making great television is difficult!

although i did like the introduction of Meyer Lansky.

and richard harrow...

yes, making great (anything) is hard, that doesn't mean the strategies behind trying (and/or failing) to make it happen are beyond discussion. xxp

No, I hear you, it's just that this has been a common lament about HBO for a few years now, and I've gotten to feel that when the state of things is such that you have multiple amazing, risk-taking shows on at the same time then, y'know... they probably kinda lucked out to an extent. If they could have better shows on the air, they probably would (Mad Men aside). Or maybe they really are playing it safer, I dunno.

I think it's possible to "play it safe" and still make consistently great TV, though - F/X'a programming isn't terribly diverse, as it's evenly divided between gritty/semi-gritty hourlongs and ridiculous half-hour comedy (aside from Louie, which is a true original IMO), most of which aren't terribly adventurous but are very entertaining. (I wholeheartedly like seven of their eight running shows, and I'll allow that Rescue Me has some great moments)

HBO seems to play it safe in a different way, where new shows feel like pale echoes of past successes. Hopefully their next batch (Luck / Thrones) will buck the trend.

Yeah I think I agree with you actually.

what was the thing it focussed on beside the guy in the surgery who had facial burns?

I was impressed by the professionalism of the whore who fucked Harrow.

really dug harrow, hope he's a regular. rolled my eyes initially at phantom of the opera joke, but then i thought it was nice for him to bring some levity.

did i miss something that made chalky immediately jump to the conclusion that lansky was sent by nucky to test him? i loved the suit he was wearing in that scene.

i hope nucky's backstory gets more interesting than "my dad was an asshole." buscemi's getting better. i think the way tweaks the character depending on who he's dealing with is subtle and well done, though the rash anger stuff still feels like a stretch.

for some reason every time i see vinnie delpino act a tough guy i have a hard time believing it.

Pretty sure I saw Harrow in the "next week on," which I am glad about. Also, that actor was just cast in David Chase's feature film debut.

Was that his mask beside him, that it focussed on when Jimmy first saw him?

The guy who plays Harrow is John Huston's grandson!

"Was that his mask beside him, that it focussed on when Jimmy first saw him?" Yes.

ah cool...i couldn't work out what it was.

yes his mask.

did i miss something that made chalky immediately jump to the conclusion that lansky was sent by nucky to test him? i loved the suit he was wearing in that scene.

that whole scene was a bit confusing imo. nb i'm not stupid but is anyone finding it hard to tell some of the mafia guys apart? i mean besides the erectile dysfunction guy those barber dudes are sort of a motley crew.

I was impressed by the professionalism of the whore who fucked Harrow

i'm impressed by early 20th century prostitutes all looking like gorgeous skincare models...

re: HBO

I think the exit of Albrecht and the relative lack of success with the post-Sopranos offerings led to a retreat to less...adventurous territory for the past several years. I think they've gone through another creative change at the network as well, which has led some confusion on how they want to proceed, but now they seem to be solidifying themselves with True Blood waving the flag. The hope is that with True Blood and now Boardwalk, they can get back to the more interesting series. So basically I'm just agreeing with Simon H.

I think Boardwalk is as good as (if not better than) the best output of FX, though it lags behind Mad Men and Breaking Bad so AMC is kind of winning. It's really hit its stride in the last few episodes. And as corny as it kind of is, Richard Harrow was pretty bad-ass. I also like to see Jimmy's war background really playing a role and informing the character more naturally, which is both a pay off and a vast improvement on the shoe-horned war weeping in the first episode.

Also I really think Margaret and Nucky's relationship is one of the most interesting on television.

also this episode was co-written by Paul Simms of Newsradio!

oh, and I agree with the nudity and the soft core elements. I was genuinely surprised when Jimmy's wife was revealed to be with the woman, but mostly because I didn't think they'd actually go there.

Anybody catch the Ponzi reference? 'International reply coupons ... Italian guy up in Boston'

Loooooving the Harrow character. Moar autistic sniper plz

I think Boardwalk is as good as (if not better than) the best output of FX

no way

Maybe I've missed the really great FX stuff then. Recommendations?

Justified and Terriers are both awesome. I also love Archer but I seem to be in the minority.

I think Justified and Terriers are awesome as well, but I don't see what makes them better than Boardwalk.

well for starters they're 10x as entertaining IMO

Probably would have agreed if it weren't for the last 3 episodes of Boardwalk being awesomely entertaining.

If I hear that the upturn is consistent I'll reconvene with it, but the first 4 or so eps weren't exactly inspiring.

Building up, though. Sopranos and Deadwood didn't hit their stride until about episode 4 or 5 either. Terriers and Justified have the advantage of having stand alone episodes, which are more quickly satisfying.

Finally started watching this on demand, am 2 episodes in and loving it.