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

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.

i missed what's up with dude's wife....so, she is having a lesbian affair with who? was that the photographer's wife?

Yes.

Justified is in no way better than Boardwalk. Justified is enjoyable but it's so lightweight, like something you watch when you're 11 years old.

'boardwalk' is neither particularly enjoyable nor heavyweight

still watching, inexplicably

it's got more going on than justified...oh look he's got out of another life or death situ in the last 5 mins.

I'm not going to argue for Justified because I've only seen two episodes, but I enjoy watching Terriers a hell of a lot more than I enjoy Boardwalk. Not even close.

Justified is great. But it's a different show. You're better comparing Justified to Sons of Anarchy than freaking Boardwalk Empire...

"more going on" das not equal better.

i'm liking boardwalk empire...but there seems like there's too much going on...or not enough

it does to me

i missed what's up with dude's wife....so, she is having a lesbian affair with who? was that the photographer's wife?

― akm, Thursday, November 4, 2010 8:27 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

dude you're doing it wrong

no-one gives a shit about these characters

the whole point is the boobs

boobs and

http://clatl.com/images/blogimages/2010/11/01/1288619868-harrow.jpg
this fuckin' guy

maybe it was foreshadowing of something relevant to the plot of the show, but harding's wife saying the stuff about the fortune teller felt like the dale carnegie name-dropping: ooh look we've researched ten relevant contemporary facts for this episode and we're going to put them in the script whether it makes sense or not.

i knew it and it's the kind of crap i would think was clever to work into a script, which is why it jarred. it's mentioned in hollywood by gore vidal but i just googled and apparently it didn't happen. so the boardwalk writers just straight lifted from a scene imagined by vidal? does anyone know different?

hollywood is a great book if you would like to read a much better fictionalized account of that convention btw.

can't wait for harrow to start pickin off gamblers and beach bums

I like the show, but it just needs some HUMOR. Everything is so serious all the time. Buscemi is often the comic relief in movies, but here he's this joyless autocrat. I mean, what's the point of being the boss of Atlantic City (a sinful shithole of a town) if you aren't having fun?!

The Sopranos had a lot of little funny scenes in almost every episode that broke up all the scariness and violence. Boardwalk Empire just needs to do the same.

i thought harding's campaign speak and the projector porn were pretty funny this past ep

the dropping of "bloviate" by the harding actor felt like another "we've done our pub quiz/wikipedia research for this week" moment

otm re general lack of humour.

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

― No Good, Scrunty-Looking, Narf Herder (Gukbe), Tuesday, November 2, 2010 10:58 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this thread is kind of a handy guide, although it predates Terriers, which is pretty well loved around here: FX Network hourlong dramas

Aye, I've seen that thread. I like Justified, Terriers, and Sons of Anarchy, but I think BE holds its own against them. And runs circles around SoA.

Of course, I had big problems with The Shield so I recognize I'm going to be in the minority here.

I think it's a pretty funny show. I'd say most of the episodes have had some humor in them. Eli was funny in this episode, Harding's mistress's poem was funny, Nucky telling off Edge was funny (Buscemi's great whenever he gets to go into sarcastic dickhead mode, which is a lot), and the reveal of Van Alden sending the money to Angela made me laugh. Van Alden's relationship with his wife seems to get played for laughs a lot, maybe because it'd be too depressing otherwise, but the scene where he writes her a bloodless letter in the first episode was hilarious to me. Maybe none of this was funny to you, but it's still obvious that they TRY to inject plenty of humor into the show, so it's not fair for you to say that they don't.

Also, this kind of complaint:

the dropping of "bloviate" by the harding actor felt like another "we've done our pub quiz/wikipedia research for this week" moment

C'mon... I see what you're saying, but it's like you've already decided you're gonna take the cynical approach to any of this stuff on the show so everything gets filtered through that lens. Are funny historical details somehow worse if you actually recognize them? I don't get this at all!

My biggest problem with the show right now is probably Nucky and Margaret. They've hinted at some interesting nuances with both characters, but for the most part the characterization hasn't been there like it should. Buscemi's doing a great job with what he has, but it'd be a stronger show if we had a better feel for what Nucky WANTS. What are his goals right now besides just generally maintaining his power? He's already rich and powerful, so we just get this guy who's blase about everything and there's no drama or tension related to his goals. And Margaret just kinda... goes along with whatever happens. Fortunately the supporting cast is great. I have a feeling 'not enough Harrow' could become a common fanboy complaint, but he IS a great character.

Harrow's voice is amazing.

strongly disagree with Margaret and Nucky relationship xpost.

Oh, I think the Margaret and Nucky relationship is interesting and there's a lot of potential there, I was talking about the individual characters..