Boardwalk Empire

[twissie]

A new big production from HBO.

From Terrence Winter, Emmy Award-winning writer of 'The Sopranos,' and Academy Award Winning Director Martin Scorsese, 'Boardwalk Empire' is set in Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition, when the sale of alcohol became illegal throughout the United States.

America in 1920. The Great War is over, Wall Street is about to boom and everything is for sale, even the World Series. It is a time of change when women are getting the vote, broadcast radio is introduced, and young people rule the world.
On the beach in southern New Jersey sits Atlantic City, a spectacular resort known as "The World's Playground," a place where rules don't apply. Massive hotels line its famous Boardwalk, along with nightclubs, amusement piers and entertainment to rivel Broadway. For a few dollars, a working man can get away and live like a king -- legally or illegally.

The undisputed ruler of Atlantic City is the town's Treasurer, Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, (Steve Buscemi) a political fixer and backroom dealer who is equal parts politician and gangster and equally comfortable in either role. Because of its strategic location on the seaboard, the town is a hub of activity for rum-runners, minutes from Philadelphia, hours from New York City and less than a day's drive from Chicago. And Nucky Thompson takes full advantage.

Someone described the show as The Godfather meets Moulin Rouge!, and I think I agree. It's colourful, loud, and impressive, but also filled with action, gangsters, and smuggling. Plus it's got Steve Buscemi, and wow. Having seen the first episode I can't picture anyone else as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson. Great, great performance.

The huge production kind of scares me, though. We all know what happened to HBO's other big shows (Carnivale, Rome....) 8D;;;;

[twissie]

Woah, well no need to worry about the show for a while 8D Haha, this is just awesome news;

"Boardwalk Empire" Renewed for Second Season Within 48 Hours of Premiere

NEW YORK (CBS) "Boardwalk Empire" rolled out its first episode on Sunday, and thanks to early high ratings, the show will get a confirmed second season.
On Sunday, 7.1 million HBO subscribers tuned in to the three airings of the gangster drama. Those numbers led to the HBO action, according to published reports.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "Boardwalk Empire's" Sunday night ratings numbers marks the best numbers for a debut on the network since "Deadwood" premiered after an episode of "The Sopranos" in 2004.

Early sweeping critical acclaim for the Martin Scorsese-directed pilot also pleased the network.

On Tuesday, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo confirmed a second season renewal, saying in a statement: "All the ingredients aligned for this one, from Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson's initial pitch, to Martin Scorsese's enormous contributions as director and executive producer, to the genius of Terry Winter and the expertise of Tim Van Patten, to a stellar cast led by Steve Buscemi."

Yessssss.

[MisTicO]

The premier of this show was so bad ass. Already my new favorite show after one episode. 

[shirenuファクトリー]

Yup the premiere was good enough for me, tho I'm not really feeling for any of the characters yet (lolol). I mean I felt really bad for the woman who got beat up, but I didn't find her interesting aside from that D:
I think I read too much about the show before it started so it wasn't exactly what I expected, or it was too much what I expected, I don't even know... Had a bit of a weird feeling, but I will keep watching for now for sure :3

[twissie]

Second episode~ What did people think?

Whaa, Steve Buscemi just completely owns this show, doesn't he? o_o; He truly shines, and I can't help but love his character even though he is all sorts of dodgy xD;

I also really like Michael Pitt and Kelly Macdonald's characters~! 8D... don't really have much else to say, I just want more of this show @_@; I love how they blend historical facts with fiction. The sets and costumes... the look and feel of everything. You can tell it's an elaborate production, and I'm loving every second of it.

[twissie]

The official Boardwalk Empire site has lots of goodies, but it can be a pain to navigate because of all the frickin flash. Even plain text pages are flash. Why~~~ Anyway, typed up this interview This makes me excited to see what Lucy has in store~

Paz de la Huerta explains why you'll soon be rooting for Lucy

HBO: What kind of girl is Lucy?

Paz: She comes from a very poor background. She grew up with a single parent, her father. They didn't have the healthiest relationship, but she still has this attention for older men because of how she idolized him.

HBO: Is that what she sees in Nucky?

Paz: Her love for Nucky comes from a lot of places. He's not only an older man, he's also rich, he has charisma and he's powerful. She hit the jackpot with him.

HBO: We know she's a former Ziegfeld Follies girl. Does she miss show business?

Paz: She teases Nucky about going back to the Follies, but really what she wants more than anything is for Nucky to just love her as much as she loves him. That's all she wants. Sure, she misses dancing and singing, but she loves her life of luxury. She's constantly being catered to; it's very glamorous for her.

HBO: In this episode [103], we see her tell Nucky that he's smart not to have children, then she offers to have his baby moments later. Does she just want to please Nucky?

Paz: When she's with Nucky, she'll do anything to get him. If he says "I want a baby," she'll have a baby. It's all about him. She's starting to feel him drift towards Margaret, so she's putting all of her cards on the table.

HBO: Does she feel threatened by Margaret?

Paz: She's infuriated by Margaret. She doesn't think Margaret is pretty or sexy. She feels that this woman has nothing on her. She's perplexed why the man she's in love with is even talking to this mousy, mousy girl. It's maddening to her.

HBO: We also see a darker side of Lucy in this episode 103, when she puts Margaret in her place while shopping for lingerie. Is she a manipulative person?

Paz: She's definitely manipulative. I actually think she's one of the smartest characters in the show, in her own way. She'll stop at nothing to get what she wants. But I think that manipulation stems from a place of deep longing to be acknowledged. More than anything, she just wants to be loved.

HBO: Is there more going on in her mind than she lets on?

Paz: Absolutely. Every conversation that Nucky has she's listening in on in the background. She's not educated, like Margaret seems to be. It's a sore spot for her because she grew up poor. She gets really pissed at all of Margaret's ramblings about women's rights. Lucy doesn't give a shit about women's rights. She just wants to be a woman. Sit on the lap of her man. Shake her tits in his face. Be loved. Be loved. Be loved... That's everything to her.

HBO: Was there any special preparation you did for the period aspect of the role?

Paz: I listened to a lot of jazz and Dixieland music. Marty gave me some music from the era and I listened to it every night. I would move to it and learn how to dance. I feel the popular music of a certain time really tells you a lot about what life was like in that period.

HBO: Lucy has an amazing wardrobe - though she spends most of the time undressed. How did you feel about playing a character who spends so much of her screen time in the nude?

Paz: Lucy feels sexy in her body; she wants to show it off. It's more comfortable for her that way. That's one thing I share with Lucy. I disgust wearing clothing. I don't have any qualms about being naked on screen. I know it's being shot by a wonderful cinematographer, so why would I fret? If it was for Playboy, I'd be worried.

HBO: Are there any other traits you feel you share with the character?

Paz: Like Lucy, I like to be the center of attention. I think it comes from a longing to be loved. That's the place where we connect.

HBO: What can we expect to see from Lucy as the season goes on?

Paz: I don't want to tell. That would ruin the surprise.

HBO: Is there anything else about Lucy that you'd like for viewers to recognize?

Paz: I hope people understand that she's not dumb. She's a complex person. She's manipulative as all hell. Secretly, I wanted her to be a nerd who reads Millay and other poetry. She's a box of surprises. She's really sensitive. The more you get to know her, the more you'll like her. And you'll be rooting for her. I want people to have compassion for where she's coming from.

[shirenuファクトリー]

I think I'm starting to like this show more :3 The first two episodes left me a bit underwhelmed, but since the characters are becoming more familiar I guess that helps?

By ep 3, it became apparent that
- the main federal agent dude is a fucking psychopath. A blob of ice. Creepy as fuck. D: Also a religious loony, which makes him even creepier...
- Lucy (the girlfriend) is a fucking walking joke o-o The interview above is interesting, but for now I view her as a dumb cuntess
- The now widowed foreign lady is still boring and I dunno what her point is in the show. She has no more than one expression
- OMAR!!!!! 50% BABY!! It's hilarious that this series takes place in the 1920s and he speaks exactly the same way as he did in The Wire lol. "What's a motherfucker?" That's right motherfucker.

My problem is that I'm still not particularly rooting for anyone lol

[twissie]

Yay! Yeah, Boardwalk Empire seems to be one of those slow moving shows, I can see how that doesn't quite correspond to all the hype the show's gotten xD; Still, the work put into making this a show about the jazz age, it's amazing. I love it.

I love the federal agent dude, oh my god what a creepy weird guy, hahaha 8D

I really like Margaret, actually. It might be because I like Kelly MacDonald, but I think it's more than that. I find her character interesting but it's difficult to put into words why. She's so weak, yet she cares for her kids, she recovers remarkably after losing the baby even joking about how "the stork got lost", and she's fighting for women's rights. I don't know, there's a contrast there in her character which I find interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing how she'll do in her new job, and whether her thing with Nucky (if it can be called a thing) will develop at all.

Hahaha the "What's a motherfucker?" line was awesome 8D;;; Didn't realise the dude in question was one of the guys from The Wire that's awesome.

Aww, well I hope you won't give up on the show yet ^^; It's early days still.

[shirenuファクトリー]

WELL WHO'S STILL WATCHING? lol I fell behind D: But I'm catching up now, watched episode 5 last (there are 10 eps out). I still feel confused at times about where this thing is going   I guess because there's no real "goal" in the plot lol. I thought I was pretty numb to violence and gross stuff already, but some stuff in this series is WUT. I'm glad that they don't show everything though, like when Chalky was "interviewing" that KKK dude D:

[Stryfe]

First season finished, great stuff. Awesome, fucked up characters. Can't wait for season 2.

Only bad thing about the finale was NOT ENOUGH BUTLER! The butler always steals the show. 


...




Omar Chalky 

[arun.yothin]

Oh, shit. I saw little ad for this show like a week ago (I think) and it seemed like it was getting ready to start, so I thought I'd keep an eye out for it. I wonder if the commercial I saw was actually on a show I recorded.

[shirenuファクトリー]

Anyone still watching this?

I don't even know how to feel about some of the characters right now.
Richard was very awwww for a while, but I still think he might go total boinkers and end up doing something very creepy.
Poor lesbians
Owen is sexy, but screwed and unfortunately, not by me.
I'm so over Jimmy, I can't even. Wtf. He's so frustrating.
I was actually hoping for the strike to lead to some positive developments for the black community as a whole, but guh. Some of the violence is so upsetting
I love the detective lady. She's sassy.
Nelson is Nelson...

[shirenuファクトリー]

Well holy crapwaffle, they went there!!!

SPPPPOOOIIILEEEERRSS

The closer it got to the end, the more I knew it would happen, but dayum. RIP Jimmy.