Tomorrow is the first episode of Boardwalk Empire, directed by Martin Scorsese. I just watched a little HBO documentary about the history of Atlantic City and I'm so psyched for this show I'm all .
And now, here's a time lapse video of the huge stretch of 1920s boardwalk they built for the show:
Oh well in that case, I hope he makes many collars, all of which slip through his fingers due to shameless corruption thereby necessitating moar juicy seasons of Jazz Age decadence.
Oh well in that case, I hope he makes many collars, all of which slip through his fingers due to shameless corruption thereby necessitating moar juicy seasons of Jazz Age decadence.
My grandmother, (the evil one), was born in 1919 in Atlantic City. She told me many stories as a girl about the diving horses and seeing Sinatra. I want to see this show.
I dug it a lot. So much, in fact, that it passed way too quickly and I want moar. Buscemi is just amazing, really, and I'm totally kvelling over the sets and costumes.
I'm liking Jimmy lots and the Irish Temperance Girl (you know, I know, the one) who was predestined for spousal abuse.
Nucky likes her too...and that is why I like him.
Big love for tiny toon Lucky and Al.
When I saw Al firing prematurely, I imagined an equally awkward Ness taking his pledge at Sigma Alpha Epsilon and preparing for his criminology degree at the University of Chicago.
Van Alden is a believer, so I do hope he meets with a morally convoluted end (ala Inspector Javert) as so many of his kind do.
All of that awe and worthiness aside...Sean Bean in The Song of Ice and Fire is actually in production?
I'm liking Jimmy lots and the Irish Temperance Girl (you know, I know, the one) who was predestined for spousal abuse.
Nucky likes her too...and that is why I like him.
That's one of the great things about Buscemi, his feelings are writ large all over his strange little face. He was like an open wound in that scene on the Boardwalk where the temperance lady tells him about Mrs. Shroeder.
On another note, LIFE magazine has one of the greatest websites of all time which I frequently find myself perusing for their epic slideshows of historical import (I have to physically restrain myself from linking to them daily on my blog). Look what I founded yesterday: The Real Boardwalk Empire - Photo Gallery - LIFE
I tried to like this last night. Somehow it wasn't doing it for me.
But then I'd just had an afternoon watching episodes of Season 3 of The Sopranos On Demand. Perhaps the parallels were too striking.
In 1974, I inadvertently got a librarian in trouble with my parents when I brought home a book on mobsters complete with actual crime scene photographs and bios of the agents who pursued them.
Apparently 10 year old kids aren't supposed to be worrying their little heads about the taboos of human slaughter, moral abominations and the power of political corruption...not in the black and white world of Nixon and Vietnam, we might get the wrong idea.
Anyway, for me to see the New York and Chicago connections to Atlantic City of this particular era while watching the 20s roar back to life is a treasure. That it is being done so well is lagniappe.
I do hope the next few episodes offer a bit more of the period music and art...I think they will.
Was completely surprised by Buscemi's Nucky. Not a "full gangster" yet, but well on his way to becoming one. It was odd seeing him meet with Rothstein and Luciano, because their being more recognizable historical figures made me worry for Nucky. Atlantic City just seems way too small when compared to New York and Chicago.
A little fiefdom, indeed.
So tempted to read up some more on the actual historical figures, but wary about spoilers. Especially curious about how Nucky and Jimmy plan on playing the Feds.
The real Nucky was Johnson, not Thompson, and he was famously over 6 feet tall and 250 pounds, so I think you can trust they've fictionalized the character enough that you can read up about the original without fearing that the series will be spoiled for you. He also remained in power until WWII, and I doubt the show will go past the Prohibition era. In fact, I'd be surprised if lasted until 1929. The Depression is a lot less fun than the Jazz Age.
Good to see that Jimmy realizes he has a lot to learn from Nucky, half a gangster or not. Still, I get such a sense of foreboding everytime Nucky has to deal with Rothstein. That man is a cold-blooded shark and the New York gangs could absolutely crush Atlantic City.
Van Alden is creepy. Although, I already felt that he was creepy even before he showed his ribbon sniffing fetish.
I'm also intrigued by Mrs. Schroeder's new job for Nucky. I'm assuming she'll organize women to vote for him, which seems like a good way to keep her in the storyline. It seems to me that she's getting involved with Nucky with her eyes wide open. Good.
I was finally able to watch last night and agree that it is evolving well.
Capone is showing his penchant for contextual violence and irony quite nicely.
Hopefully Jimmy learned something at the roulette table about what is important and what is not. In my mind he is becoming the tragic figure of lost hopes, lost ideals...starting with his tour of duty...and is trying to fill the chasm with something, anything. I wasn't disturbed at all regarding his mother and their relationship, it seemed consistent with her life and who is most important to her (making Jimmy's callous betrayal heartbreaking to me).
The Brain (Rothstein) has not been fleshed out very well, yet, and he comes across as some sort of emerging psycho killer instead of a shrewd business man that put the "organization" in organized crime. Also, I guess they're not going to delve into the "Black Sox" scandal in order to keep the show from being too biographical. I do have the urge to break out Gatsby, though.
I'm not really liking that Luciano seems to have already attained his look, confidence and savvy when he should be more a gangster in training during that particular time period.
Of course, the puritan is going to slip deep into super freak mode. Anytime one polarizes the world into one big false dichotomy, every sin becomes that much sweeter, leading to the deserved fall from the hypocrisy of grace.
Margaret understands this in her convent like naivete. Anyone else think she looked like a nun when she returned his money?
Anyway, great episode and I could certainly add more...but I have to go stick with my trade.
Another good episode, Jimmy can be hardcore when he needs to be. He's also damned smart.
Poor widow Shroeder, she needs to get some of that steel that the head of the temperance movement has. Was very surprised to see her portrayed as something other than a stereotypical old maid with prudish ideas.
And I kinda think they need to pull it back a bit with Van Alden. The smile was creepy enough, didn't need to see the self-flagellation (frankly I thought it was gonna be self-abuse of a different kind).
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