Boardwalk Empire (?)...

[Warped9]

I've longed been intrigued by this although I never had the opportunity to watch it because I don't have HBO. But the Season One set is to be released next week and I'm thinking of giving it a try.

I'm sure there are folks around here who seen Boardwalk Empire and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. For the record I also like Mad Men and I'm eagerly awaiting it's fourth season.

Anyone?

 

[Harvey]

I liked, but didn't love the first season of the show. I haven't seen the second season yet, but I will soon.

The general complaints about the first season are that it (a) moves to slow and (b) not only has a lot of nudity, but has a lot of gratuitous nudity. I don't entirely agree about the pace -- although it isn't Breaking Bad, to be sure -- but I have to agree about the second point. Often, it feels like a quota is being filled, whether it matters to the story or not.

Apparently, both criticisms have been addressed by the second season, but, again, I haven't seen that.

 

[Dream]

gratuitous nudity

It's HBO. Of course there will be a lot of gratuitous nudity.

 

[Garak]

My favorite show on television.

Stick with the first season, it sets up what is an absolutely incredible second season.

The attention to detail in terms of the '20s, from the sets to the costumes to the dialogue, is amazing. The acting is phenomenal, I've gained a whole new respect for Steve Buscemi and Michael Shannon is pretty epic too.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Loved the first season, not so much the second.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'm interested in checking this series out via Netflix, but it seems like we're getting contradictory information on which season is worthwhile. I guess I have no choice but to watch the first two seasons and figure it out for myself.

Anyway, I have a fair amount of patience for stories that others complain are "slow," and seeing a show via streaming or DVD at a quicker pace than once per week can make it seem much speedier.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I think it's a good show. Perhaps given the Scorsese link and involvement of Sopranos personnel, it was bound to not quite live up to the hype. But it's still a good watch.

Buscemi has probably never been better (and he's always been good). He proves that character actors can be leading men- indeed, he has a Bogart-esque quality in it, IMHO. Michael Shannon is superb and makes me think he'll be a great General Zod. The rest of the cast are also very good, especially Kelly McDonald, and the era seems beautifully recreated. Lots of violence, nudity and black humour.

 

[Shurik]

The first season is indeed slower than the second, but worth watching anyway. As people already mentioned here, Steve Buscemi and Michael Shannon are great, but the rest of the cast doesn't fall far from those two (except for that perpetually stoned chick that played Nucky's girlfriend in the first season). Special mention also goes to Michael Stuhlbarg who plays Arnold Rothstein.

Apparently, both criticisms have been addressed by the second season, but, again, I haven't seen that.

I think the second season actually has more nudity than the first.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I think the second season actually has more nudity than the first.

Really? I didn't find that to be the case. It was rather toned down from the first season and there were fewer episodes that actually had any in it.

 

[justinick]

i've never watch this....no idea at all....

 

[Tom]

On of my favorite shows! it is very well done.

 

[LitmusDragon]

I liked the first season and plant to pick up the second eventually

 

[Saul]

Was never much of a Sopranos fan but I like Scorses. I am interested in movies that are set in this era. Might give this a try.

 

[Yoda]

I would pass on Boredwalk. Only watched the first season and can't bring myself to load up the second season. Slow doesn't begin to describe it. To me it's boring, plodding, and completely lacking in interesting personalities. I love Buscemi, but there's not enough he can do for these scripts to make it watchable.

Sorry, can't compare it to Mad Men as I only caught like two episodes of that. Not enough to outright hate it or anything, but it didn't hook me.

 

[Warped9]

Well, I picked up the Season 1 set and have watched the first six episodes. I'm quite enjoying it.

There are parts I find myself laughing when there are absurd moments, but then even in real life there are absurd moments. No, it's not historically accurate in the truest sense, but I love the attention to detail and overall melieu. I like it much in the same way I like Mad Men, glimpsing how people very much like us in so many ways lived and coped in a world similar yet also so different from ours.

Boardwalk Empire shows us the cops and politicians could be just as bad as the crooks. I find it ironic that in some measure the government made these crooks by enacting Prohibition. Guys that were essentially uneducated street punks could now make piles of money and wield influence and fear beyond what they could once have imagined. And these guys thought they were something simply because they could spend big, dress in fancy clothes and strut around. Yet a lot of them were still essentially street punks.

I'm also getting a bit of a window into a time when my grandfather would have been in his prime. Additionally watching this with my father it's interesting to hear him comment on things he sees familiar that were still around when he was young in the 1930s.

I'm enjoying it and I'm looking forward to seeing how this unfolds.

 

[Harvey]

I was somewhat ambivalent on the first season, but after watching the second season I have to absolutely recommend the show. Subplots that I had dismissed out of hand in the first year are suddenly paid off left and right, and it makes for very satisfying viewing. The writers have obviously thought very carefully about the structure of the show, more so than I gave them credit for in the first year.

I am curious where the third season will ultimately end up, though. The first two years form a rather tightly plotted arc, with most plot threads seemingly resolved by the end of it (and a number of characters dispensed with). But I won't get into that, for fear of spoiling the OP.

 

[Warped9]

The first two years form a rather tightly plotted arc, with most plot threads seemingly resolved by the end of it (and a number of characters dispensed with). But I won't get into that, for fear of spoiling the OP.

Thanks, much appreciated.

It's neat seeing guys like Capone and Luciano when they were essentially nobodies as opposed to how often we've seen them in films when they were already established. And seeing Al in counterpoint to Jimmy it's hard to reconcile that Al will go anywhere.

 

[Warped9]

I've just finished marathoning through Season 1 and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. There are characters I like even though they have their dark sides, Jimmy for one. Nucky and some of his contemporaries are mostly "old school" when it comes to criminality whereas Capone and Luciano represent the new and arising type. Jimmy is somewhat of a counterpoint, a bridge of the two kinds. He's also quite smart and learning as he goes, but I'm sure he'll still make mistakes.

I was glad to see Margaret and Nucky together again because they each see something in the other that works for them.

And in the season finale we already get to see some glimpses of more trouble coming Nucky's way.

I'm eager to get into Season 2.

 

[Warped9]

Deep into Season 2---Episode 5 I think---and after a bit of a slow start things are starting to happen again. The inner conspiracy against Nucky is starting to fall apart due to the greed, incompetence and inexperience of the conspirators. It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch. I feel kind of bad for Jimmy and Richard, though, because they deserve better and should be smarter than the rest.

It's all good stuff though. And I have to say that Nelson the Federal guy and his wife creep me out more than any of the others. Yeesh!