Boardwalk Empire

I have recently discovered a gripping new show to rival the loss of The Sopranos from HBO.

Boardwalk Empire has some amazing cinematic pedigree; executive produced by Martin Scorsese who also directed the first episode. Also executive produced by Marky Mark Mark Wahlberg.

The head writer is Terrance Winter from The Sopranos; he obviously has loyalty to his late Sopranos actors as they litter this show like any premium cable network show does best. Scorsese helped Terrance establish the look of the show and the other directors have made this look seamless.

The setting for this ragtime show is Atlantic City, New Jersey in the roaring 20s in the era of prohibition. The opening credits immediately had me drawn with it's music by The Brian Jamestown Massacre - song called Striaght Up and Down.


I love the placement of some of my favorite indie actors with big wigs like Buscemi; Steve Buscemi plays the Atlantic City Treasure who lives "like a Pharoah" at the Ritz Carlton.

Michael Pitt is a troubled war vet James "Jimmy" Darmondy. Jimmy looked up to Thompson (Buscemi) since he was young, and went to Princeton only to drop out to serve his country. He has a good head on his shoulders but something tells me; whatever happened in the war, is still bothering him. He understands the art of war but sometimes his ideas often fail him leaving a lot of pain for him; as he must flee Atlantic City and leave his fiance and son and mother; to join Al Capone in Chicago where his new lover is slashed and opium-upped and dies leaving him paranoid and homesick.

Money and murder makes this show a viscous cycle of mobs against mobs, race wars, and woman's rights. The time period has lots of great drama already written into; so the show has lots of sub plots to inter connect the web of American history and fiction.

Much like The Soprano's the mobs are primarily ethnically split. We have the Jews and Italians in New York; Atlantic City has shown mostly Irish; Italian and Greek in Chicago and the rest of the wannabe gangster muts sprinkle the scene everywhere else.

Since the pilot the feds have been on Enuch Thompson and see him as corrupt as the day is long; he is a charming and well liked fellow and walks the boardwalk like a movie star. He owns the city and everyone gives a piece of their business to him; his brother is the Sheriff as well so it's a family affair in Atlantic City.

I am deep into this show already; I know it's already ended its first season but I was a little behind on the bus catching it from the beginning. The show is smart, stylistically awesome, gritty; gangsta and much more.

Now I would like to share with you some of my favorite characters and why they are awesome:


Michael Shannon: He was in The Runaways as a crazy band producing monster; also from Revolutionary Road as a crazy; lets just be honest he is a really good actor to play crazy ass characters. In Boardwalk he is a Federal Agent obsessed with Thompson's little lover girl Ms.Shroader and beats himself with his belt to get off on her picture of her file which is when she was 16 years old.



Vincent Piazza: He is a smooth walking gangsta from New York who is currently boneing Dormondy's mom; I think when Jimmy finds this out he is going to be pretty mad. He has been looking for Jimmy because Jimmy was in charge of killing a bunch of his dudes. He also had a really bad STD and couldn't get it up till he met Ms.Dormondy played by Gretchen Mol. He was in one of my FAVORITE indies of last year: Rocket Science as the know it all brother Earl.

Paz de la Huerta: She plays Thompsons hott dumb girlfriend who is always kinda drunk or just talks really funny; she is very greedy and mean and super sexual and harasses his new love Ms.Shroader whenever she helps her shop for expensive clothes. She was in Choke with Kelly Macdonald.




Kelly Macdonald: is the hear throbbed princess in distress that Enuch Thompson just cannot let go. Her husband was killed to cover some dirty work Enuch planned and since he beat her in all; it wasn't a huge loss. She is kept quiet by being taken care of but is a member of the woman's Temperance League so she needs to leave the politics to the men if she wants to live. She is considered a whore by her old neighbors; but enjoys the life Enuch is giving her right now. She is also being stalked by creepy Federal agent...who lusts for her.

There's far too many others I could say more about right now. So check out the show and see for yourself.