Don't Swallow a Cueball

[JAM]

"Boardwalk Empire," one of HBO's most anticipated new shows, premiered last night with a Martin Scorsese-directed episode that cost $18 million to film.

The stylish series takes place during Prohibition when gangsters ruled Atlantic City. Steve Buscemi stars as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, loosely based on 1920s racketeer Enoch 'Nucky' Johnson.

Plenty of people are buzzing about sexy showgirl Gillian, played by Gretchen Mol, who has a complicated history with Nucky.

Find out more about this talked-about series, including how it's similar to "The Sopranos" and what reviews it has received.

Martin Scorsese, the director, managed to include a pool scene: Rothstein Pool Balls.

I'm always on the hunt, it would seem, for pool-related media, anything and everything.

Well, as luck would have it, I missed the premier of Boardwalk Empire, dag nab it.

I do have On Demand, though, so I can watch it later. :wink:

Arnold Rothstein, the character in this series, is heralded as the biggest gangster in the country. A strategic thinker and a consummate gambler, the man who fixed the 1919 World Series never makes a bet he doesn't know he can win.

Gotta love Marty for keeping pool alive in his movies. :grin:

 

[Apocalypse2017]

Great show!!! Can't wait till next week!

 

[JAM]

How about our Tony Robles?! Wow!

This year, Robles also was technical adviser for Michael Stuhlbarg for the HBO series, “Boardwalk Empire,” a drama from Terence Winter of “The Sopranos” and Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese, set in Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition.

Source: Right On Cue. [Retrieved 20 September 2010]

I have some pictures of Tony on my other computer, which I have not had a chance to move on my backup drive yet, but here's one from 2003 I took in the Big Apple at Master's. Man, time flies. Tony adores his son, who is probably a teenager by now.

I'm so psyched about Tony being the pool technical director for this. I'm hoping there's more pool scenes to come in this series.

 

[perspicaz]

Nice scene... but the extravagant poison cue is a little bit out of place
A classic four pointer would have done the trick :wink:

 

[JAM]

Check out the trailer: HBO Boardwalk Empire Trailer.

[Warning: Foul Language]

This is supposedly HBO's most expensive show ever. The premier is rumored to have cost $50 million so far.

I have always been a huge fan of Steve Buscemi. :grin:

 

[JAM]

Nice scene... but the extravagant poison cue is a little bit out of place
A classic four pointer would have done the trick :wink:

Wow! Only a pool aficionado would have caught that. Good catch! :wink:

 

[JAM]

Martin Scorsese often has a quick cameo in all of his flicks, so I'm going to be looking for him in this one. :wink:

Just in case there's any pool peeps on the face of the Earth who have never heard of the pool movie, "The Color of Money," well, Martin Scorsese was its director:

In 1986 Scorsese made The Color of Money, a sequel to the much admired Robert Rossen film The Hustler (1961) with Paul Newman. Although typically visually assured, The Color of Money was the director's first foray into mainstream commercial film-making. It won actor Paul Newman a belated Oscar and gave Scorsese the clout to finally secure backing for a project that had been a long time goal for him: The Last Temptation of Christ

 

[Nostroke]

Gangsters still might rule AC.

I'm pretty sure there was at least a 20 year stretch from the 70's -90's maybe longer, where every single Mayor went to jail.

 

[JAM]

Gangsters still might rule AC.

I'm pretty sure there was at least a 20 year stretch from the 70's -90's maybe longer, where every single Mayor went to jail.

Casinos foresee a "Boardwalk Empire" bump in business, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.

 

[mikeyfrost]

I'm born and raised in AC, I like where this show is going. Big Business runs the city now make no mistake, it's all big shops, designer brands, 5 star restaurants, over hyped night clubs, $20/drink wherever you are, hookers on pacific, oh and there's a boardwalk and pier that really just help the casino jumpers get from place to place with a decent view and a breeze.

I think this is going to be my favorite show as I will learn some things about AC I am sure. A yound Al Capone was in the first episode and I never got the name of the Prohibition Agent tracking him but it would be cool if it was Elliott Ness. Can't wait. Show has a lot of potential.

 

[Dead Money]

Wow! Only a pool aficionado would have caught that. Good catch! :wink:

There's more! When the scene first opens and they show the cue rack on the wall behind the shooter a few of the cues appear to be dufferin house cues with the small clear window on the butts:grin:

 

[Scott Lee]

JAM...Thanks for the link to that clip. That must be from next week's (or a future) episode, because it wasn't in last night's. BTW, did you miss the pool scene in last night's premiere episode? The prohibition agents are playing snooker while talking about how they're going to "bust up the liquor rackets".

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[terminal_288]

I concur...

i had to stop and watch the video looks like it will be a great series but come on $18 million on the first episode alone and you have some one playing with a cue that didn't come out until 2007 ish (the cue is the AX 6) and the show takes place in the 1920's :shakehead: not cool HBO... or who ever was in charge of historical accuracy.

 

[cleary]

i had to stop and watch the video looks like it will be a great series but come on $18 million on the first episode alone and you have some one playing with a cue that didn't come out until 2007 ish (the cue is the AX 6) and the show takes place in the 1920's :shakehead: not cool HBO... or who ever was in charge of historical accuracy.

$18 million goes fast with visual effects like this. This show is suuuuuuuper well made. That boardwalk that appears to be 8 miles long is actually 300 feet, constructed in Brooklyn one the East River. Surrounded by green screen, the set was extended in CGI and it looks flawless. $18 million doesn't go far for CGI tracking, modeling, texture/lighting, compositing on top of the fact this show is shot on 35mm film. The First Episode was like a little over an hour, thats nearly a feature movie and with all of the CGI, $18 million is a steal.

As far as the cue goes, its pretty clear by the Poison logo on the base of the shaft what it is TO US, but without that logo, the cue could have been anything. Personally, a continuity error like this isn't that big of a deal. It happens very often. Tony as the pool tech director would have been the one throwing the Poison cue in there, not sure why it was needed.

I love the Deadwood, from a few years back. I was watching a scene when I see I giant camera boom in the background. LOL Now that is a pretty big slip up!

 

[JAM]

JAM...Thanks for the link to that clip. That must be from next week's (or a future) episode, because it wasn't in last night's. BTW, did you miss the pool scene in last night's premiere episode? The prohibition agents are playing snooker while talking about how they're going to "bust up the liquor rackets".

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

I missed the snooker-playing agents. Man, that sucks, Now I'm going to have to watch it again, but I don't mind. I pulled it up last night on my OnDemand and really, really, really love this series.

It is very Scorsese-esque the way he develops the characters. The ending leaves you wanting to know more. Will Enoch get together with the widow in the hospital, whose husband is now sleeping with the fish after Enoch put a hit on him? I really like Jimmy. His character is going to blossom into something really cool, I think, and love, love, love Rothstein. What a character, living life high off the hog.

And then there's a young Al Capone who was a mere chauffer at the time. Can't wait until this Sunday now. This is GREAT. This Sunday will be the pool scene with Rothstein.

The real Al Capone, by the way, suffered in prison from syphilis, which led to his ultimate demise. Check out his prison cell in the Eastern State Penitentiary. :thumbup:

 

[Scott Lee]

JAM...Well now I'm the one with egg on my face! LMAO I watched it again tonight (I can't get enough of this show!), and the snooker scene was in the previews for next week! So, I guess we'll have the Feds playing snooker, and the gangsters playing pool...all in the same episode! Way to go Mr. Scorcese! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[beetle]

I saw this show and I'm hooked!

 

[Scott Lee]

As an update on the series...after just one episode, Boardwalk Empire was picked up for an additional season! Woohoo! Looking forward to this Sunday's pool scenes...among the rest of the story!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[MikeM]

JAM...Thanks for the link to that clip. That must be from next week's (or a future) episode, because it wasn't in last night's. BTW, did you miss the pool scene in last night's premiere episode? The prohibition agents are playing snooker while talking about how they're going to "bust up the liquor rackets".

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

How was their process? :thumbup:

 

[JAM]

Season 2 premiers this Sunday, September 25th, 2011, on HBO. Here is a snippet to look forward to: "Boardwalk Empore" Preview Trailor.

Martin Scorsese, the renown director of the pool movie, "The Color of Money," won an Emmy this past Sunday (September 18, 2011) as director for "Boardwalk Empire."

Kelly Macdonald who plays Margaret Schroeder and Steve Buscemi who plays Nucky Thompson were also both nominated for an Emmy but didn't score.

Michael Pitt who plays Jimmy Darmody looks like the next Paul Newman. This kid sure is easy on the eyes. :grin-loving: