Apparently, he came all over the sun visor - Sopranos Thread

[BIL]

Spread dem cheeks. This a thread for discussion of "hit TV show" Teh Sopranos on HBO. I can't see straight atm but I'll say, good great googleh moogleh, Season 4 is comfy as fuuuuuuuck. I don't think this show has one bad ep, but S4 is the only one I can reliably marathon without the slightest urge 2 skip!

Anyway, will return with quality posting soon. Cock suckin mudda fucka.

[GaijinPunch]

I need to go back and watch it. The only thing I have to add of recent is watching Christopher in this season of White Lotus - he has exquisite taste in Pay for Pussy. 11/10. Also gave this a shot as I had a few minutes to kill on one of my regimented walks.

Favorite moment from the series when the pure surprise and disgust when Paulie was told that Vito was the one administering the blow jobs, not receiving. Classic stuff!

EDIT: This is good

[BIL]

Favorite moment from the series when the pure surprise and disgust when Paulie was told that Vito was the one administering the blow jobs, not giving. Classic stuff!

"CATCHIN? NOT PITCHIN?"
"SON OF A BITCH!!!" ()
"Alright look, go out front, getchaself a sammich. Aaany kind ya like." ;3 >w<

In a goldmine of quotables, that scene is a solid shiny brick. Actually no, it's more of a diamond; shades of hatred sparkling and interplaying. There's Paulie and Carlo going full mujahideen, Chris and Patsy yukking it up, Bobby as a rare voice of moderation - and presiding over all, a pale Tony looking mezzomorte at the realisation his best earner has gotta go. He might not have gotten his new boat without Vito!

And a terrified Finn, knowing he's just sent a man to Belize - albeit in ostensible self-defense, after Vito cornered him in the porta-potty!

"I'm sorry I yelled at ya, T. It's just... how much more betrayal can I take?! 3;"

I was reading some numbnuts' rundown of the series' "least popular" episodes, and he cited "Eloise" (fuckin class tbh, but then all of Season 4 is) as "turning audiences off with its homophobia." (it's the one where Tony and Carm go to dinner at Meadow's university dorm, and mother/daughter clash over the themes of classic homo novel Billy Budd)

And I'm like [1] the most wildly acclaimed episodes (like the one quoted up top) portray homophobia that'd made an ISIS platoon uneasy, [2] as always, Chase and co are very much laughing at these hypocritical goons, and last but not least [3] That's the same ep where Paulie breaks into an elderly lady's home and batters her to death for her life savings. This is a black-comedic exploration of sociopathy at its most red in tooth and claw - you really think fans will get fifty eps in before going "Nope! No sirree! I was enjoying the company of these lovable rascals - until they cracked that AIDS joke!"

Now s3's "University" - featuring the atrocious fate of Tracee - supposedly leading significant numbers to cancel their HBO contracts at first airing; that I can understand. Season 3 is notably brutal, especially the first half - particularly in those relatively innocent times for the small screen. "Employee of the Month," "Another Toothpick," and "University" are probably the show's most punishing triptych, and then "Second Opinion" brings the most ruthless slaying of them all.

"Take the children. What's left of them."

But again, these became the show's glory years in hindsight. TLDR: "Modern sensibilities" can go piss up a rope. This be some aeons-old eternally-recurring evil goin' straight up your ass, boy!

I need to go back and watch it. The only thing I have to add of recent is watching Christopher in this season of White Lotus - he has exquisite taste in Pay for Pussy. 11/10.

I've heard good things about him in that! Quality chap, Mr. Imperioli.

[GaijinPunch]

Knocked the first 4 episodes of Season 1 out over the weekend. Not quite as good as watching it fresh but I had forgotten a ton of things. I've only watched the show once as it was coming out, in admittedly shitty quality as I was getting them off of mIRC on my 1st gen Japanese ADSL line in 1999. So of course 10% of the time I'd download an episode, crank it up, and it was either a shitty Eddie Murphy movie or gay porn.

Anywho, some fun stuff in here. Everyone being ridiculously young; the early days of the internet when Meadow shows her grotesquely rotund brother all about the Mafia on some static website, and the end credits of one of the episodes featuring Look on Down from the Bridge, by Mazzy Star. I had forgotten about what a loose canon dip shit Christopher starts off as, but definitely didn't forget what Adriana started off as!

I do like that most episodes are 45 minutes, as I feel a lot of shows of recent favoring 60 is just too much in a setting. However, and let's see how I feel a few seasons in, 10 episode seasons was probably sufficient. I understand they were competing with network shows that ran 20+ episodes though, so wadd'ya gonna do.

[sky-13]

Not a bad thread, mix it with the relish.

[DMC]

The intervention was a masterpiece in writing!

[GaijinPunch]

Cunnilingus and psychiatry brought us to this.

[BIL]

I NEVA SHOULDA TEASED UNCLE JUN ABOUT GIVIN' HEAD



Yo, that last sorrowful look back from Uncle Jun though He never got over Roberta!

Great ass. Jesus. Talked too much, but what a piece she was. And game as they come.

Christ, Dom Chianese is a hell of an actor. That's classical training for you... those rare later scenes with he and Tony reconciled are beautiful, in the show's characteristically black-hued way.

The intervention was a masterpiece in writing!

Yes! Exactly the more (to borrow an animu term ;3) slice of life material I treasure, from Season 4's abundant stock. No "end boss" character (as fun as they are), no impending disaster with NY, just lots of interesting little mishaps as Tony tries to go about fortifying his hard-won station. I have to do a proper ep-by-ep at some point, cliche as those are.

"I oughta strangle YOU, ya little prick! "Tony, you're becoming emotional..." "THAT'S CAUSE I KNOW HOW IT FEELS TA LOSE A PET!"

Perhaps my favourite Ton/Uncle Jun scene, from "The Weight." The sense of filial bond and long, chequered history is entrancing, even as they're planning out a hellaciously treacherous (and especially farcical) whacking of poor hardheaded Johnny Sack. That upload cuts off right before the end, and my favourite line; Uncle Jun's wistful "Anyway, that was Lou, when he still had his health..." (reminiscing on a guy who earned his nom de guerre caving skulls with a baseball bat )

[DMC]

Even some of the "filler" dialogue in between scenes are gold.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsZpxHNhjSI

As a furious Chris drives up to the construction site about to set things straight with Patsy, his girlfriend Adriana sits next to him with her cute little doggie in the knee and delivers this line:

-Chris, my mother's expecting us!

The perfect delivery from the actress Drea de Matteo. The bizzare contrast between mob life and performing boyfriend chores.
The dynamic of their relationship, including the naive attempt of Adriana to prevent the fight and Chris walking out without answering--showing no sign of having paid attention to her.

That old Patsy sits with an ice cream and makes the joke "Ho ho! Look what the cat dragged in", before they start pointing guns at each other, is another little gem.

[BIL]

I love the insider/outsider contrast between Ade's and Finn's reactions to casual ultraviolence. A mildly disdainful "ohmygawwwd," opposite primal terror, dry-heaving shutdown, and resounding trauma. I can't recall the exact ep, but somewhere in the quite good Talking Sopranos podcast with Imperioli and Steve Schirippa, they mention how tightly the actors were directed, WRT script. I know so many people who, disinterested in mafia stories, came away enamoured with this show just on sheer craftsmanship, that attention to detail.

(a few years down the road? enjoying a hearty laugh about the guy they're gonna hunt down and execute for being gay )

Though, there's also stories of an aggravated Dom Chianese hollering the classic actor's rebuke at a pushy director: "Tell me what to say... NOT how to say it!" A similar, though less stern request from Burt Young, in that punishing Another Toothpick turn. And also actor-generated bits of magic like this, from Pine Barrens:

Spoiler

James Gandolfini asked Schirippa to surprise him when Bobby arrives in full Elmer Fudd gear, as unlike his character, Gandolfini had already seen him in the outfit, and the script needed Tony to crack up. Schirippa obliged by walking into shot wielding a fucking massive dildo just out of frame, almost corpsing Dom Chianese with the memorably gigantic false dong. src

[DMC]

Hey guys, what do you say we go to the the Wire thread and shout "NERDS" at them?
I would do it myself if it weren't for the fact I'm only seven episodes into S1 and don't want to spoil anything.

Anyway, this one remains a favourite:

Capo is what he mentioned, I threw cold water on it right away...but she was a whore, Tony

https://youtu.be/ERMw9MvNm3c?t=206

[BIL]

Thread? They're a glorified PM! Anyway, there hasn't been a war since the mjclark thing. Everybody decided. No one's going to the IRC, this day and age.

RIP Johnny aka Count Chocula, that suavely scheming - yet explosively passionate! - mudda fucka.

A Remembrance of Count Chocula

Spoiler

Season 4's bookending scenes of Carmine and Johnny both sneaking over to Tony to have the other whacked are exactly how I prefer my Sopranos' gang war content. All smiles! ^__^ He's healthy as a rhino, this guy! Make sure he stays that way, ha ha! ;3

[DMC]

Thread? They're a glorified PM! Anyway, there hasn't been a war since the mjclark thing. Everybody decided. No one's going to the IRC, this day and age.

Love the photos of Johnny Sack smoking in his backyard and the prison restroom. Still smoking at least.

Sometimes I wonder if Chris Moltesanti could have made it as a Holywood storywriter. Too bad Tony did not believe in his artistic ability.

[GaijinPunch]

Just got up to the Quasi Moto thing last night. These ding dongs have figured out how to avoid the feds but are as dumb as bricks. Tony look at Carmella with pure confusion when she suggests investing some money in the stock market.

Recently treated myself to the best episode in the series: Pine Barrens. One of the few episodes I actually remember quite well. As for the parts that the years have destroyed in my mind, had to do a double take when I saw Michael K Williams and even more shockingly, Gob Bluth himself Will Arnett.

[BIL]

Love the photos of Johnny Sack smoking in his backyard and the prison restroom. Still smoking at least.

Rather disturbingly, that's the men's room at the Bing.



I've seen some say it's to dissuade drug use (see Matush's downfall at The Crazy Horse, leading to this brilliant fiasco with Little Lord Fuckpants), but it seems a pretty steep price for everyone else. On both sides of the can!

Sometimes I wonder if Chris Moltesanti could have made it as a Holywood storywriter. Too bad Tony did not believe in his artistic ability.

He had to be loyle to his capo 3; Then Tony manuged to get the drip on him! (the road was SOFT TAR! HAHAAA)

Recently treated myself to the best episode in the series: Pine Barrens. One of the few episodes I actually remember quite well. As for the parts that the years have destroyed in my mind, had to do a double take when I saw Michael K Williams and even more shockingly, Gob Bluth himself Will Arnett.

You and him both - that Marc Maron interview you posted illuminated me to the wonderful tale of a dejected, pre-Wire Williams sitting around with friends watching The Sopranos, all high as fuck, only to see himself appear onscreen and fall out of his chair.

Magnetic dude, did a lot in an all-too-brief time. 3;

[GaijinPunch]

I've seen some say it's to dissuade drug use (see Matush's downfall at The Crazy Horse, leading to this brilliant fiasco with Little Lord Fuckpants), but it seems a pretty steep price for everyone else. On both sides of the can!

Been to a similar establishment and it had the same setup. Went back there... there was a queue... coworker said, "You're in the wrong venue for a shit, dude." Luckily I was walking distance from my hotel.

You and him both - that Marc Maron interview you posted illuminated me to the wonderful tale of a dejected, pre-Wire Williams sitting around with friends watching The Sopranos, all high as fuck, only to see himself appear onscreen and fall out of his chair.

That was a great story... and whole damn interview!

[GaijinPunch]

About halfway through season 4. More double takes. This time... Paul Dano.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Been rewatching recently myself. It's just so good. More than anything though it was a landmark moment for US tv series. We hadn't really seen anything like it before and it opened up the door for things like Breaking Bad, The Wire, Six Feet Under etc

[GaijinPunch]

We hadn't really seen anything like it before and it opened up the door for things like Breaking Bad, The Wire, Six Feet Under etc

To be fair, I think Twin Peaks is really what sewed the seeds. Stuff like The X-Files capitalized on it, and Oz was the true proof of concept that we could have a serial drama with deplorables at its core. By the time this came out, the sky was the limit.

[Steamflogger Boss]

We hadn't really seen anything like it before and it opened up the door for things like Breaking Bad, The Wire, Six Feet Under etc

To be fair, I think Twin Peaks is really what sewed the seeds. Stuff like The X-Files capitalized on it, and Oz was the true proof of concept that we could have a serial drama with deplorables at its core. By the time this came out, the sky was the limit.

That's a fair assertion I feel. Twin Peaks is one of the earliest shows I can remember that wasn't episodic. It all exploded after Sopranos was a massive hit.

[BIL]

Twin Peaks was definitely foundational to The Sopranos, both in structure and tone - IIRC, David Chase cites it as an influence on par with Goodfellas. Even without the author's confirmation, the drier, darker dream sequences exude Lynch & Frost. Two of my favourites, again from Season 4 (I love S4 ):

Everybody Hurts, s04e06 Same ep with Danno, who I totally missed until Talking Sopranos pointed him out! Very Lost Highway, with that menacing sound design. Could only find a shitty edited clip, but it gets the scene across more or less. 3;

EDIT: Goood damn, I forgot how smouldering hot Annabella Sciorra is there Make a grown man cry

Calling All Cars, s04e12. The single most haunting sequence of the series, imo.

There's also the series' finale, a miniature masterpiece of Lynchian dread unto itself. Occasionally, I like watching it with the music taken as ruthlessly diegetic... the lyrics having no more bearing on proceedings than the salt shakers. It feels like the series' ultimate nightmare sequence, that way. Chase actually wanted the smash-cut to extend all the way to the HBO sign-off, but apparently the screenwriters' guild wouldn't allow it. So I edited my copy to do that instead. It's powerful!

(I'm agnostic on "what really happened" - I think the entire point of the sequence is to leave Tony in exactly the fearful limbo he described to Melfi in - again! - Season 4; the Rubicon of the series, before things went truly terminal for him and his crew. Dead or in the can, with a million ways for either fate to strike. Or not, which in a way, is just as bad - a living death. But the diegetic interpretation is an extra-keen Damocles sword I'm particularly fond of. )

[GaijinPunch]

Annabella Sciorra

Makes you wish she had a sex tape floating around.

The ending

Maybe I'll have a different take this time around, but when an ending isn't spelled out for me, I usually take that as I'm meant to give it more thought. I don't get to see more of that world, but I definitely get to think about it. I took someone 20 years younger than me to see The Thing for it's (gulp) 40th year anniversary, then inundated her with all of the theory videos. 40 years later and film nerds can still ruin a party talking about it. That's a great ending!

[Steamflogger Boss]

Yeah BIL season 4 is awesome.

The Thing is an all time great movie for sure GP. Speaking of things 20 years later the stuff with Junior and his mental problems in season 5 hits a lot harder for me now having lived through that.

[GaijinPunch]

Yeah BIL season 4 is awesome.

The Thing is an all time great movie for sure GP. Speaking of things 20 years later the stuff with Junior and his mental problems in season 5 hits a lot harder for me now having lived through that.

I think that's the beauty of going back to a show that's so strong, as a (probably) different person. Watching this in my 20's, I glossed over
- How horrible all the mobsters are
- How stupid they all are. Amazing they can run businesses when they trivialize literally every aspect of human existence
- How also horrible their female counter parts are. I think Janice might be the worst in the show. Jesus.
- How subtle the humor is. Looking back now I'm delighted every time Junior's horny, elderly ass is on screen b/c I know he's gonna throw out some gold.

Now that I've got a bit more wisdom under my belt these things hit a little harder.

I remember watching Natural Born Killers sometime around circa 2010, so a good 18 years after it came out, and 12 or so since I had watched it. All I could think was, "was it this fucked up when I first watched it?" Was a bit hard to stomach.

[Steamflogger Boss]

The writing and acting is very good. It's gotten a fair number of audible reactions from me. Laughs and puffing out air like a hoo boy kinda reaction mostly.

The excellent realism of the characters is a sticking point for me. They are pretty much all believable and actions taken make sense for the character. And yeah, lots of assholes. Maybe I'm noticing this more because I've been coming off watching a lot of anime.

[BIL]

Speaking of things 20 years later the stuff with Junior and his mental problems in season 5 hits a lot harder for me now having lived through that.

Sorry to hear that, bud. Early-onset dementia runs in my mom's side of the family; I've lived in fear of her ending up like her great-aunt ever since I learned of it. She never lets much bother her ("Sounds good! I'm just gonna sleep!" is her usual response to matters of The Great Beyond), but yeah. It wouldn't surprise me if Chase had some personal experience, given the show's sensitivity to these things (see also Tony's diagnosis of stage 1 Alzheimer's in his s6 Kevin Finnerty dreams). The grounding that makes this show so good also makes it hard going at times.

Season 5's Where's Johnny? outro is maybe the show's most poignant, especially after s4's disarmingly comfy Tony/Jun couch talks. "There's the coyote."

I think that's the beauty of going back to a show that's so strong, as a (probably) different person. Watching this in my 20's, I glossed over
- How horrible all the mobsters are
- How stupid they all are. Amazing they can run businesses when they trivialize literally every aspect of human existence
- How also horrible their female counter parts are. I think Janice might be the worst in the show. Jesus.
- How subtle the humor is. Looking back now I'm delighted every time Junior's horny, elderly ass is on screen b/c I know he's gonna throw out some gold.

Now that I've got a bit more wisdom under my belt these things hit a little harder..

My dad, who grew up around wrong'uns and always forbade us from mob-glamorising stuff under his watch, refused to watch this show all through its original run, when it was absolutely everywhere. "What is it, Sex And The City with gangsters?" he muttered once. I later asked him to give it a chance, and it became one of his absolute favourites, on precisely that unapologetic, deeply unglamorous portrayal of career sociopaths. So many treasured quotes, especially from Chris and Paulie.

"Fuckin Russians, I never trust 'em."
"Why not? Tony's goomar is Russian, couldn't ask for a nicer person."
"The Cuban Missile Crisis! Cocksuckers had nukes shoved right up our ass!"
"Wait - that was real?"
"..."
"Thought it was a movie or some shit."
"..."



On this most recent rewatch, one of my favourite bits is in the infamously punishing University; where Sil utterly brutalises Tracee, who's "into him" for a dental bill, dragging her out of Ralphie's place and beating her, as Ralphie guffaws from the window. The immediately following scene? Sil, Ralphie, and Tony enjoying a charming dinner with their wives and children.

Tony and Meadow both repeatedly invoke "the poverty of the mezzogiorno," and the corruption of higher authorities to legitimise the Sicilian Mafia. And as with the Yakuza, and the Crips, so many other gangs - there's a kernel of truth, there. But in these two scenes, the ugly reality is tacit: Tony and co are the new corrupt authorities. And the Tracees they habitually brutalise are the new serf class.

RE the show's humour, I've come to regard it as a black comedy first and foremost; almost Coen-esque, though Lynch always knew how to be a funny motherfucker, too. On Talking Sopranos, Imperioli mentioned not knowing what exactly he was looking at, with the pilot script; and indeed, the pilot, and much of s1's early going, has an avowedly screwball side that rapidly flaked away; extending even to production, with those canned Indiana Jones *bap bap* punch sound effects quickly replaced by the sickeningly dry thud and crunch of University and Another Toothpick's central horrors.

The matured show maintains an easy simmer of the absurd, with certain characters deployed as accelerants; Junior is the GOAT (points to thread title ), but there's Paulie & Chris's dynamite chemistry, too, and Artie "NON-STOP ASS RAPE" Bucco.

And just great dry humour in general. Another favourite of mine, from s1, when they're discussing the Hasidic father and son who want a relative strong-armed out of his share in the family business:

Paulie, innocently: "Why don't he just, eh, y'know..." *making "gun" gesture*
Sil, gravely: "Nah, can't do. It's taboo to their religion."
Everyone: "Ah." *understanding nods*

Good Catholics.

[GaijinPunch]

[
"Fuckin Russians, I never trust 'em."
"Why not? Tony's goomar is Russian, couldn't ask for a nicer person."
"The Cuban Missile Crisis! Cocksuckers had nukes shoved right up our ass!"
"Wait - that was real?"
"..."
"Thought it was a movie or some shit."
"..."

See point #2 in my list.

I got one more episode of Season 4. Chris is MIA due to his addiction to fun. I had totally forgotten that Tony banged the Russian amputee. Vito is still basically just a character in the background. Wonder what the conversation was when they decided to expand his story line.

I guess the hardest thing for me to watch of the last few episodes was the time they were at Meadow's apartment in the city, having a lovely dinner with their friends, and Carmella goes on a tirade about how "gay everything" is destroying the world. Yowza.

[GaijinPunch]

A few episodes into Season 6. I can't believe I basically forgot how the whole season started. Really digging the Kevin Finnerty arc.

[BIL]

A few episodes into Season 6. I can't believe I basically forgot how the whole season started. Really digging the Kevin Finnerty arc.

I'd thought you might enjoy The Great Adventure of Kevin Finnerty! The series' Lynchiest stretch by far. Being a little older, the central conceit of a mundane-yet-maddeningly unstoppable travel trainwreck capped off by a brutal health downer is ruefully more involving. 3;

Speaking of THEM HUMOURZ ;3 ;3 ;3 Nancy Marchand's masterpiece advises her only grandson, re automotive safety: Don't bother, you'll die anyway!



~ ONE EPISODE LATER ~



"JIIIIIZ" Yo - bitch was right! Livia got some strega shit goin' on!

[GaijinPunch]

And with, the rewatch is over. That was a fun ride. Forgot almost all of the last season besides a couple of key deaths and of course, the controversial last scene. Poor AJ... about to bang some hot tail and his care explodes. Isn't it always like that? Uncle Junior seems to have the harshest fate. As I get older I get more and more in touch with my mortality, which makes his ending hit a bit harder at this age.

Guess I should do The Wire next. There's a handful of shows I need to catch up on first though.