whaddya hear, whaddya say? Sopranos Chat 21 years on

[thraxx]

Man, the fall out between Tony and Gloria is ugly and bleak.  Fucking hell.

[neveragain]

Underrated funny name: New Jersey Museum of Science and Trucking.

[Custard]

Patsy is the one who warns Gloria off too, isn't he.

"It won't be cinematic"

Fucking chilling

[neardark]

Bought the boxset of this a few years back. Didn't really get it. Need to watch again.

[Golden E. Pump]

A cliche but I'd love to drive that route one day

Did it last year (as a passenger) and I couldn't actually get the music out of my head. So cool.

[Dr Rock]

Watching Season One, a notable fade & music - Episode 4,  Meadowlands. At the funeral young A.J. takes in for real that his family are gangsters after Meadow gave him the proof earlier. To the beautiful sound of Mazzy Star.

[ASFTSN]

This is the best series of character studies that's ever been on TV I reckon.  I've never watched another Big American Drama (apart from Breaking Bad which bored the tits off of me) and I don't think I ever will.  Just rewatch Sopranos again.  So glad my girlfriend convinced me to give it a go.

[ASFTSN]

Why has Paulie Walnuts not posted in this thread?

[ASFTSN]

It's a shame that it's technically a drama, so never gets considered amongst the ranks of the greatest comedies of all time. It's hilarious.

This is why I never had any interest in watching it at first.  I just thought it would be large-balled Mafia men swinging around and whacking people for six series.  It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV.  Just thinking about Christopher's intervention gets me creasing up.

[Dr Syntax Head]

This is the best series of character studies that's ever been on TV I reckon.  I've never watched another Big American Drama (apart from Breaking Bad which bored the tits off of me) and I don't think I ever will.  Just rewatch Sopranos again.  So glad my girlfriend convinced me to give it a go.

Give Mad Men a go. No seriously do so.

I was also wondering where Paulie Walnuts was

[magval]

Oh - when Tony is in Adriana's club talking to Feech he asks Chris and associate to give them a minute. As they're leaving Silvio perks up and gestures about the song that's playing which they can now hear clearly as the door has been opened. Tony smiles and nods.

Anyone remember that tiny tiny little bit from an 86 episode show? I don't know the song so can't make a connection to anything.

I don't have the discs to hand (am at work), but Feech is only in four episodes and Wikipedia has great coverage of Sopranos music. Here's the links, maybe something'll leap out at you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Tonys#Music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Pack_(The_Sopranos)#Music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where%27s_Johnny%3F#Music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Happy_Families...#Music

[ASFTSN]

Give Mad Men a go. No seriously do so.

No disrespect to ya, but I don't think I will.  I get ornery about all this stuff, it's all talked about as if it's the be all and end all of entertainment and I don't think of any of it will have the time investment/entertainment factor payoff I want.  I value someone's opinion on here far more than I would in the real world saying "Ohhh you've never seen Weeds/Game of Thrones/Jessica Jones/Better Call Saul/Walking Dead/Stranger Things/House of Cards/The Wire???*" but I'm still not arsed enough.  I just don't like TV enough.

*Not that I'm saying you are.

[Wet Blanket]

Mad Men is the only one that ranks alongside Sopranos for me, although it runs a couple of seasons too long.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Weirdly I'm yet to see the last season. I'm not arsed about TV either but Wire, Mad Men and Sopranos are about the only shows I'd say were well worth the effort. Oh and Gomorrah. The most under appreciated show ever.

[Dr Syntax Head]

*Not that I'm saying you are.

Nah it's cool I get ya. I feel the same about people saying I should like Game of dragon tits and stranger 80s rip off things.

[DrGreggles]

Another vote for The Wire, but a vote against Mad Men (too slow and too dull).

[Mediocre Poster]

Weirdly I'm yet to see the last season. I'm not arsed about TV either but Wire, Mad Men and Sopranos are about the only shows I'd say were well worth the effort.

Yes agreed. Nothing else I've ever watched has the depth that these shows have. They are the pinnacle of American tv drama to date I reckon. BB was a lot of fun but not something I've much interest in rewatching.

Yet to see Gomorrah but I remember enjoying, if that's the word, the film. Other Italian mob dramas I recommend are Romanzo Criminale, and Suburra. But they're more the Goodfellas-end of it, more style over grit

[rjd2]

Another vote for The Wire, but a vote against Mad Men (too slow and too dull).

The wire loses some good will to the mediocre final season, its still wonderful, but that season hurts its legacy somewhat. The Sopranos only extensive lull was first half of season six, but as it finishes so strongly all is forgiven.

If I were to pick out weaknesses and so few, Meadow is crap, they seem to dumb her down as the seasons progress. She seems more and more oblivious to her fathers cuntery as the seasons progress. Oh and obviously the final scene with Tony's mom when she parted, I know it was a while ago and I assume her family were ok with it, but its horrible to watch.

Never understood the hatred of AJ either, he's much more complicated than "spoilt brat".

The best episode probably a toss up between the one where Pussy gets whacked, Pine Barrens and where Ralphie kills the stripper, so bleak but a needed reminder how awful these people are.

[rjd2]

Yes agreed. Nothing else I've ever watched has the depth that these shows have. They are the pinnacle of American tv drama to date I reckon. BB was a lot of fun but not something I've much interest in rewatching.

Yet to see Gomorrah but I remember enjoying, if that's the word, the film. Other Italian mob dramas I recommend are Romanzo Criminale, and Suburra. But they're more the Goodfellas-end of it, more style over grit

Gomorrah is good fun and you will breeze through, but I can't call it classic. I really don't think you will gain much by repeated viewings as you would the Sopranos etc.

[Mediocre Poster]

There's another show on Amazon at the moment, called Patriot, that I think has a lot of potential. But the plot is almost glacial and I've abandoned a rewatch halfway through. It could be great, if it gets a bit more zippy.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Mad Men is slow as fuck and if you don't give it full attention it is dull. But by god it sucks you in if you make the effort. Don Draper suffers from the Fight Club thing where idiot men think he's some kind of hero instead of the fuck up he actually is.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Ralphie killing the stripper was bleak as

[rjd2]

Ralphie killing the stripper was bleak as

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0705291/quotes

Some iconic quotes in that episode, the below the highlight. Joe Pantoliano supposedly lost work due to the backlash the episode got at the time.


Tracee: I'm pregnant. It's Ralphie's.

Tony' Soprano : Congratulations.

Tracee: What should I do? He acts like he doesn't give a shit.

Tony : You ever think he's not acting?

[jake thunder]

Deadwood has a similar quality, depth and rewatchability as The Sopranos. It's only 3 seasons though.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Deadwood has a similar quality, depth and rewatchability as The Sopranos. It's only 3 seasons though.

I forgot this existed. I meant to give it a watch after Brooker went nuts over it. Never got around to it, I must remedy this.

[Dr Rock]

I'd say the three best episodes were The Pine Barrens - for excitement and hilarity,  Ralphie Kills The Stripper - for Hubert Selby Jr level of BLEAK, and the final episode, for the tension and the ultimate ambiguity, that would guarantee people would be discussing the show  - and its ending - forever. (Although we're all agreed that Tony and possibly his family got whacked right?)

[Custard]

Deadwood is great, but The Sopranos is in a whole other league, for me

Boardwalk Empire is worth a watch too, as it's very Sopranos in tone, even if it never quite hit the same heights quality wise

[thraxx]

First 2 seasons of Deadwood is magnificent, huge drop off in the 3rd.  Ian Macshane shows that he is the UK Jack Nicholson.  Not a patch on the Sopranos though.

[rjd2]

Deadwood is great, but The Sopranos is in a whole other league, for me

Boardwalk Empire is worth a watch too, as it's very Sopranos in tone, even if it never quite hit the same heights quality wise

The issue with Boardwalk was it should have been more than what it was. It had obviously a huge budget, great era to draw inspiration from and talented people writing and directing a superb cast for the most part but when all said and done it was flawed.

The first two seasons are great, and obvious spoiler here when a key member of the cast gets killed in the end of season 2 it loses its way a little bit. It obviously hurts the show, that Buscemi is a weak link as after season 2 meh. He has nowhere near enough depth for his run on the show.

Richard Harrow summarises the show for me, very interesting for the first two seasons but once major characters get killed in season 2, he becomes a bit of a cliched character. The scene when he massacres all the dudes in the hotel is fanboy shite at its worst.

Been vague above as not trying to spoil it!

[Desirable Industrial Unit]

(Although we're all agreed that Tony and possibly his family got whacked right?)

No, the sequence is shot in a very deliberate way that makes it clear that everything that happens after Tony walks through the door is a projection of his fear, and what he expects every simple meal to feel like until the end of his life.  Nothing that happens after he walks in actually happens, it's it's all a paranoid fantasy.  There's a shot that has to be completely ignored to argue otherwise.

It's supposed to be ambiguous though, so although what's on the screen tends one way, there's an argument for them all getting wasted.  Nobody ever changes their minds when we go through this though, so can you be arsed?