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NFT: Sopranos

bigblue1124 : 6/24/2016 9:28 am
So the wife and I started re-watching Sopranos last night only the pilot done so far. She has never watched it and I haven’t watched it since it was on as a series with HBO. I am really looking forward to this as is my wife. I had forgotten how well the pilot was done in setting up the following seasons and how good it was period. My wife after only one episode seems to be hooked already.

Only real sad part is knowing James Gandolfini is no longer with us. Anyone recently re-watch it and or first timers?

I loved this show.
I watched it for the first time last year  
AP in Halfmoon : 6/24/2016 9:29 am : link
definitely a top 5 TV series
once through was enough for me  
UConn4523 : 6/24/2016 9:30 am : link
maybe one day I'll give it another watch but I don't think it holds up well like the Wire did. Still an all time great show, but its a drag to get through at times.
There are rumors of a Chase making a new Sopranos  
Giants2012 : 6/24/2016 9:43 am : link
yet it's a generation before Tony
I'm in Season 3  
Randy in CT : 6/24/2016 9:46 am : link
presently and really enjoying it.
I do agree some episodes were kind of tough to get through  
bigblue1124 : 6/24/2016 9:51 am : link
But all in all I really can’t remember any of the seasons being a disappointment. I am honestly more looking forward for my wife seeing it for the first time.

Giants2012
I have not heard that, who would the boss be? How far prior to Tony are they looking at?
"don't disrespect the Pizza Palor"  
gtt350 : 6/24/2016 10:13 am : link
.
What is that?  
bigblue1124 : 6/24/2016 10:18 am : link
Chicken Soup for the Soul.

You should read Tomato Sauce for your Ass. It's the Italian version.
Great series  
Motley Two : 6/24/2016 10:19 am : link
but the women on that show were awful. Except for Annabella Sciorra's limited time on there. She was sexy.
I don't think it drags, and to me, it holds up  
barens : 6/24/2016 10:55 am : link
better than ever. I enjoy the late 90's early 2000's feeling of the show, and there are so many shows out there today that try and copy the Soprano's family feel...like Ray Donovan, which is a great show in it's own right, but it all comes back to the family, and no show has done it like the Soprano's.
RE: Great series  
Chris in Philly : 6/24/2016 10:56 am : link
In comment 13007523 Motley Two said:
Quote:
but the women on that show were awful. Except for Annabella Sciorra's limited time on there. She was sexy.


Edie Falco is a great actress. She was excellent.
RE: RE: Great series  
Randy in CT : 6/24/2016 11:00 am : link
In comment 13007581 Chris in Philly said:
Quote:
In comment 13007523 Motley Two said:


Quote:


but the women on that show were awful. Except for Annabella Sciorra's limited time on there. She was sexy.



Edie Falco is a great actress. She was excellent.
Bingo.
One could argue..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 6/24/2016 11:04 am : link
that Edie Falco's performance was the one that will stand the test of time the most. She captured the mob boss wife role perfectly with the contradiction of enjoying the spoils of her husband's "job" to questioning his behavior, to being selfish and not wanting to see it end.
Agree Annabella was hot  
bigblue1124 : 6/24/2016 11:07 am : link
but you had to know she was not long term on the show.

But Edie I thought was awesome in her role. As well as Drea as Angie I thought both did a great job in their roles.
They should do a sequel  
Shadow : 6/24/2016 11:59 am : link
Based on Meadow taking over the family business and becoming a powerful gangster. She had the brains in the family. A lot like The Godfather Meadow is consumed by her revenge for her family's death and ends up becoming what she hated. She was the only one who survived the hit on Tony. AJ and Carmella were collateral damage. Tony's princess becomes ruthless.
Sopranos  
Wreckingcrew : 6/24/2016 12:12 pm : link
Was a huge fan of the show when it came out, and rewatched it a few times. However, after the Wire, and now with GoT, I think the Sopranos does not hold up as well as I initially thought it would. The first season or 2 were incredible, but it did become a drag to get through parts of the show, and to this day, I'm still not a fan of the dream sequence nonsense coma stuff towards the end. Furthermore, the show became somewhat formulaic for a point (here's this guy who's causing Tony a problem -- tension with Tony -- the guy dies towards the end).

I still put Sopranos in top 5, if not top 3 shows of all-time and in my lifetime. It paved the way for many other shows, especially Breaking Bad, and was historic for TV. But given a choice to rewatch that vs. The Wire, I take the Wire every time. I think Deadwood should be mentioned in this space as well, that show was very well done.
The first three seasons are GOAT  
Ben in Tampa : 6/24/2016 12:41 pm : link
After that it's mostly hits, but some misses as well.

I've always felt Nancy Marhand's death after season 2 altered the original vision of the storyline and it never recaptured totally what made the show so amazing early in its run.
BBI never disappoints...  
aimrocky : 6/24/2016 12:46 pm : link
I was in the market for outdoor cushions, a thread pops up yesterday.

I'm in the market for a ceiling fan, a thread pops up earlier this week.

I started watching Soprano's for the first time this week, and a thread pops up reviewing the series. I'm amazed how in tune I am with the rest of this community.
I didn't think the women were bad actors  
Motley Two : 6/24/2016 12:55 pm : link
I just couldn't stand their characters, which kinda lends itself to their acting chops. The mom, the wife, the daughter, the shrink & Christopher's girlfriend would all drive me up a wall. If I went and rewatched the series, I'd fast forward through a lot of scenes, but they were all mostly above average to very good actresses.
RE: Sopranos  
UConn4523 : 6/24/2016 1:26 pm : link
In comment 13007714 Wreckingcrew said:
Quote:
Was a huge fan of the show when it came out, and rewatched it a few times. However, after the Wire, and now with GoT, I think the Sopranos does not hold up as well as I initially thought it would. The first season or 2 were incredible, but it did become a drag to get through parts of the show, and to this day, I'm still not a fan of the dream sequence nonsense coma stuff towards the end. Furthermore, the show became somewhat formulaic for a point (here's this guy who's causing Tony a problem -- tension with Tony -- the guy dies towards the end).

I still put Sopranos in top 5, if not top 3 shows of all-time and in my lifetime. It paved the way for many other shows, especially Breaking Bad, and was historic for TV. But given a choice to rewatch that vs. The Wire, I take the Wire every time. I think Deadwood should be mentioned in this space as well, that show was very well done.


Pretty much agree on all fronts. Its an all time great show, easily top 1% and because of that I'm comparing it to its peers. I think its in my Top 7 for sure, probably Top 5, but I'd need to dig deep to put that whole list together, haha.
I've watched every episode atleast 3 times  
DennyInDenville : 6/24/2016 1:30 pm : link
And never saw the show till 2014 so yea 3 times in 2 years I've watched lol.


The dream/coma sequences were fucking dope and just awesome, fuck the guy who said he didn't like them.
Loved the show but could not stomach Tony's 2 female blood relatives.  
BlueHurricane : 6/24/2016 2:31 pm : link
His mother and his sister made me want to punch the TV.

Wondering if that is the "two female actresses" Motley Two is referring to.
RE: They should do a sequel  
Ron from Ninerland : 6/24/2016 2:34 pm : link
In comment 13007685 Shadow said:
Quote:
Based on Meadow taking over the family business and becoming a powerful gangster. She had the brains in the family. A lot like The Godfather Meadow is consumed by her revenge for her family's death and ends up becoming what she hated. She was the only one who survived the hit on Tony. AJ and Carmella were collateral damage. Tony's princess becomes ruthless.


I'd watch just to see AJ get shot in slo mo.
RE: I've watched every episode atleast 3 times  
est1986 : 6/24/2016 2:41 pm : link
In comment 13007849 DennyInDenville said:
Quote:
And never saw the show till 2014 so yea 3 times in 2 years I've watched lol.


The dream/coma sequences were fucking dope and just awesome, fuck the guy who said he didn't like them.


My favorite of all time but I didnt like the coma scene either. I'm waiting for a soprano prequel movie that should be great.
I think the biggest...  
Chris in Philly : 6/24/2016 3:04 pm : link
thing that bothered me about the show was when they gave Uncle Jun dementia. What a waste of one of the great characters of all time.
Cazzata Malanga!  
Overseer : 6/24/2016 3:10 pm : link
.
Show is larger than life  
Overseer : 6/24/2016 3:13 pm : link
it had some lulls midway through, but when it's firing it's some of the best TV ever made. And it finishes strong despite what those who need neat little bows claim.

And, yes, Edie Falco is excellent. I've always wanted to check out Nurse Jackie but it's like 10th on a list of shows I've been meaning to get to. Damn all this good TV!
AJ "I was self medicating"  
gtt350 : 6/24/2016 3:15 pm : link
.
My wife and I wve watched the series a couple of times  
YelbertonA : 6/24/2016 3:17 pm : link
Have to agree on higher quality of earlier seasons. Amazing I liked it as much as I did considering how many characters I could have totally done without:
Melfi
Artie
AJ
Vito
Benny

Regarding female characters. Rosalie Aprile was always had some great lines in her occasional scenes.
I did a rewatch a few years ago  
NINEster : 6/24/2016 5:12 pm : link
and enjoyed it very much.

I think the show is still underrated by most when you consider the extra wave of shows that followed it on a similar level that stole a lot of its thunder (The Wire, Breaking Bad).

There was nothing like The Sopranos before it, and that part was very quickly forgotten. To think we didn't have that kind of show pre-1999 is weird...

Anyone who has watched with Director's commentary would know that David Chase is a very talented director. People often confuse The Sopranos as an artistic mob show when in reality it was art first, with the mob being the vehicle to tell the story.

Often there are complaints about a dragged out season 4-6 (part 1), but in reality Chase originally planned a 4 season show and HBO demanded more.

Could you imagine compressing those final 3 1/2 seasons into 1 season? It would have been insanely good.

There is a lot of nuance to the show that I don't think has ever been replicated. Those who rewatch the show will pick up on it.

I'll give you one theory that if true would be absolutely brilliant....SPOILER ALERT if you never watched......








In the lead up to the finale I am pretty sure I recall reading somewhere online that David Chase said that the finale would "tie up a storyline from the first season".

Now if I read that right, what story line was in fact resolved in episode 86?

It's a stretch but I think that if Tony was killed at the end, it was Patsy Parisi who did it. If you recall, they had Patsy's twin brother Phil killed in season 1, and Patsy attempted to shoot Tony himself in season 2 while being surveilled by the FBI......but then we find out he's wasted and takes a leak and that was that.

He featured in the finale with his son being engaged to Meadow and I believe a somewhat tense gathering with the Sopranos.

It's all circumstantial, but if I read that article right ...and I'm pretty sure I did....then I wonder what storyline it was if it wasn't Patsy's?
And in true David Chase style  
NINEster : 6/24/2016 5:15 pm : link
If indeed a storyline was resolved, it wouldn't be so crystal clear what it was.

He would never have brought back THE RUSSIAN from Pine Barrens, for example.

It's been 9 years since it went off the air....unbelievable.
James Gandolfini's portrayal of Tony Soprano  
Don in DC : 6/24/2016 5:17 pm : link
is, in my opinion, the finest performance in TV history, and one of the finest acting performances in any medium of all time... maybe the best of all time, period.

His body language, his eye movements, his breathing, subtle facial expressions... all provided a depth, subtlety and richness to the character that went far, far beyond the dialogue. A virtuoso performance.

For that reason, the Sopranos is my favorite TV show of all time. Well, that and because I'm from Jersey and fuck you.
The guy in the Members Only jacket who is in the place  
Shadow : 6/24/2016 5:38 pm : link
did the hit. Meadow goes through the door and then its black. Meadow saw her family get hit. Because she couldn't parallel park for shit she was late and survived.
I bought the entire series on Blu Ray  
Dave in Hoboken : 6/24/2016 5:49 pm : link
back in February and watched the entire thing in a month. Great, great show that stands the test of time. My favorite character on the show is Christopher. Dude was hilarious. I hated that they had Tony kill him off. Didn't come off as 100% believable to me, tbh.

Someone else touched upon it, but giving Uncle Junior dementia was a bad move, IMO. They could've gotten so much more out of the Junior/Tony storyline/relationship than they did. A shame, really.

I would take this show over any of the great shows from today and not think twice.
I cannot  
NJGiantFan84 : 6/24/2016 8:36 pm : link
Say for sure how man times I have re-watched the series but it is in double digits. They can call this the "Golden Age" of TV all they want, but in 2002, The Soprano's, Six Feet Under, The Wire, The Shield, Oz and the West Wing were all on. I think all six of those shows would be in my top 20 with three in my top 5. I am sure I am leaving a few off the list as well.
I think the Sopranos is the greatest tv show  
Dry Lightning : 6/25/2016 9:32 am : link
ever made. Funny, exciting, cool, and with a depth and character development probably never to be matched.
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