The Sopranos....

runningbuddy · 10-09-2017 10:10pm

It's quality TV. I watched it for the second time a while back. It's slightly dated but still brilliant

buried · 10-09-2017 10:46pm

The beef between these two in season 2 is absolute gold mozzarella balls.

take everything · 11-09-2017 11:29am

Watched it completely for the first time over the past few weeks.
Spoilers below.

Brilliant show.
I do agree that it seemed a bit directionless around the fourth or fifth season but overall it's a show with such amazingly rich characters and interesting dynamics (not to mention being out right consistently hilarious with killer one liners) that this is easy to overlook.

So many great characters.
Livia Soprano: I missed her when she went. Nancy Marchand was an incredible actress.

"It's all a big nothing". That dismissive hand wave thing. Her narcissistic mother and her relationship with Tony is amazing dramatically yet still at times so funny. That's hard to do and testament to how good this show was.

Smaller characters like Richie "Manson lamps" Aprile. Thoroughly psychopathic with no redeeming qualities yet compelling and funny. The relationship with Janice- a funny timebomb engagement with a deadly ending.

Dr Melfi: someone said all the characters were unlikeable but I liked Melfi. Played with aplomb IMO by Lorraine Bracco. I would have liked if they fleshed out Tony's sessions a bit more in the show. I felt for her dealing with his bull****.
I would have liked if she nailed him on his bull**** a bit more. Of course he'd probably just storm out again.

Paulie Walnuts (apparently a guy who was involved in stuff like this in real life IIRC).

Little Carmine and his beautiful malapropisms and self-regard. Dim but still likeable That was a show in itself.

Vito and his dalliances (another sad and deeply deluded character).

Jonny Sach. Cool guy. Loved his family. Proper mob boss?

Janice. What a character. One scene I didn't like was Tony ****ting on her (admittedly probably doomed) attempt at introspection and change. The bit where he provokes her into getting angry again at the dinner table and walks out happy with his night's work. I thought that was quite mean of him. That's why that family was never gonna improve tbh.

Christophah:
Another sad deluded character. Ade's death was one of the saddest parts of the show.

Ralphie: arguably the least likeable character for me. Played with typical sliminess by Joe Pantolioni ("Guido the killer pimp" from Risky Business).

And of course Uncle June. So many amazing one liners delivered so perfectly.

Amazing characters. Amazing dynamics between them. Great show.

take everything · 11-09-2017 11:35am

buried wrote: »

The beef between these two in season 2 is absolute gold mozzarella balls.

Love how they're outside a lingerie display.
Of course that's where our "romantic"/pervert Richie would wait for Tony.
Small little touches again that make this show so great.

take everything · 11-09-2017 12:11pm

Actually the one legged Russian and the Jewish psychiatrist who lays it out for Carmella ("leave him") are another two great characters.

Although in retrospect that psychiatrist's advice could have gotten her killed. Actually he does just say to consider it (maybe she'd know herself HOW to leave him) so I dunno. Still a cool fcuker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzVeLjj6Ao8

Baron Kurtz · 13-09-2017 11:46pm

Tony Soprano: (digging with shovel) Halfway ta China...there's nuthin' here.
Uncle Junior: Forty thousand I had. My share of the Bohack's haul from the seventies.
Tony Soprano: Did you wrap it right? It gets moldy...it could've disintegrated.
Uncle Junior: Wrap what?
Tony Soprano: The money.
Uncle Junior: He knows I need that money for my ****in' retrial.
Tony Soprano: Who?
Uncle Junior: You know who.
Tony Soprano: No I don't know who, that's why I asked you.
Uncle Junior: Malanga.
Tony Soprano: Will you stop with that. Pussy Malanga's dead...six years now. I should dig him up already!

MickDoyle1979 · 13-09-2017 11:57pm

Frank Vincent who played Frank Leotardo has passed away.

He started in Raging Bull as a sleazeball who tries to steal (Robert De Niro) Jake La Motta's wife only be beaten up by Joe Pesci.

Joe Pesci playing Tommy De Vito in Goodfellas murders Billy Batts played again by Vincent.

Vincent got his revenge on Pesci when his character beats Nicky Santoro to death in Casino with a baseball bat.

Frank Leotardo a cold hearted evil vengeful violent homophobic mobster in The Sopranos was a terrific character and was brilliantly portrayed by Vincent.

Baron Kurtz · 13-09-2017 11:58pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KIHhwM1j9w

Baron Kurtz · 14-09-2017 12:02am

You never had the makings of a varsity athlete!:)

Venom · 14-09-2017 12:12am

Junior's quotes were always gold

"My nephew is a c*nt hair away from controlling all of North Jersey......and I am that c*nt hair."

Baron Kurtz · 14-09-2017 1:44am

MickDoyle1979 wrote: »

Frank Vincent who played Frank Leotardo has passed away.

He started in Raging Bull as a sleazeball who tries to steal (Robert De Niro) Jake La Motta's wife only be beaten up by Joe Pesci.

Joe Pesci playing Tommy De Vito in Goodfellas murders Billy Batts played again by Vincent.

Vincent got his revenge on Pesci when his character beats Nicky Santoro to death in Casino with a baseball bat.

Frank Leotardo a cold hearted evil vengeful violent homophobic mobster in The Sopranos was a terrific character and was brilliantly portrayed by Vincent.

Frank Leotardo?

MickDoyle1979 · 14-09-2017 9:04am

Baron Kurtz wrote: »

Frank Leotardo?

Ok Phil.

You want to go? Let's go!

Baron Kurtz · 14-09-2017 9:46am

MickDoyle1979 wrote: »

Ok Phil.

You want to go? Let's go!

"Woh! The language on you! You blow your father with that mouth?!" TS

runningbuddy · 14-09-2017 9:53am

Venom wrote: »

Junior's quotes were always gold

"My nephew is a c*nt hair away from controlling all of North Jersey......and I am that c*nt hair."

Junior had the best lines and he delivered them so well..

HalloweenJack · 04-10-2017 10:19am

Onto to Season Five now.

I think the best villain so far has been Ralphie.

Richie April was a full-blown psycho who treated people like crap, except for Janice when he started out with her but that quickly went downhill but Ralphie, however, was more complex.

He had something of a stable family life with Ro and tried to be a mentor for Jackie, though he was either setting him up or trying to piss Tony off. Richie was always moody and pissed off whereas Ralphie seemed to be able to interact with people and seem sociable, though his anger and violence was always bubbling underneath. I thought he was one of the best characters around, even though I wasn't a fan. The 360 in his final episode was also quite an impressive performance.

ballyargus · 04-10-2017 10:22am

The Sopranos was all great first time around. I kinda lost interest on the second visit once I'd gotten to season three.

The Wire is in another league.

Duggie2012 · 04-10-2017 1:28pm

ballyargus wrote: »

The Sopranos was all great first time around. I kinda lost interest on the second visit once I'd gotten to season three.

The Wire is in another league.

me arse it is :rolleyes:

Rjd2 · 10-02-2018 1:20am

SPOILERS

First time I watched it since it aired on telly and wow its a masterpiece.

I adored the Wire, but season 5 of the show is the absolute pits and the sopranos is never that dire. It seems widely accepted that the first part of season 6 is weak, but the vito storyline was interesting to see how such a guy would cope in the "real world". Obviously any bad will anyone may have towards it is erased with the second half of the season which is absolute compelling.

You also as you age gain more appreciation of stuff you dismissed when younger. Janice who I loathed is a superb character, hateful, amusing and at times incredibly tragic. She had little chance with that background its easy to forget.

Paulie is hilarious as Pine Barrens proved and his relationship with Chris was compelling. Big Pussy while as evil as anyone was tragic, his breakdown after his chat with AJ and the episode where he is popped is incredible TV.

Chris at times is infuriating, his treatment of Adrianna horrid, but his relationship with Tony was so well wrote. The scene where he cries after the bullying from both Tony's its impossible not to empathise with him.

Ralphie is as good as Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, absolutely horrific, but at times incredibly amusing, the tension between him and Tony is wonderful.

I also should give props to the ladies in the show, yep its a male orientated world, but so many memorable moments. Eddie Falco is incredible in the whole show and her obvious highlight is whitecaps which had so much tension and plenty of humour , vintage sopranos.

Adrianna however is my favourite character and her death still hurts every time you see it.

Also the musical choices so many to mentoin, Tindersticks have some great moments where there music appears, heck even XZIBIT is used excellently.
The Kinks " I am not like anyone else" after Tony and Janice have an epic fight another quality choice.

Ajsoprano · 10-02-2018 1:24am

I really enjoyed it.

Rjd2 · 10-02-2018 1:27am

More SPOILERS...........

So fav stuff guys?

Favourite scene......Such a hard call this, was going to suggest when Tony gets shot with Tindersticks in the background, and numerous moments from Pine Barrens along with Tony and Carm fight in white chapels, but will go with Melfi saying no to Tony when it seems certain she will set Tony on her attacker. Tension!

Best episode.....This is such a hard one,,Il go with University to be different! I loved the contrast between the spoilt Meadows and Tracee who apart from Adrianna is the most tragic character in the show.

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

Anthony 'Tony' Soprano Sr.: Congratulations.

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

Anthony 'Tony' Soprano Sr.: You ever think he's not acting?

heart breaking. She is only 20 and out of her depth in these circles. Also a reminder to audiences how ****ing dreadful these people are.

Favourite character......Ralph just edging Paulie, frightening.

Most memorable death.....Big Puss getting killed, mob hits are pretty standard stuff, but this was great especially the build up where Tony finds out.

Best Musical Moment...

Not a leftfield choice, but the intensity of this is great. The anger of Phil and that hug with Chris and Tony. Wow.

Fav quote...."The Boss of this family told you, you were going to be Santa Claus. You’re Santa Claus, so shut the fucck up about it!”

Would love to hear other people's choices.:)

WHIP IT! · 12-02-2018 7:43pm

It really is nothing short of a Masterpiece and it's important to remember it really was the first of its kind. A new 'boxset' type TV series with well-known actors comes out every other week these days - but this was the first to give us practically movie-length episodes over extended seasons. The depth and character development were never seen before.

Like a lot of people have said, you get something different from it every time you go through it. When I first watched it, I couldn't stand Chris, Carmela or Janice.
I felt Chris always seemed to just f*ck something up when things were going well; Carmela was a whiny wagon and Janice was just uber annoying.

But by the second or third viewing, they became some of my favourite characters.

Very few people have mentioned Syl, which I'm surprised at. He had a brilliant way of delivering lines that were not necessarily supposed to be funny but would have you laughing out loud. In the intervention clip that someone posted above, Syl's deadpan reading of his 'grievance' with Chris is hysterical ("your hair was in the toilet water").

One big advantage of the Sopranos, for me, is that every episode stands out on its own - they are all mini-movies. I feel like I can dip in and watch random episodes here and there and enjoy them.

As brilliant as The Wire and Breaking Bad are, I really feel like you have to just watch them in series order. It's hard to dip in and out of both of those shows. I'd actually be interested to hear if others agree on that point. I loved the Wire but have never rewatched it, same with BB.

JoshRosen · 12-02-2018 7:48pm

This thread made me smile! My favourite ever scene even episode at that is when Paulie & Chris are stuck in the woods after the Russian, that scene in the van where they are ripping up the carpet & Paulie snaps ‘I shouldn’t of even been there, c*ck sucker Sil with the sniffles’ brilliant!

osarusan · 12-02-2018 7:54pm

Favourite quote: there is a scene where Tony calls Chris in to discuss something, and Chris, perhaps sensing he is in trouble, says, "is this about the Easter baskets?"

Tony just says he doesn't know what that is, and they move on to whatever Tony wanted to talk about, but I just love the idea of that heist or scam or whatever it was, a whole load of baskets full of Easter goodies being stolen, or never delivered, kids left crying, parents upset, all is they could be sold for a few bucks.

A simple line, delivered and left there, but gives a glimpse of the petty, grubby, small-time stuff they were often up to.

BoroMan32 · 12-02-2018 9:44pm

JoshRosen wrote: »

This thread made me smile! My favourite ever scene even episode at that is when Paulie & Chris are stuck in the woods after the Russian, that scene in the van where they are ripping up the carpet & Paulie snaps ‘I shouldn’t of even been there, c*ck sucker Sil with the sniffles’ brilliant!

That's a brilliant episode alright.

Personal favourite quotes/scenes are;

Tony killing Ralphie after Ralphie has their horse burned to death in a fire for an insurance payout. Ralphie's quote that tips Tony over the edge ''It was a FUC*IN' horse! What are you a vegetarian? You eat beef and sausage by the fuc*in' carload!''

Also love the scene where Bobby Bacala Senior carries out his final hit on Mustang Sally. ''Any more smart remarks?''

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FGPJ6D2KyQ

runningbuddy · 12-02-2018 10:22pm

Phil Leotardo to Chris's Mother. "We are from Alcoholics Anonymous" Her "What's your name?"

Phil: "We're Anonymous"

The Pheasant2 · 12-02-2018 10:28pm

Greatest television show of all time.

JoshRosen · 13-02-2018 3:25am

Tony- “Those who want respect, give respect.”

Richie Aprille- “See kid, he just told you to shut the fcuk up. And he told me to go fcuk myself.”

DEFTLEFTHAND · 13-02-2018 3:50am

Junior.

I've got the Feds so far up my ass I can taste the brylcream.

DEFTLEFTHAND · 13-02-2018 3:54am

JoshRosen wrote: »

Tony- “Those who want respect, give respect.”

Richie Aprille- “See kid, he just told you to shut the fcuk up. And he told me to go fcuk myself.”

Richie Aprille was one of the most frightning characters in the show imo, a real meanacing vibe off him. Pity they didn't keep him around longer.

MrKingsley · 13-02-2018 3:17pm

One of my favourite shows alright. Each of these 'favorites' could change upon reviewing of so many episodes but here goes.

Favorite episode: So many that I love but "Long Term Parking" is amazing. It had me hooked from beginning to end and completely fooled me when Syl picks up Adrianna. Helped show just how ruthless Tony is due to his relationship with Adrianna that had developed.

Favorite scene:

Literally too many to pick from but love this one. Shows Juniors smarts and some hilarious lines too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kFcNj2H3z0

Favorite Character: Junior or Paulie. Both hilarious and really well developed throughout the whole series. Also a mention for Ralphie

Favorite Joke: