Post: #276

Furio whacked Tony and then kidnapped Carmella.

Post: #277

I totally hated Ralphie getting whacked. Best actor after James Gandolfini by far.

Post: #278

(04-03-2018 06:14 AM)SiverFox Wrote:  

(03-09-2018 03:40 PM)Malone Wrote:  I've just started rewatching Sopranos with my wife. The show is almost as old as her, so she's never seen it.

It's still great, just finished the first season. I'd forgotten how evil Livia was. I also am a bit puzzled how no one put together Pussy's disappearance meaning he was probably in custody.

Oh, and to weigh in on the Tony's Women discussion from some pages back. Isabella. Holy fuck.

Same here, watching the entire series again.

They didn't believe him, there is a scene between Tony and Paulie where they confirm his stay in Puerto Rico checks out. Guess the feds covered it up well.

This type of stuff is what makes it so good, the viewer was never led by the nose, you had to piece things together yourself. Much easier now with modern day streaming but back when it was on TV a lot of things like this went over my head.

Im in the little carmine is a really smart manipulator rather than an idiot camp for this reason, he won it all without firing a shot.

Post: #279

(04-04-2018 06:22 AM)Piankhi Wrote:  I totally hated Ralphie getting whacked. Best actor after James Gandolfini by far.

Ralphie was great TV, particularly liked how he wound Paulie up all the time.

He was a psychopath but he was the most honest with himself apart from Sil about what he truly was. Tony always painted himself as the hero even when he was at his worst, making him worse than Ralphie cause he was a complete hippocrite.

Post: #280

Quote: Furio whacked Tony

I actually thought Hesh had Tony killed thinking that Tony would rather just kill him instead if pay back the money he owes him. Tony eventually paid the money back but maybe he had already put the hit in motion and simply didn’t call the hit off?

It could have been anyone really. Maybe Pauli was afraid for his life or someone from New York, I think the point is that it could have been anyone

Post: #281

It was Patsy. Check out the way he looked at Tony in the last episode when Tony came over for dinner. Plus he never forgave him for whacking his twin brother.

Whoever it was, and assuming he really did die, Tony had it coming. He became a real piece of shit over the last 2 seasons. Junior's bullet should've finished him off. The rest of the season would've been interesting to watch the power struggle that would ensue.

Post: #282

Patsy didnt have the balls to do it. Remember him pissing in Tonys pool? Why would he wait 5 seasons to to do it? Plus he seemed happy that his son was marrying into the Sopranos.


You cant kill a made guy in front of his family like what happened with Phil. Which is why Tony got whacked before his familys eyes.

Post: #283

"Wave bye-bye Grandpa"

Post: #284

One thing I noticed on this watch through: A shitload of product placement.

Post: #285

Any examples?

Post: #286

(04-06-2018 11:13 AM)456 Wrote:  Any examples?

Snapple was big the first 3 seasons. They were always drinking it.

Coors Light in a few scenes.

Maytag duo washer and dryer, with a little push there about how it was state of the art.

Coke, a fair bit.

Some of the shit they boost or buy - high end watches, whatever.

Next time you watch, just remember that every time you see a brand, they're getting paid.

Post: #287

Got it — I used to think a lot about such placements in TV.

At some point is it ever natural and unpaid?

“Grab me one of those generic cola beverages and hurry the fuck up about it!”

It didn’t distract me from the show.

Post: #288

(04-06-2018 11:13 AM)456 Wrote:  Any examples?

Mercreds Benz

When Tony buys Carm the Porsche SUV -it’s very prominent in many scenes. Would love to see the sales numbers after that episode

When what’s his face -forgot his name, gives Tony a box of watches -forget the name of them too, when he’s trying to retire to FL.

So many others.

Post: #289

Snapple was big in the Soprano household.

Post: #290

I seem to recall reading that The Sopranos did not take part in product placement. The creators just insisted on using real brands to make the show as realistic as possible. Remember during the scene of Christopher's final drive, him and Tony are listening to the soundtrack from The Departed, which, had they been real people, they would have certainly loved.

I found an article from 2006 that claims:

Quote:HBO and Porsche's advertising agency say no money changed hands for the plug on "The Sopranos." Writer Terence Winter's script mentioned the Cayenne, and the Porsche was loaned to producers.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-...enne-turbo

The article goes on to make a good point. If you are a brand that lobbies to do placement with The Sopranos, you have no idea how they're going to use your product. RAID was used in Ralph's final scene, a Ford SUV finishes off Phil, etc.

Although who knows if the the quotes in these old articles are truthful.

Post: #291

^-- thanks -- that's along the lines of what I expected.

Of course brands make an appearance, and it's MUCH more realistic to not have "generica" or obvious placements.

Carm WOULD want a gaudy Porsche SUV, she just would.

Not surprised to hear that money didn't change hands for some of the prominent examples. I vaguely recall reading that a decade ago.

Thanks for fleshing that out, guys!

Post: #292

I seem to remember Snapped being very popular when I lived in New Jersey. No idea why.

Post: #293

Wasn't Tony ALWAYS driving a Chevrolet SUV for the whole run?

Post: #294

(04-06-2018 07:54 PM)DJ-Matt Wrote:  Wasn't Tony ALWAYS driving a Chevrolet SUV for the whole run?

For the first 3-4 seasons he was driving it, switching to an Escalade in the 4th-5th. Although at one point he crashes the Escalade (swerving to avoid a raccoon, the idiot) so he goes back to the Chevy. Chris then shoots it up, and I haven't seen it since.

Just finished the 5th season. Tony B really fucked him over.

Post: #295

(04-06-2018 04:45 PM)456 Wrote:  ^-- thanks -- that's along the lines of what I expected.

Of course brands make an appearance, and it's MUCH more realistic to not have "generica" or obvious placements.

Carm WOULD want a gaudy Porsche SUV, she just would.

Not surprised to hear that money didn't change hands for some of the prominent examples. I vaguely recall reading that a decade ago.

Thanks for fleshing that out, guys!

When you grew up writing movies and wanting to be a filmmaker, like I did, you always put real products and particular songs in your scripts, and then knew that when push came to shove you wouldn't be able to use them.

Even if money did change hands, so what?

Like 456 says, it's better/more realistic when the characters can use real products.

Or you can be like Tarantino and invent fake brands to use in your movies. But then you still have to pay a designer and a prop person to make them.

Post: #296

Product placement only works when the character is "cool", like Superhero movies or anything with Will Smith. Nobody wants to be more like a character on the Sopranos.

Post: #297

I don't think you're right there. I think just seeing the brand helps the brand.

Also - I cooked baked Ziti because of this recent rewatch. It's really good. It's basically lazy man lasagna. They are literally always eating that.

Post: #298

(04-07-2018 11:22 AM)Malone Wrote:  I don't think you're right there. I think just seeing the brand helps the brand.

Also - I cooked baked Ziti because of this recent rewatch. It's really good. It's basically lazy man lasagna. They are literally always eating that.

So what, no fuckin ziti now?

Aloha!

Post: #299

Chris and Adriana smoke marlboro lights.

Post: #300

Just finished watching it for the first time. For me, it’s the best TV show out there.

I think that with shows/films from the late 90s and early 2000s, there’s much more of an emphasis on atmosphere and tension through acting, whereas these days they make things too obvious for the viewer. There’s not as much subtlety, and obvious camera methods, close ups and so on spoon feed the viewer.

Some of the tensions and character building in the Sopranos was world class. The acting throughout was world class, and didn’t fall into cliched methods that you see across different shows or movies.

For example, I was watching Thor 2 the other day, and there’s a bit where Natalie Portman’s Intern interrupts her on a date. The girl starts grabbing their food rudely and talking really loudly with her mouth full, and comes across really arrogant and flippant. I see this particular style all the time in Hollywood productions and even in TV these days. I guess some of you will know what I’m getting at.

It was refreshing how “real” it all was, and that’s a huge testament to the cast and producers.

I’ll defintely re-watch it. I’m glad I watched it for the first time at my current age rather than when I was younger and wouldn’t have appreciated it as much.

Some points:

- nobody else could have been Tony and brought that show together as well as Gandolfini did
- Tony’s expressions were brilliant throughout, particularly when he was laughing or smiling because it seemed so genuine
- Tony (and all of them really) were highly emotional guys. Tony was shown to be but he was a smart guy too. You see somebody wrong him or talk shit to him sometimes and he lets it go, after thinking that he will fuck the guy up, but you know he’s playing the long game
- not closing out a particular part of a story arc was genius. Sometimes you think you can predict how the show is going to go but then they don’t address an issue again
- Isabella for me was the hottest in the show. As close to a 10 for me as possible. The chick he bangs in Vegas a close second
- Chris and Paulie’s relationship was brilliant
- the scene posted on here about Melfi almost asking for Tony to kill the rapist was incredibly done. I actually felt a bit uncomfortable during her rape scene and was surprised at how they did it given how things are these days
- Edie Falco/Carmella’s acting when she was hurt by Tony when they broke up was some of the best I’ve seen. Anyone who has hurt a girl like that before or been in a vulnerable state like that themselves will know how pure and well done that was. Her crying into that pillow was something else
- any red pill guy would want a wife like Carmella. She made the home, always had food on the go, supported Tony when he needed backing up (at the teacher’s meeting about AJ you think she is going to side with the teacher but she backs Tony up for example)
- Richie Aprile was the scariest fucker on the show. I wish he had lasted longer because he was genuinely one of those characters that had you on the edge of your seat. When he saw the maid’s husband wearing that leather jacket - priceless.
- Puss talking to AJ while wearing the wire was tense
- I really liked Bobby’s character. I felt sorry for him at first and thought he was a genuine nice guy that was acting up to his role in the family as things progressed. The train set thing was to me a reminder that he was just a big kid
- I loved Tony asking Paulie if he had Tourette’s. I’d noticed he had that little laugh all the time and thought it was good for a character in the show to address it
- although they were great characters, I couldn’t bear Janice or Livia
- I found the final scene with Junior pretty harrowing
- I found the development of AJ into a little bitch whinging about the environment quite puzzling
- I found the come and go nature of Meadow in and out of the show also a bit weak
- the guy going “oh shit!” after Phil died cracked me up to no end

Many more good points have been made in this thread but that’s my take without going a lot further.