GREAT INTROS:#4 THE SOPRANOS

http://youtu.be/RLxSUKA--Dg

'Woke up this morning got yourself a gun'

Possibly the greatest TV show of all time has the perfect intro courtesy of The Alabama 3 and Tony's journey from NYC to NJ.

http://youtu.be/jFz8TO8fWeE

How The Sopranos  was sold to the UK

MADMENTHESOPRANOSTHEWIRE

The Divine Trinity(alphabetically)-Mad Men/The Sopranos/The Wire

Time for a reappraisal of how good these three shows were/are.

In any reckoning these three TV shows are the best that has been seen. Comparisons are inevitable yet futile.

Mad men is set in the past and like the Sopranos uses flashback and glimpses into the internal minds eye, whereas The Wire has a real time narrative and does not employ any insight into past and dream states.

What they do have in common is quality. Quality in writing, casting and attention to detail. They all take the art of subtlety to new heights, particularly in the time given to character development.

 http://youtu.be/WcRr-Fb5xQo

Mad Men

The Sopranos and Mad Men have ensemble casts that orbit a lead character and The Wire does too, but to a lesser degree as McNulty does not have the importance of Tony or Don/Richard in terms of plot development.

What they each bring is a sense of involvement and commitment. To speak of their greatness is by no means exaggerating and I would put the numerous episodes as bodies of work right up there with the cinematic greats like The Godfather, Casablanca or Goodfellas

 http://youtu.be/NUT07eZoXPw

The Sopranos

I have watched The Sopranos and the Wire in their entirety twice and am currently amid the exploits at Sterling Cooper again and again. All three are masterpieces of TV and I cannot praise them highly enough

 http://youtu.be/ZbhH0JmMFzo

The Wire

In a world where Tarantino directed a double episode of CSI  I could imagine David Lynch directing an episode of Mad Men, Spike Lee doing The Wire and of course Scorsese The Sopranos and those great directors would be faced with a challenge.

Spike Lee doing The Wire

and of course Scorsese The Sopranos

or David Lynch directing an episode of Mad Men

...Which got me thinking;

Woody Allen-Curb your Enthusiasm

Paul Greengrass-The Sweeney

Mike Leigh -Gavin & Stacey

Ken Loach-Coronation street

The Coen Brothers-Twin Peaks

Michael Mann-CSI: Miami 

Christopher Nolan-Life on Mars

David Fincher-The X Files

Stanley Kubrick-The Prisoner

Tim Burton-Land of The Giants

John Walters Batman (TV Series)

Tony Scott-24

Michael Bay- Baywatch

John Lassiter-Top cat

Steven Spielberg-Roots

JJ Abrams-The man fron U.N.C.L.E.

Clint Eastwood-Tombstone

Albert Brooks-Frasier

Brian DePalma- The Fugitive

Paul Verhoeven -V

http://youtu.be/q7UQLUcK2sY

Quentin Tarantino-The Itchy & Scratchy show

 

...Just a thought

THE SOPRANOS: THIRD TIME AROUND

I am firmly entrenched in the Sopranos; this is my third veiwing of the entire series and yet, it's as good as I remember it. Some of the underlying humour is more noticable this time around.

Here's a classic exchange, that exemplifies the humourous aspects of the show, from possibly my favourite single episode; the  Pine Barrens

Tony Soprano: [over the phone] It's a bad connection so I'm gonna talk fast! The guy you're looking for is an ex-commando! He killed sixteen Chechen rebels single-handed!
Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri: Get the fuck outta here.
Tony Soprano: Yeah. Nice, huh? He was with the Interior Ministry. Guy's like a Russian green beret. He can not come back and tell this story. You understand?
Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri: I hear you.
[hangs up]
Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri: You're not gonna believe this. He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.
Christopher Moltisanti: His house looked like shit.

http://youtu.be/JsKMivV_g5U

Pine Barrens

MY HIT LIST # 34 The Sopranos

What can one say about The Sopranos?

Having just watched all 5 seasons of the Wire for the second time I am embarking on my third viewing of the Sopranos season1-6. This post is not going to be about making comparisons between these two exemplary pieces of Television but more of a reminder of how good the Sopranos was/is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9ZyZ19XMS0

To talk about the story is not for here and now, it’s the unravelling of the intricacies of Tony’s life and the small moments that always lead to large repercussions both physically and emotionally. For me the strength is in the ‘less is more’ quality in the writing, staging and acting. In amongst the larger gestures and violence are the subtleties and nuance.

An example is in Season 3 episode 4 Employee Of the Month in which Dr Melfi is raped and is tempted to tell Tony what happened, her temptation to see her rapist punished is tempered by not wishing to involve herself in Tony's world. During her second session with Tony after the rape, Melfi is overcome by her inner conflict and breaks down. When Tony attempts to console her and asks "Do you want to say something?” the pause is filled with power, but she regains her composure and responds, "No."

The dynamics of relationships also have humour to offset intensity. In season 3 episode 11 The Pine Barrens Paulie and Christopher’s bungled interaction with Valery, an utter hard nut, leaves them stranded Blair Witch like in the Pine Barrens. There anger and frustration makes them turn on each other with some hilarious moments of conflict.

In Live Free or Die, Season 6 Episode 6, Vito Spatafore is on the lam in New Hampshire and sees a dream of what life outside ‘our thing’ could be like but we know that he is destined never to have this normal life. The moment he was outed as being gay he was doomed.

Many great moments, many truly wonderful characters aside from the main protagonists; Ralph, Big Pussy, Adriana, Artie, Johnny Sack, Richie, Hesh, Silvio the list goes on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksO_NZWcgoo

A number of great cameos from Steve Buscemi, Burt Young, Peter Bogdanovich, Frankie Valli, Ben Kingsley, Lauren Bacall among others.

The Sopranos is so good it actually makes the mind boggle as to how all the elements came together and worked perfectly. Fate or determination to succeed on the part of the production team. Great writing great cast and a real understanding of the life is what sets The Sopranos right at the plateau of excellent US TV Drama.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLxSUKA--Dg

Episode 1 season 1 is about to go in the DVD player;
“Woke up this morning got myself a gun…”

Praise for Edie Falco

Most people know Edie from her role as Carmella Soprano. Her performance over the years as Mrs Soprano was a subtle yet powerful yin to Tony’s alpha male yang. She was rightly praised, as she had been in the under seen Oz.

She’s back now in Nurse Jackie. Again she is the epicentre of the show. A show with a core of strong female characters and a wry humour. What elevates Nurse Jackie to must see status is Edie’s performance as the glue of the hospital. She plays the role of the mythical strong woman complete with minor flaws. Notable characters generally appear as broad stereo types with catch phrases and personal ticks. Edie's style is 'less is more'.

Tune in and don't be put of by some of the lighter elements, Nurse Jackie is involved for 99% of the shows running time because her character makes the other cast members work.

She is watchable because there is so much going on underneath her subtle performance. Edie is showing that she is the star of the show not just one of the supporting cast.