Bout a month and a half ago Abbey and I started the sopranos. Today, we finished it. As we worked our way through it I realized at the end I would have a few words I’d want to remember.
First of all it’s quite insane we watched it all of the first five and a half seasons in 480p. Somehow it sort of felt right? It was gritty and I never even thought twice about it, until the start of the fifth season when I realized, okay maybe there should be higher quality on these later seasons?
About halfway through Abbey asked me; who I’d like to spend a day with most amongst all the characters. Junior. So easy. I would watch old ass movies chopping it up with junior just being miserable together in that living room. He’s so fucking funny.
Best and worst Characters (can’t pick Tony):
Best:
- Christopher
- Junior
- Carmela
- Paulie
- Pussy
Worst:
- Janice
- Richie Appriel
- AJ
- Livia
- Ralph
Some notes. I love Christopher Moltisanti. Tony loves Gary coopah. Furio is nails. Paulie Walnuts is literally Todd Rivait. Seriously some of the best dream sequences I’ve ever seen. Christopher’s glasses were always awesome. Gandolfini would’ve been a great penguin. Buschemi was such a nice touch. I need to see Imperoili and Falco more. The words mother and whore will never be the same. Muddah. Who-oore. The funniest moment in the whole show; when Chrissy takes off Ralph’s tupee.
How are three of the greatest movies ever made (Godfather, part 2 and Goodfellas) as well as one of the greatest shows ever made, all share the same genre. The mafia. There’s nothing else as niche as the Italian-American mafia genre that sits amongst the best of the best. Or even anything really close. It’s so stereotypical. I’ve frequently thought, how? Even before watching this show, as big a fan as anyone when it comes to The Godfather and Goodfellas, I doubted this shows greatness, strictly out of, how many grand slams is this fucking mafia niche going to hit? Are three of the greatest movie ever not enough? Nope, go ahead and take up a head on the Mount Rushmore of TV drama.
Okay, so how does this stupid stereotypical niche genre find so much success? I think it’s because these people live such two faced lives. We’re enthralled with the crime but stay for the families and loving sides. It’s too easy. The entertainment is so easy. Betrayal. Whacks. They are risky, which gets you all that Mafia fun. The Italian family stuff is just as easy. Big dinners. Family parties. The food. The love, at its core everything is family. It’s just so easy to buy in too all of it. It’s almost an unfair edge every character has against almost anything else.
In the end, I’m so happy to get back to watching movies at night, but I’m so incredibly happy and satisfied finishing this joy. You hear it all the time, but James Gandolfini was seriously born for this role. I honestly don’t ever need to see him in anything else. What an absolute monster of a performance. So sad, so sad taken away too early. What an all time show with one of the biggest performances I have ever seen.