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“I’ll speak if I want to, goddamnit! Who are you, minister of propaganda?” Hugh is the best.
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May 24, 2019 16:25
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Kevyn posted:“I’ll speak if I want to, goddamnit! Who are you, minister of propaganda?” That and his birthday party. A gaggle of snobbish uppity Italians who can't stop themselves from trying to be above it all and constantly disrespecting their host.
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May 24, 2019 16:49
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pentyne posted:That and his birthday party. A gaggle of snobbish uppity Italians who can't stop themselves from trying to be above it all and constantly disrespecting their host. I like the theory that Russ (the rear end in a top hat that insults Tony's gift) is Paulie's biological father. The information we have on both of them fit pretty well. Anyway, here's some Artie goodness to make you hungry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrgm0i2uU2U
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May 24, 2019 17:37
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"I got such a deal on this Ramlosa" cracks me up so much I forget it's product placement.
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May 24, 2019 18:28
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Vichan posted:I like the theory that Russ (the rear end in a top hat that insults Tony's gift) is Paulie's biological father. The information we have on both of them fit pretty well. Holy poo poo
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May 24, 2019 18:59
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Relax it's hardly a very deep theory.
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May 24, 2019 20:42
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Is that based on the fact that they were both in the military during WW2? Hell, Junior may be his real dad then.
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May 24, 2019 21:24
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Paulies (real) mom said it was a fella with the same name, I never connected the dots
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May 24, 2019 21:49
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I don't know. This sounds like a fan theory born from someone spending too much watching the show. Like the idea that Bill Doutreve is Bobby Hill's dad in King of the Hill. Good write up, as usual on S3 ep1 and you're right. You can kind of feel the meandering, buying time and adjusting to Marchand's death loving up the planned story line and how it almost seems to be re-thinking things on the fly. I felt the same way in parts of season 6.5 or whatever it was (the half season) which I still liked but felt somewhat unfocused and had little but of filler to it. I know it's a meme now to make fun of the CGI they used for Livia's scenes in this season but I swear to god I never noticed it back when I watched it for the first time back in like 2001 or whatever it was. I didn't even know the actress had died so maybe I wasn't looking for it. Or I was so stoned it went over my head and past my bloodshot eyes.
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May 24, 2019 22:52
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Don't wave your hankie at me. 
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May 24, 2019 23:02
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I remember it being awful, and it sure is. CGI Livia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS0DQKHMpM8
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May 25, 2019 01:51
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It’s like that South Park episode after Isaac Hayes left and all of Chef’s lines were poorly spliced in from older episodes, except Sopranos wasn’t doing it poorly on purpose.
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May 25, 2019 02:31
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Dawgstar posted:"I got such a deal on this Ramlosa" cracks me up so much I forget it's product placement. The deal Artie got for the Ramlosa was related to Tony and Richie fleecing Davy Scatino, whose wife is sitting next to Carmela in that scene.
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May 25, 2019 09:28
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Season 3, Episode 2 - Proshai, LivushkaChristopher Moltisanti posted:Obviously that's not possible, even with computers. A worker at a garbage company narrowly avoids getting caught in an explosion in the back of a garbage truck he has been checking over. The story makes the front page of the newspaper the next day, lying on the counter of Tony Soprano's kitchen as the man himself lies in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. Carmela comes home and rushes to his side in horror, but it's "just" another panic attack, the cause of which is revealed in a bizarre rewind effect that bounces back through the scenes to come before replaying them. As an editorial decision it's weird and as far as I recall never repeated at any point through the rest of the series. Tony staggers downstairs in his bathrobe and is happily surprised to see Meadow sitting on the couch rewinding (by hand!) a video, since the public one in the dorm was stolen and they had no way to watch it for their class. Tony is just as delighted to see his college-going daughter's film of choice was The Public Enemy, though of course she's only watching it for class (Images of Hypercapitalist Self-Advancement in the Era of the Studio System). Meadow is clearly nervous and eager to get out, insisting to a beaming Tony that the "we" just means a friend from class. That friend is Noah Tannenbaum, who emerges from the bathroom amused at Carmela's love for lavender, and now the reason for Meadow's nervousness becomes sadly apparent. After she quickly heads upstairs to grab a CD, Tony takes an oblivious Noah aside and "gently" leads him towards the door as well as leading the conversation towards Noah's ethnicity. Half black/half Jewish, he's registered as African-American as Columbus University which means of course that Tony doesn't want him dating his daughter. Nothing personal, Tony cheerfully tells the horrified kid who had been making happy conversation only moments before, he works with plenty of black guys! But they wouldn't want AJ dating their daughters anymore than he wants Noah dating Meadow.   Tony's utterly casual racism is quite a wonder to behold, as he is all smiles and worldly advice given in a friendly fashion that just highlights how horrible it is. He's acting like these are just facts he is dealing with, facts he assumes Noah is fully aware and accepting of. One part that stands out to me more than any other is how his smiling face turns into a disgusted sneer as Noah lowers his head to put on his sandals, before turning back into a beaming smile the moment Noah lifts his head again. Noah stands gaping as Tony happily tells him to head back to College with Meadow and then say Goodbye, as in forever. To his credit, Noah hits him with a,"gently caress you!" but even that doesn't unbalance Tony, who just happily "jokes" that this is what he trying to avoid. Meadow comes down and says a pleasant goodbye to her happy father, while Noah just rushes out the door in disgust. With them gone, Tony's smile is completely gone as he stomps to the kitchen and grabs out some capicola and a bottle of tomato juice, wolfing the meat down angrily as he tries to compose his racist rage. Breathing heavily, he grabs a glass from the counter and opens the cupboard where (I feel bad that I still laugh at this) he sees a packet of Uncle Ben's Rice with the famous image of a black man, which prompts him to collapse. Back in the present, Tony and Carmela sit at the table as she holds an ice pack to his head. They discuss his panic attacks, they've largely been absent for months and Carmela correctly notes that if Tony hadn't instigated things maybe this wouldn't have happened. Tony is miffed that she thinks he instigated yet (Meadow started it by not being a racist piece of poo poo apparently) and at first it seems Carmela is the voice of reason, noting that they're just friends and if Tony really wants to keep them apart the worst thing he can do is to make it clear to Meadow that is what he wants. But when she notes that she will talk to Meadow herself, the implication is clear if unstated: Carmela also doesn't want Meadow to have a black boyfriend, she's just better at masking her racism. As she leaves to call Cusamano in case Tony needs stitches, he starts to yell about what his father would have done to Barbara or Janice if they'd brought a "butterhead" home, only to realize she is gone. He sits there, a middle-aged overweight balding guy in his underwear, bemoaning the notion of his daughter dating somebody because of the color of their skin.  What follows is a truly bizarre scene that could have easily been avoided but which David Chase would appear to have felt was necessary. In spite of Nancy Marchand's death, the character of Livia was still alive in the first episode of this season and she's still alive here in the second. Not just as a person spoken about, but seen in person, as Tony visits her at her house for what he has no idea will be his final face-to-face encounter. But the chemistry and energy that crackled between Gandolfini and Marchand is absent here, because this final scene features a stand(sit)-in for Livia, archival dialogue and clumsy (even for the time) CGI to slap Nancy Marchand's face over her stand-in's to give them one last, utterly strange and stilted argument. The archival footage is taken from multiple different scenes in different episodes, her hairstyle frequently changing between each. It's incredibly distracting and strange. It's a chance to see Svetlana in her role as Livia's caregiver at least, Tony's way of fulfilling his family duties while also trying to avoid being in the same room as the mother who tried to have him killed. It also lets the show slough off the last remnants of the originally planned storyline for season 3 (already abandoned without a care by the FBI in Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood) as Tony warns Livia not to even consider testifying against him about those airline tickets, while also dropping off some books on tape as a kind of make-good to make her more inclined to aid him. He spots the old baby journals that Carmela gave Livia when Meadow and AJ were born and Svetlana explains she has encouraged her to finish working on them. Tony is pleased by the idea, it appeals to his desire for Livia to be a proper maternal figure, but he's disgusted when he opens them to discover they are blank, she never wrote a single thing in them. Not one. He points out that Carmela's mother returned them to the kids years ago stuffed to the brim with memories but she couldn't be bothered to do anything? Livia waves him off dismissively, and once Svetlana is gone he warns her to keep her mouth shut if the FBI offers her a deal. He laments that he should have stuck to his guns and continued not to speak to her, then grunts,"gently caress it, do what you want!" and strides out the door. It's their final scene together, and whatever closure or dramatic worth Chase might have felt it had, I think the episode would be the better for it if they hadn't bothered, because the scene that follows would have worked just as well if not stronger without it.   Tony settles in to watch The Public Enemy, chuckling over the earnest text warning at the start of the film solemnly proclaiming that we, the public, must solve the problem of organized crime. Inspired to a rewatch by Meadow's film class, he tries to maintain his composure when she comes walking in the door, spots him and demands to know what he said to Noah. He warns her to just walk away and she demands to know what he said, since he was quiet at Hunter's who now thinks he is a snob, and now he is refusing to come in to the house. Tony cracks a joke about repeating what he said in Swahili and her eyes widen as she grasps immediately what he means. Carmela belatedly tries to save the situation by calling for her to come upstairs, and she reluctantly leaves rather than forcing the issue with Tony. His good mood upset, he checks his watch and realizes it is time to adjust the sprinklers in his garden. He heads outside and moves them about, then tries to enjoy the comparative calm of outside, smoking his cigar before returning with his balance restored to inside the house... where he finds Carmela, Meadow and AJ waiting in silent apprehension. Carmela finally speaks: Livia is dead. He smiles and laughingly asks if she is kidding, then falls into shock as he realizes she isn't. He barely hears as Carmela explains that Svetlana called, Livia got dressed for bed and hopped under the sheets, and when Svetlana came up she thought she'd already fallen asleep, but she was in fact dead. Tony, sweat forming on his face as a yawning gap in his life suddenly opens up, quietly takes a seat and tries to wrap his head around this. She's dead? Livia Soprano is dead? And suddenly like Johnny Boy before her, Livia is somebody to be defended and lauded. When Meadow and AJ say they're sorry, he suddenly chimes in with an insistent demand that she loved them both very much. Tony and Carmela drive to Livia's house, where they see the ambulance backing out, Livia's body inside. Tony takes a few steps after it before composing himself and entering the house where Svetlana is waiting for them, it takes a lot to wrap your head around the fact that your mother is dead. Inside, Svetlana is the first of many to assure Tony that Livia was not in any pain when she went. The cause of death was a massive stroke (not the fake one she had a year earlier), a sudden ending that belied Livia's belief that she was the true center of the world. Svetlana apologizes that Livia will not complete the journals, and Tony explains to Carmela about the baby journals. She isn't surprised to hear Livia never touched them, she was never under any illusions about that woman. A grumpy AJ listens to Slipknot at home while trying to do a report on one of the poems of Robert Frost, and begs Meadow to help him understand the poem. Or rather, begs her to just tell him the answers so he can write them down and get a passing grade without understanding. Meadow, undoubtedly aware of the significance of the poem in their current situation, attempts to get him to grasp the meaning himself. She fails, of course, then leaves when she hears Noah honking the horn outside, impatient to be gone. AJ is left trying to figure out how white can mean death when black is supposed to, and then slowly realizes he is alone in the house. A low rattling catches his attention and slowly he walks out into the corridor, timidly calling out,"....grandma?" At Livia's home, Tony speaks on the phone to a shocked Barbara. In shock himself but also feeling detached, all he can offer is,"What are you gonna do?" in reference to the futility of trying to ignore or fight back against death. Barbara says she'll call Janice and he arranges to meet them at Cozzerelli's funeral home at noon the next day. Barbara reminds him of Livia's wishes: she wanted no service, no memorial of any kid. Tony flatly agrees, saying they'll just pick out a simple urn for her ashes. Tony, dull and detached hangs up, while at Barbara's the tears are flowing down her cheeks from genuine emotion: the most normal of the Soprano family, she is simply and straightforwardly sad that her mother is dead. Meanwhile, Svetlana, feeling free to smoke without a frail, elderly woman in the house anymore, brings Tony and Carmela vodka and pours them all drinks. "Proshai, Livushka" she toasts, explaining it means,"Goodbye, little Livia" and they all knock back a shot. AJ is no longer alone in the house, he sits watching skateboarding with Silvio, Paulie and Christopher on the couch, only the latter seemingly interested in what is on the TV. Tony and Carmela return and they're all quick to get up and offer him hugs and assurances that they knew how much he loved her. Tony accepts their sympathies but can't shake the flat feeling of shock, again only able to offer,"What're you gonna do?" in response. All four stand around in awkward silence and eventually he parrots back what Svetlana said, at least Livia didn't suffer. They all quickly agree, still unsure what to say, after all they all knew her and all of them knew what she was really life... but you don't speak ill of the dead, especially to her "grieving" son. Tony does get a chance to express himself at last moments later however. As Carmela welcomes her parents who have come to comfort her, they're alarmed by a roar from Tony. Barbara has called again to weepingly tell him that she called Janice, and Janice is insistent she will not come home for the funeral.   In Seattle, Janice brings a plate of eggs to a young man who is bitterly complaining about their manager: the woman who was hoping to usurp Carmela Soprano as the queen of New Jersey is now working at Kenny Rogers Roasters and apparently dating (?) somebody young enough to be her son. She answers the phone and Tony bellows down the phone demanding to know why she isn't coming to her own mother's funeral. She reminds him testily that maybe it would be a good idea if she wasn't anywhere within the state of New Jersey for very good reasons. He's instantly dismissive of that excuse, that case is colder than her tit and it would actually be good for her to show her face to prove she has nothing to hide. She complains that she doesn't do well at funerals, which doesn't hold any water with him since who the hell does? It quickly boils down to money, as she complains that while he might be well enough off to take time off, she can't afford to travel across country even with the special rebate rates airlines offer for deaths. Revolted, he tells her he'll pay for the ticket but ONLY for her ticket, not for her fiance (that was quick!) or anybody else. He really sticks the knife in by telling her if she doesn't come, he'll hold it against her if she shows up trying to divide the estate and reveals he's fully aware she believes Livia's carefully placed mindworm about having money buried in the house. She doesn't answer that accusation and she doesn't refute it, the point has been made. Instead she asks what is going on with "that other thing?" and he openly asks if she means Richie, then confidently states that they both know he went into the Witness Relocation Program. Tony at least is fully aware that his phones are probably (definitely) bugged. He tells her to meet them at Cozzerelli's Funeral Home tomorrow at noon, then perhaps reconsidering how harsh he has been, he awkwardly offers to pay for her son Harpo's ticket if he wants to come. This finally triggers genuine emotion in Janice who struggles to maintain herself as she explains that "Hal" is now living homeless in Canada and she can't track him down. Tony makes a genuine apology, but still firmly insists she be there tomorrow. That night in bed he struggles to sleep, and finally gives up and leaves Carmela in bed as she heads downstairs and goes back to watching The Public Enemy, the movie he'd started to watch before the news of his mother's death. As if Livia's death had never happened, he simply sits and laughs watching the film including the infamous grapefruit scene. But when Tommy's mother shows up in the film, Tony's face at first falls before he becomes thrilled and enraptured at the pure and unceasing love she shows for her gangster son even in the face of his upstanding brother. The next day the shifts change in the surveillance van for the Soprano house, one FBI Agent replacing another (reading The Internet for Dummies) who casually tells his replacement that Tony's mother died last night. So they're both somewhat surprised to hear Tony whistling happily via the basement lamp mic. Inside the house, Tony steps out of the basement into the kitchen with a big box of cereal, and meets the first in a long series of well-wishers who have come to pay their respects. The first group include Gigi Cestone, Patsy Parisi, Albert Barese, Vito Spatafore.... and a new face to the viewers played by well-known character actor Joe Pantoliano: Ralphie Cifaretto. "What're you gonna do?" Tony repeats to this latest batch, for want of anything better to respond to their sympathies. Ralphie though can genuinely hold back tears, hugging Tony as he explains he knows how he feels, he lost his own mother only last year. It will string out over future episodes, but it's important to note at this early point that Ralphie isn't just some guy or newcomer. Never seen in season 1 or 2 because he was apparently working based out of Miami for the mob at the time, the character has actually known Tony for years and even ran in a young Tony's early crew before circumstances moved them in different directions for a time. Vito offers the by now all too familiar,"At least she didn't suffer" and Tony quickly pushes past that to ask Ralphie and Albert outside to talk to him. Part of it is down to already being tired of that empty platitude, but part of it must also be down to Tony's concern over Vito being the nephew of Richie Aprile. As they start to leave, Janice arrives in typical dramatic fashion, falling into Carmela's arms weeping at the loss of her beloved mother. Tony stares in disgust for a moment before moving outside.   Tony's concern is the recent explosion in one of Albert's garbage trucks, which Ralphie assures him was simply in retaliation for two fires set in his dumpsters by Albert's crew the week before. Tony is outraged with them both, they're in the papers every week now with stories about mob violence in the garbage business (remember how furious he was at even the possibility of Richie loving with the garbage routes?) and these two idiots are escalating? Ralphie tries to lay out his argument, HIS crew are in line for the Raritan Township contract but meanwhi... but Tony cuts him straight off, who the gently caress said it was Ralphie's crew? Ralphie isn't the Captain of any crew until TONY says he is, but if Ralphie grasps how angry he is he doesn't show it, just quipping that he'll be sure to turn up his hearing aid so he doesn't miss Tony making that call. Tony instantly plays the dead mother card, is Ralphie really gonna cute with him when Tony's mother is laying dead in the funeral home? Ralphie ignores that to again try to make his case: the recycling manager of Raritan Township is Joe Zachary, who has been openly talking business with Albert when he knows Albert's crew aren't going to get the contract (which was established last season). Ralphie claims that Zachary even threatened to got to the EPA, and that part at least gets Tony's attention: if Zachary said that (which Albert acknowledges he did), the problem needs to be "fixed", but there are to be no more fires. Ironically, the FBI could have caught this whole conversation on parabolics if they hadn't sunk all their eggs into the basement lamp baskey. Instead, all they get is AJ calling his friends to coordinate ditching class. In a scene directly referencing The Godfather, Tony, Janice and Barbara go to Cozzerelli's Funeral home where Mr. Cozzerelli promises to use all his powers and skills on Livia's body. "Don't go crazy," Tony calms him, explaining that Livia will be having no service. Janice doesn't accept that though, she finds it hard to believe that Livia (who was very clear to Barbara and Tony at least) wouldn't want some kind of memorial. Tony is irritated by that, but more thown off by the realization that Livia's body is directly below their feet in the funeral home's morgue. Barbara, starting to get upset as she considers the fact they're simply going to stick their mother's remains in a container and call it a day, asks if there's at least going to be a priest to say something? Tony can countenance that, that seems reasonable. Cozzerelli, assuring them he isn't trying to sell them on anything, asks if they really mean to not have a Mass? Barbara explains Livia was Catholic but not religious, something he seems to accept easily enough, while Tony says he figured they'd have a "shindig" at the house, trailing off as he tries to figure out how to end that statement, perhaps realizing it sounds like he is suggesting a party so instead saying the grandkids could... uhhh... you know? Janice breaks down weeping, admitting at last that she knew what Livia's wishes were but pointing out that having no kind of wake at all makes them look like unloving children... and cheapskates! Tony, quite rightly, says they shouldn't give a poo poo what it looks like, Livia made her feelings known and that at least they should respect. Barbara ends up caught between the two of them, understanding there is something deeper going on here between the two of them she isn't aware of (Richie) but feeling more on Janice's side: she does feel some kind of service would be appropriate. Fed up, Tony tells Cozzerelli to just go ahead and arrange everything: wake, service etc and then send him the bill, he'll pay for it and that can be the end of it. He gets the hell out of the funeral home, followed by Janice who - now she has gotten her way - is eager to explain that the entire weight isn't going to fall on him to cover this: she'll do a painting for the overleaf to be handed out at the service... based on the Mexican Day of the Dead (just like Livia would have wanted!). She also wants to have everybody gather during the "shindig" to sit around and share memories of and feelings about Livia. That at least Tony is an adamant no on, they can show up to eat, drink and - if they want to - talk among themselves about Livia. But no "California bullshit", so sharing circles or any other nonsense. That's it, it is his one demand while otherwise capitulating entirely to Janice's (and kinda Barbara's) whims. It is the only thing he wants them to honor. You can already see where this is going. Tony attends therapy, where he finally has a chance to truly express himself, and he does. He is absolutely honest, which does not mean he is not contradictory, because he's a human being. Freed from platitudes and empty responses, he tells Melfi that he felt nothing but relief at the news of Livia's passing. He's glad she's dead, she was nothing but a weight around his neck and he is better for her passing, he even wished that she would die. He's also revolted at himself, and revolted at her for not passing judgment on him being such a monster that he can't even feel something for the passing of his mother. Just as with his kids, he is not turning Livia the person into Livia the memory, something that he can mold into the perfect image he always wanted (akin to what she did to Johnny Boy). How dare he be glad Livia is dead, that makes him a bad son, and a bad son deserves to die. Not realizing until he's said it that it could be easily misconstrued as a threat, he points out to Melfi that her son "up in Bard better be a good son", but she doesn't react to that. Instead she sits and lets him vent, only chiming in occasionally as he runs the gamut of emotions, ping-ponging wildly between relief at Livia's death, disgust at himself, disgust for Livia (the memory can be tuned both ways, to a saint or a monster). Melfi finally pushes him, trying to get him to address the fact that his own mother tried to have him killed. Tony denies even that now that Livia is safely dead, she didn't know what she was doing, Junior backs that up etc. Melfi hits him with a hard truth: grown children often wish for an aged parent to die, particularly if the parent has lost the capacity for any joy at being alive. Tony lets that sink in for a moment and then reveals a stunning naivete... they're done now, right? Livia's dead, surely that means his mother issues are dead with her and their therapy is no longer required? A man under no illusions is Raymond Curto, not often seen since season 1 despite being the only surviving/free Captain outside of Tony himself. Outside a very prominently displayed (and openly spoken about and drawn attention to) Office Depot, he meets with his FBI handler. Yes, Raymond who we saw in season 1 get arrested in the brothel bust that lead to Vin Makazian's death is an FBI informant just like Jimmy Altieri and Pussy Bonpensiero. Unlike the latter, he's completely nonchalant about his status, freely giving out information to his handler and agreeing without hesitation to wear a wire to Livia's wake (he actually suggests it!). Who knows when he was first turned, at the brothel or earlier, but if earlier it marks an interesting new context for his quickness to decline being made the Boss. At the now deceased Livia's home, Janice is down in the basement tapping on the walls in a desperate search for the money she completely believes Livia hid away in there. Livia's strategy to keep Janice in hand continues to work from beyond the grave, though she quickly rushes over to some boxes when she hears Tony enter the house. He comes down and joins her as they look through Livia's stored away memories.... of Tony. Barely anything from Barbara is in storage and NOTHING of Janice is in there. But every report card, every drawing, every story that young Anthony Soprano ever made is there. Tony, who was actually enjoying joking around with Janice in the now blissfully empty house, tries to play it off but he can see this is actually genuinely bothering her, and so offers a quiet hand in support... while also considering that maybe his mother really did love him.   At the wake, AJ sits nervously looking at the coffin, a picture of Livia in her wedding dress on the closed casket, perhaps considering if she was really haunting the house the other night. Jackie Aprile Jr offers a perfunctory "sorry" to Tony and a handshake before striding past, dressed casually, mortifying his mother Rosalie who apologizes for his behavior. Tony, who has an idea of what the problem is, puts that aside for another day. Others from his social and business circles make preparations to come, Silvio in a fury as his cufflinks won't fit, miserable that he's missing the Jet's first home game "for this poo poo?". Furio joins Christopher and Adriana at their apartment where they all smoke from a bong and snorting lines of coke, bracing themselves for the dull event to come. A bouquet of flowers has been sent to the funeral home by the Organized Crime Division of the FBI, Tony frowning at the card and trying to figure out if their sympathies are sincere or a provocation. He has other problems on his mind though, as he spots Ralphie happily joking around and being far too friendly with Carmela. Uncle Junior and Bobby Baccalieri arrive and Tony hugs Junior tight, feeling comfortable enough to complain when Junior offers what seems like yet another empty platitude, and is taken aback when Junior hisses that he is being serious. Livia was his brother's wife, for whatever other issues they had, she was simply and he truly mourns her loss. Bobby offers his condolences, noting his own father is ill, and Tony for once doesn't goad him but simply thanks him. Next in the line of sympathizers is a new face: Ronald Zellman, the Assemblyman for Newark's Lower 8th Ward. He offers Tony his condolences, struggling to think of something positive to say about Livia before settling on,"That was a... proud Newarker". Zellman is joined by Reverend James Jr, who reminds Tony that they once spoke on the subject of becoming the "elders" of the family. Tony "introduces" Zellman and James, both obviously associated with Tony's "business", watched from her seat by Meadow who can't help but notice the hypocrisy of Tony's dislike for Noah but apparently good friendship with this black man. Junior stares at the picture of the Livia he remembers (and associates with his own youth), even making a motion towards it before being startled by Tony who wants to make sure he is okay. Junior laments that his generation are "dropping like flies" and misses the intent of Tony's joke about charbroiled meat, insisting nobody told them of the dangers till the 1980s. Tony tries to bring things back to business but Junior has one more family matter to attend, he's going to go talk directly with Carmela. Tony tries to stop him but Junior insists, walking over and waiting for her to acknowledge him as she sits talking with her parents. Icily she asks what he wants and he explains he wants to use this sad occasion as an opportunity to put the past behind them and move on. Still cold, she tells him she will act the way Tony wants so as not to stress him out anymore than necessary on this day. For Junior that is enough, it is a foot in the door towards "reconciliation", so he turns his attention to Meadow and AJ and greets them happily, pinching AJ's cheek and asking how he likes the surfboard he bought him for his 13th birthday, which I'm quite positive AJ has still never used. Bobby whispers to Junior that Tony is waiting, and he heads over to see him to make a case... for Ralphie Cifaretto. Junior, Boss in name only, is still the "Boss". Ralphie has bypassed Tony and gone directly to him to plead his case for being the new Captain running Richie Aprile's old crew. He returned from Miami and has been a top earner since Richie "went in the program", whipping the crew into shape. Tony reminds him that only 3 months ago he thought Richie was the second coming, now it's Ralphie? They butt heads again over their "arrangement", with Tony pointing out that Junior should be happy to be able to stay home and clip coupons instead of dealing with the stress of running everything. Junior admits things are going well under Tony's leadership, but points out a robust economy means anybody could do a good job: chinks and housewives are betting football right now! Tony walks away having made it clear that his decision and his decision alone is still the only one that matters, but also looking more alive than he has since the walking daydream he's been in since his mother's death. Constantly seen throughout this has been Raymond Curto, far in the background chatting nicely to various people from Silvio to Barbara, but never getting close to Tony. Joe Zachary returns home but as he steps out of his car, another pulls up behind him and two men (including first-time seen mob associate Eugene Pontecorvo) jump out with baseball bats. He tries to run but they easily catch him, putting a beating on him. Ralphie watches from the driver's seat with a smirk, he listened to Tony after all, after all, he hasn't set Zachary on fire! Tony, home from the Wake, relaxes by picking back up where he left off with The Public Enemy, this time seeing Jimmy Cagney as Tom Powers collapsing in the rain after a shootout for revenge. Struggling not to fall asleep, Tony smiles to see Tommy's family come to see him in the hospital, including his forever loving, understanding mother. With the Wake Livia never wanted complete, it is time for the funeral she didn't want either. A giant floral arrangement reading,"BELOVED MOTHER" completes the bullshit as the priest says his words and Meadow waits impatiently for the service to end so she can stop playing devoted daughter and get as far from Tony as possible. Watching her rush off, he complains to Carmela that she was supposed to deal with this, and Carmela explains that Meadow knows Tony said something to Noah but not what, since he refuses to tell her. More well-wishers step by to shake Tony's hand and compliment him on the beautiful ceremony that Livia didn't want, and he politely thanks them. The FBI snap photos, eager to see whatever information on changing allegiances or strengthened ties might be on display, missing perhaps the most prominent one which is that between Janice and Svetlana. Janice thanks her for looking after Livia but pleasantly explains that now SHE is going to live in the old house so Svetlana will of course have to move. This is news to Svetlana, since Tony told her she could continue to live there until she and her fiance Bill find a home of their own (during the week Bill has his children stay with him, presumably on the weekends they are with their mother). Janice, all smiles, explains that Tony should have consulted with her, the woman who a few days ago was working in a Kenny Rogers Roasters already back to thinking she can take over and run things. She claims she will be living there while they deal with the estate... also where is Livia's old record collection? Janice pretends she wants it for the memories, but when Svetlana openly tells her Livia gave it to her in one of her fits of,"TAKE IT BEFORE I DIE AND THEY DUMP IT IN THE RUBBISH!", Janice becomes furious since that collection is worth a fortune to the right collector. Janice demands the collection back by this weekend, but Svetlana just walks away without dignifying her with a response. Janice's face falls, without Tony or Richie backing her, she really doesn't intimidate.   Artie has a (lengthy) flashback to visiting Livia in the hospital where she "mistakenly" revealed that Tony set fire to Vesuvio's. This was sparked by the obvious, he's doing the catering for the "shindig" at the house. Meadow and AJ stand in the doorway greeting everybody and thanking them for coming. Meadow in particular is a pro at it, much to Tony's dismay as he stands watching his daughter turn into a robot like "the rest of us", including throwing out the by now hated,"At least she didn't suffer" response. There's some human in there at least though, since when she spots him looking her own face falls in open disgust at the sight of him. Hesh tells a bad taste (and very funny) joke to a collection of mobsters including Silvio, Vito, Gigi, Christopher and Patsy. They all laugh but quickly put on sombre faces when they see Tony walking by, figuring he wouldn't want them joking and laughing at a sensitive time like this (of course he would). The wives and mothers know better, all gathered around the kitchen telling funny stories and enjoying laughter and company as is only appropriate. Carmela doesn't join them though, sitting gulping back wine as she considers Tony's words about Meadow and her own culpability in celebrating the life of a woman she hated. As Furio jokes to a gaping Paulie that they should find the winner of Survivor and pull a gun on him and demand a percentage, Tony goes into a closet, the mirror on the outside reflecting Pussy Bonpensiero glaring at his murderer. Tony closes the door and takes a moment, not sure what he felt, the reflection gone. A little forced perhaps, but the intent of this scene is clear: Pussy's death continues to weigh heavy on Tony, thoughts brought to the surface by the death of another loved one who betrayed him for their own gain. Putting that aside, he allows himself to laugh as Furio jokes and Paulie seriously considers the idea, and for a moment it seems like maybe this night is gonna work out okay, like everybody is coming back to their normal selves... which is when Janice Soprano decides to take center stage. Clinking her glass and crying out for attention, she explains that "we" would like everybody to join "us" in the great room and form a circle to share remembrance and feelings about Livia. "Goddammit," grunts Tony, a disbelieving smile on his face, she did the one thing he specifically said she couldn't AND she's making out like it is a family idea (or rather, that she speaks for the family). Tony and Carmela both whisper harsh admonitions to her but she tries to guilt Tony and ignore Carmela, determined that she is going to take charge now and show them all .  Everybody enters the room, joining Christopher and Adriana who are already draped languidly over the couch. Janice, the photo of Livia in pride of place, briefly plays If I Loved You on her little portable stereo while making a great show of really feeling the song while everybody stands around awkwardly wondering what the gently caress they're doing. One guest comes walking down the stairs as this is happening, spots what is going on and wisely ducks his head and carefully retreats back up the stairs to avoid being involved! In the uncomfortable silence that follows the musical interlude, Janice looks around for somebody to spontaneously launch into an emotional tribute to Livia... but nobody does. So she calls out Hesh, asking him to say something since he knew Livia longer than most. Hesh, put on the spot, is for once struggling for words before he finally manages that Livia didn't mince words,"Between brain and mouth, there was no interlocuter." Janice seems satisfied with this, but looks around for somebody else to pick up the slack and when nobody does tries to press a grumpy AJ to speak. That Carmela won't brook, acidly telling Janice to move on, and for once she listens. "She was my best friend," says a quiet little voice, and in a rather heartbreaking moment a woman named Fanny in a wheelchair is really seen by everybody for the first time as they step aside to give her the center stage. Speaking without irony, without malice, Fanny explains how she could always rely on "Li" to give her a call to keep her up to date on everything that was happening, which at their age usually meant a death or a hospitalization. Fanny speaks without understanding Livia's cruel fascination with the death and misfortune of others, but it doesn't diminish the very real fact that this one woman at least had nothing but genuine affection and care for Livia Soprano. She is probably the only person present who did, at this farce of a "celebration" by people who either didn't know her, didn't care for her, or outright hated her. Carmela knocks back another drink, Tony grits his teeth, and Janice puts on a deep sigh before "reluctantly" deciding to swallow her own medicine and FINALLY let them know how she feels. She begins talking about the extraordinary visual sense she had as a child (she lamented to Tony earlier that Livia kept none of her childhood drawings) and how Livia encouraged her by NOT flattering her, by allowing a "wildflower" to "bloom among the rocks"... and that's why Janice makes videos today, because Livia's tough love ultimately helped her. When this fails to get warm nods and appreciative, encouraging glances, Janice tries to take it out on Tony by asking him to tell how Livia kept all of HIS childhood memorabilia but none of hers or Barbara's, and he simply points out that Janice just told everybody for him, so it's time for her to wrap things up. One guest attempts to at least throw Janice a bone and offers up the now tedious,"She didn't suffer" line, utterly disgusting Tony who talks away... which means he misses something beautiful, as an incredibly stoned Christopher goes on a rambling babble about Livia, everybody listening struggling to find some meaning in his nonsense, watched with love and interest by his equally stoned fiance who never stops supporting him even when he simply trails off into nothing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQrQcAzMb8E The best part for me is that the above video cuts out a section in the middle of Tony and Artie talking outside, which means Christopher actually rambled on even longer than we saw. That section features Tony standing outside for the night air and also at least a little peace and quiet, when he spots an infuriated Artie jamming rubbish into the bins. Artie comes over, living in his own head, confusing Tony as he complains about Livia's death also killing "our little secret", belatedly realizing Artie is threatening to tell everybody about Tony setting fire to Vesuvio's. He follows Artie inside as he strides in ready to unload, but he's already losing his resolution as he arrives. He manages to get out the barest hesitant,"Umm" when (a half-drunk) Carmela saves them all by declaring this is all a crock of poo poo. The first person to just throw aside the robotic platitudes and tip-toeing around the truth, Carmela must be like a goddess in Tony's eyes as she bemoans the poor example they're setting for Meadow and AJ by trying to pretend that Livia wasn't dysfunctional. Carmela's mother Mary tries desperately to stop her making a scene but this is Carmela's house and she's going to speak, and for once Hugh shows backbone to his wife when he roars at her to let their daughter speak, demanding to know when Mary became Minister of Propaganda? They both hated Livia, she wrecked their lives and estranged them from their daughter for years and he's not going to sit around and pretend to be said she's dead. He won't let Janice - who wanted people to speak about their emotions regarding Livia - shut him down either, yelling,"BULLSHIT!" at her, and Tom (Barbara's husband) throws in a,"Hear, hear." Carmela can't believe it, Livia did it again, from beyond the grave she is wrecking yet another gathering, but she blames not just herself for this but Livia's children. They ignored her wishes to hold a funeral for her, but they only ever had the balls to ignore her AFTER she died. Carmela savagely lays out exactly why Livia didn't want a funeral or a memorial, because she KNEW people didn't like her. She feared nobody would come, which is the same reason she never touched those baby journals, because she feared nobody would ever care to read them.  In the uncomfortable silence that follows this long overdue eruption, all Artie can offer is that there are deserts waiting for any who want them. Horrified but with a duty to perform, Charmaine quietly advertises that these deserts are from their new pastry chef at Vesuvio's and thanks them before beating as graceful an exit as she can. That night, Tony finally gets to finish the movie that started all this trouble: The Public Enemy. Sipping scotch, he watches Tommy in hospital being told by his eternally loving mother that he has always been her baby. The final scene airs, as Tommy's brother Mike and his mother get the great news Tommy is coming home. But of course Tommy is dead, his corpse dropped off on the front doorstep as a cruel joke while upstairs his blissfully unaware, loving mother prepares the house for his return. Tony watches, sobbing at last, weeping for the mother Livia wasn't and for the mother he desperately wished she would be. Whether mother, monster or both: Livia Soprano is dead. But she will live forever in Tony's head.... and not in a good way. Season 3: Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood | Proshai, Livushka | Fortunate Son | Employee of the Month | Another Toothpick | University | Second Opinion | He Is Risen | The Telltale Moozadell | ...To Save Us All from Satan's Power | Pine Barrens | Amour Fou | Army of One Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6.1 | Season 6.2 Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 13:51 on Apr 23, 2020 |
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May 25, 2019 09:41
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Vichan posted:The deal Artie got for the Ramlosa was related to Tony and Richie fleecing Davy Scatino, whose wife is sitting next to Carmela in that scene. I know, I was more talking about John Ventimiglia's delivery.
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May 25, 2019 13:35
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Christopher at the wake is one of the funniest scenes ever filmed by any show
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May 25, 2019 15:12
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Thanks for another great write up, Jerusalem. Amazes me how I still miss things that when pointed out are obvious. I am just not very bright, probably. The shots of Livia from behind always remind me of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjyDdE2WF3M 
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May 25, 2019 17:18
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Ungratek posted:Christopher at the wake is one of the funniest scenes ever filmed by any show And who knows if you can get a scene like that again. I mean you can't figure that out, even with computers.
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May 25, 2019 20:31
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Yeah, wow, that Livia CGI is loving brutal and I can't believe I didn't pick up on it at the time. Thanks for fueling the thread so well, Jerusalem. There's so many characters on this show to hate but I swear to god I think Janice takes the loving cake. That wake/funeral scene grinds my god damned gears because I've lost a lot of family members over the last decade and have seen first hand people do that self serving, virtue signaling, making it all about themselves poo poo SO often - all the while seeing dollar signs in their eyes and impatiently swooping in to suddenly "care", hoping there's something in it for them and pretending they ever gave a poo poo in the first place. I love Tony's "wrap it up, Janice" with the steely eyed look. Stray observations: - Looking for the symbolism in the screen shot with the mayo and the V8 bottle and I got nothing - Anyone think Meadow might have subconsciously pushed her dad's buttons, knowing it would get his goat? And for whatever "tut-tutting" Carmela might have done over the Noah thing, I have to think she agrees with her husband. - I loving love when Hugh stands up for himself and stops taking poo poo for 5 minutes. Strange that Carmela's parental dynamic has the woman in the dominant role yet her won marriage is mostly the opposite. - Very clever and cool usage of the Public Enemy film as a framing device, especially at the end. - Didn't realize that we haven't met Ralph until this point. His introduction was seamless and not jarring like Buscemi's was. Wasn't this the episode where he snorts coke with Janice and bangs her in the bathroom or is that later? - Wonder why Livia saved Tony's childhood report cards and poo poo but not Barb's or Janice's? What's the significance there I wonder? - Not mentioned but I love AJ going "what'd dad say?", seeing Noah and going "oh....I know what he said" or is that in another episode too? - Chris' drug addled rambling is great. The whole funeral scene is perfect and very realistic - everyone meandering, bored, putting on masks, acting how they THINK they should..."what are ya gonna do?"..."at least she didn't suffer". Platitudes. And every time someone tries to get deep it just results in awkward. Michael Imperioli is a loving treasure. I don't think I've ever seen him do a poo poo performance in anything.
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May 25, 2019 22:31
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BiggerBoat posted:
-Different episode. Ep 1 of S4 I believe. - "We're Italian, you'll always be more important." ~ Meadow to AJ S6
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May 25, 2019 23:24
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Yeah the funeral/"shindig" is really great at demonstrating how the whole thing is people putting on various acts they think are appropriate, and even Tony himself who is disgusted by everybody being "robots" is just as guilty. Carmela going off on what a horrible person Livia was is fantastic, but I absolutely love how she points out that Tony, Janice and Barbara only had the balls to go against Livia's wishes once she was safely dead.BiggerBoat posted:- Looking for the symbolism in the screen shot with the mayo and the V8 bottle and I got nothing I'm not sure if that was intentional or just an accident of the framing, I actually didn't even notice them on opposite counters because I was so focused on Tony sitting alone and pathetic with his racism. BiggerBoat posted:- Anyone think Meadow might have subconsciously pushed her dad's buttons, knowing it would get his goat? And for whatever "tut-tutting" Carmela might have done over the Noah thing, I have to think she agrees with her husband. The latter is in the next episode, and Carmela does actually strongly suggest in that episode to Meadow (once she FINALLY gets her alone in a room) that Meadow has been trying to orchestrate a confrontation to make some kind of point. Meadow correctly points out there should be zero reason to forgive Tony's racism, but she is left fuming after Carmela leaves because there is some truth to the accusation.
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May 26, 2019 00:52
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BiggerBoat posted:- Anyone think Meadow might have subconsciously pushed her dad's buttons, knowing it would get his goat? And for whatever "tut-tutting" Carmela might have done over the Noah thing, I have to think she agrees with her husband. I feel like this gets confirmed down the line. There's a strong element of 'but what will people think you don't want to go through that' at some point, I'm almost certain. BiggerBoat posted:- Wonder why Livia saved Tony's childhood report cards and poo poo but not Barb's or Janice's? What's the significance there I wonder? As a theory, Livia tossed their stuff because as much as she put down Tony, he was the only child that didn't abandon her. Janice did her thing and Barbara moved away with her husband as fast as she could. Livia probably tossed their stuff out of spite. Dawgstar fucked around with this message at 12:27 on May 26, 2019 |
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May 26, 2019 01:13
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Dawgstar posted:As a theory, Livia tossed their stuff because as much as she put down Tony, he was the only child that didn't abandon her. Janice did her thing and Barbara moved away with her husband as fast as she could. Livia probably tossed there stuff out of spite. This is exactly correct. She kept their stuff in proportion to how much interaction she had with them as adults. Tony always around, she kept everything. Janice never around, nothing. Barb occasionally, she kept a few bits and pieces.
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May 26, 2019 07:38
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Chello thees ees Meesus Washington from dee school of leetal Anthony.
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May 26, 2019 15:48
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Jerusalem posted:This finally triggers genuine emotion in Janice who struggles to maintain herself as she explains that "Hal" is now living homeless in Canada and she can't track him down. Tony makes a genuine apology, but still firmly insists she be there tomorrow. You think so? Those felt like crocodile tears to guilt trip Tony. But Janice is so manipulative it's hard to tell when she is being genuine so maybe I'm wrong.
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May 26, 2019 20:17
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Ginette Reno posted:You think so? Those felt like crocodile tears to guilt trip Tony. I'd say it was real. Janice does seem to get legitimately upset whenever Hal/Harpo is brought up throughout the series.
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May 26, 2019 20:33
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Andrew Verse posted:I'd say it was real. Janice does seem to get legitimately upset whenever Hal/Harpo is brought up throughout the series. I always remember that scene later on in the series when Janice and Bobby and the kids have settled into a happy home life together and Tony can't stand it and uses Harpo to goad her into losing her temper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haWOLGAHppc The relationship between Tony and Janice is really amazing. Tony seems to genuinely love her despite being able to see right through and even often predict her schemes. But then you have these eruptions of rage where he demolishes a phone because of her or where she attacks him with a fork in a blind rage :/
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May 26, 2019 20:45
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They're exactly the same person. Barbara managed to get away from her twisted hosed up family somehow and is the real hero of the show.
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May 26, 2019 21:23
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Andrew Verse posted:I'd say it was real. Janice does seem to get legitimately upset whenever Hal/Harpo is brought up throughout the series. Yeah, Tony uses it because he knows it's a weak spot. He does it a few times with Harpo.
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May 26, 2019 21:41
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Solice Kirsk posted:They're exactly the same person. Barbara managed to get away from her twisted hosed up family somehow and is the real hero of the show. Yeah, it really makes Janice fascinating because she's the oldest of the kids, she was her dad's favorite, she was the one who broke away and set out to be her own person etc.... and yet somehow Tony has ended up the "head" of the family (and Barbara "got out" without alienating everybody) and it drives her mad because to her he is still just her dipshit little brother. She's on the flipside of Tony's own issues where he still feels resentment towards those who knew him before he was powerful, she's guilty of exactly what he thinks but it is understandable. She is manipulative like Livia but she wants to be powerful like Tony, she wants to be the center of attention and the one who runs things and who everybody looks to, and instead the best she can ever manage even in the 21st century is hitching her wagon to a man's star and that understandably infuriates her. The ironic thing being of course that Tony has what she wants and he's still loving miserable, but to her all she can think about is how she is sure SHE would be satisfied and happy if she was in his shoes. The sixth season where Silvio temporarily takes on Tony's role and completely falls apart is a really good example of just how terrible/stressful being the Boss is in spite of the percieved glory. But people like Janice or Richie or Phil or Johnny Sack still want it.
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May 27, 2019 00:30
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Johnny Sack nailed it as a boss. Well, for as long as he was a boss anyways.
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May 27, 2019 01:08
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Last night I went to see Christopher Moltisanti, Bobby Bacallieri and Big Pussy tell anecdotes and stories from Sopranos. It was great fun, all 3 guys were in good health and good spirits. Did you know that a 13 year old Michael Imperioli used to drink in a club Vincent Pastore owned, called The Crazyhorse? Apparently Paulie was the only person who came to set every day with his hair done, and would never ever let anyone touch it - except for the Pine Barrens episode where he allowed them to mess it up. I wish I could remember the scene this anecdote related to but apparently you can see Tony laughing in the background, because Bobby is whirling a 3 foot dildo off-camera. One day Muhammad Ali rang up Michael Imperioli and wanted to have lunch with him as he was a huge Sopranos fan, so Chrissy brought him on set. This was during the scenes Tony was in hospital, so he snuck Ali in and after shooting a shot Tony opened his eyes and Muhammad Ali was looming over him. Apparently he spent the entire day there, signing and taking pictures with absolutely everyone. I could've listened to them talk all night.  Wish I had a better memory and could remember all their stories.
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May 27, 2019 01:32
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Gandolfini must have been thanking his lucky stars that the episode where Tony talks poo poo about how sports people are all idiots he made an exception for Ali since "he had some wisdom"
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May 27, 2019 02:36
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quote:
It was from pine barrens when Bobby walks in wearing the Elmer Fudd getup.
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May 27, 2019 02:56
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Bloodbath posted:Apparently Paulie was the only person who came to set every day with his hair done, and would never ever let anyone touch it - except for the Pine Barrens episode where he allowed them to mess it up. Another fun thing I heard about Tony Sirico was he insisted that anything could happen to Paulie as long as he didn't rat.
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May 27, 2019 03:05
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Bloodbath posted:I could've listened to them talk all night. I was there too! My bf being roasted by all three of them for having a better seat than me absolutely made my day  I asked them as a primary school teacher, how can I bring the essence of a made man to the classroom and keep my students in line.According to Michael Imperioli, “A gun says 1000 words” I’m going to cross stitch that on a throw pillow.
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May 27, 2019 05:04
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Bloodbath posted:Last night I went to see Christopher Moltisanti, Bobby Bacallieri and Big Pussy tell anecdotes and stories from Sopranos. It was great fun, all 3 guys were in good health and good spirits. I was at the same event and I wrote down everything I could. I'll divide it by Paulie stories, other Sopranos anecdotes and Goodfellas anecdotes. - Paulie Walnuts' apartment is a 1:1 replica of Tony Sirico's actual apartment. They had trouble imagining what it'd look like, so they just visited Tony's apartment in the Bronx. - Sirico is a hypochondriac. In 1999 he thought that he got the West Nile virus after a mosquito stung him on set. - After the anthrax letters in 2001, Sirico was also worried that he might be targeted. Because Paulie Walnuts was America's sweetheart. So he would only retrieve his mail with gloves on, then put in the microwave and "clean" it til it caught fire. - Sirico always did his own hair, except for that one scene in Pine Barrens where its all messed up. Every morning he'd go to his barber to get a black and silver dye job. To get the pompadour, he'd spray a cartoonish amount of hairspray in the air and let it settle on his scalp like rain. - Sirico was asked to sign an autograph for a "handicapped man" in a wheelchair. Tony thought they were talking about sports betting, so he earnestly signed the autograph "to the number one handicapper" - The pilot has one of the few improvised scenes on the show. A prop worker pulled a prank on them by putting extra weight inside the body so they couldn't throw it in the dumpster. Vincent Pastore made up the part about cutting it up in Staten Island so they could just put the prop back in the trunk. - Joe Pantoliano loved pulling pranks on set when he was out of frame. In the scene in the hotel with the Swedish stewardesses, he lay naked on the floor with a breadstick sticking out of his rear end. James Gandolfini grabbed the breadstick and broke it in half so it was stuck in there. - Vincent Pastore's new Mafia friends stopped talking to him after he became a rat on the show. When Steve Schirripa lived in Little Italy he would get unsolicited advice from gangsters about how to make the death scenes more realistic. - Gandolfini originally wasn't feeling well for the scenes in the lake house. This was in June, so they had to wait 6 months and then build an exact replica for $250k. - Several finale scenes were filmed in order to prevent leaks, all as confusing as the real one. The one they mentioned had Frank Vincent staring out a window holding a gun. He was confused and annoyed at the vague direction and character motivation. - Steve Schirripa compared being written off the show to a Mafia hit. He found out after David Chase showed up at his house one morning dressed in a hooded parka like the Grim Reaper. Chase gave the outline but kept the details vague, again making it seem like a hit. - Michael Imperioli didn't know how to drive a car, despite being Tony's driver in the pilot. The first day of filming he totaled a Lexus by reversing into a tree. - Steve Schirripa on Frank Sinatra Jr: "God bless him, but without his last name he would have been a plumber in Pittsburgh” - The scene where Christopher and Tony bury Ralphie took hours to set up. In the meantime, James pulled out a bottle of Wild Turkey and they split the entire bottle. They were so drunk that they had to be chained to the ground so they didn't stumble off the cliff. - Michael Imperioli did his own stunt for Goodfellas. When he fell to the floor he cut two fingers open on broken glass. He looks up to see Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro staring over him. He's rushed to the hospital in Queens, but forgets that he has three fake bullet wounds in his chest. He keeps telling them that its just his hand, but they think he's delirious and rush him to emergency. After pulling open his shirt and seeing the squibs, he gets sent back to the waiting room and is stuck there for four hours. - Steve Schirripa on Robert deNiro: "You say hello to him, and he's lost for words. He cant talk if he doesnt have a script in front of him” - Ray Liotta slapped Vincent Pastore in the back of the head during their one scene together. All three seemed to have a low opinion of Liotta, called him pizzaface and mocked his career
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May 27, 2019 05:21
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God that all sounds fantastic, I'm jealous.goodog posted:- Steve Schirripa on Robert deNiro: "You say hello to him, and he's lost for words. He cant talk if he doesnt have a script in front of him” His talkshow appearances always gave that impression too. Great actor, incredibly awkward in real life.
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May 27, 2019 05:31
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Vincent Pastore is surprisingly short and Imperioli is tiny. Gandolfini was a big guy but it put into perspective how enormous his physical presence was on the show. All three were lovely and Pastore was very gracious about taking photos despite being a grumpy old man who just got off a plane. Schirripa is very nice but is the most different from his character. In real life he's sharp as hell and is a fantastic standup and insult comic.
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May 27, 2019 05:49
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im insanely jealous of you guys that got to go to that.
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May 27, 2019 06:07
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