Ya know - I do tend to watch movies over and over. Good movies... bad movies... some times I watch a film that I cherished and watched ten times over when I was young... and see the quality has dropped... others, just reaffirm the greatness.
So Cara and I started watching Sopranos from the beginning (she had not seen them all) in preparation for the upcoming Final Episodes... and I realized - this show is simply amazing.
Last year I watched the series again with Devin (though I missed most of Seasons 4 & 5) so it has not been that long since I viewed these... I am just amazed that I can continually be surprised - excited - humored - blown away... by this show.
The direction is always spotless... the writing rarely falters... often, we look to the plotting for problems... but after watching these from back to back... with less expectation... I see the patience and passion the show has.
It just continues to stun.
So here comes April 8th - the final 9 episodes. With the finale last Season I felt I wanted the series to end... after watching again... I am truly going to miss the show.
The Sopranos is and always will be one of the greatest TV series ever created. Period.
Yo
6 comments:
I have a feeling that I should perhaps watch them all in a row as well, because I've found myself enjoying it less around season four. I liked five better, and thought there were elements of last half season that were interesting, but in some small way(right now anyway) I am kind of glad to see it reach its conclusion.
To be fair though, I am basing this purely on my recollection of viewing these during their respective seasons. I've often found that story arcs, especially long and epic ones are better viewed as a whole.
/please be gentle...
"Please be gentle"
That was your mantra as you were passing out at the last Kern Returns.
I mean really Kern - we are not going to #*&% you.
Well played, sir.
Speaking of shows that we're sad to see go, my personal sad moment is going to be when we watch The Shield ride off into the sunset. I think perhaps I feel about The Shield as you do about The Sopranos. I feel like the writing has always been great on that show, and that they have never done anything cheap or gimmicky, and that the overall arc of the show has been consistent and the development of characters has been amazing. Props to Chiklis too, for being able to walk such a fine line of being a corrupt scumbag who still retains a very bent moral compass.
Watching shows like these end is all the more bittersweet when we watch some of our other favorites limping pathetically across the finish line so that we can shoot them and put them out of their misery. *Cough*Gilmore Girls*Cough*
As a side note related to the original article, despite any misgivings I have had about The Sopranos, I will be as glued to my set as anyone else, and I do agree that the show overall set a high benchmark for what intelligent viewers can and should expect from television shows.
4th season has some glitches that at the time I thought were show defining bogus... yet, the opening of 4th season contains the amazing sequence of Christopher killing the man who supposedly murdered his father - he returns to his mother's after and pins up the dead man's $20 on the fridge... the camera zooms into the bill - pausing on the eye of Jackson...
Then Johnny Rotten comes in with "This is a world destruction, your life aint nuthing - the human race is becoming a disgrace!!".
That moment (and several like it on the show) kind of sums up a difference in the Shield and the Sopranos.
Chiklis and crew astound with hyper reality and strong characters put in dramatic stages! The Shield (especially 5th season) stands tall with completely mind blowing storytelling with plots that often leave my jaw on the floor... but sometimes it also goes too TVish (I am thinking of the Aceveda character changes - Dutch's cat murder - Claudette's chief/not chief story) and gets sloppy.
The Sopranos can slip on plot too - but the series continues to excel in layering fascinating imagery and form of storytelling.
I must admit... talking about the Shield has got my mouth watering for the new/final season.
Good points about The Shield. I think for some reason, I allowed myself to get so caught up in the frenetic pace and nature of the show that I kind of overlooked a couple of those kinds of things.
Gotta say, Forest Whittaker nailed it last season, and was such an amazing addition to the cast. I also enjoyed Glenn Close's season on there as well. She seemed to have a certain ballsiness and yet desperate and quiet exasperation in her Sisyphean efforts to reign in crime in Farmington.
I'll tell you what though, in my opinion the one HBO show that has never, never, let me down is The Wire. Given your awe of the long term planning and patience in weaving an enduring and epic storyline with The Sopranos, I think you would be duly impressed by The Wire. For my money, The Wire is the real deal, and possibly the best thing on American television in the past ten years. If you haven't seen it, rent the first season. It's almost impossible not to get completely hooked.
Also, as far as Sopranos goes, I was really excited with the beginning of the last half season, with the figurative, fantastic state that Tony found himself in for a few eps. I thought it was a pretty brave way to go, and I enjoyed those eps much more than the rest of the season.
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