JCC Amph Bada Bing! Soprano's Movie "The Many Saints of Newark" Discussion

I believe indications are that box office numbers generally correlate to HBOMax numbers but, on the flipside, I'm betting this got way more views on HBO Max USA than the box office numbers indicate. Chase himself explicitly said he's actually super ticked it's on HBO Max even saying at one point "I wouldn't have made the movie if I knew it would be on HBO again". But also he just signed a big WB deal so maybe that was just him talking smack.

No WB theatrical releases in Canada (they stopped VOD as soon as theatres re-opened wide at The Suicide Squad) so I'm waiting the 45 days for VOD.

 

I don't think this works as a standalone film nor was it intended to. I think it does add meaning and nuance to the show. For me I always questioned the relationship between Tony & Artie. I thought the power imbalance between them was too great and that Tony wouldn't hang around someone like Artie. However here you see them as kids and now I think it makes more sense that Tony would still be friends with someone he knew before his mob life. I think the cast does well with Vera Farmiga as the standout for the younger version of established characters. In fact I think they made her look more like Carmela than Livia.

This story adds to the tragedy that is Tony Soprano. For a brief moment he had a chance to chase his dreams of going to college and playing in the pros however it wasn't to be. His admiration for Dickie will repeat itself with Christopher, as do many of the relationships as shown in this prequel.

 

I hear you but I always liked the Tony Artie friendship, which was complicated, esp. on Artie's end. It makes sense that the worlds would blur, and I'm sure Tony doesn't want to spend his free time with guys he works with all day. I haven't seen the film yet, I want to see Bond this weekend.

 

Watched some episodes of the Sopranos on HBOMax. Wow do they currently look bad. They are cropped to 16x9. And the motion or something seemed off. Is this a streaming issue? A 1080 upscaled source being played on a 4K tv issue. Even the motion or frame rate seemed off.

The quality of the show itself is so good I quickly could overlook the technical shortcomings. But it’s a shame this fantastic show has any issues like this at all streaming.

 

Did you turn off your motion smoothing settings?

 

Any and all motion smoothing and artificial refresh settings are off on the TV. The only thing I have on sometimes is film mode - but toggling that off and on makes no difference. My Apple TV is set to playback native resolution and frame rate on all content.

Most content looks extraordinary on the TV - especially new content or anything on disc. But there are the odd ducks that lack quality streaming. It’s odd that a prestige series like The Sopranos looks so bad. It’s usually old shows and movies with cheap or old transfers on Amazon that look like this.

 

Does HBO's cable channel still have the entire series available On Demand? I'd imagine they'd have it in the traditional format.

 

I rewatched the Sopranos pilot with David Chase commentary.I never knew Lorraine Bracco was considered for Carmela. Or Hunter, Meadows friend, is Chase's daughter.

 

‘The Sopranos’: WarnerMedia In Talks With David Chase About HBO Max Prequel Series

https://deadline.com/2021/10/the-sopranos-david-chase-hbo-max-prequel-series-1234859438/

Given where the film left things, this wouldn't shock me at all. That being said, I am very, very fond of the film's anti-climax regarding

Spoiler

Dickie's death and Tony's lack of involvement in how it played out/refusal to take his first steps into that world.

Wherever Chase goes, though, I will most certainly follow.

 

Sounds like you’d . . . Chase him.

 

The question is, will the series feature the original's familiar Woke Up This Morning theme song?

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/n...-ending-the-many-saints-of-newark-1235040185/

 

So in that interview, he pretty much confirms what the “cut to black” ending of the show was. I don’t think I’ve seen / heard him give an answer on that before.

 

Meh he shouldve shown it in the end not waiting years to say what he may have implied, we saw tony montana , michael corleone meet their demise he shoudve shown Tony Sopranos as well, ill stick to my theory nothing happened and if anybody tried something tony had backups nearby ready to take out whoever approached him lol

 

I mean it's easy to say "Oh he got whacked." after James Gandolfini's death. Have to wonder if he'd still say anything if Gandolfini was still alive.

 

Yeah it's a pretty clear pattern setup to get Tony's POV looking at whoever is walking through the door. When Meadow should be going to walk through the door after a long drawn out parallel park, Tony looks up to see her enter and instead of getting his POV we see nothing because he can see nothing. That, plus all the things the season has built up about it being sudden and you not even knowing you've been killed it's pretty obvious.

 

Well, even Coppola dialed things farther away from the more literal presentation of Corleone's "demise" with the recent Mario Puzo's The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone re-edit of The Godfather Part III, restoring an ending there in which

Spoiler

he does not actually show Michael die but, rather, leaves him alone and damned in life for his actions without even letting us see him get some sort of release in the form of death.

 

I havent seen that new alternate ending but the film he released in 1990 showed Michaels end , i guess we can say michael died at the end of part 2 not physically but spiritually and everything he lost his family at the end of part 2 all all alone by himself after having fredo killed, part 3 i never watch anyway the saga ended in part 2 for me lol

 

My favorite commercial during this year's Superbowl. Meadow and Anthony reunited. RIP James Gandolfini

 

It was such an absolutely bizarre concept for an ad. I couldn’t stop laughing. Let’s reverentially recreate the Sopranos opening credits, but with Meadow, and then bring in AJ, and then all to reveal it’s for some electric truck. What the hell? Hilariously weird.

Couldn’t get the theme out of my head, though.