The Many Saints Of Newark (no spoilers yet)

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  • The Many Saints Of Newark (no spoilers yet)

    EDIT: I can't edit title, but we will now be going with spoilers here.

    Well, I have tickets for tonight but the flesh is weak so I started watching. I won't spoil anything yet. But I will say I thought the opening was beneath the quality of the writing on the show. And that the pacing of the Sopranos as a show was one of its great features. You don't have that luxury for a film, especially when you need to resolve so many things. And that makes it feel so unlike the show. I'll wait until others have watched to spoil further.
    Last edited by Satriales; 10-04-2021, 08:05 AM.

  • #2
    I'm so stupid I didn't even know I could watch this movie yet. HBO Max?

    I've only seen the trailer. I liked The Sopranos, but I'm the one person who doesn't think it's the best show ever made, but it surely helped change TV and is awesome in many ways. But it also made me laugh how manly men said they loved the show and at it's heart was a very artsy fartsy show, but they felt okay because of the killings and sex. But I thought the best parts were the comedy moments. And to me, it was a tour de force for James G. I don't think I've seen a show that was carried 100% by one guy. LIke you'd think Cranston carried Breaking Bad, but NOPE because Better Call Saul the last few seasons has been just as intense and great... but James was doing like all the work. Without him the whole thing is a really bad soap opera.

    I mean, I think Sopranos has some of the worst acting in any greatest of all time series. There are 4-5 just terrible actors (to me). Also other great actors of course. But it's insane how most of that is forgiven by the power of one man's epic performance.

    So I'm interested in the movie the way I had to watch Better Call Saul... but I did end up falling in love with Saul, so maybe there's a chance!

    But to me w/o Gandolfini it's never going to be The Sopranos to me. I will try to judge it as it's own thing.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Bono View Post
      I'm so stupid I didn't even know I could watch this movie yet. HBO Max?

      I've only seen the trailer. I liked The Sopranos, but I'm the one person who doesn't think it's the best show ever made, but it surely helped change TV and is awesome in many ways. But it also made me laugh how manly men said they loved the show and at it's heart was a very artsy fartsy show, but they felt okay because of the killings and sex. But I thought the best parts were the comedy moments. And to me, it was a tour de force for James G. I don't think I've seen a show that was carried 100% by one guy. LIke you'd think Cranston carried Breaking Bad, but NOPE because Better Call Saul the last few seasons has been just as intense and great... but James was doing like all the work. Without him the whole thing is a really bad soap opera.

      I mean, I think Sopranos has some of the worst acting in any greatest of all time series. There are 4-5 just terrible actors (to me). Also other great actors of course. But it's insane how most of that is forgiven by the power of one man's epic performance.

      So I'm interested in the movie the way I had to watch Better Call Saul... but I did end up falling in love with Saul, so maybe there's a chance!

      But to me w/o Gandolfini it's never going to be The Sopranos to me. I will try to judge it as it's own thing.
      I dunno. Aside from AJ who is a bad actor?

      I think it’s basically an unmatched American piece of art. Like Kind Of Blue and To Kill A Mockingbird level of quality and significance.

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      • #4
        I wasn’t even thinking about the kids. I said I’m sure I’m alone. My favorite of these dramas are breaking bad and the wire. But my favorite show is lost. But my real favorite show is punky Brewster. Carry on.

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        • #5
          The toughest thing to do in the business for a writer or director is to follow up a sensational hit.

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          • #6
            I feel asleep 55 minutes in. That is my spoiler free review. My friend loved it. I didn't even know he watched the series.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Satriales View Post


              I think it’s basically an unmatched American piece of art. Like Kind Of Blue and To Kill A Mockingbird level of quality and significance.
              Also maybe the quirks is what makes something a piece of art right? So if all the actors were perfection to me, maybe it would be less The Sopranos, you know? My main point is I rewatched the whole series and I was struck by many things, mostly how amazing James Gandolfini was. I mean people say it -- but to me it's like Archie Bunker level of -- this one guy is holding this whole crazy idea together. If he wasn't in this, this would fall apart. Looking back, we go "No one else could play that part" but I don't think that's true for 95% of roles. I mean we can't imagine anyone else now. But there is a special role meets the right person and it's just pure magic. And that was Tony Soprano and James G. Honestly, maybe he was so good that he made other people seem like bad actors to me in comparison.





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              • #8
                Originally posted by Bono View Post

                Also maybe the quirks is what makes something a piece of art right? So if all the actors were perfection to me, maybe it would be less The Sopranos, you know? My main point is I rewatched the whole series and I was struck by many things, mostly how amazing James Gandolfini was. I mean people say it -- but to me it's like Archie Bunker level of -- this one guy is holding this whole crazy idea together. If he wasn't in this, this would fall apart. Looking back, we go "No one else could play that part" but I don't think that's true for 95% of roles. I mean we can't imagine anyone else now. But there is a special role meets the right person and it's just pure magic. And that was Tony Soprano and James G. Honestly, maybe he was so good that he made other people seem like bad actors to me in comparison.




                Sure, it’s one of the two or three greatest TV performances ever. But I don’t think it overshadows the incredible depth of actors who used the specificity of the writing to create such memorable characters.

                It’s the deepest bench in TV history, IMO. Third tier roles like Rosalie Aprile, Artie Bucco, Little Carmine all sing because the right person was in the right role and they were impeccably written characters with great neuroses and layers.

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                • #9
                  My wife's best friend's lived in Nutley, NJ. We visited them a lot to go to their pool. I'm in the pool and I look up. And Frank Vincent is staring at me. The same way he looks at people before he kills them with a baseball bat. I don't think he was acting. I think that was just him. I was literally scared. I peed the pool.

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                  • #10
                    I finished it. It really picked up for me halfway through. I wanted it to be a mini-series though. It was too short for what it was. I expect them to make 2 more of these.

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                    • #11
                      It was fine I guess. Better than I expected based on some reviews but not quite as good as I would have hoped given it's a David Chase joint. Feels on firmer dramatic ground when it's focused on Dickie M. and his moves than also bringing in younger versions of the series regulars (ooftah). Without spoiling, not a fan at all of the final twist, which totally undermines a great episode of the show.

                      Also, having a Melfi-less plot also really makes you appreciate how brilliant that framing device was, to remind us that for all the lip service guys like Tony paid to the so-called rules of "this thing of ours," they rarely hesitated to break them when the need arose. Here, it's all the sociopathy without any of the context that Tony's sessions with Melfi provided (but obviously not really an option given the time period)

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
                        It was fine I guess. Better than I expected based on some reviews but not quite as good as I would have hoped given it's a David Chase joint. Feels on firmer dramatic ground when it's focused on Dickie M. and his moves than also bringing in younger versions of the series regulars (ooftah). Without spoiling, not a fan at all of the final twist, which totally undermines a great episode of the show.

                        Also, having a Melfi-less plot also really makes you appreciate how brilliant that framing device was, to remind us that for all the lip service guys like Tony paid to the so-called rules of "this thing of ours," they rarely hesitated to break them when the need arose. Here, it's all the sociopathy without any of the context that Tony's sessions with Melfi provided (but obviously not really an option given the time period)
                        Well those "therapy sessions"came in jail visiting with his dad's brother who I still don't know was real or in his head. I'm 99% real, but if he was just having fake conversations out of guilt that would make a lot of sense too. I'm not a big enough Sopranos fan to know if that was a character we knew existed before this movie.

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                        • #13
                          Also, young Tony talking to the school counselor seemed like an attempt at establishing an early therapy session for him (with an authoritative woman who recognized the importance of his mother's role!).

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                          • #14
                            Statute of limitations is up. My thoughts:

                            - I generally like V.O. especially if it is done well (duh) and has a conceit. (ie: Gordie Lachance is writing a book) In this case, I thought this was ill-conceived, or at the very least, poorly executed. I would have just had Chrissy narrating it, we don't need to know or see that he is dead. THEN the reveal at the end is - he's GOING to hell. I thought him narrating from hell was comical. I mean...hell didn't seem so bad, right?

                            - The first half hour was not great. Ray Liotta 1 sounded like Artie Lange. Fortunately, #2 was a much more subdued performance. Everything after that, I really enjoyed.

                            - I enjoyed the Leslie Odom stuff but it feels to me that the backdrop of the Newark riots was just something that Chase got in his head and couldn't get away from. I didn't find it all that necessary or illuminating.

                            - One of the things I thought should have been leaned into more was the idea of Dickie Moltisanti the legend. And that's how Tony always referred to him in the series. But when I see Dickie now, that term strikes me in a very different way. Sure he was cool and a badazz. But he was also sad and pathetic. It's a "legend" as in a story, a tall tale - something we tell ourselves and each other to make things greater than they were, to soften the rough edges. To that end, I wanted Tony to see Richie getting shot and maybe Junior says something offhandedly at the funeral - certainly not copping to it, but saying how he killed Giuseppina or whatever. Because I think you then give more weight to the story Tony tells Chrissy in the series about his father, and we go back to the necessity of these legends we tell.

                            - Several of the easter eggs/callbacks I hated. I liked that the shooting through Livia's hair was different than recounted, because memory and familial games of telephone are like that. But going to "your sister's c***" twice was a bit much. Once would have been good. The "varsity athlete" line was too overt. I loved that they talked about Mr. Piacosta playing football. (he of the wonderful "inarticulate Italian noises" meme)

                            - Bernthal felt too cool for Johnny Boy, IMO. Michael Gandolfini was awesome. The way he was eating after Johnny Boy got out was scary good.

                            - I thought the music choices were less inspired than the series. It's the Summer of Love and you really go with Scott Mckenzie's "San Francisco?" Meh. I did like I Am I Said and Astral Weeks when Richie kills Giuseppina was awesome. Which would make it the fourth (by my count) epic use of Van Morrison in Sopranosverse. Gloria (by Them, feat Van) at the end of Pine Barrens. Glad Tidings as a motif throughout All Due Respect when Tony B gets it in the S5 finale, and of course Comfortably Numb from Live at the Wall by way of the Departed soundtrack (in a Vera Farmiga sex scene, no less) when Chrissy buys it in Kennedy and Heidi. But I REALLY loved Whatever Happened To Christmas? One of the great, sad Frank songs. I was so annoyed with Tony being in Holsten's and it was all too obvious but then that song started and I was like "ok, fine."

                            - The pinky swear. My god. No. Just no.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Bono View Post

                              Well those "therapy sessions"came in jail visiting with his dad's brother who I still don't know was real or in his head. I'm 99% real, but if he was just having fake conversations out of guilt that would make a lot of sense too. I'm not a big enough Sopranos fan to know if that was a character we knew existed before this movie.
                              It could have been an interesting creative choice. One I certainly would be tempted by. But Chrissy said in the open that his grandfather had a brother.

                              I thought the stuff with Vera (who was amazing) and the counselor was definitely the most powerful part of the movie.

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