4/30/2007

Triste despedida para el elenco de "The Sopranos"

Mientras los actores ponen fin a sus personajes en "The Sopranos", un programa de televisión que ha vuelto a muchos de ellos nombres y rostros familiares, algunos están preocupados por ser encasillados, a la vez que otros temen tener problemas para conseguir trabajo.

Por ejemplo, Dominic Chianese, el actor de 76 años que interpreta al tío Junior, sabe que ha sido encasillado por las cosas que continuamente le sucedían a su personaje. No le preocupa el trabajo, porque siempre puede vivir de cantar canciones de amor italianas.
Recientemente estaba sentado en un restaurante mongol en la ciudad de Nueva York, y dos mongoles se le acercaron.



"Empezaron a tomarme el pelo, y decían 'sabes que tu programa le está enseñando a la gente de Mongolia cómo ser criminales'", contó.
Y por si fuera poco, prácticamente a todo lugar al que va Chianese, la gente piensa que es el verdadero tío Junior quien, en el programa, está demente y, francamente, nunca fue muy agradable.

"Les gusta el viejo bribón, no sé por qué, pero es así. Está destruyéndose, me da pena. Mi salud está bien, pero sería muy gracioso si realmente tuviera demencia. 'Haces un gran trabajo allí Dominic. ¿Cómo lo haces? ¿De qué estás hablando?', bromeó.
Chianese y los otros actores del programa dicen que filmar los últimos nueve episodios de una sexta temporada extendida para el canal de cable HBO, ha tomado un tinte emotivo.

Italianos emocionados

Los nuevos episodios comienzan el domingo y continúan hasta principios de junio. En ese momento todo estará terminado, al igual que sucedió con otras queridas series de televisión, como "M *A *S *H" y "Seinfeld".

Reunidos en 1999 por el creador del programa, David Chase, conformaron un grupo televisivo único. Casi todos tienen perfiles ítalo-estadounidenses fuertes, sean italianos o no, y muchos no habían obtenido el tipo de reconocimiento que lograron cuando "The Sopranos" se convirtió en un éxito de crítica y audiencia.

Actores como James Gandolfini, quien interpreta al jefe de la mafia Tony Soprano, llegaron a un estrellato instantáneo, a pesar de que este personaje corrompe moralmente a aquellos con los que entra en contacto.

La pregunta para él es si podrá encontrar el tipo de roles variados que aprovechen su extraordinario poder como actor. Lo mismo puede aplicarse para Edie Falco, quien en el programa interpreta a su esposa Carmela.
En varias entrevistas Falco habló de dejar "The Sopranos" como un nuevo comienzo, pero luego dijo que inmediatamente piensa que tendrá que vender todas sus pertenencias para llegar a fin de mes.

Recientemente Chianese reconoció a Reuters que el humor en el piso de grabación es difícil.
"Todo el mundo siente que está llegando el final. Pero sé que de alguna manera nos mantendremos todos juntos, en contacto. Pero hay un sentimiento de tristeza. Se puede decir (...) todos están emocionados. No hablan mucho sobre ello, pero uno se da cuenta", relató Chianese.

Fuente: Reuters

The Sopranos 6x16 "Chasing it"


Bueno, aquí están los subtítulos en español del episodio 16 The.Sopranos.S06E16.HDTV.XviD-LOL .

El trabajo de refugio antiaéreo impecable.

Se pueden bajar desde aquí:

616 "Chasing It",subtitulos en español

O desde aquí:

616 "Chasing It",subtitulos en español

Y aquí la versión en inglés:

616 "Chasing It",English subtitles - Subtitulos en ingles-

Les recomiendo si quieren escuchar un buen CD, no se pierdan el disco de Dominic Chianese:


La música de Uncle Junior

4/25/2007

Subtitulos Sopranos 6x15 "Remember When"


Bueno, aquí estamos para disfrutar de otro fin de semana sopranero, aquí están los subtítulos para el episodio 15 The.Sopranos.S06E15.HDTV.XviD-NoTV. .

Gracias a la gente de refugio antiaéreo que está haciendo un trabajo magnífico con esta temporada, de calidad y con velocidad.

Se pueden bajar desde aquí:

615 "Remember When",subtitulos en español

O desde aquí:

615 "Remember When",subtitulos en español

Y aquí la versión en inglés:

615 "Remember When",English subtitles - Subtitulos en ingles-

4/23/2007

The Sopranos "Remember When"

The Sopranos Episode 80 “Remember When”: An Analysis
Jonathan Kleier
04/23/07

Why is it nerve racking to see Tony fight Bobby? Or even Tony fight Ralph in Season 4? Why did Paulie immediately begin lifting weights after he’s made aware of his possible demise on the boat? At the end of the day, they’re all “just assholes in the woods.” There was the Russian who may or may not be dead in the woods, but that seems irrelevant. After all, what if he did, in fact, die? Then how could that story line comeback -- he's dead. But maybe he's not, and for Christopher and Paulie, the uncertainty rooted in "Pine Barrens" is visible in every episode, especially #82.

It reminds us that so much of what we do everyday is heavily reliant on established social rules and norms. Tony should be able to walk down his driveway peacefully, but with the rules breaking down, it’s too dangerous. Without these social norms we are vulnerable to threats everywhere. When Tony kills Ralph he is, in the scene, vulnerable because all established customs are irrelevant. Tony’s status as Boss, usually protection enough, is not protection. Ironically, his only protection is the medium that he comes to us through, television and its established rules. So, his only protection in his fight scene is because it is in the middle of the 4th season, in the middle-to second act of (at the time) a 5 or 6 season T.V. show. Tony being our protagonist is the olny comfort the audience has. Also, no matter how much Chase has and will mind fuck us, we were reasonably confident Tony would remain alive in the Bobby fight scene… after all, there’s 8 more episodes left, and you cannot kill the most interesting character that early, can you?

Some of the biggest critisisms shot at David Chase is "What happened to the Russian? We all know the rules of film, right? You wouldn't dare show the gun in Act 1 but not pay it off in Act 3 when that gun is the murder weapon?" How dare Chase.

But then there are the stories, or more accurately, the one liners, that Chase does quickly pay-off. Tony coming up the driveway, "it's too dangerous to pick up the newspaper, has been for years" is felt as Paulie brings Tony the morning paper.

So for the mob, appearances are so important because they are indicative of larger implications: will this person follow established protocol in the more important situation? Ralphie turned down Tony’s offer for a drink, a seemingly minor if meaningless issue, yet this plot-line became the focus of at least a full episode plus. The espresso maker Paulie sends tonight speaks volumes, as does his “hey skip” as Tony walks into The Bing. Likewise, when Doc asked Phil for a bite of food off of Phil’s plate, we knew something was awry. These little social norms that say so much, seem meaningless alone, yet without them, what would we have?

But what is the mafia? If it is nothing else, it’s a deliberately anti-establishment, anti-social norm structure. Yet, it is dependent on mostly the exact same need for “rules” as any other organization. Tony reminds Ralph in S3.13, “Chain of command is very important in our thing," yet the so-called chain of command is ignored numerous times.

So we must keep in mind, at any moment, any random "jerk-off" could pull the trigger on Tony and end it all. That is, if Chase chooses to deliberately buck the medium. Tony is so vulnerable, which he knows, yet so brazen. Does that Miami gang respect who Tony is? Tony and Paulie were outnumbered like 8 to 2.

Tony said that things are going great and he wonders if all his worry is just a matter of his “Waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Are things going great? I was under the impression that there is a building crisis. In S7.1, Tony is beaten by Bobby. As we learned in S6.5, appearance is quite important in the mob (and real life, clearly). So Tony appears like a weak boos as a result of physical shortcomings, and what recourse does he have? Chris writes a fantasy film ending in Tony’s death. How does Tony deal with that? Kill Chris for a subconscious unconfirmed desire? Let him live knowing Chris, at any moment wants Tony dead and that could manifest anytime? Then, Tony probably mean by saying, "things are going great," that "things are deteriorating." Tony lies. A lot.

Tony’s using a new cell phone which we can assume is just a “dumb” phone to be used in the interim.

Watching Paulie laughing, alone, laughing at Three's Company, a look of disgust graces T's face. Tony hates people who laugh at inanimate objects. He told Melfi in “Cold Stones,” How about the fact that I hate my fucking son? I come home, and he's sitting on the computer in his fucking underwear, wasting his time in some chitchat room, going back and forth with some other jerk-off, giggling like a little schoolgirl. I wanna fucking smash his fucking face in. My son. What do you think about that?” Paulie laughing maniacally at the T.V. triggered that feeling.

Tony is now, for the second week in a row, placing sporting bets (I just read this is a big part of the coming attractions. I fucking hate coming attractions, goddammit). Isn’t he too smart to be a degenerate gambler? That's certainly possible given the high level of stress lately. However, I think Tony is "gambling" away his money to some possible offshore spot to be laundered. It's not a matter of if, but when will the FBI finally get its case, and Tony is extra aware of this.

Beansie’s name is Peter, Paulie’s name is Peter. There may have been some confusion by the girl Tony slept with, since both the characters are Peter.

Tony is as complex a hero as television/film has shown. The past means a lot to Tony, he/it carries a certain sentimentality that oh so delicately can be eradicated if needed, yet still carries meaning. He had serious problems killing Big Pussy, but Pussy was a rat so rat outmatches sentimentality. He hates Paulie in so many ways, but kill him? Possible, but not an easy choice. We could argue Tony's reasons all day though and if his hatred warrant Paul's murder.

Also, Paulie is ruthless as they come and one would think once he realized that his life was in danger (immediately once Tony mentioned to go fishing) that he would maybe kill Tony in self-defense. In retrospect he seemed accepting of his possible end. Paulie is old school. However, his big mouth is antithetical to everything Tony believes as good traits, i.e. Gary Cooper, "the strong silent type."

Chase's instincts are usually perfect. He releases and withholds information better than most, however, sometimes he reveals more than I think he needs to. I’m not the normal viewer, so perhaps I cannot comment here, but I needed nothing more than Tony’s asking Paulie to go fishing to know what was going on. Paulie’s uneasiness is a nice touch as well. But why the flashbacks to Big Pussy? We got the intended parallels already. Ultimately, in Chase I trust. Far be it for me to criticize this most brilliant art of our time, but it’s still curious why he wraps up major plot-lines with a couple of words, while treating others so differently. Of course, each strand stands on its own merits and thus needs to be treated uniquely, but I’m just thinking aloud here.

Tony said the one thing that bothered him is that he was never sure where he stood with his father. In Season 1, Vin, the crooked cop who commits suicide, said that at least with Tony, you know where you stand (Vin was also Finn’s father, Annette Benning’s husband and AJ’s “father” in “The Test Dream,” Season 5 episode 10). Tony once wished Paulie was his father, and until last week considered Christopher his son. Junior calls the Asian kid Anthony.

Tony doesn’t seem at all concerned with all the recent New York activity, but how could he not? If all these high level people are eligible for killing, then what is he? And Jesus, we just witnessed 2 potential bosses assassinated, and really is New York any weaker? Imagine Silvio and Paulie gone. What remains, Tony, Christopher, Carlo? How could there ever be a war between New York and NJ when it is so obvious that NJ is just a “glorified crew.” The highest earning Soprano Family crew no longer exists (The Aprile crew, with Ralphie gone, Eugene, then Vito), anyway.

Side note, everything in this final season is an allusion or reference to events occurring earlier in the series. Paulie at the buffet taking the rolls to some might be meaningless, but to others we might remember that butter roles were his mother’s favorite left overs. Tony Mentions Gary Cooper, Tony's long time hero for his "strong, silent, type" qualities. It had been a while since hearing Tony mention Gary Cooper. More obvious is the Ginny Sack 90 pound mole joke. I mean, I could go on, but finding them oneself is more fun.

Oh and Junior’s letter to Dick, come on, if The Sopranos isn’t the best comedy on T.V., I don’t know what's better (besides Curb Your Enthusiasm).

Jon Kleier with help from Samantha Kleier

4/22/2007

Subtitulos Sopranos 6x14


Aquí están los subtítulos en español para el episodio 14 The.Sopranos.S06E14.HDTV.XviD-NoTV. Es la versión de refugio antiaéreo.

Se pueden bajar desde aquí:

614 "Stage 5",subtitulos en español

O desde aquí:

614 "Stage 5",subtitulos en español

Y aquí la versión en inglés:

614 "Stage 5",English subtitles - Subtitulos en ingles-

4/16/2007

"Stage 5": An Analysis

Sopranos Season 7 Episode 2 “Stage 5”

Written by Jonathan Kleier

04.15.07

Legacy seems quite important in The Sopranos tonight, though of course it always has been. Everyone wonders what their legacy will be. Tony tells Christopher that no matter what, in 100 years he’ll have made a movie and can be remembered even after death. After Tony realizes that Chris’s depiction of the boss is embarrassing, he’s pissed because that’s how Tony’ll be remembered.

John Sack asks Ginny’s brother, the lord of the lenses, “How will I be remembered?” Phil ends that convo saying, no one knows what it is to be boss, it’s a thankless job. Tony has said lots of similar stuff. Tony has expressed he is lonely on top. He explains to Syl, every decision, every so and so impacts every facet of everyone else's life. “Sometimes, it’s almost too much to handle… at the end of the day, it’s just you, alone with your decisions.”

Phil’s pissed that his legacy will be that he’s named after an outfit ballerinas wear. “Leotardo, that’s my fucking legacy.”Also his decision to not kill Tony Blundeto or Chris back in season 5 makes him weak (by the way, it was not his decision to make. Johnny Sack was the Boss and he is the one who made the decision).

“This is the image of me he leaves for the world,” begins Tony’s session with Melfi. Then Tony’s lamenting about his memories of Chris as a child, all he did and “for what?” Tony also says, “I think he fucking despises me. Wants to see me dead.” Poor Tony. The sad clown.

What makes Tony happy? Torturing Janice, playing with ducks, I’m not sure what else, but not much. He is the sad clown, as discussed with Melfi. Crying on the inside while laughing on the outside. I think this was the episode, “The Happy Wanderer” from season 4.

Not sure what the protocol is, but I can’t imagine Tony won’t take pre-emptive action, if Phil doesn’t get to Chris first. And Christopher is the one Phil would choose. In season 5, Phil asked Tony if he’d ever held a dying family member in his arms? Tony says no, and Phil says, “Well we’ll see if we can make that happen,” and Phil looks specifically at Chris.

Chris cannot let go of Adrianna. Since her murder, Chris has brought her up many times. Clearly he blames Tony for it, and clearly that feeling will never go away.

For what? For what? Every boss asks in this episode.

John Sack tells one of the prison guards that he worked out, ate healthy, quit smoking, etc, and “for what?”

Phil Leotardo says “Twenty years inside, protecting the likes of so and so, and for what?”

Certainly there’s a lot of contemplation happening. What-if’s. There’s no happiness in their world, and I think they all now realize that. Who would have thought Carmine Jr. would be the smartest of the bunch.

Anyone else find the birthday celebration for Phil’s dead brother slightly bizarre? Is it common practice to celebrate dead people’s birthdays like that? Oh, and it would have been his 47th birthday, same as Tony last week.

Tony is falling apart. His mental health and physical are issues. There was a time when Tony would have had a wise crack and a smile with a big “fuck you” for the FBI agents. But Tony is different now. He feels the impending doom, and he doesn’t know what to do about it and that scares him. He’s also not nearly as sharp as he usually is. How could he miss the fact that the boss in Cleaver is Tony, and the boss ends up with his head cut in half. Carmela was smart to point it out, but should that have been needed? Tony should have known. Ultimately he realizes that it’s not fiction, it’s Christopher’s sub conscious.

OFF TOPIC:

As an aspiring screenwriter and what-not, I want to offer a thought on how a writer’s subconscious affects a work. It does, and it probably reveals a lot about the writer. This is why I sometimes don’t like to have other’s read my work. I’m scared it will say something about me that I hadn’t intended or ever realized existed in my subconscious. This is where writing partners are convenient. You see, anything from my scripts that you think is bizarre, A.S. wrote that scene. I had nothing to do with it.

I yell at Sabrina when she makes a judgment about me based on something Dave does. Well, usually, I’m sure she’s right, but I will deny that forever. And A.S. wrote that part anyway.

In fact, for future reference, I never wrote this paragraph, I have a ghostwriter. Erase this off-topic admittance and honesty from your memory, immediately.

OFF TOPIC, BUT SOPRANOS RELATED:

I have long wondered what kind of twisted disturbed world view David Chase has. “Poor you” originated with Livia, but it is a phrase repeated so many times, and by almost every Soprano family member (A.J. says it to Meadow, Meadow says it, Janice, Tony, they all do.) that the question arises… How much of that comes from intentionally trying to demonstrate Livia’s influence throughout everyone she touches… and how much of it is from the writer writing his/her characters without properly separating each individual’s own personality.

As a writer, and lots of what I’ve read, I can say that differentiating characters is among the most difficult aspect of screenwriting. It’s something that I have extreme trouble with (I mean me and AS). Generally, the Sopranos is very very successful at doing this, but at times, I catch what I think is a misstep from a particular writer who didn’t adequately study the different personality and character traits of the people they are writing.

BACK ON TOPIC:

Tony’s tantrum regarding his getting the paper every morning. “It’s too dangerous.” Again, Tony is scared and is being threatened on every front. The thing is, we don’t really know if Tony is an “untouchable.” Is Tony at risk of assassination? Internally, Silvio would have to orchestrate it, and he would need the support of, at least, Paulie, maybe Chris, and I don’t know who else. I mean, he’s not in danger from the FBI. They will just knock on the door instead of meet him at the driveway. Tony’s crew would also need support from a New York boss, but NY doesn’t have a boss.

If it’s NY that acts against Tony, what happens to the rest of Tony’s crew? Could they even retaliate if they wanted to? Johnny Sack was, first, Carmines underboss. John visited NJ to do the necessary business, and then when John went away, Phil took that over. I always wondered if something similar was happening the other way around. Was Silvio going to NY to discuss business with NY capos? Tonight he was. This is where that whole on-screen/off-screen text is interesting. Can we infer from Sylvio’s meeting with the NY guy who was shot that Similar meetings had been happening all along? I mean, Meadow and Finn broke up and we find out with less than one line… which is enough, because the writing is so good they can pull it off. I wonder how the breakup happened, who did what to who. Etc.

And what’s the deal with the terrorism stuff? An entire scene tonight with Agent Harris asking Tony if he knows anything about terror funding, ports, containers, etc. The terror angle has seeds sprinkled throughout a couple of seasons, so there is something like this isn’t totally out of left field. Is it possible they’ll end up bringing down Tony on a terror related charge (Tony is, of course, very patriotic and wouldn’t be doing this knowingly). Go read the Patriot Act… it could without a doubt cover some of the things Tony has done.

“No more of this” fill ends the birthday party scene, but no more of what? No more compromise, it’s time to strike hard and kill Chris? Or is he saying no more of this mafia bullshit?

Tony doesn’t like Phil, but he thinks Phil is a boss who Tony can manage. I think Tony is scared of what will happen if that other guy becomes NY's boss, which is why he tried to convince Carmine Jr. to go for it, to "wrap his hands around" the situation.

Technorati Profile

Re Re Carmela

Jonathan Kleier

In a general sense, your (Samantha) descriptions are pretty accurate. However, if you look back to the earlier seasons and get into specifics, Carmella was not blind or nilly to Tony at first. In Season 1 there's a sequence where the Family gets word that the FBI of an upcoming FBI raid. Tony, with the explicit help of Carmela, transport guns, large large guns from a hidden door in their house. Tony tells her he needs to hide all her jewelry also, cause since it's stolen and he can't provide receipts, the govt. will confiscate. Carmella understands. Then Tony asks for her engagement ring... this is where Carm draws the line. Shocked, she asks if he stole something so important as their engagement ring! Tony, of course, did steal it, but he just let's it go and Carm keeps the ring. This is the first season.

I would argue that Carmela's growing distaste for Tony had less to do with Tony, than it had to do with her falling in love with Furio. When the Russian goomba calls Carm (season 4 finale) and explains that she'd been fucking tony, Carmela's reaction had more to do with her depression at Furio's disappearance.

Throughout season 5 she was outsmarted by Tony all the way through. Tony strategically consulted every good divorce lawyer thus leaving them unable to represent Carmela. The one lawyer who could take the case dropped her when he realized who she was. Carmela's options in life were none existent. Even AJ hated her and wanted to live with Tony.

Melfi once said to Tony, "She might leave you, but you'll never leave her." And Melfi is correct. Tony is a strict traditionalist with these matters.

Re: Carmela

Sunday, April 15, 2007 9:02 PM
Samantha Kleier

Oh no – I disagree! Interestingly enough, I could have seen Carmela perhaps playing a role earlier, when she was weaker and oblivious. Now that she has grown into a stronger woman, I think she (like you said) very much enjoys her role as a mob wife, and I agree, part of her main attraction to Tony is his power and maleness. But I think she actually truly loves him now. I think their marriage has weathered the storm, so to speak, and she is wiser. But I think her knowledge has made her appreciate him more. The book “Paradise Lost” (for which I wrote a most brilliant paper in college, I must say), is all about temptation, and the forbidden fruit – the apple. When Eve bites the apple (she is tempted by a serpent) her and Adam fall out of paradise. They are no longer innocent. She is blamed for the “fall” of Adam and Eve and also of mankind. I think Chase in the Sopranos – which on an obvious level is all about the power of men and guns (the ultimate phallic symbol) is portraying a similar theme. It is the women of the sopranos who are actually the stronger ones, the more manipulative ones, the ones who succumb more to temptation (Jonathan, if you agree, you could fill in examples here). But look at his women – Livia, Janice, Carmela, Adriana, even Gloria. I do not think though that Carmela will have a hand in his murder. I think she really really loves him. and may be the one who saves him too (as you pointed out –she now is aware that he is weak and vulnerable). Love you, and totally agree – we have a Sopranos book club. I love it. so stimulating and exciting.

Carmela

Sunday, April 15, 2007 7:02 PM
Jonathan Kleier

Samantha, your thoughts on Carmela bring up interesting ideas. Carmela can hold her own, she even bitch slapped (metaphorically) Janice last week. Carmela is also very very loyal to the ideals of the mafia. I think she desperately does want grow independent (of course, the spec house) but she is yet to be successful, and I have a feeling Tony likes it that way.


In the end, I can see Carmela playing some role in Tony’s murder. What does she gain by keeping him around? With him dead, She gets all the money (though Tony I’m sure has lots hidden) and does she really love him anyway. I think as you said, she’s manipulative and plotting so maybe her seeming love is a manipulation.


Also, I think her witnessing Tony getting beat by Bobby is very important, and Tony knows it. Carmela, though she denied it, is attracted to Tony for 1 reason: he is an alpha male who has power and until last week, he was the toughest of 'em all. Evolutionary psychology, as far as I know. Now that Tony is weak, and he’s certainly not good looking, Carmela will be over him.


I will read Macbeth (though, as you said, cliffs notes). I really enjoy thes back and forth conversations. It makes the show so much more fun. It’s like our own book club. I’m gonna be paying more attention to Carmella.

Samatha's Mini Response Ep.1

Response to Episode 1 Post
Samantha Kleier

Sunday, April 15, 2007 12:24 PM

Love this, particular your pointing out the “break” in Tony’s moral structure – I didn’t think of that but you are very right. I also love the idea that tony is followed by all these incompetents. I don’t recall a Shakespeare play like that – though king Lear always comes to mind – I haven’t studied it in a long time, but Lear’s 3 daughters all deem him incompetent and want his fortune and gauge his eyes out to get it…

Janice is most certainly lady Macbeth ( Jonathan you should read Macbeth even if it is just the cliff notes version).

Carmela’s character has I think experienced the most growth and change. We have seen her go from a nilly of a wife (seemingly blind to her husbands career and extra marital dalliances), to a woman who discovers who her husband is and hates him for it, then who rediscovers why she loved him in the first place, accepts who he is and loves him despite of it, and turns out to be quite clever, VERY strong (though more discreetly so than tony or Janice) – in fact, she might turn out to be the strongest of them, and manipulative and plotting in her own way. She has been underestimated.

"Sopranos Home Movies": An Analysis

Season 7 Ep. 1: "Sopranos Home Movies"
Written by Jonathan Kleier
04/08/07

It just feels so good to be satisfied, content. I love when they do those flashbacks that show some other angle or some little bit of extra information as they did with the gun charge.

Really, I cannot see anyway that FBI will not ultimately get Tony, there’s simply too much. Tony has been involved in many murders. Every single phone call he is involved with is recorded by the FBI (this was revealed in Season 5) and while he is very careful, it’s just too difficult to be perfect at every moment when you’re under that level of scrutiny that Tony is under.

So from a practical perspective, Tony will serve a life sentence, unless he is murdered first. Of course, practicality will probably be thrown out the window for this show’s endgame and anything is possible.

Neil, Tony’s attorney, told him that the Gun charge is shit because if they had enough “we’d be talking with a wall between us,” which is exactly what Neal said to Tony after Tony’s arrest for stolen airline tickets in season 2… they never quite have enough but they’re always building the case. It is clear the FBI wants to put Tony away and in the end they will because there is simply no indication that they desire anything else.

Throughout the series Tony constantly asserts that he is just a soldier following orders. That the people he hurt knew what they signed up for and the risks involved. Generally he held to this moral and if he delineated, it was a necessary though unwanted. But consider here Tony is making a deal to sell medication that is knowingly expired to unknowing cancer patients. These aren’t degenerates, they are would-be good innocent members of society and Tony is now in the business of defrauding them. Tony, breaks, here, with his morality.

Maybe more importantly, Tony describes the scheme in a wide open bar and that means FBI could have the place bugged or whatever. Tony usually doesn’t make these types of mistakes, and I think that he is stressed beyond normal. Something is wrong.

It’s the little things though. I was fascinated when Carmela said, “Goddamn it, it’s the little things.” Referring to her 1 bar of Cell phone service. Come on, read into that. It’s the little things that bring Bosses down. Clever writers. Also, Tony has absolutely no successor. AJ is retarded. Christopher, please. Paulie could never. Silvio, we saw that he is incapable. There is NO ONE. So what does a leader do when in this position? I don’t know, but does anyone know of anything similar in history or Shakespeare etc.? HOW can Tony avoid death or jail when everyone under him is incompetent?

Until Tony and Bobby’s fight it was calm. But it wasn’t. Almost every comment was a backhanded one. Janice wished Tony hadn’t fired the Gardner, but she was still appreciative that Tony gave her the formerly Johnny Sack mansion. Remember the gardener in Johnny’s driveway as he was arrested in the snow?

Janice was really happy they had such a good relationship and it’s all Tony, what a great guy. But Tony correctly points out that, “I changed?” Janice so slickly shifts all blames onto Tony. Tony knows her like the back of his hand though.

All this talk about Tony being old etc. Tony is not old. Phil from NY is 67 (which is specifically mentioned in the episode). Johnny Sack, when he gets out of prison will be in his 60’s as his lawyer says in Season 6, “You’ll still be a young man, John.”

The Sopranos is one of the few stories that straddles the line of off-screen and onscreen. What is part of the text and what is not part of the text because it is not shown and not referred to. One side of film theory argues that what is not seen or mentioned does not exist in the films text. E.g. did anything happen in the year that passed between season 6’s finale and season 7’s premiere? If stuff happens we have to be told, but the only way to tell us is to put it on screen, which then enters it into the show’s text.

What has the gang been doing lately? How’s Paulie? Has Chris sold his film yet? There they go living there lives and doing what they do all the while we watch Tony onscreen.

Can you even imagine the conversations that must have occurred in Tony’s hospital room while he was comatose? We know that Tony was, to some extent, aware of the surroundings. When the doctor shined a flashlight into coma-Tony’s eyes, Kevin Finnerty saw a light tower, and another time he interpreted it as a helicopter with a spotlight. Paulie’s agonizing became Tony’s next door hotel neighbors which became so annoying that he woke up. I wonder how the rest of the coma episode was guided by the conversation in that hospital room. Plenty.

When Kevin Finnerty calls home, meadow picks up the phone and tells Kevin that she “made the volleyball team.” Ok, volleyball can’t be a literary reference, but it does happen to be Meadow’s sport in Season 1, and specifically episode 1. Tony and Silvio discuss the final stages before they torch Vesuvio’s, which they do so that Uncle Junior cannot murder Pussy Malanga. We know Pussy Malanga was the reason Junior shot Tony the previous episode. This is why The Sopranos is the best television show ever. Every single word and every single detail of the show is presented to be read on many levels.

New Season Of Sopranos

Season 6 part 2 of The Sopranos starts tonight! These my friends are the final eight shows of The Sopranos enjoy!

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4/10/2007

Subtitulos The Sopranos 6x13










Bueno, el episodio 13 "Soprano Home Movies " ya ha sido emitido el Domingo pasado, aquí estamos, a la espera de algún subtítulo en Inglés para comenzar con la traducción. Mas novedades pronto ;)
SUBTITULOS EN ESPAÑOL:
Los créditos son para la gente de refugio antiaéreo
SUBTITULOS EN INGLES:
Sincronizados para la versión The.Sopranos.S06E13.HDTV.XviD-NoTV
o aquí:

4/08/2007

The Sopranos Season Highlights and Important Events

Jonathan Kleier
04/07/2007
From my analysis, here are the events that can or will play roles in this final season:

SEASON 6:

We are quickly reminded that the Mafia offers few options for getting out via the powerful and difficult to watch scene where Eugene hangs himself.

Paulie gets bad cancer, Tony smashes AJ’s windshield and threatens him to get his act together. Everyone has a heart attack, and this is a possibility for Tony as well in the end.

Tony does lots of favors for Johnny Sack, but that’s all thrown out the window since Sack plead guilty. The Mafia is falling apart and Tony reminds us that things are increasingly difficult for them with all the new competition from other mediums – DVDs, the Internet, digital music, etc. We see a growth of Corporate

Meadow has moved to California and (I think) is becoming a lawyer and she will be the first Soprano that is “legit.” Silvio gets to be acting boss while Tony’s in his coma and it is blatantly obvious he is not good at it. In fact other than Tony, it doesn’t seem that anyone in the family is capable of being the leader. Paulie finds out his mother is not his mother. A rapper pays Bobby to shoot the rapper in “the fleshy part of the thigh” so as to raise the rappers street credibility. This brings up the idea that Tony may have arranged for something similar, which would explain Junior shooting him (though that is very unlikely).

Arabs show up from time to time and it seems like this might come up somehow in the final season, or Chase is using them as a red herring and the terrorism stuff will be not factor in. Christopher sells them guns, and does some credit card fraud with them, so if those guns are used for something nefarious or terror related, the FBI could tie it to the Family.

We also find out that some from the New York family would like to “wipe the Soprano family off the face of the earth,” which Phil responds “whack a boss? Never.” With Phil’s health unknown, the new New York boss might make that happen. But that’s unlikely because, in my opinion, it would be far more tragic an ending if any characters are murdered by their own crew.

Chris dates Tony’s love interest, and Tony is not happy about that.

I think that in the end, one of the major characters will be murdered by another major character. Silvio, Paulie, Christopher or Tony and it will not be easy. Sylvio has only been disloyal to Tony 1 time which was in the fourth season, and it was not a huge deal. It was related to the Columbus Day Parade which was more of a topical episode addressing some of the show’s critics. Paulie has been disloyal too many times to list, but he is dying anyway. Christopher is generally loyal, but he’s drug addict and therefore a wild card and a risk to Tony.

SEASON 1:

Jackie Aprile is Boss, but at the show’s beginning, he is already in the hospital and near death. Tony and Uncle Junior are Capos, and with Jackie dying from cancer, Tony and Junior are the two next in line to take over.

After a lot of consideration, Tony decides, for strategic reasons, to hand over power to his uncle. But Tony plans to run the family silently, and figures that with Junior as Boss, Junior is the FBI’s target.

Meanwhile, Tony puts Livia into Green Grove retirement home, and he discovers that Green Grove is a good F.B.I.-free zone, like a doctor’s office or lawyer’s. This is where he meets with the other Capos, including Junior’s. Livia knows about Tony’s working behind Junior’s back, and she spills the beans to Junior.

The F.B.I., though, has bugged Green Grove and they hear everything, including Junior and Livia’s conversation where Junior says that this means he must assassinate Tony.

Meanwhile, Big Pussy has disappeared and The Gang worries that he’s either dead or has flipped. Tony becomes very depressed. Very depressed, and keeps repeating, “Nobody knows anything,” which they do not.

Junior hires a couple of Black guys to do Tony’s murder. As Tony is getting into his car, he sees the reflection of the murders, and is quick enough to dodge the first bullet. He quickly pulls out his gun as he starts the car and shoots the Black guy in the face, and escapes.

In the Season 1 Finale, the FBI, in an attempt to flip Tony, plays him a recording from Green Grove where Livia and Junior Discuss the murder (this is actually similar to what Agent Harris did in Season 6’s season Finale where he warns Tony that New York is planning on taking out someone in Tony’s crew.) Tony takes the information and launches a “war” on Junior’s crew, murdering almost all of Jun’s Capos and underlings, including Junior’s top advisor, Mikey Palmice.

Before Tony’s crew can get to Junior, the FBI arrests Jun and his life spared.

SEASON 2:

This season is very important, I think, in what will be the ultimate outcome to the series.

If we break the series into the traditional 3-act structure, Season 2 is basically the end of Act 1. This means that in theory, this is the basis and set-up for everything else to come, and it is what is supposed to come back in the 3rd act. The 3rd act began with the sixth season, and the first lines of dialogue in season 6 was Junior asking Tony about Little Pussy Malanga who Junior murdered in Season 1 and the reason Tony torched Vesuvio’s. Also, when Junior shoots Tony, he says something like “fuck you Malanga.” Anyway, sorry for that tangent.

In this season, Tony makes some of huge mistakes, and Big Pussy is feeding all the info to the government.

Midway through the season, a couple of Christopher’s lackeys try to murder Chris. Chris ends up in a coma and loses his spleen.

The shooting really upsets Tony because he really does love Chris. So after finding out where the shooter, Mathew Bevaloca, is, Tony shoots him to death. But he fucked up because there was an eye witness who identified Tony and this is where Tony starts to unravel.

Eventually, after the witness discovers that case is mob related, he recants his testimony, and Tony dodges the homicide case.

But the FBI really wants to get Tony. The FBI agent working with Big Pussy tells him very forcefully to get, on tape, Tony admitting he murdered Matt. While Tony is normally very careful, he does discuss the murder in Pussy’s presence more than one time. However, we the audience, never find out if Pussy got the admission on tape as he was told to do.

This might come back in the final season.

Also, in Season 3 or 4 Tony and crew figure out that Pussy had been an FBI informant all the way back to 1995, which until then, they had only believed Pussy was working for the govt. for about a year.

In the Season 2 finale, Tony gives his mother stolen airline tickets. She gets busted, and Tony is arrested. Tony has a near breakdown because it’s this type of sloppiness that he thinks will bring him down. He reminds his lawyer that Al Capone was brought down for tax stuff, nothing mafia related. The airline tickets are federal charges. The FAA, wire fraud, etc. Tony makes bail, but to this day, we do not know the legal outcome of this event. Especially because the FBI got its info from Pussy, and we do not know how much more he gave them.

Again, this could come back.

This is also the episode where they kill Pussy in a very emotional scene.

The penultimate episode, Janice shoots Richie Aprile, killing him. They were engaged. Earlier in this episode, Janice makes it clear that Richie should go after Tony and kill him. Richie says he will not do it, he’s old-school. Janice persists, and even brings up precedent of Paul Castellano, a real-world mafia boss who was assassinated by John Gotti outside of Sparks steak house.

I think Janice is intent on having Tony killed and the reason she murdered Richie is that she realized he wouldn’t do it. It makes me wonder what kind of influence she has on Bobby and what role she may have played in Junior’s shooting Tony.

SEASON 3:

Major plot lines:

The season begins with the Police’s “Every Breath You Take” playing behind the FBI plotting to bug Tony’s house.

Ralph (Joe Panteleone) is introduced as a major character.

Jackie Jr. (Jackie Aprile, former boss’s son) is a big character this season. He dates Meadow, cheats on her, and robs a card game, shooting Furio in the leg, shooting at Chris, and murdering an associate. In the Season Finale, Jackie is shot to death, by the then young and unknown to us, Vito. The shooting is blamed on Black Drug dealers, which it seems is a common thing for the Sopranos.

Tony is very affected by Jackie Jr. because it points out to Tony that unless he intervenes, A.J. will meet the same fate as Jackie. Tony makes it very very clear that he does not want A.J. to go into the mob, and as he tells Melfi, A.J. would never make it anyway.

In the same session, Tony explains that he wants Meadow to get as far away from him as possible. He would like her to be a doctor, or a lawyer, anything legit. Tony views Meadow as very bright, and very loyal to the family, which she is.

Meadow is very much like Tony in her street smarts. She has a tight mouth, and she never discusses her father’s business with “outsiders.” Meadow, I think, knows what’s going on and what her dad really does and she respects it.

This is in stark contrast to A.J. In the finale, he is caught cheating on a test and he rats out his friend who cheated with him. Chase shows this to us because it is such an obvious contrast to the ideals of the mafia, and also shows the differences between him and Meadow.

AJ is expelled, and Tony decides that he’s gotta get AJ away from the Soprano environment. Tony insists on sending AJ to Military school, and is ready to until AJ has a Panick Attack and faints. Turns out he inherited it from Tony. Military school is no longer an option and Tony is very shaken up. He knows that unless AJ is shipped away, he’ll end up dead like Jackie Jr.

Very emotional Tony asks Melfi, “How are we gonna save this kid?” He really means it, and he really does not know the answer. He is scared.

SEASON 4:

Christopher becomes a Captain, Carmella and Furio fall in love, and by the end of the season Tony and Carmella divorce. This whole season there was building tension between New York and Tony’s Family and for most of the season it seemed like there would be an all out war between the families, which never happened.

This also happened in Season 5, and Season 6, which a lot of fans criticize this because they do not like that Chase leads down this road every season yet never provides the war that seemed inevitable.

SEASON 5:

Tony B (Steve Bushemi) murders Bill Leotardo, Phil’s brother. Tony, in the Season finale shoots Tony, his cousin, in the face with a shotgun.

Tony is a pragmatist. He really did not want to kill his cousin. But he knew that had he not, New York would have (and they already did) retaliated. Tony also realized that within his own family there was unrest. There was a building mutiny, and Tony made the wise decision and saved himself.

This is also why Tony ultimately had to decide to kill Vito, though he strongly did not want to. Tony understood that, from a business perspective, he had no choice. Tony does generally make good decisions when it comes to these things. He is very principled, and though usually he will not be told what to do, when he needs to, though, he makes those smart decisions. Not to mention that Vito is Tony's Tony's top earner.

Also, at the end of season 5, the FBI came after Johnny Sack while he and Tony were meeting. Tony escaped (the FBI wasn’t after Tony, anyway). And that’s where Season 6 begins.