TV Series: The Sopranos Season 1 (Part 4)

Tony's not looking well. As we find out, he's reacting badly to one of the medications he's taking, Lithium. But this makes the twelfth episode one of the worst episodes in the whole series. I only say "one of the worst", not the worst overall, because the episode does have some redeeming qualities. There are two stories running in parallel, one good, one bad.

I mentioned before that I dislike dream sequences in films and television series, but the dreams in "The Sopranos" usually make sense. This is an example where they don't. Tony meets Isabella, an Italian medical student living with the Cusamanos, on three separate occasions. At the end of the episode we find out that she didn't exist. It was all a dream brought on by his feverish state after taking Lithium. Is that at all possible? I could just about believe a single vision, but three on the same day? Nonsense!

The other story in the episode involves Tony's uncle Junior Soprano finding out that Tony is seeing a psychiatrist. This is totally inacceptable for anyone in the Mafia. Despite the ethics of doctor-patient confidentiality, it's not tolerated that anyone should talk about their business. Junior finds out while visiting Tony's mother Livia in the Green Grove retirement home. She's already angry about Tony visiting a psychiatrist. She accuses him of seeing a psychiatrist to talk about his mother. That's actually correct. When Junior suggests killing Tony, Livia encourages him. Later in the episode the assassination attempt goes wrong, leaving the hired assailants dead and Tony only lightly injured.

The incident is described as a car-jacking, but Tony knows otherwise, and so does the FBI. Livia's room in the retirement home has been bugged. (Is that even legal?) Tony is played the tape of Livia and Junior conspiring to kill him, in order to encourage him to give evidence against his uncle. Tony would never take a deal like this. He's old school and would never talk to the police, not even if his associates have been trying to kill him.

Tony orders his men to kill Junior and the capos (captains) loyal to him. This is partially successful. Junior's main hit-man, Mikey Palmice, is shot by Paulie and Christopher in the woods. It's an example of Paulie's psychopathic traits that he's more concerned about being stung by poison ivy than killing someone. Junior is arrested by the FBI before he can be executed.

After the failed assassination attempt, Livia is faking dementia so that she can't be put on trial or requested to give evidence. Tony visits Green Grove, intending to smother her with a pillow, but she's just had a stroke (supposedly), so the doctors take her away.

There are two consequences of the events that close the first season. Firstly, with Junior in prison there's nothing to stop Tony becoming the next boss. Secondly, Tony advises Jennifer Melfi to leave town to avoid being killed.

There's so much that happens in the last three episodes of the first season, much more than I've written. Please visit "Sopranos Autopsy" for more details. The whole series is excellent, even if I have to criticise the dream sequence(s) in the twelfth episode.

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TV Series: The Sopranos Season 1 (Part 3)

The tenth episode of "The Sopranos" is important to me, because it was the first episode that I saw. I even remember where I was when I saw it. I'd just started a new job, and I was in a motel on Long Island feeling bored. My room had HBO, a channel I didn't have at home, so I took a peek. At that time in my life I watched more television series than films. I didn't become a big film fan until 2003 when I bought my first DVD player. I was watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Xena Warrior Princess", "Earth Final Conflict", "Nightman", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager"; all of them science fiction or fantasy. No gangster series. I had no interest at all in gangster stories. But then I watched the tenth episode of "The Sopranos", completely at random, and wow! I didn't know what hit me. I told all my friends about it. I became a regular viewer, although it wasn't until months later that I had a chance to see the first nine episodes. And I made sure I had HBO in my new home.

This is Artie Bucco, a childhood friend of Tony Soprano who decided not to get involved with organised crime. He's opened a restaurant called Vesuvio. Tony and his associates frequently visit the restaurant, much to the dismay of Artie's wife, because she doesn't want Vesuvio to be seen as a mob restaurant.

Bruce Cusamano was mentioned a few times in the early episodes, but now we finally see him. He's Tony's family doctor and also his next door neighbour. He's the one who referred Tony to Jennifer Melfi after his panic attacks.

By now Tony is always flirting with his psychiatrist, but she remains professional and turns him down. He's leaning back in his chair to get a better view of her legs.

And Jennifer uncrosses her legs to let him see even more. Does that mean she isn't being completely professional? Maybe. It's all a power game. She likes to lead him on so that she can show she's in charge by turning him down.

One thing we learn about Jennifer is that her office is in a medical centre. Tony is embarrassed to see his associate Silvio Dante in the corridor on his way to see a dentist.

And the psychiatrist visits a psychiatrist! Jennifer's psychiatrist is Elliot Kupferberg. She talks to him about her problems treating Tony Soprano, calling him Patient X to hide his identity. Elliot repeatedly advises her to refer Tony to another psychiatrist.

In a raid on Tony's house we briefly see Agent Harris, the leader of the FBI task force. He plays an increasingly important role as the series progresses. The Sopranos fan page claims his first name is Dwight, but I don't remember his name ever being mentioned. Maybe it's in a conversation with his colleagues? I'll pay attention this time.

I've already mentioned that Tony's mother is the only completely evil person in the series. We see an example in a flashback to Tony's youth. Tony's father says he wants to move to Las Vegas to participate in the emerging casino business. He says that it would be a legitimate business venture, and their children would prefer the climate. She replies, "I'd rather smother them with a pillow than take them to Nevada".

In case anyone wonders what the "parts" are in my reviews, they're not completely random. I'm watching the series on Blu-ray, and for me each "part" is the collection of episodes on a single disc. I don't intend to make full plot summaries of individual episodes. If you want more details, please visit the excellent web site "Sopranos Autopsy".

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The Lost King (5 Stars)

In Germany there's a Mediathek for the first German television channel. Literally translated, the word means media library. In actual fact it's more of a temporary catch-up for television broadcasts. After a film or a talk show is shown on television, it's put online in the Mediathek for a few weeks. It's similar to the BBC's Iplayer, but not as flexible. In the recent past I've only watched political talk shows, mostly about the recent German elections, but today I noticed that "The Lost King" is available. This was one of my favourite films of 2023, so I jumped at the chance to watch it again.

The default setting is that the film is shown dubbed into German. That's obvious, because the Mediathek is intended for viewing in Germany. Then I checked the settings, and I discovered that it could also be watched in the original English version.

Now this is where it got weird. The default version is with German dialogue, with optional German subtitles. The version with English dialogue has an option to turn the subtitles on and off, but it doesn't work as expected. If the subtitles are turned off, German subtitles are still shown. If the subtitles are turned on, the subtitles are shown in duplicate: in white at the bottom of the screen and in yellow at the top of the screen; the identical text in German. What monkeys did they hire to program the Mediathek?

I enjoyed the film regardless. It's the true story of a woman who was so obsessed with Richard III that she saw visions of him. And yet she found his grave, a feat that notable British scholars had failed to do for hundreds of years. In addition, she cleared Richard III's reputation by proving that Shakespeare's depiction of him is incorrect.

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TV Series: The Sopranos Season 1 (Part 2)

One of the things I dislike in films and TV series is dream sequences. They usually run along the lines that something is happening, then the person wakes up, and it's like the director is laughing at us: "April Fool! It never happened!" In my eyes this is poor storytelling.

In "The Sopranos" dreams play an important role. In most circumstances they fit in well with the plot. Tony Soprano is a person suffering not only from panic attacks but also from other mental disorders. The dreams give us an insight into his inner life. In episode four we see him having an erotic dream about his psychiatrist, Jennifer Melfi. In episode six there's another erotic dream about her. She's become the centre of his life.

Is it the legs that do it? Probably. Jennifer's legs are prominent in his first dream. It's interesting to see the way she sits. Her skirt isn't actually short, but she sits in a way that it rides up her legs. She has deniability. When she crosses and uncrosses her legs she can claim that any exposed skin was an accident. Tony shouldn't have been looking.

Tony Soprano's 13-year-old son is called Anthony, like his father. In the family he's called AJ, which is short for Anthony Junior. He finally finds out that his father is in the Mafia when a fellow schoolboy chickens out of a fight. The boy's father has told him not to fight AJ because Tony might take revenge.

Tony's other child is 18-year-old Meadow, in her last year of school. She already knows about her father's Mafia involvement from online searches. Did she use Google? No idea. The search engine Google was launched in 1997, two years earlier than these episodes of the Sopranos, but it didn't become the most used search engine until a few years later. Meadow explains Tony's Mafia involvement to AJ.

A few days later she confronts her father: "Are you in the Mafia?" He answers brusquely, "There is no Mafia".

Tony is arguing semantics. He rejects the word Mafia, preferring to call it the family or the business.

One of the main locations used in the series is the strip club Bada-Bing, which is run by Silvio Dante. It always amuses me that only the customers stare at the dancers. When Tony and his associates are sitting at the bar they don't even notice the girls. Tony must find Jennifer Melfi's legs sexier than the bare breasts.

In the fourth episode Jackie Aprile, the acting boss of the Mafia – it's difficult to avoid using that word – dies of cancer. A gang war is expected to name a successor, but Tony asks his uncle Corrado (nicknamed Junior) to take over.

One of the strengths of the Sopranos as a well-written series is that all of its characters are likeable, however many bad traits they may have. For instance, Tony Soprano is a killer, but he's a sensitive, insecure killer that we feel sympathy for. The only exception is Tony's mother, Livia Soprano. She's a devious schemer, and she has no redeeming qualities.

Junior Soprano meets his crew (the captains directly answering to him) at the Sit Tite Loungenette, a seedy little cafe. 

It's easy to track down with Google Streetview. It's on the corner of Ocean Avenue and Seaview Avenue in Jersey City, now serving Chinese American food.

Centanni's, which was only seen in the pilot episode, is on the corner of 2nd Avenue and Centre Street in Elizabeth, New Jersey. It's interesting that the street's name is spelt correctly.

Satriale's, which is frequently shown from the second episode onwards, was a building located at 101 Kearny Avenue in Kearny. The building was previously empty, and it was demolished as soon as the series finished. It's now a parking lot.

Once more, I've written more than I intended. I hope that what I've written is interesting. If you want to know more, please visit the Sopranos Autopsy for detailed reviews.

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Paterson (3 Stars)

"Paterson" is about a man called Paterson who lives in Paterson, New Jersey. He works as a bus driver and writes poetry. Maybe I should put those two activities in the other order. He's a bus driver because he needs money to survive, but poetry is his first love. He's the sort of person who would benefit from Universal Basic Income.

He wakes up every morning between 6 and 6:15. He doesn't need to set an alarm. While working he listens to people talking on the bus. Back at home he talks to his wife. He loves her, even though he frowns when she buys expensive things such as a guitar. In the evening he visits a bar and he takes his dog Marvin for a walk.

It's a low-key film with a lot of repetition that doesn't really go anywhere. Paterson could be you or me. My life isn't exciting, and neither is his. What about yours?

Success Rate:  + 0.2

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Chloe (4 Stars)

As I've already stated, it's currently difficult for me to watch films at home. Writing about them is just as difficult. It took me almost three days to get through the film.

Despite lukewarm reviews from critics, I like it a lot. It's not even the acting performances that attract me. It's slow paced, but fascinating from beginning to end.

I strongly recommend watching the alternative endings (plural) on the disc.

Success Rate:  - 0.9

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TV Series: The Sopranos Season 1 (Part 1)

Three days ago I started to watch "The Sopranos" for the fourth time. I'll write a little about it despite my current problems. Maybe I should say it's because of my problems. It fits better into my schedule than other series like "Rome". When I was watching "Rome" I made the decision to write detailed summaries of each episode. I've now suspended my reviews until I have more time on my hands. While watching "The Sopranos" I'll limit myself to making a few comments about the episodes. There is really no reason for me to review it. There are so many websites with detailed reviews of this series. I've checked at least a dozen of them. You can find them with a simple web search, but I recommend two sites:

Sopranos Fandom Site: This is a fan-made encyclopaedia of the series.

Sopranos Autopsy: This is a review site by a guy called Ron, the best review site I know.

The Sopranos (I'll omit the quotation marks from now on) was a special series. It was ground-breaking. Critics say that it kickstarted the Second Golden Age of Television. I don't like that expression, but I'll let it stand. It implies that there weren't good television series before it. Maybe it would be better to call it the New Age of Television Drama, if that expression hasn't already been used by someone else. It was a stylistic difference to previous television dramas. In the past television series had seasons lasting 22 to 26 episodes. They ran all year, repeated twice. Episodes were filmed in a rush, one episode per week, followed by a six month rest period for the actors. In the new age that began with the Sopranos series were shorter, ranging from eight to thirteen episodes. The investment per episode was larger, and two to three weeks were spent filming each episode. It was a deliberate attempt to put quality over quantity, even if it left television audiences frustrated by the long gaps between seasons.

Another characteristic of the new age was serialisation. What I mean is, in the old age episodes were usually standalone and could be watched in any order. In the new age the episodes have to be watched in order, even if there aren't explicit cliff-hangers.

I don't want to put down the television drama series of the old age down. There were excellent series, such as "Star Trek", "Highlander" and "Buffy Vampire Slayer". However, these series had to struggle with smaller budgets than new age series such as "Dexter" and "Game of Thrones".

It wasn't a clean break between the old age and the new age. For instance, the Sopranos ran from 1999 to 2007, whereas "Smallville" (an excellent old age series) ran from 2001 to 2011. A big overlap.

I personally consider the Sopranos to be the best new age series, due to the superior writing. It has a large cast, but every single person is well crafted, so that we know them all intimately. To compare it with "Game of Thrones", which also has a large cast, the characters aren't as well defined. Don't get me wrong, I think "Game of Thrones" is very good, but the Sopranos is better.

The very first scene shows Tony Soprano in a psychiatrist's waiting room, looking up at a naked statue.

The camera only shows her legs and her upper body. We can assume that the woman is completely naked. Such a statue seems out of place in a psychiatrist's office, especially in the waiting room. The sexuality puts men at unease while they wait for their appointment. The statue stands above the man, in a dominant position. 

Dr. Jennifer Melfi is an intelligent, powerful woman. She knows that her skirt is short enough to distract her male clients. Sexuality is power.

Tony Soprano is an alpha male. He doesn't allow himself to be overwhelmed by a sexy pair of legs. He has sexy mistresses (goomahs) throughout the series. We frequently see him and Dr. Melfi sparring to stay in control.

The relationship between Tony Soprano and Jennifer Melfi is one of the most important parts of the series. In many episodes we see action scenes alternating with Tony telling his psychiatrist about what happened. He isn't always completely honest.

Tony is visiting a psychiatrist because his house doctor (who's also his next door neighbour) has diagnosed him with a panic attack. In the consultations Tony figures out the reason himself.

Tony had a family of ducks that lived in his garden and swam in his swimming pool. First there was one duck, then a second, then a whole family. He went into the pool every day to feed them. After the ducklings learnt how to fly, the ducks all left. Shortly after this, Tony had his first panic attack. It's clear that Tony was afraid of losing his family.

Family.

That's what the whole series is about. Tony is a man with two families. One is his wife and children. The other is his family of associates as a Mafia boss. I use that word for the sake of ease, but it's repeatedly stated in the series that the word Mafia is disliked. They prefer to use euphemisms such as the business or the family.

I've already written more than I wanted to, so I shan't write about the family members today. I'll only mention Christopher Moltisanti. Tony usually calls him his nephew, but on some occasions he calls him his cousin. He's actually neither. 

The relationship is via Tony's wife Carmela. Christopher is the son of her cousin Dickie, which means he's her first cousin once removed. I don't think there's a word to describe Tony's relationship to him. He can hardly call him his first-cousin-once-removed-in-law. Nephew sounds better.

There's a slight continuity error. Don't worry, I doubt many people have noticed. In the Pilot episode Tony and his colleagues meet at a store called Centanni's.

From the second episode onwards the store is called Satriale's. The reason for the change is that Centanni's is a genuine meat market in New Jersey. It was suitable as an exterior, but the producers soon realised that they would need indoor scenes, so they needed a new building. They found an empty building a few streets away which they modified to look like a real meat market.

Apart from this one exception the series is consistent, even if everything isn't revealed at once. In the first episode we have the impression that Tony is the boss of the New Jersey Mafia. Oops! I used the M word again! In the second episode we find out that Jackie Aprile is the acting boss while the actual boss, Ercole DiMeo, is in prison serving a life sentence. Jackie's time is limited, because he's suffering from cancer.

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General: Problems with my blog

As my regular readers have noticed, my blog has been slowing down in recent months. In the past I wrote more than 40 reviews a month, but now it's dropped to less than 20. This isn't due to any lack of interest in blogging or films in general; there are just too many distractions in my personal life. When I sit down to write a post, I'm interrupted every 10 minutes. This doesn't just disrupt my blogging, it makes it impossible for me to watch films at home. I can watch films in the cinema (with my phone turned off), but even that is difficult at times. Last week I had to cancel two cinema visits at the last minute.

I don't want to give the reasons in public, but if any of my friends want to know what's happening, give me your email address and I'll write to you. I never publish comments containing sensitive information, so if you write a comment with your email address I'll be the only one who sees it.

It doesn't look like the situation will improve any time soon, so I need to take steps. There are several alternatives that I'm mulling over:

1. I can close this blog. I've had a good run for the last 15 years, now it's enough.

2. I can keep the blog, but reduce my posts to mini-reviews, such as "Lost Highway" a few days ago.

3. I can change the purpose of the blog, making posts that aren't time-consuming, such as displaying my latest AI art.

4. I can start a new blog with a new style. There are practical reasons for this. My Google account is slowly running out of space for uploading photos. If I create a new Google account I'll have no problems for the next 20 years.

Of these four alternatives, the first is unthinkable. It's something I'd only do if I found myself totally unable to write. Blogging has been such a large part of my life for the last 15 years that it would hurt me to do without it. It's already hurting me to have to reduce my blogging.

The other three alternatives aren't mutually exclusive.

Alternative number two would be acceptable as a temporary measure, in the hope that things will eventually change. I'm aware that it would be a disappointment to my regular readers. It would mean downgrading the quality of my blog.

Alternative number three is a serious possibility, maybe in connection with alternative two. Until now I've kept off-topic posts to a minimum, but they could take over my blog, temporarily at least.

The more I think about it, the more I like the fourth alternative. I already made an attempt at a second blog in 2017. It was intended to be an X-Rated blog for erotic short stories. It didn't get very far. Only eight posts from 2017 to 2022. Last year a British author gave me permission to repost his erotic stories from a now defunct website, but I need time to format the text files. My new blog shouldn't be X-Rated, whatever I do with it. I could use it as a blog for everything except films. I'm still not sure.

Please leave comments with suggestions or requests for more information.

Lost Highway (5 Stars)

Finally! This has been my favourite film for years, but today is the first time I've seen it in the cinema. The film stunned me as if I were watching it for the very first time.

I'm unable to write any more today. I'll try to explain my problems later this week.

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