Sopranos begins its swan song

Edmonton Journal ^ | 04/07/07 | Alex Strachan

[Kid Shelleen]

It's never over till it's over" goes the familiar refrain. This time, though, it's truly over for The Sopranos.

The quintessentially American family epic raises the curtain on the first of its nine final episodes tonight. The final aria will be sung June 10. The final scene was filmed in a wholesome family ice cream parlour, in Bloomfield, N.J. and includes James Gandolfini's gangster don and family man Tony Soprano, Edie Falco's pragmatic -- and legit -- mob moll Carmela Soprano and Tony Sirico's immaculately coiffed capo Peter Paul Gualtieri, a.k.a. Paulie Walnuts, a movie buff and debt collector given to saying things like, "I was born, grew up, spent a few years in the army, a few more in the can and here I am, a half o' wise guy."

[cmsgop]

Great Job, we will have to see

[since 1854]

He left his fingerprints on the pistol he left at the scene. And, don;t forget the security cameras which could be all around.

[angcat]

I did the same but I was lost. Now I am hooked and started on season one. I watched the first four episodes. Another eight years to go!

[mel]

So sad, we aren’t on the Ponderosa anymore

[discostu]

Of course the Hays code wasn’t really self imposed. Cities and states were already imposing various layers of censorship on the motion picture industry and the fed was threatening to step in. The MPPDA created the code to keep the fed away and as a way to make sure they complied with most of the state and local regulations.

Even withthe Hays Code the motion picture industry was very good at working around it. The exploitation film genre was made to drive through one of the loopholes in the Hays Code, which allowed you to show “naughty” things so long as there was a “strong message” in the movie. The distributors for these movies (now often cult classics like Reefer Madness) knew the truth about their audience, they were looking for the sexy stuff. It’s pretty amazing to see what these guys were getting away with in the mighty Hays Era, full on nudity, sex, violence, but it was all OK with the Hays Office because there was a message.

The reality of the “clean” period of Hollywood is that it was all a lie. It really wasn’t self imposed, it really wasn’t clean, and it really caused a lot of idiotic censorship to movies that couldn’t find a way to sell the Hays people on their stories message. Nobody who really knows about it wants to go back to that era, and the people who chime about how wonderful it was really need to study up, the golden era you want to go back to never actually happened.

[cmsgop]

Maybe if were lucky tonight we’ll see a whole episode on Arti Buco,.....can you tell I’m frustrated so far.

[hawkeye101]

R.I.P. Christopher Moltisanti! You can now join Adriana and Cosette in heaven (or hell as the case may be).

I don't understand why people who don't like the Sopranos find it necessary to come on a Sopranos thread and start harping on how they hate the show, have never watched it or never liked it, or how it should be banned. This happens a lot on message boards all over the internet; not just here on FR. You know, I don't particularly care for country music, but I don't go on country music threads and start posting about how much I hate country music, or whether certain songs should be banned. Let it go, people; we get it, you don't like the Sopranos; let the people who like the show and watch it regularly discuss the show without being berated by those who dislike it.

The beauty of an open forum like this is that you can freely post on any subject you like; you have that 'right' (not a constitutional right, FR is an independent, non-government board); but I also have the right to come out and criticize any petulant and redundant postings of people who really have nothing better to do than to go on discussion subjects and tell everybody how much they hate that discussion.

[angcat]

I just finished season 1. I am 8 seasons behind. LOL

[cmsgop]

You’re not adressing me with that are you? I love the Soprano’s it’s just with 3 episodes left I have high hopes for major action. I have not seen that action so far.......

[Charles Martel]

R.I.P. Christopher Moltisanti! You can now join Adriana and Cosette in heaven (or hell as the case may be).

I was prostate with grief!! ;-)

[hawkeye101]

No, I wasn’t addressing it to you. I know there are a lot of people who loved the first 5 seasons (me included), and couldn’t stand the “Johnny Cakes-Brokeback Mafia” plotline that came about last year, and may have turned some loyal viewers off of this mini-season. I was talking about people who hate the show, or have never even seen it, and have to come on these threads and tell us over and over how superior they are because they don’t like it or have never watched it.

[cmsgop]

Okay, just checking, these next 3 better be off the wall

[CollegeRepublican]

I loved tonights episode. I was sweating bullets.

[cmsgop]

Yeah, that was good,it shoulda been 2hrs though.

[oust the louse]

Yep...I was hoping the last two episodes would be two hours...Interesting that Sil is not dead...I’m predicting that the ending will have something to do with the terrorists. Any thoughts out there people?....

[Sprite518]

Don’t you love the little leftist bombs thrown in the show. For instance, tonight episode when Tony was picking up his son. He grabbed him and threw him on the floor, and his son starts crying like a little girl. Nevertheless, as Tony is leaving the room he looks over to the computer. Sure enough there is a link that says something about the global war on terror. Basically impllying that the war on terror is making everyone crazy. How else is someone suppose to analyze why they show that after his son his crying like a girl in a crazy home?

[thestob]

ha, yeah I keep thinking a nuke is going to blow and everyone dies ...they keep dropping hints about terrorists then the little “smuggled nuclear material into the country” comment by the girl sitting at the computer ...then again probably not

[norton]

Ukranians.
Tony goes down alone.
White fenders skips.

[Zman516]

Just as long as Phil “Retardo” dies a cruel, painful and horrible death, I’ll be happy.

[radiohead]

Basically impllying that the war on terror is making everyone crazy.

I didn't get that at all. More like, this idiot kid is worried about global terrorism and his freakin' father is a murdering mafioso. They got terror going on right under their noses.