Bruce Springsteen Forum

Sopranos ends: So that's it?
Rob McKenzie, National Post
Published: Monday, June 11, 2007

The Sopranos have chomped their last ziti, whacked their last rival, pawed their last prostitute and aired their last episode. Rob McKenzie, the Post's television critic, kept track of last night's finale. All times Jersey.

9 p.m. Opening credits roll on a fresh episode for the last time.

9:03 I think Tony just said "making a mountain out of a molar."

9:04 Talk about desperate: Tony reaches out to the feds for help in his war with New York capo Phil Leotardo.

9:09 Paulie Walnuts on the loss of two loved ones: "You could take 2007 and give it back to the Indians."

9:11 In Tony's safe house, TV set is tuned to The Twilight Zone. Rod Serling's narration says the television industry is always looking for "talent and quality." I think this is the episode where a television writer with a magic book gets a hand from Shakespeare.

9:15 There's a sense of loss weighted in irrelevance here. A tour bus passes through Little Italy and you hear a voice talking about the neighbourhood's shrinkage. Tony stands on his sister Janice's balcony, looks at the neighbouring houses and remarks on how it used to be all cornfields here.

9:16 I can't believe it, the fed gave Tony a tip on where to find Leotardo.

9:21 Both sides are talking about ending the turf war. Phil's guys make it clear they wouldn't mind if Tony's guys killed their boss. I think I read about this kind of situation in FP Working last week.

9:23 Things are working out for Tony; something bad is bound to happen.

9:26 Paulie visits the empty Bada-Bing. Heavy sense of menace. One of their guys, Carlo, is missing, or else he's flopped to the feds.

9:33 Tony when Paulie resists his latest assignment: "I'm a little miffled."

9:34 Tony drives up to son A.J. jogging and "sings," if that's the word, the theme from Rocky. Which is weird, because Burt Young, who was in Rocky, is one of Phil Leotardo's henchmen.

9:36 Carmela reacts to A.J.'s desire to join the army: "Maybe the army'd be great for him, if there wasn't a war going on."

9:39 Phil gets whacked at a gas station. Then his SUV rolls over his head. Hey, anything to avoid the price of a fill-up.

9:40 A.J. defends his military desire to his parents. He wants to learn Arabic and be a liaison officer. He's taking what his father is and trying to turn it into something decent.

9:42 Parents have lined up a job for A.J. as a "development executive" on an upcoming Daniel Baldwin movie.

9:43 Tony's lawyer tells him somebody's singing for the grand jury and Tony is likely to be indicted.

9:44 Silvio Dante, one of Tony's top guys, is on life-support in hospital. Tony pays a visit. TV in background plays infomercial about product "for chopping garlic and onions."

9:49 Paulie suntans outside the meat market. I keep waiting for something to happen.

9:55 Tony and Carmela at a diner. On jukebox, Tony has chosen Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. A nearby guy in baseball cap looks ominous; could be a cop, could be a hit man. A.J. joins them. Daughter Meadow is late because she can't parallel park to save her life.

9:57 A.J. recalls some of Tony's advice: "Focus on the good times."

9:58 Meadow arrives at the diner. Screen goes blank. And that's the end. No music over the credits. Totally bizarre: 86 episodes, and we culminate with onion rings and Journey. I'm really not seeing the point of that.

10:05 Why would it end like that? It's like the writers wanted to confound viewers' expectations and so became bound by them -- they stood outside the boundary, but it wasn't a boundary of their own creation. Only other explanation I can come up with is that we're meant to understand that the sight of Meadow entering the diner is the last thing Tony sees; that right after this, he is gunned down. They'll be debating this one for years.
Quelle: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/stor ... 1cd0814e8c

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Steve Van Zandt is glad The Sopranos didn't end with what he describes as "fraudulent closure."

"Right from the beginning (Sopranos creator) David Chase broke every rule and everybody loved him for it," said Van Zandt, who played Sil. "(Chase) just refused all along to compromise and play by the Hollywood-imposed game of fraudulent closure.

"He was like, 'Life doesn't work that way, it doesn't get wrapped up every 30 minutes or 60 minutes, and we're not going to play that game. It's my last show on TV, I'm going out without compromise.' And I think he kept it that way right to the end ... I thought it was a brilliant ending, myself."

Then again, what does Van Zandt know? As the series ended, his character was in a coma.

Van Zandt, a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, was at the Television Critics Association tour to promote a new documentary series called Seven Ages of Rock. Van Zandt was asked if there are any similarities between Springsteen and Chase.


"Yes, there are a lot -- just seeing New Jersey become fashionable twice in a lifetime was something," said Van Zandt, prompting a huge laugh. "They're both crazy, and uncompromising, and singular in their vision. They both have been very inspirational to me and I'm proud to call both of them my friends."
Quelle: http://winnipegsun.com/Entertainment/Te ... 1-sun.html

Am 30.03.2008 gibt´s Sopranos satt, alle 6 Staffeln dieser hervorragenden Serie in einer Box

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/movie/detail/-/ ... artner/d23