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Dr. Bombay Gives SOPRANOS 5.3 Four Stars!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
This sounds so good. Do we dare wait till Sunday night? “Dr. Bombay” lacked any such patience:
Sopranos 5.3 FAQ
What's it called, Bombay?
What's it called, Bombay?
"Where's Johnny?" What about Feech? You went on and on and on last week about how Feech
would emerge as season five's big adversary for Tony, but you qualified
your prediction by saying that you just can't be sure about anything
with this show. So is Feech the man or what?
Not ten minutes into this week's episode we see Feech cruising down the
street in a block-long black Cadillac, the master of all he surveys.
The moment just screams "old school is back in session." Shortly
thereafter he totally dismantles a hapless landscaper who makes the mistake of
mouthing off to him - we're talking crotch kicks, fisticuffs, broken
bones and, I believe, some spit. So deep is Feech's frenzy that it takes
Steve Buscemi to bring him back to reality. But believe it or not, this
scene is actually topped later on in the hour when Paulie Walnuts, a
loose acquaintance of the hapless landscaper, does even more damage to
some landscapers Feech knows - we're talking shovels to the head, a guy
falling out of a tree and even a stolen lawnmower - all in broad
daylight! This has all got something to do with a turf war and which
mob-connected landscapers get to work which side of the street. The beef brings
Pauly and Feech to a sit-down with Tony, who ultimately rules against
Feech. By now Tony knows he's headed for the rocks with this mean old
bastard. It's pretty obvious. Does anybody get whacked?
Just a phone book. Wow, this episode sounds action-packed. What else happens?
On the New York side of the river, the power vacuum created by
Carmine's death is causing all sorts of trouble as various parties vie for
control. But it's a great episode on every level, not just in the action
department. There's humor in the script (like the scene where Christopher
proves once again he's not ready for prime time), but it's emotion and
personal pain that characterize this episode. It's all on the surface.
It seems everybody's involved in some sort of argument or beef. In the
midst of it all Uncle Junior's deteriorating mental condition takes him
wandering through New Jersey looking for his dead brother (hence the
title). It's sad to see him helpless, confused and lost. Part of what
makes this show so special is the way it makes us empathize with
characters with whom we think we have nothing in common. These are bad people,
but they are still people. What else is there in the way of subtext and compelling human drama?
Plenty. This is a great episode because it strikes a perfect balance
between everything people love about this show. In the closing scene Tony
and Uncle Junior share a moment that is so loaded with meaning that I'd
be wrong to spoil it. I've always believed that Tony, whether he
realizes it or not, absolutely hates what he is. But because he's Johnny
Soprano's son he's going to be the very best gangster he can be. He's also
basically a little boy lost, essentially alone since childhood and
increasingly isolated now that he's apart from his kids and the one woman
who really loves him (Carmella) - and surrounded by people he doesn't
trust. That's right, for all the backslapping these hoods do, they don't
actually trust, or probably even like one another for a moment. Tony's
and Uncle Junior's plights bring them together on a couch for the
aforementiond closing scene, and what transpires, though brief, is
unforgettable. Wow. After that last line I feel stupid asking this but... how does one
whack a phone book?
Actually, I'm not sure it died. So it's a great episode. Was there anything about it you did not like?
Just the fact that it ended.Dr. Bombay’s rating for “The Sopranos” 5.3?
****
The Hercules T. Strong Rating System:
***** better than we deserve
**** better than most motion pictures
*** actually worth your valuable time
** as horrible as most stuff on TV
* makes you quietly pray for bulletins 9 p.m. Sunday. HBO
Watch “Wonderfalls”!! Herc says it’s the season’s best new show!! 9 p.m. Fridays!! Fox!!
Looking for bumper stickers, plush toys and girls’ underwear covered with cute cartoon double-amputees? Visit The Herc Store!
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Mar 21, 2004 2:23:22 AM CST
Holy Fuck! Where the hell do I get this episode before-hand!??!
by han ol' buddy
Is this another reviewer's prize? I want some of that shit too. Give it to me! Suprnova? Where? Now!!! Give it to me! I'm drunk and can't hardly type!First? I could care less.
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I keep reading about, and keep noticing that recently The Sopranos' female characters (even the more minor of them) are more interesting than the male characters. In this preview, only a sideways mention of Carmella makes me think that maybe the guys' characters get the special writing treatment this episode. The series just stays good. Always good. No real down moments, many great ones; always good.
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Mar 21, 2004 4:42:33 AM CST
Allowing for the fact that these are fictional characters. . .
by gurglesnap
. . . RE: Carmella being the one woman who really loves Tony, I sorta think that she doesn't anymore. The tension that exploded in last year's season finale was so intense that it seems like she's almost become a different character now that she's not with Tony. She almost has the potential to become what she was trying to be in the earlier seasons of the show. (ie, a "good" person) It will be interesting to see what happens with that dynamic over the course of the series.
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Thus far, I've been a little let down by the lack of violence this season. Here's hoping for some bloodshed, and soon.
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I was watchin last night, and he has lost 10000 lbs and is only talking out of the side of his mouth and he sounds like a munchkin. He's NOT well.
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He underwent treatment for some kind of cancer last year. It was reportedly minor, and went well, but the eyes don't lie -- the man doesn't look so hot these days. It's a shame, he's a good dude. Anyway, to shift this around to "The Sopranos" : it was a very self-conscious reference but so far my favorite lines has been, "I hated it. 'You provide the war, I'll provide the headlines.' How conceited."
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And he had a minor stroke while recuperating in the hospital.
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Just reminding those who want to know, and those who're hopin' for a big whacking soon, that Tom Shales of the Washington Post wrote that, having seen the first 4 episodes, he could confirm that a "major character" dies...in Episode 4. That's next week. (Blame him, not me, for ratting, and if he's lying and nothing happens, blame him too.) P.S. I've been sad to see Roger Ebert deteriorating, too. Hope he makes it. His writing is good and he's tried to respect the Internet generation. After what happened to Siskel...maybe this is a warning to us all: don't spend too much time in movie theaters.
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Wish him well. Again. I've read his reviews for almost ten years --ever since the old junior high days. There isn't a critic alive with whom I consistently agree as often as Roger Ebert. He doesn't take himself too seriously and sees movies for what they aspire to be, which is why he has no problem reccommending a movie like Con Air or Fast and the Furious. Hopefully he gets well, and hopefully he'll be correcting that pompous geek Roper for years and years to come.
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"he jumped outta the tree and came at me with the chainsaw". next week's look great too. and for ebert, it doesn't get any better than his review for 'Country Bears'. and i quote, "The formidable technical skills in 'The Country Bears' must not be allowed to distract from the film's terminal inanity. Here is a story about a young music fan who persuades his favorite band to reunite after 10 years for a concert--and the fan and the band members are all bears. Why they are bears, I do not know. Do they know they are bears? Not necessarily. Do any of the humans mention that they are bears? Only in passing."
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"I'll suck your cock..I'll suck all youse guys' cocks!!!!" Even the female bosses get desparate when on the business end of a piece. And please lord let Ebert get well...my family loves the guy, mostly due to his wife being black, they feel he's an honorary brotha...LOL. Get well, Mr. Ebert..and continue to challenge Mr. Smarmy Pants Roeper always.
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but where the hell is the ALIAS talkback.... It was a good episode... and the ending... kinda good
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It took me 10 minutes to figure that out- Jesus , she balloned up- I remember she had a small ass in Wiseguy, now she is in the running to replace Johnny Sacks wife.
Oh, and Frank Vincent putting the hurt on her? Why did it take 5 frickin years for him to show up on that show? When Chase turned him down as Junior, he should have written a part just for him -
Mar 22, 2004 10:19:33 AM CST
Uncle Junior thinking Larry David and Jeff Garlin was him And Bo
by antnee21
A priceless moment
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Loved the Curb reference. And did anyone else notice that Bobby was wearing 'Chet's Shirt' (I.e the dead guy's shirt Larry buys for Ted Danson) in the next scene when me meets up with Tony at the Bing? Excellent stuff.
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We've been spoiled by this show. The scripts, the sense of place, plots, performances, the whole package. But two things about this new season are annoying. One, are they going to have reference to another HBO program every week? First, "Band of Brothers", then "Curb". Two, is it me, or does the addition of well-known character actors to the ensemble dilute one of the cheif elements behind our original enjoyment and the appeal of the show - watching relatively unheralded but brilliantly cast actors making the parts their own (with the exception of the gruesomely bad van Zandt as Silvio) and growing as the seasons went by. Now, here come Frankie Vincent, Loggia and everyone's fave off-kilter cynic Everyman, Buscemi and...and...well, it doesn't quite work, does it? They bring their past with them, they can't avoid it; their previous roles, the collective personas we imagine for them because of how we've already perceived them - and God damn it they get in the way of the characters. "Oh there's Robert Loggia playing another psycho..." "Yeah, sort of the Lost Highway nutter with the volume turned way up..." "So, which episode do you think Buscemi will go postal in?" It's a shame and it's a distraction and I hope they nip this guest stars thing in the bud.
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I still like the show, but I agree with the previous poster that for a show that started realistically with a bunch of unknowns, "The Sopranos" is starting to bring in some mob movie all-stars: Joey Pants, Buscemi, Loggia, Frank Vincent, etc. I'm beginning to wonder: you think by Season Six we'll be seeing Joe Pesci (don't laugh, he's doing phone commercials right now, could use the work.) What about DeNiro? Or Pacino? Or Brando? I wouldn't put it past them at this rate.
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Mar 22, 2004 7:49:25 PM CST
is it just me.. or does anyone else CRINGE when janice is on the
by waynesworld
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I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that it was Feech's poker game that Tony and Jackie Aprile robbed back in the day before they were part of "the family". Feech gets out of prison and now he has to take orders from him? This won't end well.
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Mar 22, 2004 10:26:48 PM CST
you gotta dominic chianese's great larry david impression
by atomheartbrother
but i worry that chase is zeroing in on what could be a godfather-esque (and thus cliched) six season arc, which could be disappointing for such an artistically satisfying television show. still, the best show in the known universe at this time.
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Don't expect him to last out this season. I'm guessing it's down to:
-Feetch
-Junior
-Tony B
-Adrianna
Toby B. I think will soon reveal something about himself that will shock us. Make us not love, but despise him. He'll have some sort of querk that will make Joey Pants look like a saint. -
Feech is awesome. He's got that crazy streak that makes even someone like Paulie look sane. I didn't notice in the previous episodes but John Ventimaglia is in the credits (isn't that Furio?). And doesn't anyone find Tony B. strange? He was just released from prison, and yet when he went to Bada Bing he wasn't excited. Hmm....
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plays Tony's friend Artie Bucco, the chef.
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The series is leading up to Tony turning state's evidence in season six. He's alone, hates himself and is about to be betrayed by everyone he trusts. Why have loyalty to "Our Thing" if no one has loyalty to you? Christopher's betrayal will be the clincher. He'll end up painted into a corner by the feds and New York and the only way to save himself will be to rat. In the end we'll see that all of Tony's man of honor bullshit is - bullshit. He just another thug looking out for number one. The last shot of the series will be Tony, in his bath robe, walking down the driveway of his suburban Pheonix ranch-style exile to pick up the paper.
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But they might be contrived and go for the Godfather style ending, old and toothless and grey, sitting in a vineyard in Napoli... then slowly falling off his chair. Actually, probably not, more likely he'd be banging some maid and his heart would give way.
Problem is, I just don't know how they can end this without it being too painful or too cheesy. It's the problem with all endings. How to end?? -
an real hollywood ending to this show. what makes u think chase will do that? i think it will resolve story lines but show that life goes on. families go on. tony will go on. no death for tony. no fed involvement.
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You seem to forget..Season 6 won't be the end. They plan on making at LEAST 1 Sopranos film to follow the TV series. Who knows, maybe even a few films. So don't think the final episode will tie everything up neat.
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It's a couple of months old,but here's what Chase said about a movie: A sixth season, with 10 episodes, is planned for the critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning series.
Although there had been talk of a movie, Chase was uncertain about the possibility.
"I wouldn't say no to that completely but these last 10 episodes will be that movie, I believe."
Chase was queried about the fate of two characters: Furio, who worked for Tony and flirted with Carmela before wisely leaving the country, and a Russian gangster who battled it out with Tony's boys in the woods.
Would Furio be back? "He's gone." The Russian? "He's gone." -
Tony flipping would be the farthest thing from "tying up neat". You could do another whole season of Tony in the witness protection program, Tony testifying against his old buddies, the aftermath caused by him turning rat. How would both of his families deal with it? Who gets whacked by association? Do Carmella and the kids go with him? And just becasue he's in witness protection doesn't mean he'll go strait. Sammy "The Bull" Gravano became the biggest ecstacy dealer in Arizona. Could Tony live without the action? Now, I wouldn't actually want to see them strecth it out that long and I sure as hell don't want to see a movie. I want them to leave those questions open. Tony standing there in his robe would do that. No nice and tidy ending for this show. It deserves better.
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Chase has said that the 10 episode sixth season will be the only Sopranos "movie" made.
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I hit the key twice by accident. I meant to say is that I hope there is no movie. While it would be cool, I would prefer the show to end on TV, where it began.
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Wouldn't that be just a bit too much like the ending of Goodfellas? I think there is a chance that it ends in a way that shows that life just continues on (kind of like the way Cheers ended), but I think Tony will end up losing everything, killing most of the people close to him, and losing his family. By the way, Godfather III doesn't exist. Please don't mention it again.
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The Godfather pt III was a flawed but beautiful end to the trilogy, it had sadness, loss and the corruption of the mafia and church alike. It was abounding with metaphors and was quite painfully filmed - still, it should be remembered. Be thankful they didn't make 4 (they talk about it on the DVD commentaries).
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