06-11-2007, 05:01 AM
The Wire is great, I can't wait for the new season to begin.
I'm watching the ending again now on HBO West. I wouldn't be surprised if they used the jukebox as a theme for alternate endings in the DVD.
"Where Will You Run To?" - Tony gets whacked in the diner, the family has to go on without him.
etc....
another good take on the hbo soprano's board....
> The wonderful thing about The Sopranos is that it
> never followed the formulaic route of American TV. It
> always dealt with its characters and their situations
> and the milieus in which they moved with realism.
> There were some things people guessed, and there were
> some things they did not guess. Some issues were
> resolved, whereas others were not. Rather like life
> that way.
>
> American audiences are often coddled by films and
> television. There is this belief that every question
> bears a satisfactory answer, and for every conflict
> there is provided a solution. It's a spurious bill of
> goods we Americans have been spoonfed for centuries.
>
> Mr. Chase chose to usurp those notions with his show,
> choosing instead to present three-dimensional
> characters in his story rather than tired
> stereotypes, and also to usurp the idea that
> everything has a solution.
>
> With most shows and finales, all storylines and
> conflicts are tied up with a nice neat little bow. In
> life, this rarely happens. And many people have
> become so used to being spoiled in this way - in
> believing the lie in lieu of accepting certain
> inevitable truths - that they feel neglected or
> cheated when a formulaic element of satisfaction is
> denied them.
>
> The episode, aptly enough, was called: Made in
> America. Throughout the episode there were certain
> allusions made to the American Dream and how it is
> just that: a dream. Not reality. An unctuous bill of
> goods used to distract from the truth of what it
> means to live on this planet.
>
> Were this a show that wanted to lie, then every
> question would have been answered, denying the
> audience the chance of thought and discernment.
>
> I am satisfied that Mr. Chase and Co. did not cater
> to cliche and instead had enough respect for the
> characters and by extension the audience to not offer
> some bogus episode laden with regurgitative tripe.
> Life is not always what we want it to be. That's a
> certain truth.
>
> That said, the show began in quite an illuminative
> light: A close shot of Tony's head on a pillow
> accompanied by funereal organ music. Rather like a
> wake. Also, throughout the episode, there were many
> close and medium close shots, which only enhanced a
> feeling of tension and claustrophobia. I've never
> watched a show during which I felt persistently
> caught on tenterhooks.
>
> The final scene was well nigh unbearable and scored
> perfectly with Journey's Don't Stop Believin. Quite
> right and proper. It was a stunning ending that
> encapsulated much of what the final episode was
> about. It dealt with the conflicts in a manner that
> was not so much about a fictive fabric as it was a
> metaphor for what life is often like and what the
> term Made in America really means.
>
> Those who buy into the fallacy of such things were no
> doubt furious. Those who do not perhaps understand
> that life does not always accrue the answers and
> realizations we've been coddled into thinking we not
> only want, but deserve.
>
> I am saddened by the fact that The Sopranos has
> ended, but I admire the way in which the creators
> ended it. It is a good thing to question those things
> in which one truly believes, for therein lies a
> knowledge to be gleaned.
>
> The last episode was not, I think, merely an hour in
> which conflicts were addressed, but one from which
> the audience may examine their own conflicted
> feelings.
>
>
>
>
> What is of interest now is whether or not Mr. Chase
> and Co. will make a feature film.
I'm watching the ending again now on HBO West. I wouldn't be surprised if they used the jukebox as a theme for alternate endings in the DVD.
"Where Will You Run To?" - Tony gets whacked in the diner, the family has to go on without him.
etc....
another good take on the hbo soprano's board....
> The wonderful thing about The Sopranos is that it
> never followed the formulaic route of American TV. It
> always dealt with its characters and their situations
> and the milieus in which they moved with realism.
> There were some things people guessed, and there were
> some things they did not guess. Some issues were
> resolved, whereas others were not. Rather like life
> that way.
>
> American audiences are often coddled by films and
> television. There is this belief that every question
> bears a satisfactory answer, and for every conflict
> there is provided a solution. It's a spurious bill of
> goods we Americans have been spoonfed for centuries.
>
> Mr. Chase chose to usurp those notions with his show,
> choosing instead to present three-dimensional
> characters in his story rather than tired
> stereotypes, and also to usurp the idea that
> everything has a solution.
>
> With most shows and finales, all storylines and
> conflicts are tied up with a nice neat little bow. In
> life, this rarely happens. And many people have
> become so used to being spoiled in this way - in
> believing the lie in lieu of accepting certain
> inevitable truths - that they feel neglected or
> cheated when a formulaic element of satisfaction is
> denied them.
>
> The episode, aptly enough, was called: Made in
> America. Throughout the episode there were certain
> allusions made to the American Dream and how it is
> just that: a dream. Not reality. An unctuous bill of
> goods used to distract from the truth of what it
> means to live on this planet.
>
> Were this a show that wanted to lie, then every
> question would have been answered, denying the
> audience the chance of thought and discernment.
>
> I am satisfied that Mr. Chase and Co. did not cater
> to cliche and instead had enough respect for the
> characters and by extension the audience to not offer
> some bogus episode laden with regurgitative tripe.
> Life is not always what we want it to be. That's a
> certain truth.
>
> That said, the show began in quite an illuminative
> light: A close shot of Tony's head on a pillow
> accompanied by funereal organ music. Rather like a
> wake. Also, throughout the episode, there were many
> close and medium close shots, which only enhanced a
> feeling of tension and claustrophobia. I've never
> watched a show during which I felt persistently
> caught on tenterhooks.
>
> The final scene was well nigh unbearable and scored
> perfectly with Journey's Don't Stop Believin. Quite
> right and proper. It was a stunning ending that
> encapsulated much of what the final episode was
> about. It dealt with the conflicts in a manner that
> was not so much about a fictive fabric as it was a
> metaphor for what life is often like and what the
> term Made in America really means.
>
> Those who buy into the fallacy of such things were no
> doubt furious. Those who do not perhaps understand
> that life does not always accrue the answers and
> realizations we've been coddled into thinking we not
> only want, but deserve.
>
> I am saddened by the fact that The Sopranos has
> ended, but I admire the way in which the creators
> ended it. It is a good thing to question those things
> in which one truly believes, for therein lies a
> knowledge to be gleaned.
>
> The last episode was not, I think, merely an hour in
> which conflicts were addressed, but one from which
> the audience may examine their own conflicted
> feelings.
>
>
>
>
> What is of interest now is whether or not Mr. Chase
> and Co. will make a feature film.
![[Image: 723475742_8cb2b0be6c.jpg]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1019/723475742_8cb2b0be6c.jpg)