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FLips's Sopranos watching thread


FLips

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We've got the last episode to watch and then we're done. A few thoughts:

Frank Vincent as Phil is one of the great performances in TV and cinema. Utterly hateable, bitter and absolutely hilarious. I was dying at the "I loved him like a brother-in-law" scene and his disgust at the bodybuilding show on TV distracting him while he's trying to comfort his cousin. He's dark magic every time he's on screen. I said similar about being amazed that Janice wasn't in the cast from the start given the shadow she casts on the show, but Phil not turning up until mid series 5 was stunning to me. 

I really want to see Cleaver. 

In my memory the first half of series 6 was pretty bad, but it picked up for the second half but was still not quite up to the standard. This time around, the first half wasn't nearly as bad as I'd remembered, and the second half is really fantastic. 

Overall this time around I found S5 to be the weakest. I love Steve Buscemi to death, but I think he was miscast as that animal Blundetto, and I had a hard time getting invested.

First time I watched this in my teens and early twenties I had no idea what Frankie Valli looked like, so didn't notice the paradox of him being in it, and mentioned in world by Silvio. Poor Rusty.  

Edited by gmoney
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15 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Pretty sure I've mentioned this before but this is my all time favourite Phil moment. 

Tiny spoiler if you haven't seen the penultimate episode of the whole thing: 

  Reveal hidden contents

The time Phil turned into a house.

 

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Shah of Iran cocksucker.

It really gets across the arbitrary nature of Phil, and just what an impossible cunt he is to deal with. There was an agreement to make amends and he just decides fuck it, nah.  

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Phil Leotardo's arrival is a real "business is about to pick up" moment.  I think the actor, and his part in Goodfellas, must have been one of the inspirations for the series because he fits like a glove, but also signals that the nascent Soprano family is about to run into old school mafia problems.

David Chase's sentimentality lead to a lot of the "bad guys" getting given a sympathetic side, but Leotardo is pure vicious evil.

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2 hours ago, gmoney said:

First time I watched this in my teens and early twenties I had no idea what Frankie Valli looked like, so didn't notice the paradox of him being in it, and mentioned in world by Silvio. Poor Rusty.  

Officially called "the Celebrity Paradox" - one of my favourite trivia questions. There are probably loads listed on Wiki, but the only ones that immediately come to mind are Bruce Willis, Elle MacPherson, and Brooke Shields in Friends, and Affleck/Damon in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back (although I'm not sure if there's a corollary name for it when the actor plays both themself and the character in the same film like Affleck did).

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