The Many Saints of Newark

[RSCTom]

I am a HUGE Sopranos fan to the point where I still really think about the show all the time, so this upcoming prequel is one of the few things I'm excited for when it comes to movies (I don't know if that's depressing or not).

Anyone else excited for this? Have you seen the pictures of Michael Gandolfini as young Tony?

[K5]

wait...what?! this is my first hearing of this. huge sopranos fan.

hopefully it actually holds the quality of the original sopranos, which is a huge job to take on.

excited!

[RSCTom]

Cast list for you:

Alessandro Nivola as Dickie Moltisanti, the father of Christopher Moltisanti
Jon Bernthal
Vera Farmiga
Corey Stoll
Billy Magnussen
Michael Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
Ray Liotta
John Magaro
Leslie Odom Jr.
Michela De Rossi

[PJ]

Never heard of a prequel. But a fun fact is the people who owned Tony’s house used to be my Grandmother’s neighbors in West Orange until they moved into that house a few years before they were approached about using it for the show.

[123seanwwf]

i'm looking forward to this.

[rKoNomad316]

Can’t wait. Sopranos is 1 of my top favorite shows.

[rudos]

What what what? First I've heard about this too. Will it be a cinema release or streamed. I'm excited but skeptical (as I am with all prequels)

[Deep Figure Value]

May 8, 2019 10:29:35 GMT -5 RSCTom said:

Cast list for you:

Alessandro Nivola as Dickie Moltisanti, the father of Christopher Moltisanti
Jon Bernthal
Vera Farmiga
Corey Stoll
Billy Magnussen
Michael Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
Ray Liotta
John Magaro
Leslie Odom Jr.
Michela De Rossi

I never made it through The Sopranos, but LO Jr. might be enough to get me to revisit it so I can go see this.

[RSCTom]

Well?!? What did we all think?

Seems pretty polarizing so far!

[K5]

I wasn’t into a lot of it, but seeing James’ kid getting to be Tony and have some solid scenes was really cool

I felt it misrepresented characters - such as Junior - and that Dicky was vapid. his love storyline made little sense and the entire focus on the riots and the Harry guy just seemed completely random

some of the scenes added zilch - such as when Dicky’s goomar is discussing how she learned to cut hair

give me more young Tony + Carmella etc.

[rKoNomad316]

It was disappointing. This should’ve been about Johnny, Jr & teen to young adult Tony. Dickie Moltisanti wasn’t a interesting character. In fact they made his character with little insight. And this Harry character had way too much screen time. Again other character with no real insight & who cares type. They even mentioned Frank Lucas & showed him. Ok.

In the Soprano’s Tony, P***y & Silvio were around the same age yet Silvio & P***y are much older in this??? They made guys like Jr & Paulie act like non tough guys. The banter that was given to Jr from Dickie we’re to think Jr wouldn’t stand up to it at the moment? And Paulie in the Sopranos was a tough guy & in this they made him look goofy. (Yes he is somewhat goofy & germophobe) but Tony talked about how a heavy hitter Paulie was in the days. “If you mess up you’d have to answer to Uncle Paulie”.

This movie was all about nostalgia. They turned the Soprano characters into caricatures. No real plot, longwinded, & boring at times. Also cinematography was awful at times. This better not turn into something for this Harry character.

[RSCTom]

I get the disappointment but it didn't really phase me that it wasn't centered on young Tony and the marketing team behind the film really blew it in baiting and switching for a lot of people. I get the want for that for sure but was cool to see some history outside of it and really just focus on something new in Dickie and Harold, who I liked to see.

As far as the character depictions, I could see that being disappointing too but honestly, what they DID do criminally in this movie was pretty brutal in the film and with Paulie being more laid back with what we saw, I still wasn't really bothered. Knowing the level of lying going on amongst wise guys that this movie and the series for that matter regularly pointed out I wouldn't be shocked if that's just more hot air from Tony himself. Also I know a lot of folks felt like some of these were more in line with SNL or something but for me they were pretty spot on, especially Livia and Junior. It's important to remember these were different people in a different time compared to what we know from the show, I think.

Tony's depictions were great for me, though. Handing out ice cream with a stupid grin after committing a crime and being untouchable, throwing his speakers out the window - all things I could hear adult Tony in my head justifying as ok while he would call AJ a spoiled brat and give him loads of grief for doing the same. For sure one of the coolest things about it.

The mundaneness and normalcy and Johnny's lack of presence, it all kind of made that connection to the show even deeper in that maybe this is just some 'pygmy' thing.

That said I can forgive some of the continuity issues and plot/timeline problems and even some of the odd cinematography choices for the good stuff that came from it. Hated the last 2 minutes, though.

Looks like we could maybe expect more which I am all for:

www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/1198500-the-sopranos-prequel-series-hbo-max

[K5]

I really hope they do the show justice if they go forward with the prequel show. I respect other perspectives on it but frankly, that movie never had the makings of a varsity athlete

[CM Tusk]

I still need to give this a shot. Love the show despite hating literally every single character.

[JokerFC]

Disappointing... especially considering the cast assembled here.

For years I wanted a prequel to the Sopranos focusing on the adventures of Johnny, Junior, Paulie etc...& This didn't satisfy that.

I will watch again before I pass final judgement though?

[RSCTom]

Is there any good reason against this just being a snapshot / Dickie's story which had such a big influence on so much discussion and the rest of the group? I understand the want and need for different stories and more of it, but what's wrong with one being a film about this one character to both hit some familiar beats and give us something new? Whether it's a good movie or bad movie. I feel like a lot of the backlash has come from a place of hoping for something else to be shown and that kind of kills the enjoyment of what was, right?

Looks like actually we could be getting more anyways and if it's well made and put together a little more carefully this time I'm up for it:

deadline.com/2021/10/the-sopranos-david-chase-hbo-max-prequel-series-1234859438/

[rKoNomad316]

Oct 28, 2021 21:32:55 GMT -5 RSCTom said:

Is there any good reason against this just being a snapshot / Dickie's story which had such a big influence on so much discussion and the rest of the group? I understand the want and need for different stories and more of it, but what's wrong with one being a film about this one character to both hit some familiar beats and give us something new? Whether it's a good movie or bad movie. I feel like a lot of the backlash has come from a place of hoping for something else to be shown and that kind of kills the enjoyment of what was, right?

Looks like actually we could be getting more anyways and if it's well made and put together a little more carefully this time I'm up for it:

deadline.com/2021/10/the-sopranos-david-chase-hbo-max-prequel-series-1234859438/

I’ll take a story about Dickie with the right development. Tony had made note of him in the Sopranos, Chris as well however what was given to us about Dickie was done poorly. No real background on Dickie, no starting point. Show Dickie as kid, teen, adult to current time. Give the back ground on him. They gave a very low energy into who Dickie was. They allowed the movie to focus more on Harold, while the Soprano guys we loved where just extras in the background.

Backlash comes from poor delivery of what this was going to be about mainly. At the time, Was this supposed to be about young Tony or someone else? And if it was going to include Tony how much of this story would it include during the time frame? Dickie’s character was overshadowed by Harold & just label dropping Soprano character names & reference remarks.

[K5]

so why ray liotta? just ray for the sake of him? then they can’t just kill him off, they have to have him have this bizarre jailed twin brother who lended absolutely nothing to the story, and could’ve been totally removed without consequence to the plot whatsoever

waaay too much of Harold.

a blunt truth, there’s the concept of the male gaze - well sopranos was done from the Italian mob gaze. for Dickie to get disrespected like he did and not get his revenge, and then just to be blown away…bad

also i didn’t like John Bernthal as Tony’s dad at all, and Jr’s casting left a lot to be desired

why so much on the riots? they played in zilch to anything and felt like a needless social statement that was needed not.

[RSCTom]

Fair points. I am definitely on the outside with moderate enjoyment of this it seems but hoping the next release is something everyone's happy with!

[rKoNomad316]

In the works maybe a Harold movie/mini series? No thank you.

I will watch a prequel series & most all Soprano fans will, but this should’ve been done a long time ago. No matter how little or much David Chase is involved he can not out do the Sopranos. I feel he tried way to hard on the Saints & look at what happened. And with the context of how it’s interpreted, it will most likely have so many concepts changed & yet again more things that don’t add up.
I think prequels work best when done a few years after the main series ends. Keeps the viewers fresh & interested.