The Many Saints of Newark

[Deej 76839]

I never thought Pussy was that much older than Tony. 

[billfromlaketravis 11519]

Not great. I have some thoughts, but I gotta go to dinner first. 
 

It’s a good hang, but very flawed. 

Edited October 1, 2021 by billfromlaketravis

[Fletch 5800]

2 hours ago, Deej said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Fucking Junior. I have to rewatch the series with that in mind, now.

 

Spoiler

Not for me. He tried to wack T in season 1. Just who junior is. Old school guy 

Oh and the look on little Gandolfinis face at Dickies funeral with the theme song pumping up. Got fucking chills

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by Fletch

[Deej 76839]

2 minutes ago, Fletch said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Not for me. He tried to wack T in season 1. Just who junior is. Old school guy 

 

Spoiler

I get it, but still, Junior could fuck up a wet dream. Just shocked he pulled it off.

 

[Lou Loomis 748]

Really enjoyed it. Wow.

Not perfect by any means and it meandered at times, but it was a really fun 2 hours back in the Sopranos universe… 

I don’t get all the moronic 2-star ratings going “where was the psychology??? Should have introduced more characters! More glib pop culture references!”

There was a lot to unpack and serve in 2 hours. It could have been a KILLER 6 or 10 episode series. Maybe we’ll get more….

[Fletch 5800]

15 minutes ago, Deej said:

  Hide contents

I get it, but still, Junior could fuck up a wet dream. Just shocked he pulled it off.

 

Spoiler

Well, Tony’s mother always talked about his dad having a slow brother. He always assumed she meant junior 

 

[Jerry Callo 8704]

Got tickets for a showing tonight.  Could have watched it on HBO Max, but I'm looking forward to going to an actual movie theater for the first time since pre-COVID.  My wife and I both watched the series during its original run.  I've recently re-watched seasons 1 and 2.  My daughter knows nothing about the Sopranos. 
Wondering how much my wife will remember and my daughter's take on it as a stand-alone movie (no pics of either).  

As a prequel it was alright, not great. As a standalone movie, it doesn't work - there isn't a compelling storyline. I kept waiting for it to get better, but I didn't. Disappointing.

[Macklemore 2872]

15 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

9 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

Got tickets for a showing tonight.  Could have watched it on HBO Max, but I'm looking forward to going to an actual movie theater for the first time since pre-COVID.  My wife and I both watched the series during its original run.  I've recently re-watched seasons 1 and 2.  My daughter knows nothing about the Sopranos. 
Wondering how much my wife will remember and my daughter's take on it as a stand-alone movie (no pics of either).  

As a prequel it was alright, not great. As a standalone movie, it doesn't work - there isn't a compelling storyline. I kept waiting for it to get better, but I didn't. Disappointing.

Like everyone, was really looking forward to this. Agree with your take. I kept hoping that it would get better and it didn’t. 

[Doc Sam Beckett 5793]

It's awesome if you're interested in following multiple narratives and the rise of a completely uninteresting and mediocre character. 

[Spankytoes 1742]

It wasn’t a steaming pile of shit, but definitely a turd. Where was the plot?

[veritas aequitas 443]

Seemed like all filler and not much sizzle. Certainly not as good as any episode of the Sopranos. It did confirm Junior didn't just get the way he was in old age.

[billfromlaketravis 11519]

A lot of continuity errors. 

- Silvio and Pussy are 12-15 years older than Tony? Both grew up with Tony per The Sopranos. 
- Tony aged a decade in 4 years while Johnny was “away at college”. 
- Tony is well into high school in the early 70s? Uh, wtf? Tony was born in 1959 per The Sopranos. He should be 12-14 when Johnny Boy comes home. 
 

Miscasting: 

- Paulie. Fing terrible. Who did Billy Magnussen blow to get this role? If you have to wear a prosthetic nose, something tells me you shouldn’t be cast as a Italian. He looked ridiculous. He acted like a Swedish guy doing an Italian guy impression. 
- Dickie was portrayed by a shit actor. Absolutely nothing charming on screen about The Legend. 
- Michael Gandolfini. I was rooting for the kid, but he sucked in The Deuce and he still sucks in Newark. The whiny voice takes me out of it every time. No gravitas. Who would follow some awkward, nervous kid? 
- Hollywood Dick. Supposed to be handsome and charm on wheels and he’s just a POS wire beater.

Good casting : 

- Livia. Farmiga. Despite the foot they glued to her face, she nailed it. Her voice and mannerisms were the genuine article. 
- Liotta as Hollywood Dick’s twin (?) brother. Awesome in the mob cautionary tale role. He was so good I wish they cast another actor as Hollywood Dick. 

- Junior. Stoll is good in everything and it continues in this movie. He captures Junior’s petty bitchiness perfectly. One scene is too on the nose, but otherwise we’ll done.

- Johnny Boy. Bernthal is good, but not in enough scenes. 

Again it’s a good hang, but they jump around too much. I wanted to spend some time in Dickie’s club breaking balls. A round of cards at Satriales. It’s a good idea for a series. Doesn’t work well as a movie. Everything we liked about The Sopranos they veer away from. If this a prequel to a series, decent 2 hour premiere. If it’s a stand alone movie, holy shit, this a  problem. 
 

The funhouse scene was good, and the best callback to the show. 

The violence against family members and women didn’t really work for me. I know Chase’s life goal is to take the glamour out of the mob, but come on man. 



 

Edited October 2, 2021 by billfromlaketravis

[Fletch 5800]

5 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

A lot of continuity errors. 

- Silvio and Pussy are 12-15 years older than Tony? Both grew up with Tony per The Sopranos. 
- Tony aged a decade in 4 years while Johnny was “away at college”. 
- Tony is well into high school in the early 70s? Uh, wtf? Tony was born in 1959 per The Sopranos. He should be 12-14 when Johnny Boy comes home. 
 

Miscasting: 

- Paulie. Fing terrible. Who did Billy Magnussen blow to get this role? If you have to wear a prosthetic nose, something tells me you shouldn’t be cast as a Italian. He looked ridiculous. He acted like a Swedish guy doing an Italian guy impression. 
- Dickie was portrayed by a shit actor. Absolutely nothing charming on screen about The Legend. 
- Michael Gandolfini. I was rooting for the kid, but he sucked in The Deuce and he still sucks in Newark. The whiny voice takes me out of it every time. No gravitas. Who would follow some awkward, nervous kid? 
- Hollywood Dick. Supposed to be handsome and charm on wheels and he’s just a POS wire beater.

Good casting : 

- Livia. Farmiga. Despite the foot they glued to her face, she nailed it. Her voice and mannerisms were the genuine article. 
- Liotta as Hollywood Dick’s twin (?) brother. Awesome in the mob cautionary tale role. He was so good I wish they cast another actor as Hollywood Dick. 

- Junior. Stoll is good in everything and it continues in this movie. He captures Junior’s petty bitchiness perfectly. One scene is too on the nose, but otherwise we’ll done.

- Johnny Boy. Bernthal is good, but not in enough scenes. 

Again it’s a good hang, but they jump around too much. I wanted to spend some time in Dickie’s club breaking balls. A round of cards at Satriales. It’s a good idea for a series. Doesn’t work well as a movie. Everything we liked about The Sopranos they veer away from. 
 

The funhouse scene was good, and the best callback to the show. 

The violence against family members and women didn’t really work for me. I know Chase’s life goal is to take the glamour out of the mob, but come on man. 



 

Spoiler

I in general agree. This was similar to the breaking bad movie in a weird way. Some really good fan service with some good call backs but the story is definitely lacking. But I still fucking loved it. Seeing all the old stops in the neighborhood, younger versions of the characters, that shit was fun and great. Obviously the ending sequence with Junior getting the call to young T with the theme pumping up at the funeral was pretty fucking awesome.

But my favorite scene was when Livia makes Tony the burger. Their conversation, mannerisms and reactions are exactly what you’d expect from the younger versions of them that continues for the rest of Livias life. Was just great seeing them go at it again

 

[Cousin Strawberry 1261]

It was just bad.

[Macklemore 2872]

The guy who played Silvio annoyed me. The mannerisms were way too forced and it seemed like a caricature. Agree with the criticisms about the time line in how old these guys were supposed to be. Also, seemed like Chase watched Godfather of Harlem (great show in its own right) and American Gangster and tried to force in a Bumpy Johnson/Frank Lucas story line which didn’t seem to fit.

Edited October 2, 2021 by Macklemore

[Starfleet Command 441]

Meh. I hope they do a limited series in the future instead of another movie if they plan on doing another project. Just doesn’t come close to having the same feel of the show and the focus of the movie was not all that interesting or insightful. Some decent performances but overall tepid and forgettable. 

Edited October 2, 2021 by Starfleet Command

[Buzzrock 14926]

Some of the characters who played their respective younger parts were phenomenal.  

I’m not sure where to begin with which one was better but they were all playing distant second to Sil lol.  

Sil was a bit of a caricature (which he always was), but I thought Farmiga was great as Tony’s mother.

[HornOnTheBayou 8936]

8 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

A lot of continuity errors. 

- Silvio and Pussy are 12-15 years older than Tony? Both grew up with Tony per The Sopranos. 
- Tony aged a decade in 4 years while Johnny was “away at college”. 
- Tony is well into high school in the early 70s? Uh, wtf? Tony was born in 1959 per The Sopranos. He should be 12-14 when Johnny Boy comes home. 
 

Miscasting: 

- Paulie. Fing terrible. Who did Billy Magnussen blow to get this role? If you have to wear a prosthetic nose, something tells me you shouldn’t be cast as a Italian. He looked ridiculous. He acted like a Swedish guy doing an Italian guy impression. 
- Dickie was portrayed by a shit actor. Absolutely nothing charming on screen about The Legend. 
- Michael Gandolfini. I was rooting for the kid, but he sucked in The Deuce and he still sucks in Newark. The whiny voice takes me out of it every time. No gravitas. Who would follow some awkward, nervous kid? 
- Hollywood Dick. Supposed to be handsome and charm on wheels and he’s just a POS wire beater.

Good casting : 

- Livia. Farmiga. Despite the foot they glued to her face, she nailed it. Her voice and mannerisms were the genuine article. 
- Liotta as Hollywood Dick’s twin (?) brother. Awesome in the mob cautionary tale role. He was so good I wish they cast another actor as Hollywood Dick. 

- Junior. Stoll is good in everything and it continues in this movie. He captures Junior’s petty bitchiness perfectly. One scene is too on the nose, but otherwise we’ll done.

- Johnny Boy. Bernthal is good, but not in enough scenes. 

Again it’s a good hang, but they jump around too much. I wanted to spend some time in Dickie’s club breaking balls. A round of cards at Satriales. It’s a good idea for a series. Doesn’t work well as a movie. Everything we liked about The Sopranos they veer away from. If this a prequel to a series, decent 2 hour premiere. If it’s a stand alone movie, holy shit, this a  problem. 
 

The funhouse scene was good, and the best callback to the show. 

The violence against family members and women didn’t really work for me. I know Chase’s life goal is to take the glamour out of the mob, but come on man. 



 

You nailed my thoughts on casting.

The pacing of the movie was just completely off. I was enjoying it while watching and I paused it to go get a drink. I noticed that 1&1/2 hours had passed and thought "Wow, time flies, but I'm really enjoying how they're setting up the story". Then I noticed that there were only 30 minutes left and thought "How the hell are they going to wrap all of this up?" The answer is not well.

Spoiler

Junior having Moltisanti whacked was completely out of left field and not in a good way. And I wanted to see more between Moltisanti and Aaron Burr.

But Michela De Rossi made up for a lot of faults.

[Yev Kassem 1031]

I didn’t have a problem with the story revolving around Dickie, but Johnny Boy and Junior should have been much more involved. The whole storyline with Leslie Odom didn’t make any sense and was unnecessary.  Plus, where was all the drug use that Christopher mentioned about Dickie?  Is this supposed to mean that Dickie’s “habit” was more of a manifestation in Christopher’s mind?

With so much great source material to draw from from the original series, my only hope is that this movie is the vehicle that delivers all those great stories via a prequel series. 

[Sawbonz 27580]

Fucking Junior

[Herpa Derpa 6126]

Decent flick for fans of the show. A complete waste of time for anyone else. Agree with the lack of a plot, and the Harold subplot turns out to be absolutely meaningless. The younger versions of characters were fun if you knew who they were, otherwise it was a collection of weirdos with no characterization/background to explain who or why they existed. Disappointed.

But...

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/david-chase-sopranos-hbo-overall-deal-1235023889/

Chase has inked a five-year, first-look deal with the company to develop content for HBO, HBO Max and Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

[Pam Cummings 9646]

9 minutes ago, Herpa Derpa said:

Decent flick for fans of the show. A complete waste of time for anyone else. Agree with the lack of a plot, and the Harold subplot turns out to be absolutely meaningless. The younger versions of characters were fun if you knew who they were, otherwise it was a collection of weirdos with no characterization/background to explain who or why they existed. Disappointed.

But...

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/david-chase-sopranos-hbo-overall-deal-1235023889/

Chase has inked a five-year, first-look deal with the company to develop content for HBO, HBO Max and Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

This kind of doesn't excite me based on how not good the movie was.

Edited October 2, 2021 by Pam Cummings

[HornOnTheBayou 8936]

2 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

This kind of doesn't excite me based on how not good the movie was.

I would be excited about another series. The acting was great and I was entertained for two hours. The set-up for the story was really cool. If they had several hours over a season to flush it out, it could have been really great. Just didn't work as a two-hour movie.

[Starfleet Command 441]

I think a film acting as a character study of Dickie and which explores the relationship between Dickie and Tony could have been a good movie, but this movie was a failure on those terms. Dickie’s character just wasn’t very well written and Nivola’s bland performance didn’t add anything.  The fact that Liv is probably the most interesting character in the film illustrates how bad and poorly written the main characters are. 

Hopefully with whatever future Sopranos content they create they bring in some different writers bc Chase/Konner don’t have it. 
 

 

 

[Starfleet Command 441]

1 hour ago, Yev Kassem said:

I didn’t have a problem with the story revolving around Dickie, but Johnny Boy and Junior should have been much more involved. The whole storyline with Leslie Odom didn’t make any sense and was unnecessary.  Plus, where was all the drug use that Christopher mentioned about Dickie?  Is this supposed to mean that Dickie’s “habit” was more of a manifestation in Christopher’s mind?

With so much great source material to draw from from the original series, my only hope is that this movie is the vehicle that delivers all those great stories via a prequel series. 

Dickie’s lack of apparent drug use in the movie is a good catch, but honestly, in spite of how much screen time he was given, what did we really learn about Dickie?  That he’s depressed and kinda feels bad about the awful shit he does? lol. That Tony/Janice look up to him for reasons that aren’t really developed at all in the film?  
 

There just wasn’t much development of Dickie’s character at all in spite of the movie revolving around him. 

[MAUFRAIS 6629]

I’m not as soprano’s fluent as a lot of y’all. Only watched the show once as it aired.

I remember being affected by a scene where tony was denigrating someone for eating pussy, and I think he even said that in front of his wife. Was that Junior? Was that then what that scene was about where he couldn’t fuck that chick and she was pissed? That he eventually resorted to going down on women and that is looked down upon?

Also, are Italian women stereotypically insatiable or something?

[Jerry Callo 8704]

1 minute ago, MAUFRAIS said:

Was that Junior?

Yes

[RPM 26324]

9 hours ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

It was just bad.

Loved it. Probably going to have to watch it a couple times to pick up all the easter eggs I missed. Vera Farmiga absolutely nailed it and Livia owes her life to her hairdresser. Watched the Gandolfini kid on Seth Meyers the other night and learned he's never taken an acting class. Instead he's taking courses that help with character study. It was an interesting interview. I thought he was fine playing his father.

[PilotsError 2305]

Not sure what the point of the movie was.  It was clear Chase was dragged into this.  Two out of five stars. 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

6 hours ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

Then I noticed that there were only 30 minutes left and thought "How the hell are they going to wrap all of this up?" The answer is not well.

Timeline got fucked up.  

But my estimation of David Chase, as a writer, just fucking plummeted.

And don’t give me the age excuse   I know seniors who are inspired.

Edited October 2, 2021 by Johnny Sack

[MrBig 5417]

2 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

Timeline got fucked up.  

But my estimation of David Chase, as a writer, just fucking plummeted.

And don’t give me the age excuse   I know seniors who are inspired.

I didn’t like “The Test Dream” and I felt like this was a big movie version of this in terms of moving the story along.

[Guest Lobo]

3 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

Timeline got fucked up.  

But my estimation of David Chase, as a writer, just fucking plummeted.

And don’t give me the age excuse   I know seniors who are inspired.

Sometimes I think Chase goes about in pity of himself. 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

5 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Sometimes I think Chase goes about in pity of himself. 

He’s like a woman with a Virginia Ham under her arm, complaining that she has no bread.  

[Johnny Sack 8397]

44 minutes ago, MrBig said:

I didn’t like “The Test Dream” and I felt like this was a big movie version of this in terms of moving the story along.

Kill me now. Go on now, go into the ham, and take the carving knife and stab me, here, here, now, please! It would hurt me less than what you just said.

I give my life to you stunads on a silver platter.  

[Lou Loomis 748]

This, also, was another case of the marketing people revealing WAY TOO MUCH in the trailers.

It was a bit paint-by-numbers and not a satisfying plot flow for a standalone movie. Limited run series would have probably been way better. We didn’t really see why the Great Dickie Moltisanti was so great. And that was what they were selling in the hype leading to the release. Pretty fun two hours but not a classic mob film or up to the level of a great Sopranos episode. 

[Sawbonz 27580]

It was good as a two hour pilot for a new series. As a standalone movie it was meh. Anyone unfamiliar with the series probably was very unimpressed

 

Tonys gangster career beginning and ending at Holston’s was kind of cool

[MrBig 5417]

I agree with whoever said Michael Gandolfini has a whiny voice. He looks and acts like Tony but his lisp and voice take me out of it. He needs to bring it down an octave or two before I forget it’s James’ son and believe it’s a young Tony.

[Cousin Strawberry 1261]

9 hours ago, Starfleet Command said:

Dickie’s lack of apparent drug use in the movie is a good catch, but honestly, in spite of how much screen time he was given, what did we really learn about Dickie?  That he’s depressed and kinda feels bad about the awful shit he does? lol. That Tony/Janice look up to him for reasons that aren’t really developed at all in the film?  
 

There just wasn’t much development of Dickie’s character at all in spite of the movie revolving around him. 

Yeah, Christafaw made his dad out to be a serious , alcoholic and heroin addict but none of that was shown in TMSON.  

[Beantown Express 2.0 6559]

1 hour ago, Sawbonz said:

It was good as a two hour pilot for a new series. As a standalone movie it was meh. Anyone unfamiliar with the series probably was very unimpressed

 

Tonys gangster career beginning and ending at Holston’s was kind of cool

This exactly.  It really played like a two hour series premier, and if it was we could look forward to a season of hour long episodes going deeper into the prequel stories of a young Tony and his rise to the top.  Maybe some flashbacks going deeper into the relationships between all of the characters. There seems to be a lot of story to be told between Harold and the Italian mob and Tony.  Also seems like there should have been more build up to why Junior was so mad at Dickie other than he laughed at him one time when he fell.

[billfromlaketravis 11519]

14 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

This exactly.  It really played like a two hour series premier, and if it was we could look forward to a season of hour long episodes going deeper into the prequel stories of a young Tony and his rise to the top.  Maybe some flashbacks going deeper into the relationships between all of the characters. There seems to be a lot of story to be told between Harold and the Italian mob and Tony.  Also seems like there should have been more build up to why Junior was so mad at Dickie other than he laughed at him one time when he fell.

Dickie told Junior his girlfriend was banging other guys. That and the laugh was probably enough for perpetually butthurt Jr. 

[Cousin Strawberry 1261]

10 hours ago, RPM said:

Loved it. Probably going to have to watch it a couple times to pick up all the easter eggs I missed. Vera Farmiga absolutely nailed it and Livia owes her life to her hairdresser. Watched the Gandolfini kid on Seth Meyers the other night and learned he's never taken an acting class. Instead he's taking courses that help with character study. It was an interesting interview. I thought he was fine playing his father.

You loved it?  You probably enjoy shit sandwiches.  Easter eggs are for jerk-offs.  We watched Dickie murder his dad and his stepmom. We got no insight into why he and Tony were close. It was a rudderless piece of shit.

[tx 3 putt 77111]

I wasn’t expecting The Godfather, it was bad. Needed more plot or a Set up for s spin off 

[Cousin Strawberry 1261]

20 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

I wasn’t expecting The Godfather, it was bad. Needed more plot or a Set up for s spin off 

I was expecting two mediocre Sopranos episodes. Weird that Christafaw was the narrator.

[Sawbonz 27580]

53 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Dickie told Junior his girlfriend was banging other guys. That and the laugh was probably enough for perpetually butthurt Jr. 

That and Johnny berating him for not bettering the family prospects while he was away and pointing out how successful Dickie was and Olivia having Dickie talk to Tony instead of him, etc. 

[Cousin Strawberry 1261]

Its a great movie if you want to show that Mob guys get killed for no reason.  Its a terrible film if it was supposed to explain anything else.

[Dr. Teeth 5845]

Every time one of the main guys used an Italian curse word, it seemed like they had never spoken Italian before. Seemed odd. 

[Spankytoes 1742]

The race riots could have been a very interesting plot line. The timeline is a few years before the Civil Rights act so they could have shown the struggle to do business in the underworld as black people started to fight back against the system. The whole  thing felt like a SNL skit where cast members are doing impressions of other people. No conflict with Tony playing ball trying to win Jr’s approval. Janice might as well have been at summer camp. No Tony on the bus getting picked on with the guy that went into gambling debt and gave Tony his son’s car. No Feech. No Hesh. Carmella only show up briefly despite being Tony’s HS sweetheart. We wasted time on the rise and fall of hot speakers and Dickie’s incarcerated uncle. That was damn near half the movie.

This was a complete money grab. 

[Guest Lobo]

I still haz confuse.  Dickie was Carmella's cousin?  On her dad's side or mom's side?  

[RPM 26324]

1 hour ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

Weird that Christafaw was the narrator.

Was going to be tough to get Tony.

[Buzzrock 14926]

Who pulled the trigger and made the phone call to Uncle June?