Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos documentary by Alex Gibney

Uncle Jun’s looking great at 93.

Edie Falco looks good de-butched.

I wonder when it will come to HBO. I’m watching The Sopranos right now, and watching The Talking Sopranos podcast as well.

[quote] Annabella Sciorra (Gloria Trillo, one of Tony’s mistresses): The actress mentioned how she learned after the fact that Chase wanted her for Dr. Melfi. Her agent at the time told the TV creator that the Jungle Fever actress wasn’t interested in TV. Turns out Sciorra was never given the note from Chase.

Huh? On Talking Sopranos, I recall her saying that she turned down (knew about the offer) the role of Melfi because she felt it was too old for her or something. I'm starting to think she's nutty.

[quote] Robert Iler, aka Tony Soprano’s son A.J., said it best Thursday night at Tribeca Festival’s 25th anniversary The Sopranos get-together: “Now my friends are going to shitty high school reunions and I’m going to cool stuff like this.”

He sounds like a douchebag and was one of the worst actors on the show.

R5 Yeah as he got older it kinda became apparent he wasn’t that talented of an actor. I don’t think I’ve seen him in anything else.

Such a fascinating series, I was completely hooked.

I miss James Gandolfini.

[quote] “Now my friends are going to shitty high school reunions and I’m going to cool stuff like this.”

He is the only free man on that train.

Seriously, he’s right though.

James Gandolfini was a sexy bear. RIP.

Yippee! They just announced that it will air on HBO Sept 7.

Can’t wait.

This came up on my YouTube feed. It's a compilation of Carmela's parents, Hugh and Mary DeAngelis. I never realized that these two were really good actors until I saw this compilation. Very hilarious, as well. I liked the interactions between Tony and Hugh.

I watched the whole doc last night. Surprisingly emotional, and Chase seems to have mellowed in his golden years. A lot of Gandolfini, and that's the best part of it. Some of the auditions for Tony and his Ma are hysterical.

Suzanne Shepherd, who played Mary DeAngelis, read for Livia Soprano.

I thought the show was highly overrated. Most episodes were boring.

Watching the documentary really made me want to watch the series again. (Friends of mine did a rewatch of The Sopranos last winter, two episodes/night, which somehow broke their DVD player). I watched the show faithfully as it originally aired and bought the DVDs -- which I've never watched (yet I've rewatched The WIre on DVD a couple of times). Maybe I'll take a deep breath and revisit Tone 'n' Cahm after I finish Homicide on Peacock (if the annoying commercials there don't piss me off first).

I’ve only seen the first part of the documentary but I enjoyed it.

Was that Jonathan LaPaglia reading for Christopher?

Funny enough. The original mail order Netflix allowed to me really get into the series. I started watching when the 5th season premiered. Then that summer I ordered all the original seasons on Netflix. I caught up by the time season 6 premiered and HBO has come out with its on demand service by that time so I could rewatch season 5. Ughh nostalgia.

I binge watched after seeing I'd missed most of the week long Labor Day airing, I can recite the first three seasons by this point. Loved this doc! Interesting how similar both Chase and Gandolfini are to Tony. Also found it interesting how Chase felt the role was 'too easy' for the actor. Loved seeing the casting videos, and this cast was perfect. (The way Drea annunciated that extra-ah, landing her the role of Adrianna, reminds me of how PJ Soles was cast for the way she pronounced 'totally' in Halloween.- sorry digressing).

Definitely worth watching, Chase is an interesting guy (his Italian uncles' stories, needs a show). I think he had said that the ending meant Tony was getting popped was partially to squash the show like a bug, people weren't moving on. I must be in the minority, I liked the ending. Also, thought that the attachment to the characters by Chase was interesting in their portrayal (Silvio and Ade) in the series. Great way to revisit this series, including the audio of Gandolfini in parts.

The actress who plays Charmaine looks fantastic, definitely has had work, but it was good work as she really looks great.

I highly recommend this. I also recommend the Talking Sopranos podcast, but it can be very irritating when Steve Schirripa went on his rants.

Forgot about this, Tony 'Paulie Walnuts' dedication to his hair is epic. Loved that, he WAS the character. An element that is also largely unique to this series (Ginny being another).

Any other comments? I haven't watched yet...

I love Alex Gibney he's one of the nicest, smartest people I've ever met and worked with. However, he has a woman that works for him that's a raving nasty bitch. Alex wake up she will destroy your brand!