Soprano Wrap-Up
“The Two Tonys”


Okay here is a feature I want to start on my blog but given that fact that I rarely follow through with my ambitious plans for this little read website I doubt I will do this all 13 weeks. Heck I couldn’t even come up with a title that was remotely original.

Well the layoff for new shows this time was even longer so some fans like Drew jumped off the bandwagon all together. Maybe I can keep him up to speed so he doesn’t have to look at the floor when his law school buddies want to talk about it.

So what I attend to do is comment on what happened on the weeks show and try to make sense out of it.

Narrative:
Well David Chase decided to just give fans little snippets of what happened since we last saw the crime families. Apparently Bobby and Janice are hitched, and we only know his by a brief mention of Janice’s wedding ring. We are not even sure where Tony is really living my guess is either a hotel room or with Janice.

Through conversations between Johnny Sacks and Tony we can estimate that the events of the season finale of season 4 were roughly a year ago. However do to all the delays between seasons, season 4 was for them 2001 ending in spring of 2002 sometime. We can gather this since its only Medow’s 2nd year of college and the events the impression that 9/11 had just happened a few months before the first show of that season for them. So even if it’s been a year for them it should only be 2003.

Plot:

Tony realizes he is now single so he decides to kick his game to his shrink. Despite having erotic dreams about Tony giving her the Old Italian Sausage (or a random body double anyway) she decides to shoot him down when he invites her to dinner. Tony becomes “half a stalker” and tries to take her on a trip somewhere. When she implies that all the murdering, sex with sluts and criminal mischief isn’t what she looks for in a man he calls her a cunt and leaves.

Meanwhile Carmella is living at the house with AJ who may or may not be in college now. AJ attempting to be the next Drew Vogel is apparently now a drummer. One night AJ in his own backyard finds himself nose to nose with a giant black bear that apparently roam randomly roam the streets of North Jersey. This is clearly a metaphor for something. Anyway doesn’t become a midnight snack for the over sized cub the bears is still on the loose. After the authorities tell Carmella not only she can’t shoot him, but they can’t unless he mauls or kills someone first.

Tony and Carmella fight over if it’s safe to have bear showing up occasionally showing thirsty for blood at their home. So Tony decides he will have one of his goons sit on the lawn with a gun waiting to blow the bear’s brains out on sight.

Meanwhile Paulie and Chris bicker over large dinner bills and what really happened in the Pine Barrens a few years ago. After Chris is forced to pay well over a grand for a fancy dinner in Alantic City the two of them huge fight in the parking lot. When the waiter comes out ask why his tip was so lousy Chris gets pissed. When the waiter runs his mouth either Paulie of Chris I forget hurl a brick at the poor guy’s head when he walks away. The waiter falls to the ground and goes into seizure since neither of them are doctors they decide a bullet is the ultimate cure and Paulie sends him to the afterlife. They leave the lifeless corpse there with finger prints all over him. Some guys make up over a beer apparently wiseguys make up over a whacking of a innocent person. The two debate if they will ever get in trouble for the murder, and don’t bother to tell Tony who would likely suspend them for the remainder of the season including the playoffs.

New characters were introduced Tony’s Cousin through video clips and some old guy played by Robert Loggia who tell of his prison days. Both look to be likely to give Tony panic attacks. Oh and Carmine has a stroke much to the delight of the power hungry and most likely to be whacked next Johnny Sacks.

Random Comment:

All 4 previous seasons started with Tony getting his Star Ledger in his bathrobe. Season 2 Pussy was at the end of his driveway, and season 3 the feds were watching him. This season since Tony is ousted from his home the Ledger laid at the end of the driveway only to be run over by Meadow. Thought that was a nice touch.

Rating: B-, well acted could be a good setup for things to come, but a little strange with the bear and I am not a big fan of the whole Tony loves his shrink thing. I do recall thinking to myself when I saw AJ being eyed up by the bear. “MY GOD I THINK THEY JUST JUMPED THE SHARK IN FRONT OF MY EYES!”. Sorry for the caps Drew but the little voice inside my head was shouting at the time.

I don’t care what anyone says it’s still a great show and gives me a reason not to drop a stackable washer/dryer combination on my body working for the 5 hours I have work on the day of the Sabbath.

This Week’s Prediction:

The body in America’s favorite playground comes back to haunt Paulie and Chris. Chris finds out what his girl has been up to for several seasons. AJ get attacked by the bear.

"Bertuzzi's Timeout"

I am sure that everyone keeps checking my blog every few hours to see if I am going to write about the Todd Bertuzzi incident.

I feel I might have to first set up the back story for my non-hockey fans. A few months ago the Vancouver Canucks forward and NHL ALL-Star was cleanly hit by Colorado Avalanche rookie Steve Moore. Naslund had his “bell rung” and missed a handful of games. Naslund’s frequent line mate and friend along with some other players put a bounty out on Moore. So the next time the played NHL commissioner Garry Bettman and team of “NHL suits” went to monitor the game and nothing happened. So everyone thought it was a dead issue.

Well this past week the teams met up again and Todd Bertuzzi got his revenge. Now there is a code in hockey that if the other team is taking runs at your star players its totally cool to either go after their star players or beat the crap out of the guys who took a run at the star player to begin with. I should make it clear I have no problem with this. However it has to be done with either a clean hit (which Moore’s was) or with the player challenging the other player to a fight face to face. Most times players will have the few seconds to know you are going to fight by dropping the gloves and sizing each other up. Most injuries in hockey fights are actually the hands of the players from throwing the punches. Plus players know they could either turtle like Barnaby or just walk away. Most players know if they are in trouble to just fall to the ice and that’s the end of the fight.


What Todd Bertuzzi did was wait till Steve Moore had his back to him to make his move. He chased behind Moore who likely didn’t even know what was happening and violently took a swing at him. Now I don’t know if Todd intended to land his punch where he did but his fist landed square on the back of Moore’s neck combined with the speed Todd had as he was skating resulting a fractured neck. At this point Moore almost lifelessly slumped to the ice and Bertuzzi jumped on top of him and gave a few more punches one that actually landed. I doubt he realized that Moore was seriously hurt.

Moore suffered a severe concussion from this impact with the ice, and a fractured neck and face lacerations. A little harder or over some more and Moore could have been paralyzed or dead. Most people think it is likely that he will never play again. I am optimistic and point to Bryan Berard who suffered a horrific eye injury at the hands of a high-stick. I saw it on TV live and it’s easily the most blood I ever saw gush out of a hockey player. It was frightening.

Anyhow what Bertuzzi did was cowardly, despicable, gutless, hateful and just plan out wrong. Earlier today the NHL decided to suspend the Canucks super star for the rest of the regular season and the entire playoffs. He was fined a quarter of million bucks and his team was slapped with a fine too. Not a good thing for a small market team.

The NHL’s move was a sly one they have definitely extended the suspension through the 2004-05 season and are requiring Bertuzzi to meet with Bettman before next season. This decision makes both camps happy. The people that wanted to see Todd be ousted for life can’t say they didn’t win, and since there will likely not be a full season next year not making decision on next year makes it a appear his punishment might be over by next year.

I talked to Drew earlier tonight about the matter and no surprisingly he told me if he was running the league Bertuzzi would be banned for life. If I was in the same position I don’t know if I could oust him for life. I would likely keep him out for the first half of next season too, and figure that the time missed would be punishment enough. I don’t mean to say what Bertuzzi did was right, but I don’t think I would oust him from the league.

It is really an important decision by the NHL because banning him for life would be making a huge statement about where the league is heading. It would also create a gray area for what should be considered grounds for a life time ban. But one has to wonder if taking no action could one day result in a player being paralyzed on the ice or worse. I feel just awful for Steve Moore.

One final note is that the media coverage of this incident has been particularly annoying. Tons of people that don’t give a damn about hockey any other day of the week are offering their two cents. That don’t really impress me much. Where was the media coverage when Mark Messier passed Gordie Howe in the all time NHL scoring record books? Where was the national news when Gagne won a game on a penalty shot? Hell the outside game got almost no coverage at all. The paint the NHL as overly violent game yet they don’t mind showing the footage 3 times in an hour. They live for this kind of stuff.

All the fallout of this could lead to rule changes. I really hope they don’t blame fighting for this one. What happened last week had nothing to do with having fighting the NHL. It was just a cheap shot. Far worse has been done with high sticks being carelessly thrown around, just ask Bernie Parent. This situation differs a bit from when Brasher (with the Vancouver at the time) got knocked over the noggin by Marty McCsorley because Marty used his stick as weapon. What makes this such a big story is although tough Bertuzzi is not a good but one of the NHL’s best forwards.

Maybe I just don’t want to see the game have to come to the point that they have to through out players and that’s why I think ousting him is too harsh.

John Candy: A Look Back

Part 2: Candy's Final Film and Final Days

Candy’s film career started to sink in the early 1990’s the god awful Nothing But Trouble bombed as did the disappointing over the top comedy Once Upon a Crime. The fantasy comedy Delirious also sunk and a low point was when he starred in the low budget comedy Borris and Nastaha based on the Rocky and Bullwinkle villains. The films low budget couldn’t afford the rights to the two cartoon hero’s (I don’t know if they could even have done live action mix in 1992), but for some reason they thought people would like to see a live action movie about the bad guys from the cartoon. Of course no one did and it went straight to video years after it was made anyway.

While Candy’s value might have plummeted quickly he decided to branch out into the entertainment world. He became part owner of the Los Angles Kings and usually attended as many games as he could. It was than that he became good friends with hockey great Wayne Gretzky. He became such good friends with Wayne that he became a business partner with the great one when he bought a Canadian Football League team. The CFL was struggling big time and between making films he did PR for the league and showed up regularly for the big games. He even got his team a championship. The move was an example of how much he loved his country and never forgot his roots. In fact he took a bath on the move money wise cause the CFL just doesn’t make money. Wayne eventually bailed on his partnership, but the two remained good friends while Wayne played for the Kings.


Candy decided to put his comedic voice to good use and did a voice for the Disney movie The Rescuers. He even played a cartoon version of himself on the Saturday morning cartoon Camp Candy which ran for two seasons. If that wasn’t enough he launched his own weekly radio show Radio Candy (sadly I never listened to it) which he did for over a year.

The early 90’s weren’t all that bad despite a string of flops. One of his most misunderstood films Only the Lonely directed by Columbus that came out in 1991. The film was marketed as a whacky comedy, however it was more of a drama. Candy played a cop who still lived with his over oppressive bigot mother. The film was about him falling in love and having to break free from his mother’s control over him in order to keep the girl he loved. I hated the film as a kid, but now I see it as a well done balance of comedy and drama with a terrific supporting cast. Certainly the one that you should check out to see his dramatic ability and it proved to me he could have gone into serious films, but sadly he wasn’t around long enough.

If you don’t believe me just ask Oliver Stone who cast Candy in a brief but meaty role in his lengthy powerful JFK. Candy perfected a southern accent and his confrontation with Kevin Costner is one of the films more famous scenes. Stone said he was really impressed with the few scenes that he did, and I would imagine he may have used him again. Most directors he had worked for would usually find parts for him.

Candy did however live long enough to have a comeback with the surprise hit Cool Runnings. The film was loosely based on the story of the Jamaican Bobsled team. Candy played the coach who was given a 2nd chance after having his gold medal ripped away for cheating decades ago. Candy like in Uncle Buck held together a really inexperienced group of actors. He pretty much held the movie together much like the coach held the team together. Candy had some truly funny moments, and again was allowed to show off his dramatic side when the story got serious. Candy had some really good scenes towards the end of the film and his redemption story is appealing as the underdog team’s story.

It was in this role however that you can start to notice that something might not be right with Candy. Candy was extremely heavy. Even for John Candy. You almost could see a certain sadness in his eyes. I don’t really know the cause of it but John wasn’t very happy his last few years. It is likely that fact that the critics trashed his film and were usually fairly mean about it. Maybe he though people didn’t think he was funny anymore after several films tanked at the box office. Aykrod mentioned that Candy put huge pressure on himself to keep his name alive and live up to expectations. He also said that Candy often suffered panic attacks.

Candy continued to expand in different ways he started his own production company. The only film that his company ever produced was TV movie black comedy and his directorial debut Hostage for a Day. The film gathered some SCTV alumni and contained some of its silly dry humor he also has a cameo role. It was quite funny. After that he made starred in political satire directed by Michael Moore Canadian Bacon that wasn’t released until after his death and went straight to video. The film was about the US making people think Canada was evil and should be bombed.

Candy died while filming Wagons East! a film which to this day I refuse to watch. The movie was from what I hear one of his worse, and doubles had to be used to pad out his role after his death. Candy was extremely unhappy about the film he knew it was a turkey. He was almost unrecognizable heavier than ever with long greasy hair and a full beard the same look he had for his previously mentioned finals roles. Almost as if he didn’t want to be noticed.

Right before he died he was at a Kings game (I remember watching that game) he told Wayne’s wife how miserable he was in shooting Wagons East!. He needed hip surgery and the filming location was ungodly hot which was a strain on him because he was horribly out of shape to begin with and I imagine may have contributed to his death. Candy however according to cast members didn’t really seem down while filming. In fact the night he died he through a huge party for everyone making the film with lobster and expensive booze. He went out smiling having a good time. He went back to his hotel room after the party a few hours later he called up co-star Richard Lewis and just to make him laugh. A few hours later he died in his sleep of a heart attack.

Candy was a heavy smoking, heavy eater and heavy drinker which lead to his heart attack. He was only 41, but left a legacy of funny movies. It was really a great loss since Candy could have easily been an actor that was used more.

Feel free to email me any questions about John Candy I would be happy to recommend any of his films.

John Candy: A Look Back

Part 1: Candy's Rise and Prime

It is hard to believe but as of March 4 ( almost a week ago now) that it was ten years that one of my favorite comedic actors John Candy passed away. In honor of the “The Gentle Giant” I am going to provide my readers with a bio of the late actor. It should be noted that I can do this pretty well with most of my favorite actors and its working from the top of my head. So either I really love movies or I really have no life at all. So this might be a little long but likely informative for my readers.

John Candy was a Canadian born actor who stumbled upon the profession almost by accident. He had an interest in films and showed up as an extra in a few Canadian films during the mid 1970s. He even starred on a low budget childrens show. However it was when he tagged along with future notable names and friends Eugene Levy and Dan Aykroyd to try out for a comedy troop called Second City in Toronto. His friends forced him to try out and he landed a part in the troop. The group basically performed live and he lead the talented cast in skits that were mostly if not all improve.

People must have known he has a future value because he starred in some really shoestring budget Canadian films (that are hard to find that I haven’t seen) Tunnel Vision, the Clown Murders and the more popular of the bunch Find the Lady from what I read the films didn’t have much resembling a plot but showed glimpses of what was to come.

After some time doing TV north of the border SCTV decided to bite off Saturday Night Live and launch their own show. So the filmed a TV sketch show from Chicago other notable members of this show were Rick Morranis, Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas (not the Wendy’s guy) and future film maker Howard Ramis.

Candy really made a name for himself on SCTV which was more about the characters than the jokes. He more or less became the star of the show. In the late 70’s Candy showed up in a few more TV movies, but made the leap into American films when he was cast by a young Steven Spielberg when in 1941 a film that was a departure for the young director which had a cast list of every red hot comic actor at the time and half the cast of the blockbuster Jaws. Despite the fact the film was a dismal failure casting directors didn’t forget about John Candy. It also didn’t hurt that many of his friends were breaking into the movies at this time.

Candy started showing up as a supporting role in popular comedies he had role in the now classic comedy The Blues Brothers (1980) along with his buddy Aykroyd. He had a larger role in Stripes (1981) opposite Bill Murray where he put himself on the map in a scene where he had to mud wrestle two girls (who eventually became topless). The lowbrow joke more or less put him down the path as the funny fat guy. Candy however wasn’t all that comfortable with the scene thinking it was degrading. Later that year he did his first of many cartoon voiceover for the pothead cartoon flick (along with almost everyone from SCTV) Heavy Metal.

Eventually Candy left SCTV and the show didn’t last long without him. Although he star in two SCTV movies one for tv The Last Polka (1984) based on characters from SCTV and one in theaters Going Berserk (1983). Ramis who starred with Candy in Stripes cast him in a small but memorable role in National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), but it was the scene stealing performance playing Tom Hanks party animal brother in Ron Howard’s Splash. Hanks and Candy had amazing on screen chemistry it made bother actors big stars at the time. The teamed up again in the almost entirely forgotten Volunteers (1985) the film flopped and that was end of the comedy team. The movie’s first 30 mins were really funny but than I guess they ran out of jokes. Candy did show up as second banana to Richard Pryor in Brewster’s Millons (1985), but that year he finally got his big break to play the lead in major movie called Summer Rental (1985).

It was Summer Rental was the first true “John Candy” movie in which he was required to carry the film. Although it was uneven Candy’s comedic gift made the routine jokes for the first hour of the film hilarious, but than the film gets bogged down with an unfunny boat race plot line. However the formula for his movies was set, he usually played a lovable well intended guy who just couldn’t get thing to go his way or the respect he wanted.

After Summer Rental he Candy surfaced opposite Levy and Meg Ryan in Armed and Dangerous (1986) and made a funny cameo in musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1986). Than came the movie that changed his career forever. Candy hit comedy and box office gold when he starred with Steve Martin in Planes Trains and Automobiles a road comedy about two men getting back for Thanksgiving Dinner. The movie was the first to show his depth. He had few dramatic scenes, but for the most part it was on of Candy’s most memorable characters. The film had real heart that wasn’t always there in some of his earlier roles. This film made me a fan of John Candy and the movie still ranks as one of my favorite comedies of all time.

Planes Trains and Automobiles kicked off the prime of his career that same year he also starred in the highly successful Spaceballs and followed up by The Great Outdoors (1988 people loved it critics loathed it).Again the clearly uneven and woefully directed but you don’t mind cause Candy keeps you laughing through most of the picture making the most of a ho-hum script.

In 1989 he starred in one of the most underrated comedies ever playing a clueless private investigator in Who’s Harry Crumb?. Why this movie is hardly mentioned (other than by crew members who adopted this film) when his movies are mentioned is beyond me. Sure it’s a much broader comedy than his films usually are but it works in a tongue in cheek kind of way. Candy is clearly on top of his game.

That same year he stared as the title character in Uncle Buck. Buck has to come to town to take care of h is nieces and nephew when his sister-in-laws father falls ill. The film’s main strength is Candy butting heads with his niece who rebels against him. A fine example of how Candy can carry a film with a cast of mostly kids and inexperienced teenage actors. Again this movie was classic Candy. It wasn’t going to win and Oscars but if you find Candy remotely funny than I am sure you will enjoy his humorous methods to knock out daily chores and attempt to be role model for kids.

In a curious turn in the peak of his value in Hollywood he quietly went off and did the low budget comedy Speed Zone! I think Candy did it mainly cause most of his SCTV friends were struggling at the time starred in this lame comedy but it may have hurt him. The comedy barely makes sense but Candy’s scenes make the movie worth watching of course I am the only person in the world that watched this film for any reason other than all the fast cars. Regardless Candy’s scenes are hilarious.


It was clearly a favor to friends something Candy became some what known for. He showed up in uncredited appearances to help out directors he worked with before in a string of movies Home Alone (1990), Career Opportunities (1991), Masters of Menace (1990)and even a rather large role in Rookie of the Year (1993). He actually went out of his way to shoot his cameo in Home Alone for John Hughes who directed and wrote many of films including Planes..(directed) Great Outdoors (wrote). The film also began his relationship with director Chris Columbus who went on to direct the Harry Potter movies. I imagine Candy would have likely played a part in those films.

Come back tomorrow (or later this week) for part two of this look back at John Candy. I will talk about Candy’s branching out into other branches of entertainment, his career going into the potty and how it effected him and his death.

"Sopranos predictions"


First off I don't see what the big deal was about Season 4. People gripped how nothing happened yet Ralph was killed, Bocala lost his wife, Chris hit rock bottom, relations between New York and North Jersey went sour, add a suicide and Chris avenging his father's death and what is not to like?

I might come back to defend season 4 at a later date but before that I am going to try to call the shows 5th season.


Pussy will show up in dreams or a flashback

We will see a flashback to Tony and Carmella's wedding. Perhaps this is where we get to see Pussy again and maybe even Ralphie.

Tony's cousin Tony will live till the end of the season.

Johnny Sacks will get whacked early in the season

Uncle Junior will die either naturally or be hand of the New York mob.

Robert Loggia will be whacked

Tim Daly will play a cop or lawyer

Chris will have a relapse

Tony and Carmella will NOT get back together

Tony will get the newspaper in his bath robe the first show

Furio will show up dead somewhere in Italy

Dr. Melfi will quit her job.