Bada Bing

 

Well, the long hiatus is over.   I ventured into a movie theater for the first time since March 2020.   And, oddly enough, what propelled me there was not a hot, new movie.  I went primarily to see a three-part documentary on TV's "The Sopranos."

Go figure.

Grouped under an umbrella title "Celebrate the Sopranos," this movie is still three documentaries stitched together.  It's not getting a wide release.  Instead, it is rolling out on these "one-night-only" showings.   Hence, my return to the cineplex.  It was "go now or not at all."

Having already made three passes through the entire series, I was a prime target for these film makers.   And boy, did it land a bulls eye with me.  I loved every minute.  And, oddly, these three parts were nothing more than long interviews.  But, oh, so compelling.

The first installment was "My Dinner with Alan."  Two guys who were TV critics for the Newark Star Ledger (the newspaper that always winds up at the bottom of Tony's driveway) reunite over onion rings and Taylor Ham sandwiches (another shout out to yours truly) at Holsten's, where the final scene of the series played out.  We go through their entire meal in real time as they talk all things Soprano.  Simple talking heads couldn't have been more interesting.   And even the most avid fan got some new information from this conversation.

Indeed, Soprano fans know that the last season was divided up into two parts...Season 6 and Season 6A and separated by about a year.   The two critics indeed say that there were really seven seasons.  So why the bizarre labeling?  Well, it is revealed that HBO would have needed to renegotiate the cast's contracts if there was an official seventh season.  So they opted to simply call Season 7 an extension of Season 6.   How diabolical.

While the critics were fascinating, I was not prepared for how mesmerizing the second part was to be.  "The Last Supper" was filmed in a Little Italy restaurant that used to have show parties for whenever an actor was "whacked."  And it reunited the actors who played Johnny Sack, Big Pussy, Carlo Gervasi, and Furio.  We followed them right through a four course meal from antipasto to dolce.  Their stories and memories, particularly of James Gandolfini, were amazing.   PS, stories about how cheap HBO was continued with this quartet.

For the last documentary of the evening, the two critics came back for a half-hour chat with show creator David Chase.   Primarily because of his reserved and sometimes elusive nature, this was the least interesting of the evening.  But it did help to set up for the release of the prequel in September.

At the very least, that means I'll make one more visit to a movie theater in 2021.

LEN'S RATING:  Three-and-a-half stars.

Dinner last night:  Leftover Chinese food.