Monday, May 14, 2007
1 U The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Bobby Bac and captain Paulie with
ominous overtones that he could
off them on a passing whim if he
wanted to. Tony used to be loved,
but now he's mostly feared. And
you can feel that something bad is
coming.
That something bad? It would
appear to be his nephew Christo-
pher. Once groomed by Tony to
replace him someday, their rela-
tionship changed when Chris's girl-
friend started talking to the FBI.
He was forced to choose between
love and family.
After Chris's decision left his
fiance rotting in the ground, he
turned to drugs and alcohol to
drown the pain. Although it hap-
pened years ago, it's obviously still
a very raw subject and recently it
seems Chris might just go off the
rails enough to exact revenge on
"Big T" - or even worse, start talk-
ingto the Feds himself
Whatever happens, fans are
r * aafraid the end won't be satisfying
enough. With the show's best plot-
lines of "The Sopranos" coming in
hit the early seasons, it seems the writ-
ers have been stretching to fill the
Courtesy of HBO scripts with bizarre plotlines such
as homosexual love trysts, horrify-
ingly conceived movie projects and
slow to emerge it's hard to tell they hallucinatory coma dreams. Only
even happened at all. recently has the show begun to get
Tony Soprano used to be a lot back to its roots. We can only hope
happier, that's for sure. Despite his this carries into the series finale.
initial psychiatric appointment Whether you've grown old
to fix his panic attacks, his life with "The Sopranos" for the last
extorting cash, placing bets and seven years, or purged through
bashing in heads. But in the seven it in ten days on DVD, you'll be
years since, Tony has become holding your breath for the next
intensely distrustful of everyone three weeks..It might be death or
around him. Rats seemed to pour prison or a nice family dinner, but
out of his crew. whatever Tony Soprano's ultimate
This season he flexed his mus- fate may be, it's been a great time
cle toward his brother-in-law watching him get there.
Mv R E N Check The Filter weekly for Paul
at michigandaily.com Tassi on new episodes of "The
Sopranoes."
Fuhgetaboutit.
By PAUL TASSI Tony's still boss, most of the major
Daily Arts Writer players are still alive and well and
mostcproblems are solved by a bullet
Are there really only two epi- in the eye followed by a trip down
sodes left until the series finale of to the shore. Has "The Sopranos"
"The Sopranos"? How far we've just been "jerking us off" all this
come. Or have we? time? The simple answer is no.
In a recent episode, Tony (James "The Sopranos" will always live
Gandolfini) sat down with his psy- on as one of the best dramas on
chiatrist of seven years and laid television, not only because of its
it all out on the table. "I thought insights into the Jersey Mafioso,
about it, and I'm done. This, what but because of how painstakingly
we do here, let's be honest, it's just it has crafted its characters over
a jerk off. Nothing gets solved." On the years. While the supporting
first glance, Tony would appear to characters maybe fixtures, though
be right. incredibly well-done fixtures, the
How far are we from where transformations undergone by the
we started seven years ago? Has foreground characters have taken
anything really changed? I mean, years to develop, and have been so
MUSIC COUNT DOWN
ovinyls at
PJ's
By MATT KIVEL
DailyArti Writer
Forget musicology courses at
the University. If you want a real
education in all things vinyl, stop
by FJ's Records at 617 Fackard
and talk to the owners. They are
audiophiles of the highest order
and will gleefully inundate you
with a lifetime's worth of musical
minutia and illuminating anec-
dotes. Their shelves are packed
with off-beat gems and classic
records, so there is no need to
endlessly sift through Leif Gar-
rett and Osmond Family compi-
lations - as is the norm at most
vinyl shops. Listed below are five
wonderful albums that are now
in stock at PJ's, as recommended
by wiseman/musical oracle/PJ's
owner, Marc Taras.
1. Carla Bley
Escalator over the dill
Early magnum opus with lyr-
ics by beat-poet, Faul Haines. The
triple LP boasts an amazing range
of personnel: Gato Barbieri, Char-
lie Haden, John McLaughlin,
Linda Ronstadt, Jack Bruce, Don
Cherry, etc. A wild-ride riot!
2. Earl Van Dyke
TheEairl of Funk
Soul piano grooves from The
Funk Brothers legendary key-
boardist.
3. Less McCann and Eddie
Harris
Swioo Movement
A soul/jazz classic, recorded
live at Montreaux in 1969.
4. John Mayall
Bock to rhe Roots
A reunion of sorts with the
Bluesbreakers All Stars, featur-
ing guitarists Rric Clapton, Mick
Taylor and Harvey Handel. Don
"Sugarcane" Harris guests on
violin.
S. Alice Cooper
Love ir ro Death
The title says it all. An early
Cooper classic featuring "I'm
Eighteen."
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