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Saturday, June 22, 2013

THE SOPRANOS PILOT EPISODE



A few days ago we sadly lost James Gandolfini. In memory of him, I'm going to review the pilot episode of the show he's best known for called...

 

"The Sopranos" is what I'd like to call the modern day "Godfather" of TV shows. A mobster of the DiMeo family in New Jersey named Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) has been having panic attacks and now has to secretly see a psychiatrist (Lorraine Bracco). Throughout the episode, we see Tony having problems with his family and problems with his crime business, as well as seeing the people around him having problems as well.

Let's start with the intro before I review, the episode.

THE INTRO
 

After seeing some shots of New York City thinking that the the show is going to take place in New York, we actually find out that our protagonist is actually driving through the New Jersey turnpike to go to New Jersey where the show takes place in. Throughout the intro we see famous New Jersey landmarks and fictional places where the characters are, see very little of our main character and it ends with him arriving to his home and we finally get a good look at our character as he leaves his car. The song "Woke Up This Morning" by Alabama 3 is very cool, very badass and really pulls you into the show with it's style. A great intro to the show and it pulls me in every time making me feel like that I'm riding shot-gun with Tony.

THE EPISODE
 

Our main character Tony is kind of a mix between Vito and Michael Corleone. He's a mobster but he loves and cares for his family and never ever wants to lose them. Of course unlike Vito and Michael, instead of being calm and wise, he's tough, he's brutal and cheats on his wife. Again like many gangster films, he's a bad guy doing terrible things but we still like him, root for him and care about him. Watching James Gandolfini playing our main character, I can't help but feel that he is naturally playing the character. He's naturally tough, he's naturally being upset and sad, he's naturally interacting with the characters and that's what makes his performance so great and memorable. It just never feels staged. Oh and for those who know the show, Tony's voice is a lot different compared to future episodes. That's because the actor later on got a dialect coach to sound more like a mobster from Newark, New Jersey.

The characters are all great too. His psychiatrist is very likable, the chemistry between Tony and her is great and just like Gandolfini's performance, Bracco is naturally playing the character. Edie Falco as Tony's wife Carmella is really great as this character with her dramatic performance and her character is just as likable as all the other characters. The kids played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler are suitable for there roles and I can't wait to see more of them on the show. Nancy Marchand as Tony's Mother, again  theperformance and character is just as great as all the other characters I just mentioned. Dominic Chianese as Tony's uncle Junior is perfect as this aging mobster and relative and I have a strong feeling that more conflict is going to come out of this character. Michael Imperioli as Tony's nephew Chris is outstanding as this young aspiring gangster and I can't wait to see how this character moves up through the ranks. Other performances from Vincent Pastore, Steven Van Zandt, Tony Sirico, Jerry Adler and John Ventimiglia are all really well acted like all the others, I can't wait to learn more about them as the show moves on.

What I really like about the episode is that it never runs out of plot, none of it feels like filler and on top of it I just love seeing the problems and interactions between each character. Like I said, the plot isn't just about Tony's life and his panic attacks, it's also about the world and people around him. His Mother doesn't want to go to a nursing home, Chris has to kill a member of another mob that's trying to move in on the family business, a gambler won't pay Tony's partner Hesh, the relationship between Carmella and her troubled daughter Meadow, and Junior plans to whack a guy at Tony's friends restaurant that Tony has to prevent from happening, so it doesn't damage his friend's business. With so much plot going on, it sounds like all of this could be all put into a two hour movie but no, it's all part of a one hour show and to put all this into one episode actually works. It flows really well, juggles all these different subplots perfectly, and doesn't at all feel so cramped in that it's a mess. I also love how the theme of losing family is symbolized here, but I won't give away how it is.

What I notice about this episode are the references to gangster films like "Godfather" and "Goodfellas". Notice that half of the cast members appeared in those two films. Tony Sirico and Vincent Pastore made a cameo as mobsters in "Goodfellas". Lorraine Bracco played Henry Hills wife Karen in "Goodfellas".Dominic Chianese played Hyman Roth's right hand man Johnny Ola in "Godfather Part 2". And  Michael Imperioli played a kid who got whacked by Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas". The characters also remind me of the characters in "The Godfather Saga". As I said earlier Tony is like a mix between Vito and Michael, Carmella is Kay, Big Pussy is Luca Brasi, Chris is Sonny, and Uncle Junior is Hyman Roth. The episode itself even talks about these films as well. The style of the show also resembles a Martin Scorsese flick with it's shots, rock and blues soundtrack, language, nude girls and violence.

It's an incredible start to the show that beautifully sets-up its world and characters, and who knows, maybe I'll review the first Season next year.

RATING 5/5

REST IN PEACE JAMES GANDOLFINI

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

THE CENSORED ELEVEN

Remember when I said we're going to see ethnic and racial stereotypes that are worse then Disney and actually make the stereotypes in Disney look not that bad, well here's the jackpot. Even though I reviewed the first Looney Tune and Merrie Melodies cartoon that had an offensive black stereotype, I came across a legit list full of cartoons of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that have been censored and banned. Since I sound like I'm defending ethnic stereotypes in previous reviews even though I bashed them in plenty of other reviews, I figured it was time I showed you and reviewed...

THE CENSORED ELEVEN LOONEY TUNES AND MERRIE MELODIES CARTOONS

HITTIN ' THE TRAIL FOR HALLELUJAH LAND



The cartoon takes place on a riverboat and it stars a Pig who tries to save his love interest and her uncle. So what's so offensive about it? Well to be honest, the only offensive character I saw in this whole cartoon is the Uncle who's black, is called Uncle Tom and speaks in a very stereotypical black voice. While I did catch some stereotypes such as black and white animal musicians playing and dancing on the boat, they didn't look as offensive as you think they would. They just look like dancing animals that you'd see in any other cartoon. As for the cartoon itself, it's not so great. It's not funny, it's kind of boring even the skeletons that appear coming after Uncle Tom isn't that funny and is more of a thrown in scene for filler. The cartoon itself also resembles the Mickey Mouse cartoon "SteamBoat Willy" and Disney's "Dancing Skeletons" cartoon which is more of a knockoff then a rip off. As for our leading Pig characters, they're not so funny and are boring. Not as offensive as I thought this was going to be but man is it a borefest.

RATING 1/5

SUNDAY GO TO MEETIN' TIME



All the African Americans in the south are going to church, but one guy decides to skip church and nothing but trouble starts heading his way. This cartoon has almost every black stereotype in the book. African Americans looking like Minstrel shows, check, a stereotypical look at how African Americans go to church, check, a mammy, check, African Americans chasing after chickens to probably fry them, check, gambling with dice, check, dancing and singing like slaves, check and speaking like stereotypical uneducated idiots, check. Just throw in them eating watermelons and you're done. There's a lot of singing in this cartoon and let me tell you the songs not only sound like a stereotypical minstrel show but boy am I glad that they're forgettable. There's also a Hell sequence and not only is it scary as heck but the devils also look like black stereotypes too. This cartoon makes me feel very unclean and man is it stereotypical as hell.

RATING 0/5


CLEAN PASTURES



St.Peters is displeased with all the sinning going on in Harlem, so he sends a jazz bands of Angels to spread the word. The truth about this cartoon is, it's worse than "Sunday Go To Meetin' Time". The black caricatures are not only offensive and insulting but boy are they scary as hell. The dialogue and how they talk makes the characters from "Sunday Go To Meetin' Time" sound smarter then these cartoons. I can't understand a single word they say except for the cartoons last line. Not only does it make the cartoon make African Americans look and act sleazy people but the biggest insult is how they mock how they perform! African Americans are great, talented and professional performers (Especially at the time) but this cartoon mocks them so bad that they don't look or sound like professional performers. They even mock Cab Calloway, Fats Waller and the great Louis Armstrong, that's defiantly going too far. This cartoon is just god awfully racist and just like what most rap artists do, this cartoon gives African American performers a bad name.

RATING 0/5

 

Judging by the title, it's obviously a parody on "Uncle Tom's Cabin". I'm going to admit while the cartoon does have a style with narration, comedy and being a twist on the controversial novel, I don't know I still feel unclean watching this. The slaves are obviously black stereotypes, the slave owner is not only a cruel character but he actually whips Uncle Tom offscreen and the little southern rich girl is annoying. The scenes that I hate and don't find funny is when the villain is chasing after our characters with dogs, the whip jokes and when the two little girls switch colored skin. While trying to be a funny twist on the novel with some good and interesting ideas, it all falls flat and is just another bad and offensive cartoon.

RATING 1/5

JUNGLE JITTERS



A traveling dog salesman, heads off to Africa but is taken away by an African Native Tribe and must choose to either be boiled or merry their white queen. This cartoon has the most awful black stereotype on a native tribe. They look and act like a ministerial show with their over the top stereotypical and savage behavior. There are also so many lip jokes in this cartoon that it make me feel sick. The dog salesman who's suppose to resemble Al Pearce is just annoyingly irritating. The white queen who rules the African Tribe is not only a racist idea but her idea looks familiar to other cartoons by Warner Brothers and her personality is annoying. A little interesting fact, the writers went with a white queen to avoid an interracial marriage.  Annoying and offensive, that's what this cartoon is. There can't be another African Native Tribe cartoon that's offensive as this.

RATING 0/5


THE ISLE OF PINGO PONGO



I spoke too soon didn't I? The cartoon is a cartoon documentary on a fictional island called "Ping Pong". The first 4 minutes are actually really funny. We see different funny looking islands, funny types of animals, an Eskimo and a Polar Bear on vacation and some little chubby clown who keeps asking the narrator the same question and the pay off is great. It seemed like a real funny cartoon, until the African Native Tribe shows up. This tribe is not really as offensive as the ones in "Jungle Jitters", this tribe is more offensive, insulting and stereotypical then the ones in "Jungle Jitters". When I said that the tribe in "Jungle Jitters"  "look and act like a ministerial show with their over the top stereotypical and savage behavior", this one is a ministerial show! They look frightening, they act like wild buffoons, they have lip jokes that are more disturbing then the ones in "Jungle Jitters", the cartoon mocks the Jazz talent of African Americans and on top of it, this tribe actually sings ministerial show songs. It had a great start but then the cartoon got killed by the most offensive African Native Tribe stereotypes that I ever seen.

RATING 0/5

ALL THIS AND RABBIT STEW


Bugs Bunny is not being hunted by Elmer Fudd in this cartoon, this time he's being hunted by an African American. I remember seeing this one as a kid and the biggest question that came through my mind is still with me today, WHY IS ELMER FUDD REPLACED WITH THIS ABOMINATION?! Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny are great rivals and to replace one of them would be like replacing either Tom or Jerry, there's no need to replace Elmer Fudd. OK, perhaps this was before Bugs and Elmer became inseparable rivals but Elmer was still around before this hunter and he had a good share of rivalry with Bugs.The African American hunter is so stereotypical and insulting that it makes replacing Elmer Fudd even worse than it is. While having the same comedy in a cartoon with Bugs and Elmer, it's still unforgivable and insulting.

RATING 0/5




This cartoon is an African American parody on Disney's "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs" with also a World War 2 theme to it. As you may have guessed it's not funny or clever but it's not only offensive and insulting, it's also extremely scary and disturbing. I'm not kidding every design of African Americans is just sick and scary and it can't get anymore insulting than this despite being voiced by an African American cast. At least in Disney films like "Song Of The South" and 'Dumbo" the African American cast were at least smart and likable, here they're just buffoons and idiots. Oh and the World War 2 theme, aside from the black dwarfs being in the army, it serves no purpose. A terrible parody and is really really insulting.

RATING 0/5

TIN PAN ALLEY CATS




A black alley cat sins by going to a Jazz club and his actions take him to a surreal music world. The alley cat is an insulting caricature on Fats Waller, the Jazz music is mocked and depicted as something evil and the gospel groups are being mocked too. The surreal sequence was so weird that I don't know if it's good or bad. However I did enjoy a few things in it such as a band of rubber bands, the parody on Hitler, Stalin and Tojo and perhaps the inspiration for "CatDog". With that said the surreal sequence does have annoying black stereotypes. While trying to be creative, it still fails.

RATING 1/5

ANGEL PUSS




This cartoon was presented as a Porky Pig and Daffy Duck cartoon but it isn't. An African American kid reluctantly drowns a cat to get money, however, the cat escapes and pretends that he's a scary Angel. What an awful premise. While our kid is likable, he's still annoying and his design is offensive. Of course the black jokes are everywhere in this cartoon. The cat, well is it no wonder why he had to drown him. A stupid and unfunny cartoon.

RATING 0/5

GOLDILOCKS AND THE JIVIN ' BEARS




Ok you probably know what this is, a black jazz version of "The Three Bears" with a little bit of "Red Riding Hood". Yes it's using the same formula as "Coal Black And De Sebben Dwarfs" and just like the cartoon it's not clever and it's offensive and insulting. What can I say that I didn't say about the previous cartoons, it's awful and the only PC looking African American character is the girl aside from her annoying voice. Come on you know what I'm going to give this cartoon.

RATING 0/5

Aside from the first cartoon, all these cartoons are so offensive, so disturbing, so unfunny, so insulting that it's no wonder why they made a list out of it. However, with that said, I think the big question is and this is going for cartoons, films or shows that's not PC, too violent or suggestive for either for kids or adults...

SHOULD CARTOONS, TV SHOWS OR FILMS BE BANNED OR CENSORED?

Well as much as I despise the cartoons I just reviewed and as much as I suggested ways to edit some scenes from films like 'Dumbo' or "Peter Pan", I'm actually going to say no. Don't get me wrong most of the cartoons I just reviewed are beyond racist, they're awful, they're mean spirited in fact I can't believe that these were ever created. With that said, I don't think a film (Whether it's a kids film or a film for adults) should ever be censored or banned once it's been realised. Every film, whether it's good or bad play a part in film making history and also represent the time it was made in and what society was like at the time and to ban or censor it would be like erasing a part of history. It'd be like saying society wasn't racist or prejudice back in the day, it's be like saying kids films were just as PC and not as violent as they are today. We need these films to not only teach us about society back then but to also learn from it as well as satirizing it like what Ralph Bakshi and Spike Lee did. If it's a kids film, well guess what, we have the option to let our kids see it or not, we have the option to fast forward scenes that aren't good, we have the option to change the channel but sadly society is forgetting about these privileges and solutions. If you don't like the film, don't watch it again it's just that simple. You're also allowed to share your opinions as well, just don't force them on people. We have the right to watch what we want and to ban or censor films would also be like killing our freedom of speech. If you're going to restore a film to either make it better or more PC at least give us the option to watch the original then just bury the evidence. Overall once somethings been made and released to the public, there's no going back and trying to change them would just be insulting our intelligence and taking away our freedom.