Hungry? Besides Beer Island, Bar-B-Que Island, with the reknown chef Chris McGee, serves the finest of Kansas City slow cooked Bar-B-Que. Chicken Island isn't just for chickens, offers Gyros, Shrimp Kabobs, that summer treat Corn on the Cob among its menu choices.
Forgot something? Sunblock, beach towel, toys for the kids, check out Gift Island. We also sell ice.
Beer Island provides a family friendly atmosphere, where you can enjoy a cold one, in a beach atmosphere.
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It's Wednesday and as always its my favorite night of the week. After a nice dinner of baked ziti, its time to curl up in my recliner and listen to Vincent Pastore's Wise Guy Show on Sirius Radio Raw Dog 104. The program airs from 6 to 9 pm. Cha Cha's web site (Albie Cianflone) is updated with tonight's guests, and if you become his friend on MYSPACE, you'll receive a bulletin, giving you a heads up on Wednesday night's guest list.
On Thursday June 19, John 'Cha, Cha' Ciarcia and his friend Vincent Pastore, will help out at a booking signing with author May Pang's latest book, "Instamatic Karma', about her life with musician John Lennon. Everyone is invited to this Thursday night event being held at Cha Cha In Bocca AL Lupo, located at 113 Mulberry Street, Little Italy, NYC.
Also a reminder, don't forget to stopfor some fun at "Thursday nights at De' Medici" with Paul Borghese
and Louis Scoops as hosts. De' Medici is located at 566 East 187th
Street near Arthur Avenue in the heart of the Bronx's Little Italy. For
reservations call 718-584-6167.
knew about this piece, which finally has been announced in Entertainment Weekly, that Vincent Pastore and his family will be participating in Al Roker's Celebrity Family Feud on the NBC network. The episode to watch is # 6 and Vinny hopes to raise money for the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer, the Mitchell Berke Memorial Fund. Vinny previously raised $50,000 for this charity during his stint on Celebrity Apprentice.
]]>Playbill reports that the production of Ron Fitzgerald's "Safe" will begin a limited run at Michael Imperioli's theater, Studio Dante starting on June 10. Show times are Tuesday-Saturday at 8 PM. The plot line is as following;
Ginger, Van and Muzzy are relative strangers bound by self-destructive tendencies and the common desire for a fresh start. From Mobile to Chicago, they travel from city to city, doing whatever it takes to survive. As Ginger and Van's relationship intensifies so do their troubles, and Muzzy begins some soul searching of his own. Told through interwoven accounts, this play by Ron Fitzgerald chronicles the lives of three outcasts on a quest for somehwere to feel "Safe."
Studio Dante is located in Manhattan at 257 West 29th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Tickets, priced $35, are available by calling (212) 868-4444 or by visiting www.smarttix.com. I have an additional code where you can save 20% off the ticket price, the code is SAFESD.
Terrace Winter (writer/executive producer of The Sopranos) has been selected to be one of the writers on Martin
Scorsese's new HBO project
"Boardwalk Empire." It is based on the book
"Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City
Steve Schirripa (Bobby Bacala) will be a reoccuring character in the ABC Original Family series, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" which will premiere on July 1 according to the All American Patriot website.
A suggestion for this Thursday night, June 12, Vincent Pastore and John 'Cha Cha' Ciarcia will be stopping by for "Thursday nights at De' Medici" with Paul Borghese and Louis Scoops as hosts. They will record a 'Meatball Seranade' for The Wise Guy Show. De' Medici is located at 566 East 187th Street near Arthur Avenue in the heart of the Bronx's Little Italy. For reservations call 718-584-6167.
- Soprano Sue
It's contest time! I managed to score some swag and I have a couple of DVD's of the newly released movie, "Meet the Mobsters" to give away. This movie features many of our most loved Sopranos cast members. I made it easy to enter, you just have to send an email with address (got to know where to mail it if you win). To enter the contest, click here. Please no duplicated entries (they will be deleted). The contest ends June 15.
Nick Santora, another writer from The Sopranos, has a new film out, "The Longshot". Click here to see the trailer, Nick wrote the script for the film, which is based on a true story. Nick is also a writer for one of my favorite show, "Prison Break."
If you missed "Doughboys" at the Hoboken Film Festival Sunday night, Film Stew has a great article about the movie and it gives insight into how the idea for the movie evolved. The movie stars Louis Lombardi (FBI agent Skip Lipari) and Vincent Pastore (Big Pussy).
Looking for a really cool place to spend some quality time this summer (and its assessible by subway), check out Cha Cha's of Coney Island, which is mentioned in this Daily News article. Cha Cha's is owned by John 'Cha Cha' Ciarcia, who played the character of Albie Cianflone on The Sopranos.
The Sopranos are on their way to the 48 th annual Monte Carlo Television Festival, to compete at the June 8 - 12 event according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Fans of Matthew Weiner's program, "Mad Men" have reason to rejoice, July 27 has been set as the premiere date for season 2 on the AMC network.
James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) was spotted at Hornsey Town Hall last week, working on the British sitcom, "The Thick Of It."
Playbill reports that the production of Ron Fitzgerald's "Safe" will begin a limited run at Michael Imperioli's theater, Studio Dante starting on June 10. Show times are Tuesday-Saturday at 8 PM.
Studio Dante is located in Manhattan at 257 West 29th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Tickets, priced $35, are available by calling (212) 868-4444 or by visiting www.smarttix.com.
You have to love a guy who will give you the shirt off his back. It was announced yesterday that James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) will be selling his personal collection of costumes (no people in Jersey don't really dress like that) at auction, in which proceeds will benefit Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit group that assists severely wounded soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. A special thanks to Sara for sending me the Christie's auction house link, where you can view the items!
Frank Vincent (Phil Leotardo) joined the Governour of Illinois at a signing of a bill that will provide tax credits to bring the motion picture industry to the state.
Have a fantastic day!
]]>You have to love a guy who will give you the shirt off his back. It was announced yesterday that James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) will be selling his personal collection of costumes (no people in Jersey don't really dress like that) at auction, in which proceeds will benefit Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit group that assists severely wounded soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. A special thanks to Sara for sending me the Christie's auction house link, where you can view the items!
Frank Vincent (Phil Leotardo) joined the Governour of Illinois at a signing of a bill that will provide tax credits to bring the motion picture industry to the state.
have an event that will be held in my hometown of Clifton, NJ on June 14. Lorraine Bracco (Dr. Jennifer Melfi) will be at the new Stew Leonard's store opening up on Rt 3 West to spotlight her company Bracco Wines.
It has been announced that Steve Buscemi ( Tony Blundetto ) has been cast in the upcoming movie, “Youth in Revolt”. He will co star with Ray Liotta.
This wasn't a Sopranos reunion, but it certainly looked like the next closest thing. The cast and creator David Chase, were at the Heartshare Services of New York's Annual Spring Gala held at the Marriot Marquis in New York City to support honoree Tony Sirico (Tony Sirico), for his unconditional support for this charity.
Special birthday wishes are extended to Tony Ray Rossi (Fred Peters)
who has the honor of being one of the first people Tony Soprano killed.
So if you happen to be in the vicinity of his beauty shop, Rossi Hair Salon, make sure you wish him the happiest of birthdays!
It's Wednesday and as always its my favorite night of the week. After a nice dinner of baked ziti, its time to curl up in my recliner and listen to Vincent Pastore's Wise Guy Show on Sirius Radio Raw Dog 104. The program airs from 6 to 9 pm. Cha Cha's web site (Albie Cianflone) is updated with tonight's guests, and if you become his friend on MYSPACE, you'll receive a bulletin, giving you a heads up on Wednesday night's guest list.
]]>Joe Pantoliano (Ralph Cifaretto) is working on a new independent film, "The Job" according to The Detroit News. Filming has already commenced.
Kudos to Dan Grimaldi (Patsy Parisi) for participating in Sunday's walk to help raise funds for sixth annual Arthritis Foundation Walk.
Another date to mark on your calendar, the movie, "Doughboys" will be screening at the upcoming Hoboken Film Festival on June 1. The time to be there is 6:00. It will be screened at the Hoboken Multi-Services Center, located at 124 Grand Street in Hoboken, N.J. 07030. This film, which features Louis Lombardi (Skip Lipari) and Vincent Pastore (Big Pussy and Celebrity Apprentice) has been winning awards at several of the film festivals it has been entered in (cause its a great movie).
Haven't made plans for the upcoming weekend? On Saturday May 24, 2008, at 7:00 pm , Vincent Pastore and The Lickety Split Band will host a special holiday party to welcome the summer. Those who attend can expect great food, surprise guests and the music of The Lickety Split band. The event is being held at The Atlantic City Hilton, located on Boston Avenue and The Boardwalk in the gaming and entertainment capitol of the East Coast in Atlantic City, NJ. 08401. Tickets are available by contacting Joe Sarnese at 1-800-962-5373 press 2 or by emailing him at sarnese@hiltonac.com
It's Wednesday and as always its my favorite night of the week. After a nice dinner of baked ziti, its time to curl up in my recliner and listen to Vincent Pastore's Wise Guy Show on Sirius Radio Raw Dog 104. The program airs from 6 to 9 pm. Cha Cha's web site (Albie Cianflone) is updated with tonight's guests, and if you become his friend on MYSPACE, you'll receive a bulletin, giving you a heads up on Wednesday night's guest list.
This is closing soon, so if you're in the Bay Area and haven't gotten out to see this exhibit, your time is running out. Annie Liebowitz's photo exhibition “A Photographer's Life” is at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, California. According to the San Francisco Sentinel, it It will close at that venue on May 25, and then the tour will go international.
Amazing, there is going to be a gathering of intellectuals to analzle The Sopranos inpact on popular culture at Fordham University.
I thought we already did this, standing outside the Bada Bing watching
the show being filmed. Interested parties can call Albert Auster,
212-636-7538.
Vincent Pastore's Wise Guy Show will be broadcasing live from the Roseland Ballroom at Share Our Strength/Taste of the Nation event in New York City. Cha Cha's web site (Albie Cianflone) is updated with tonight's guests, and if you become his friend on MYSPACE, you'll receive a bulletin, giving you a heads up on Wednesday night's guest list. The show airs on Sirius Radio Raw Dog 104 starting at 6 pm.
In case I don't have anything to update with in the next couple of days, here's a few reminders not to be missed
If you see Jamie Lynn SIgler (Meadow Soprano), on Thursday, don't forget to wish her a Happy Birthday!
Thursday nights at De' Medici with Paul Borghese! This is always an exciting fun night, reminiscent of Wednesday night's at Brunelli's has moved to the Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. De' Medici is the Best Kept Secret in the Bronx! It was formally the famous Amici's. It's located at 566 East 187th Street near Arthur Avenue in the heart of Little Italy, Made famous by Robert DeNiro and Chazz Palminteri's "A Bronx Tale". it is also is the same place where Joe Pesci played guitar at and waited tables before DeNiro plucked him out to star opposite him in "Raging Bull."
May 16 - Lorraine Bracco (Dr. Jennifer Melfi) will serve as a judge
at the Titanium Chef Challenge in the Grand Ballroom at the Don CeSar
Beach Resort on St. Petersburg Beachas part of The Tampa Bay Wine &
Food Festival. For tickets and festival information, go to www.unleashyourpalate.com or call (866) 630-5615. Attendees will also get a chance (if you are of legal drinking age) to sample from her line of Italian WInes, Bracco Wines.
Definitely my favorite time of the week. Definitely, raining here,
but hopely Saturday and Sunday it will clear up. Or another idea I have
is let it rain all weekend, so there is no rain left in the forecast
for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
Reuters announced that Soprano creator, David Chase has signed on to direct his first feature feature film. It will be a drama.
Time is running out to see Max Casella, aka Benny Fazio in the play "Endgame", at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This is a short run for this production, it is scheduled to close on May 18. The BAM Harvey Theater is located at 651 Fulton Street in Brooklyn. Tickets, priced $25-$75, are available by calling (718) 636-4100 or by visiting www.BAM.org . For more about this production Playbill has the details.
If you are in one of my favorite cities, San Francisco don't for get to stop by and see Annie Liebowitz's photo exhibition “A Photographer's Life” at the Legion of Honor . According to the San Francisco Sentinel, it It will close at that venue on May 25, and then the tour will go international.
]]>
I love living in Jersey. What other state has a claim to having its own mystery meat. Just love that stuff! I guess you know what I am having for breakfast today. Yummy!
I see that Steve Schirripa (Bobby Bacala) has been added to the list of correspondents for NBC's Last Comic Standing. Great guy!
Michael Imperioli's (Christopher Moltisanti) movie, "Lonely Bones" release date has been pushed back to fall of 2009.
Mother's Day I believe is this upcoming Sunday, Carmela Soprano has made number 15 for the top television mother list.
Robert Funaro (Eugene Pontecorvo) will be participating in "Taste for Life" for the The Cancer Wellness Foundation of Central Alabama on June 21 at Court Square. For more information call Cancer Wellness Foundation of Central Alabama at 273-2279.
Have one of the best days ever!According to Variety, Michael Imperioli will be will be directing the movie, "The Hungry Ghosts." If I read correctly, he also wrote the script. Filming is to commence next month in New York City and Steven R. Schirripa (Bobby Bacala) and Sharon Angela (Rosalie Aprile) are part of the cast.
James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) has joined the cast of the movie, "Looped."
Looking for something to do this weekend?
Making plans this weekend, The Chiller Show returns to New Jersey and Joe Pantoliano (Ralph Ciffaretto) is expected as a guest. The venue is the Hilton located in Parsippany.
Another weekend fun event, Max Casella, aka Benny Fazio play "Endgame", has opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This is a short run for this production, it is scheduled to close on May 18. The BAM Harvey Theater is located at 651 Fulton Street in Brooklyn. Tickets, priced $25-$75, are available by calling (718) 636-4100 or by visiting www.BAM.org . For more about this production Playbill has the details. ]
Focus on having on of the best weekends ever!
]]>I guess Fidel Castro was jealous of the television his relatives were watching in Union City, or maybe they just longed for something from New Jersey, like Taylor's Ham. It was announced that the Cuban National Television will start airing "The Sopranos." A local Cuban news source explained
Juventud Rebelde , said the decision to air "The Sopranos" and "Grey's Anatomy" demonstrated the state television's "proven rigor in the selection of dramas of high ethical quality and powerful presentation."
Okay, I just thought they wanted to look at the newer cars used in the show.
This event is for April 24 and will be held in Rhode Island as part of Butler Hospital 's “Real Stories, Real Recoveries” luncheon. Lorraine Bracco (Dr. Jennifer Melfi) will be the guest speaker. For more information and to purchase tickets, call call (401) 455-6581 or e-mail bhdevelopment@butler.org. Tickets can also be purchased online.
Max Casella, aka Benny Fazio is set to join the cast of “Endgame” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Performances are set to begin on April 25 (previews), it officially opens on April 30 and will close on May 18.
The BAM Harvey Theater is located at 651 Fulton Street in Brooklyn .
Tickets, priced $25-$75, are available by calling (718) 636-4100 or by
visiting www.BAM.org . For more about this production Playbill has the details.
I received this one from my dear friend John, its a cute Simpson video, look la familiar doesn't it? Click here to watch the video.
"Sopranos Sunday,"
to benefit the Huntington's Disease Society of America, will take place
June 1 at Hyatt Regency Greenwich. The event, which features a cocktail
reception, dinner, auction and a meet and greet with actors Vincent Pastore (Big Pussy), Dan Grimaldi (Patsy Parisi), Jerry Adler (Hesh), Tony Lip (Carmine Lupertazzi) and Federico Castelluccio (Furio),
among others. Celebrity participation is coordinated by WGCH Radio's
Mark Yusko. For tickets, call Alex Roque at (212) 242-1968, Ext. 233 or
go to www.hdsa.org.
".
Special thanks to super fan Sarah for directing me to this one. Denny's released a new commercial, featuring Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts), which is available for viewing on You Tube. Very cool. I guess we now know who bought that Cadillac at the recent auction in Florida.
If you haven't made plans for Memorial Day weekend, I have a suggestion. On Saturday May 24, 2008, at 7:00 pm, Vincent Pastore's Wise Guy Show and The Lickety Split Band
will host a special holiday party to welcome the summer. Those who
attend can expect great food, surprise guests and the music of The
Lickety Split band. The Lickety Split Band features Frank Pisani,
Charlie Powers and Skip Giacco. Being old friends with Vinny, it is
expected that Vincent Pastore will step up to the mike and belt out a
few songs. The event is being held at The Atlantic City Hilton, is located
on Boston Avenue and The Boardwalk in the gaming and entertainment
capitol of the East Coast in Atlantic City, NJ. 08401. Tickets are
available by contacting Joe Sarnese at 1-800-962-5373 then press 2 or by emailing him at sarnese@hiltonac.com Vinny (Big Pussy) sings quite well, I recently saw him sing "Mr. Cellophane" in the Broadway production of "Chicago" and on the compact disk "Mob Story, a Hip Opera
Special thanks to super fan Sarah for directing me to this one. Denny's released a new commercial, featuring Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts), which is available for viewing on You Tube. Very cool. I guess we now know who bought that Cadillac at the recent auction in Florida.
Max Casella, aka Benny Fazio is set to join the cast of “Endgame” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Performances are set to begin on April 25 (previews), it officially opens on April 30 and will close on May 18.
The BAM Harvey Theater is located at 651 Fulton Street in Brooklyn .
Tickets, priced $25-$75, are available by calling (718) 636-4100 or by
visiting www.BAM.org . For more about this production Playbill has the details.
I can across this the other day, and I have to admit I really enjoyed it. This commercial, which isn't being aired yet on television features Vinny Pastore (Big Pussy). Check it out and please send me an email about what you thought about it.
Congratulations are in line! The movie, "Doughboys" won the Best Film Award at the Kent Film Festival held this week. The movie features Lou Lombardi (Agent Skip Lipari) and Vinny Pastore.
This event is for Monday, March 31 there will be a reading to Benefit Studio Dante, the theater owned by Michael and Victoria Imperioli. This event will feature 2 plays introduced by Michael (Christopher Moltisanti) and read by Drea De Matteo (Adriana La Cuerva), and Stanley Tucci among stars. This event will run from 6:30–10:00 PM at the Rubin Museum
(150 West 17th Street between 6th & 7th Avenues). Tickets: $1,000
Patron Tickets (Preferred Reserved Priority Seating) / $500 Sponsor
Tickets (Full benefit evening with performance) / $150 Tickets
(Post-Performance reception, 9:00 PM onward). UPDATE Vincent Pastore (Big Pussy) and Aida Turturro (Janice Soprano) have been added to the list.
Tickets can be arranged at (877) 542-6633 or firstreadings@studiodante.com.
On Tuesday, April 1, at the TimesCenter, there will be an event appropriately named “Times Talk.” Playbill reports that Edie Falco (Carmela Soprano) has joined the panel scheduled to speak. Tickets are reasonably priced at 27 dollars and are available at this web site. The theater is located at 242 West 41st Street in New York City.
]]>On April 1, at the TimesCenter, there will be an event appropriately named “Times Talk.” Playbill reports that Edie Falco (Carmela Soprano) has joined the panel scheduled to speak. Tickets are reasonably priced at 27 dollars and are available at this web site. The theater is located at 242 West 41st Street in New York City.
Cha Cha, I know what you've been up to this week...The New York Post reports that you've been busy in New York's Little Italy (like when isn't this guy busy in Little Italy, he's considered the Mayor of that area) filming a pilot for the program, "Don Justice." I heard some positive things about this program that Arthur Brown (creator/executive producer) and Charles Messina (director) are involved in.
The other day I mentioned an event entitled: “First Readings : A Benefit for Studio Dante” which is scheduled for March 31 at the Rubin Museum. 2 more names have been added to the rooster, which includes Drea DeMatteo (Adriana LaCuerva) and Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti). Former broadway show castmates, Vincent Pastore (Big Pussy) and Aida Turturro (Janice Soprano) have joined the talent which will read selections from 2 plays. This event will run from 6:30–10:00 PM at the Rubin Museum
located at 150 West 17th Street between 6th & 7th Avenuesin New
York City. Tickets: $1,000 Patron Tickets (Preferred Reserved Priority
Seating) / $500 Sponsor Tickets (Full benefit evening with performance)
/ $150 Tickets (Post-Performance reception, 9:00 PM onward).
Tickets can be arranged at (877) 542-6633 or firstreadings@studiodante.com.
Tonight at Jimbo's Steak and Fin Restaurant, located at 405 Franklin Street in Braintree, Mass., Frank Santorelli (Georgie, the bartender) will be part os Annette's Comedy Asylum. Reservations are requested. To make reservations call 781-848-0300.
- Soprano Sue]]>James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) has a new project in the works. It is reported that he has signed on to be in the re make of the movie, “The Taking of Pelham 123”. He has been cast in the role of the mayor. My friend Roddy Murphy has been also working on this film.
Remind me, next time there is a camera around to wander behind the subject, to get to be part of the frame…The Record has an article about the book I just read, “Fear and Yoga in New Jersey” written by Debra Galant.
I believe this event is going to be held in Galesburg, IL. On April 7, Discovery Depot will hold a fundraising event, at the Cherry Street Restaurant and Bar located at 57 South Cherry Street, in which Joe Pantoliano (Ralph Cifaretto) will be a celebrity mixologist. For more information, click here. The event will be held between 5 and 8 pm.
On March 31 there will be a reading to Benefit Studio Dante, the theater owned by Michael and Victoria Imperioli. This event will feature 2 plays introduced by Michael (Christopher Moltisanti) and read by Drea De Matteo (Adriana La Cuerva), and Stanley Tucci among stars. This event will run from 6:30–10:00 PM at the Rubin Museum
(150 West 17th Street between 6th & 7th Avenues). Tickets: $1,000
Patron Tickets (Preferred Reserved Priority Seating) / $500 Sponsor
Tickets (Full benefit evening with performance) / $150 Tickets
(Post-Performance reception, 9:00 PM onward).
Tickets can be arranged at (877) 542-6633 or firstreadings@studiodante.com.
We have another excting event coming up. On April 2 at St. Ann 's Warehouse, they will have a 20 th anniversary concert featuring Disney cover songs. Steve Buscemi (Tony Blundetto) and David Byrne are expected to participate. St. Ann 's Warehouse is located at 38 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY. Tickets are available by calling (718) 254-8779 or online at artsatstanns.org.
This Wednesday March 26, Vincent Pastore's Wise Guy Show will be broadcasing live from the NY International Car Show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. Everyone is invited to stop by the most exciting booth at the show located in the lobby area near 34 th Street. Cha Cha's web site (Albie Cianflone) is updated with tonight's guests, and if you become his friend on MYSPACE, you'll receive a bulletin, giving you a heads up on Wednesday night's guest list. Also on his website, there are some tips on how to beat the Port Authority out of the rate increase on the tolls into New York.
It's funny how things turn out in life. In the end of February 2001, I met a reporter for the New York Times at the Barnes & Noble in Clifton. She wanted to talk to me about what exactly Soprano Sue is. Tonight, it has become full circle for us. Last night I was at that same Barnes & Noble again, except this time to was to report on Debra Galant's reading and book signing of her newest book, "Fear and Yoga in New Jersey." Excellent book, pick up a copy. She's doing another event Thursday night at Cafe Eclectic located at 444 Bloomfield Ave in Montclair, NJ (7 pm), Make a point of attending, she does a lively comedic presentation.
It's Wednesday and as always its my favorite night of the week. After a nice dinner of baked ziti, its time to curl up in my recliner and listen to Vincent Pastore's Wise Guy Show on Sirius Radio Raw Dog 104. The program airs from 6 to 9 pm. Cha Cha's web site (Albie Cianflone) is updated with tonight's guests, and if you become his friend on MYSPACE, you'll receive a bulletin, giving you a heads up on Wednesday night's guest list.
After that, you have a chance to see the show, I was lucky enough to see in a special screening last week, "Beyond Wise Guys: Italian Americans and the Movies" which airs at 10 pm on Channel 13 (NET) in the New York area.
Italian American film artists are well represented in Hollywood and the independent film community, shaping the art and craft of moviemaking in America and creating box office hits all over the world. Through interviews with Italian Americans active in the film industry and vérité footage of them at work – Beyond Wiseguys reveals how their heritage finds expression in their art and informs the projects they choose.
Executive-produced by award-winning actor and filmmaker John Turturro, Beyond Wiseguys is a feature-length documentary that uses extraordinary interviews with prominent Italian-American film artists such as Mr. Turturro, Isabella Rossellini, Susan Sarandon, Martin Scorsese, Ben Gazzara, Marisa Tomei, Richard LaGravenese, Stanley Tucci, Nancy Savoca, Santo Loquasto and many others to explore the personal experiences that brought them all to the movies.
It's impossible to imagine American film history without Rudolph Valentino, Frank Capra, Vincente Minnelli, Henry Mancini, Francis Ford Coppola or Martin Scorsese. It's also hard to separate the popular image of Italian Americans from the goombas and gangsters that crowd many of Hollywood 's most successful and critically acclaimed films. Why this happened and how it still affects artists working both in front of and behind the camera are key questions the program confronts. What social and cultural forces drew Italian Americans into the film industry and what price did they pay for their success there? Certainly, the Italian American gangster and other stereotypes, often popularized by Italian American filmmakers themselves, have not only persisted but prevailed as integral parts of American popular culture. At the same time, Beyond Wiseguys looks at classic movies like The Sheik , The Godfather , Mean Streets, Rocky , My Cousin Vinny, and Moonstruck to understand the seemingly irresistible power the Italian American archetype exerts on audiences and filmmakers alike.
Today, Italian Americans find themselves at the forefront of filmmaking. Our guests relate their personal stories of struggle and success—Nancy Savoca (writer & director, True Love ); Richard LaGravenese (screenwriter, The Bridges of Madison County ; writer & director, Living Out Loud ), and Santo Loquasto (production designer for Woody Allen since 1987)—and how their Italian American heritage plays a part in their careers. Using behind-the-scenes footage of these artists at work today, we'll see how their own personal attachment to their culture has helped define their journey as creative artists.
Thisa film also includes interviews with Sopranos creator David Chase and Michael Rispoli (Jackie Aprile, Sr), who beside sharing their thoughts they also share some photos from their past. I really enjoyed this film and highly recommend it to my readers. It airs in the New York area at 10 pm, on channel 13 (WNET) at 10 pm. So if you can't stay up, set the VCR, DVD recorder or Tivo, this is a definate must see! The program is airing in other markets, check your local listings for times and dates, and if I hear of any airings, I will have it up.
]]>Tonight there is an event that I am pretty excited about. Last week I was reading the book "Fear and Yoga in New Jersey" and I really enjoyed it. Tonight the author, Debra Galant, will have a reading and a book signing at my local Barnes & Noble Bookseller, located in Clifton Commons on Route 3 east (Clifton, NJ) at 7:30 pm. I plan on attending, and for those looking to save a buck, everytime she finishes reading a chapter, yell "read one more chapter."
I've been waiting for this one, today the movie “Revolver” featuring Vincent Pastore (Big Pussy) will be released on DVD in The United States. source: Movie Web
Here's an event for this coming Thursday night. Dominic Chianese (Uncle Junior Corrado Soprano) will be performing at Columbus, located at 246 A Columbus Avenue, NYC this Thursday night. For more information call 212-769-1492. Source: NY Daily News
Variety reports that Sopranos director, Allen Coulter has signed on to direct the Showtime, untitled comedy which will feature Edie Falco (Carmela Soprano).
- Soprano SueGalant, Debra.
Fear and Yoga in New Jersey.
St. Martin's. Mar. 2008.
c.272p. ISBN 978-0-312-36725-1.
$23.95.
Nina is a self-employed yoga instructor in an affluent part of Essex County, NJ. She caters to the blond wives of rich Manhattan businessmen and is secretly ashamed of her Long Island upbringing as a Jewish American Princess. Now she's a Unitarian, pleased with her own open-mindedness and environmental outlook. "She drove a Prius, recycled religiously, eschewed synthetics, shopped organic, drank bottled water and bought all her stationery from third-world countries." When her husband loses his job as a weather forecaster at the airport, Nina's planets go out of alignment and all sorts of bad karma comes her way: a yoga student falls and threatens to sue, a hurricane in Florida scares her meddling mother into a surprise visit, and her son starts acting strangely after attending a rich classmate's bat mitzvah. Galant, whose first novel, Rattled, proved that she had a talent for zany suburban social satire, strikes again. This time her characters are slightly more sympathetic, if pathetic, but the action is madcap and nonstop. Recommended for all public libraries.- Christine Perkins, Burlington P.L, WA.
"Fear and Yoga in New Jersey" (St. Martin's Press)
By Debra Galant
Like her first novel, "Rattled," Debra Galant's new book is a comedy of modern life in a New Jersey suburb. And it starts out, anyway, with promise.
Nina is a yoga teacher whose studied calm on the job masks an increasingly out-of-control domestic life. Her normally sober-minded husband is laid off work in an outsourcing, and proceeds to blunder into misadventures with a hard-nosed Homeland Security agent and a lap-dancer named Xenon. Nina's son, seduced by attending an opulent bat mitzvah, decides he wants a bar mitzvah, taking advantage of the Jewish roots Nina had rejected in favour of Unitarianism. And Nina's parents, including her overbearing and suspicious mother, drop in for a visit.
The story unfolds in a series of scenes that rotate among the main characters. It gets off to a promising start with some funny situations and good one-liners.
A beginning yoga student, meekly entering a class during quiet time, adopts "an exaggerated pretence of civility, or else her interpretation of Marcel Marceau imitating a burglar." A wealthy high school student who bought a souped-up iPod with her ton of bat mitzvah money passes on her old one to a friend "like it was a half-eaten tuna sandwich." A rabbi bears "a full beard with the texture of a Brillo pad."
Just as enticing are Galant's takes on suburban life, such as her descriptions of the women in Nina's yoga classes. And the author deftly portrays the petty resentments that build up between spouses.
As Nina's life unravels, it looks like the story is headed toward an inventive, screwball climax. But then, somehow, the fizz goes flat. Instead, toward the end of the book, loose ends are tied up in a way that is, well, workmanlike.
Nonetheless, it's a breezy read, a beach book. If that's what you're after, this will do the trick.
Copyright © 2008 The Canadian Press.
