Soprano

BY NOW, IT'S A CLICHE TO LAMBASTE THE music of Journey, the '80s pop-rock quintet best known for its soaring, florid power balladry. Though immensely popular, selling more than 75 million albums worldwide during its heyday, the San Francisco band never garnered much critical respect. The 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide said Journey's music is "utter triviality," reeking of "exploitative cynicism." The sentiment didn't change with the passage of time: The 2004 edition called the group the "perfect karaoke act."

All politics is local," said Tip O'Neill. All art is local, too. The Sopranos was great when it depicted mob life as it is lived in the lower depths and upscale suburbs of New Jersey. But when it indulged its creator's preoccupations with middle-class angst, it wobbled into the treadmill-like oblivion of its life-goes-on finale. And that's a failure at the highest level. Too many "realistic" Hollywood movies take place in the same generic suburbs where they end up being shown. In periods when movie art pops up mainly in foreign, classic and "indie" cinema, filmgoers come to trust independent theaters like the Charles, Senator and Rotunda, for showcasing the best of it. In a week when The Sopranos went down in flames, Baltimoreans can return to thrilling movie-going days of yesteryear with Mafioso at the Charles.

THERE'S A sucker born every minute," said P.T. Barnum. And maybe some fans of The Sopranos are feeling likewise, with the "unsatisfying" go-to-black finale to the series on Sunday night. But in a way, the show ended perfectly, if not with the high level of violence, comeuppance or escape devoutly wished for by so many. There they sat in a restaurant, four not-terribly-bright, craven, greedy, clueless, messed up people - one a violent killer - pondering the possibility of manicotti. Completely ordinary except for the dozens of murders and crimes that littered their past, occupied the present and shadowed the future.

If you thought Tony Soprano had issues, you should talk to fans of The Sopranos. A day after the final episode of the landmark HBO mob drama, reaction to creator David Chase's ambiguous jump-to-black ending ranged from he's-a-genius praise to outright scorn. Some people simply thought the cable had gone out. "I liked it," said long-time fan Zack Chaiken, 28, of Baltimore. "To me, it was pretty clear that Tony gets a bullet." "I just thought it was horrible," said Bitsy Cramer of Timonium.

Tony Soprano lives. But for how much longer? In a provocative ending sure to be loudly debated for days, HBO's The Sopranos concluded its six-season run last night leaving viewers up in the air as to the fate of the New Jersey crime boss. The final scene featured Tony (James Gandolfini), his wife, Carmela (Edie Falco), and son, A.J. (Robert Iler), in a restaurant where they were about to be joined by the last member of their family, daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), when the screen went black and the credits started to roll.

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE SAT TONY SOPRANO IN DR. Jennifer Melfi's waiting room, quizzically staring at the sculpture of a nude female. Seconds later, the psychiatrist opened the door to her office, and so began one of the most compelling conversations and resonant series in TV history. SERIES FINALE OF "THE SOPRANOS" / / Airs at 9 tonight on HBO ONLINE Tell us your favorite episodes at baltimoresun.com / sopranos. To view a video of The Sopranos and hear David Zurawik discuss the history of the series at baltimoresun.

To send off The Sopranos, I cooked "la cucina nostra" - some of their food. It was my way to say ciao to Tony, Carmela, Meadow, A.J. and the rest of the characters who have spiced up the HBO television series that airs its final episode Sunday night. I prepared baked ziti with meatballs, a dish that takes at least two hours to make for the sauce alone. I used a recipe from The Sopranos Family Cookbook. This 2002 book, supposedly written by Artie Bucco, the chef who ran Nuovo Vesuvio restaurant in the TV series, had as much trivia in it as tips about food.

If you watched the return of The Sopranos on HBO last night, you know the notorious New Jersey crime family has sunk to a new low. Forget the whackings and beatings and witness intimidation. Forget the drug dealing, loan sharking and extortion. No, this is truly unforgivable. Now they're into karaoke. OK, was that painful to watch or what? Carmela with a snootful of wine swaying in front of the teleprompter and screeching the lyrics to "Love Hurts"? Look, if we have to put up with any more of that in the next eight episodes, it's going to be a long, long season.

MOB BOSS SUPREME TONY Soprano (James Gandolfini) these days tells himself that every day is a gift, but after being shot in the abdomen, simply eating sausage threatens to put him back in the emergency room. Rival mafioso Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) is back on the streets, but after quintuple bypass surgery and a near-fatal post-op infection, he's just hoping to make it to retirement. PAGE 7E ONLINE DECIDE TONY'S FATE How will it end for Tony Soprano? When the last episode of The Sopranos airs on June 10, will Tony live or die?

The producers of The Sopranos were denied a permit to film in Bloomfield, N.J., because the mayor and some City Council members say the acclaimed HBO series negatively depicts Italian-Americans. Permits were approved last week. But after complaints, the council voted again and rejected them. Officials have agreed to reconsider the issue next week. Mayor Raymond McCarthy, whose wife is Italian, said he plans to oppose filming again. "What the rest of the council does, that's their choice.