John From Cincinnati -01 : 6/10/07
06-10-07, 09:37 AM
#1
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John From Cincinnati -01 : 6/10/07
Well, you know you'll have HBO on already. I'm willing to give any Milch project a chance.
Plot Summary :
Plot Summary :
Spoiler:
Sounds like shit. I want my fucking Deadwood.
06-10-07, 02:34 PM
#5
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Time says:
… Its visuals are gorgeous and its mystical glimpses tantalizing, but its transcendence is more asserted than earned. We sinful mortals still want prosaic things like a story. Until John from Cincinnati provides that, it will float two inches above the ground, too beautiful and pure for this earth--or our attention.
TV Guide says:
… It rides a wave of idiosyncratic surrealism that may baffle, annoy and frustrate as many viewers as it enchants, amuses and mesmerizes. For now, count me in the former camp. …
USA Today gives it two stars (out of four) says:
… it's hard to imagine the show coming from anyone but Milch, imbued as it is with Milch's existential concerns and that fractured, sometimes impenetrable Milchian grammar so familiar from Blue. Unfortunately, it's equally hard to imagine who would want to watch it on a weekly basis — or whether there's any audience at all for a beach-blanket-bingo philosophical fantasy. …
Entertainment Weekly gives it an “A-minus” and says:
… The ceaseless ways in which Milch and Nunn challenge our expectations about how families, friends, and strangers are meant to convey their fealty to each other, along with some fine hard-boiled dialogue and fisticuffs, suggest great continuing pleasures. …
The Wall Street Journal says:
… Viewers may get their very own taste of hell throughout the first episode, which is something like being confined by mistake to a mental institution in a "Snake Pit" scenario, where all the inmates are screaming obscenities and bouncing off the proverbial walls. …
The New York Times says:
… not likely to fulfill the nation’s yearning to fill the void left by “The Sopranos,” or, for that matter, “Deadwood.” It’s more like “Big Love” or “Carnivŕle,” smart, ambitious series that move unusual characters around an unfamiliar setting imaginatively and even with grace, but that never quite quit the surly bonds of serial drama. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
David Milch is the last guy I'd figure to bring back "Touched by an Angel" … Though it eventually catches a tail wind, "John From Cincinnati" is, in the early going, morose and claustrophobic. … Sometimes "John From Cincinnati" is a muddle, at other times rich drama and divine comedy. And sometimes it's all of that at once. …
The Chicago Tribune says:
It's only June, but I can confidently state that you won’t see a weirder show than "John From Cincinnati" all year long.… I’d tell you what “John” is about, if only I felt sure of, well, what it’s about. But after viewing three episodes, I don’t feel especially clued in. …
The Washington Post says:
Not until the last 10 minutes of the show do we finally get to see some fancy wave work, and unfortunately very little about the 40 minutes that precede this refreshing footage manages to make any appreciable sense. … there's no indication how many episodes of this series will have to be watched before any of it starts making sense. Come to think of it now, "For No Apparent Reason" would be a good title for the series -- at least as good as the self-consciously precious one it has. … Shows like "John From Cincinnati" are why the good Lord made remote-control clickers.
The Boston Globe says:
… Watching HBO's surfing drama "John From Cincinnati" is like sitting through a bad play at a tiny experimental theater. The dialogue is loud pretentious nonsense signifying nothing but the creative dangers of mimicking Sam Shepard , Edward Albee , and Samuel Beckett . And the acting is a psychic traffic jam, because the actors don't understand their characters, because their characters are no more than vague symbols of -- what? -- being, nothingness, and the fury of being nothing. …
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says:
… the greatest of minds have been responsible for spectacularly regrettable mistakes. That is what we have in David Milch's new series "John From Cincinnati," a fresh floater in HBO's bathwater. … The only thing a person can be certain of after watching "John From Cincinnati" is this: Any die-hard "Deadwood" fan interested in keeping the veins in his forehead intact should not bother with it. Watching it will only make you want to hurt your television, and it's unkind and quite expensive to punish the messenger so harshly.
The Orlando Sentinel says:
… a lot like its title character: baffling, irritating, simply strange. … The correct surfing term for this show: Wipeout! … A pretentious and talky botch …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… three episodes in, I started to buy into the world Milch has created. I don't understand it, I don't think I even really like it (almost all of the characters are damaged and rather unpleasant), but I am intrigued by it. (Enough to keep watching? We'll see.) …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… intriguing but not entirely satisfying … David Milch, the genius behind "Deadwood," has enough creative savvy to bring charm and luster even to a story about an off-putting, dysfunctional multigenerational family steeped in surfing tradition, which is exactly what he does here. Between their boozing, drug abuse, whining and generally ugly dispositions, watching the Yost family is only slightly more enjoyable than a root canal. …
Variety says:
… even worshippers at the altar of writer extraordinaire David Milch are likely to find themselves bewildered and frustrated with the premiere, and two subsequent episodes only marginally improve matters.…
… Its visuals are gorgeous and its mystical glimpses tantalizing, but its transcendence is more asserted than earned. We sinful mortals still want prosaic things like a story. Until John from Cincinnati provides that, it will float two inches above the ground, too beautiful and pure for this earth--or our attention.
TV Guide says:
… It rides a wave of idiosyncratic surrealism that may baffle, annoy and frustrate as many viewers as it enchants, amuses and mesmerizes. For now, count me in the former camp. …
USA Today gives it two stars (out of four) says:
… it's hard to imagine the show coming from anyone but Milch, imbued as it is with Milch's existential concerns and that fractured, sometimes impenetrable Milchian grammar so familiar from Blue. Unfortunately, it's equally hard to imagine who would want to watch it on a weekly basis — or whether there's any audience at all for a beach-blanket-bingo philosophical fantasy. …
Entertainment Weekly gives it an “A-minus” and says:
… The ceaseless ways in which Milch and Nunn challenge our expectations about how families, friends, and strangers are meant to convey their fealty to each other, along with some fine hard-boiled dialogue and fisticuffs, suggest great continuing pleasures. …
The Wall Street Journal says:
… Viewers may get their very own taste of hell throughout the first episode, which is something like being confined by mistake to a mental institution in a "Snake Pit" scenario, where all the inmates are screaming obscenities and bouncing off the proverbial walls. …
The New York Times says:
… not likely to fulfill the nation’s yearning to fill the void left by “The Sopranos,” or, for that matter, “Deadwood.” It’s more like “Big Love” or “Carnivŕle,” smart, ambitious series that move unusual characters around an unfamiliar setting imaginatively and even with grace, but that never quite quit the surly bonds of serial drama. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
David Milch is the last guy I'd figure to bring back "Touched by an Angel" … Though it eventually catches a tail wind, "John From Cincinnati" is, in the early going, morose and claustrophobic. … Sometimes "John From Cincinnati" is a muddle, at other times rich drama and divine comedy. And sometimes it's all of that at once. …
The Chicago Tribune says:
It's only June, but I can confidently state that you won’t see a weirder show than "John From Cincinnati" all year long.… I’d tell you what “John” is about, if only I felt sure of, well, what it’s about. But after viewing three episodes, I don’t feel especially clued in. …
The Washington Post says:
Not until the last 10 minutes of the show do we finally get to see some fancy wave work, and unfortunately very little about the 40 minutes that precede this refreshing footage manages to make any appreciable sense. … there's no indication how many episodes of this series will have to be watched before any of it starts making sense. Come to think of it now, "For No Apparent Reason" would be a good title for the series -- at least as good as the self-consciously precious one it has. … Shows like "John From Cincinnati" are why the good Lord made remote-control clickers.
The Boston Globe says:
… Watching HBO's surfing drama "John From Cincinnati" is like sitting through a bad play at a tiny experimental theater. The dialogue is loud pretentious nonsense signifying nothing but the creative dangers of mimicking Sam Shepard , Edward Albee , and Samuel Beckett . And the acting is a psychic traffic jam, because the actors don't understand their characters, because their characters are no more than vague symbols of -- what? -- being, nothingness, and the fury of being nothing. …
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says:
… the greatest of minds have been responsible for spectacularly regrettable mistakes. That is what we have in David Milch's new series "John From Cincinnati," a fresh floater in HBO's bathwater. … The only thing a person can be certain of after watching "John From Cincinnati" is this: Any die-hard "Deadwood" fan interested in keeping the veins in his forehead intact should not bother with it. Watching it will only make you want to hurt your television, and it's unkind and quite expensive to punish the messenger so harshly.
The Orlando Sentinel says:
… a lot like its title character: baffling, irritating, simply strange. … The correct surfing term for this show: Wipeout! … A pretentious and talky botch …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… three episodes in, I started to buy into the world Milch has created. I don't understand it, I don't think I even really like it (almost all of the characters are damaged and rather unpleasant), but I am intrigued by it. (Enough to keep watching? We'll see.) …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… intriguing but not entirely satisfying … David Milch, the genius behind "Deadwood," has enough creative savvy to bring charm and luster even to a story about an off-putting, dysfunctional multigenerational family steeped in surfing tradition, which is exactly what he does here. Between their boozing, drug abuse, whining and generally ugly dispositions, watching the Yost family is only slightly more enjoyable than a root canal. …
Variety says:
… even worshippers at the altar of writer extraordinaire David Milch are likely to find themselves bewildered and frustrated with the premiere, and two subsequent episodes only marginally improve matters.…
06-10-07, 03:35 PM
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"the greatest of minds have been responsible for spectacularly regrettable mistakes. That is what we have in David Milch's new series "John From Cincinnati," a fresh floater in HBO's bathwater."
Either I have a very sick mind or a real newspaper review actually compared this show to accidentally shitting yourself while taking a bath.
Either I have a very sick mind or a real newspaper review actually compared this show to accidentally shitting yourself while taking a bath.
06-10-07, 06:05 PM
#8
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I'll check it out, but Tim Goodman in the Chronicle who I have agreed with on most everything did not like it.
"Deadwood" fans, your heads are about to explode.
I've had the "John From Cincinnati" DVD for a while now. The first three episodes. But you know me, I'm never in a rush to watch something if I've got other things going on. You know, like life. And something inside - some inner warning system - indicated it might be a better idea to put off watching these episodes as long as possible. After all, I'm a huge "Deadwood" fan and the abrupt ending to that series still leaves me peeved. What if I watched and "John From Cincinnati" was bad?
If you don't know what's coming next, you don't watch enough television: "John From Cincinnati" is bad. I love David Milch and he's definitely a misunderstood visionary and a real character in the TV business. But this show is a total mess.
My full review doesn't run until June 10 - it's the cover of the Sunday Pink section. But I figured you might want to get a head start on the anger and mourning and those thoughts of retribution. You know, have your gods ready for blood and all that. No sane person can pretend to know what Milch was thinking. It's his right as an artist and, as I've noted, a misunderstood visionary, to do as he wishes. But HBO? A total blunder. You don't let one of the great series on all of television fizzle out for...uh, for what? And even if those two two-hour movies do get made, they can't make up for the truncated legacy of "Deadwood."
Sad. Really sad.
I've had the "John From Cincinnati" DVD for a while now. The first three episodes. But you know me, I'm never in a rush to watch something if I've got other things going on. You know, like life. And something inside - some inner warning system - indicated it might be a better idea to put off watching these episodes as long as possible. After all, I'm a huge "Deadwood" fan and the abrupt ending to that series still leaves me peeved. What if I watched and "John From Cincinnati" was bad?
If you don't know what's coming next, you don't watch enough television: "John From Cincinnati" is bad. I love David Milch and he's definitely a misunderstood visionary and a real character in the TV business. But this show is a total mess.
My full review doesn't run until June 10 - it's the cover of the Sunday Pink section. But I figured you might want to get a head start on the anger and mourning and those thoughts of retribution. You know, have your gods ready for blood and all that. No sane person can pretend to know what Milch was thinking. It's his right as an artist and, as I've noted, a misunderstood visionary, to do as he wishes. But HBO? A total blunder. You don't let one of the great series on all of television fizzle out for...uh, for what? And even if those two two-hour movies do get made, they can't make up for the truncated legacy of "Deadwood."
Sad. Really sad.
06-10-07, 06:26 PM
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Originally Posted by BadlyDrawnBoy
I'll check it out, but Tim Goodman in the Chronicle who I have agreed with on most everything did not like it.
All he had to say before continuing to rant about Deadwood was that "John from Cincinatti is bad".
Great, cocksucker, now tell us why.
06-10-07, 09:57 PM
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Originally Posted by The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
… the greatest of minds have been responsible for spectacularly regrettable mistakes. That is what we have in David Milch's new series "John From Cincinnati," a fresh floater in HBO's bathwater. … The only thing a person can be certain of after watching "John From Cincinnati" is this: Any die-hard "Deadwood" fan interested in keeping the veins in his forehead intact should not bother with it. Watching it will only make you want to hurt your television, and it's unkind and quite expensive to punish the messenger so harshly.
As for this first episode......WTF?!
-p
06-10-07, 10:17 PM
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Very odd show, but I'm willing to stick it out for a bit to see what happens. Even though the setting is very different from Deadwood, you can hear the Milch in bits of the dialogue.
06-10-07, 10:18 PM
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Originally Posted by critterdvd
It's HBO and the promise intrigues me, so I'll be checking it out. Anything to fill the six feet under void...
Or Anita. I'd compare it more to 'Carnivale' than anything else, just based on the first episode. Still, I'm cautiously optimistic. It was an enjoyable enough pilot.
06-10-07, 10:27 PM
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A very odd pilot but still some good moments like the scene at the motel with Barry and the gun.
I don't like John repeating everyone's lines like a parrot. Reminds me too much of Jeff Bridges' character in Starman. Or Rainman for that matter.
I don't like John repeating everyone's lines like a parrot. Reminds me too much of Jeff Bridges' character in Starman. Or Rainman for that matter.
06-10-07, 10:29 PM
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I really liked this show. Hopefully all the other stuff doesnt get in the way of the John stuff.
Half the Soprano crowd probably tuned out after the first 10 minutes but if your on the fence-watch it. It might end up being the best show of the year. I was very impressed and kept telling myself I havn't seen TV like this since the first season of Deadwood. What a coincidence.
Spoiler:
Half the Soprano crowd probably tuned out after the first 10 minutes but if your on the fence-watch it. It might end up being the best show of the year. I was very impressed and kept telling myself I havn't seen TV like this since the first season of Deadwood. What a coincidence.
06-10-07, 10:31 PM
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Originally Posted by cracksky
I don't like John repeating everyone's lines like a parrot. Reminds me too much of Jeff Bridges' character in Starman. Or Rainman for that matter.
06-10-07, 10:53 PM
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Originally Posted by vegasbaby
Wergo, I was expecting you to be at a bar at this time. Get laid yet?
And; no.
06-10-07, 11:04 PM
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Originally Posted by wergo
I ain't going out tonight. Really, would I WANT to meet anyone who wouldn't stay in to watch the 'Sopranos' finale?
And; no.
And; no.
I'm going to give this show a chance. I didn't know what the hell it was all about, but you've got some pretty good actors in it, so I think it deserves a couple more weeks until we can see what direction it's going in.
Chris
06-11-07, 12:45 AM
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I don't understand why HBO would cancel one of their best shows (Deadwood) only to let Milch do something that is completely amorphous and is getting bashed by the critics? Is it that much cheaper to make that HBO doesn't care?
06-11-07, 01:14 AM
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I watched it and definitely agree with the it's really weird comments. No idea who this John From Cincinnati character really is. I really hope he stops simply repeating what everyone says as that gimick could get old really fast. Very weird little show.
Also (and this never bothers me) the profanity in this show was beyond extreme. I'm sure there were way more than 100 f bombs dropped in fifty minutes. It made Tony Soprano and Ari look extremely tame in the process. Really kinda surprised about that to the point where I thought it was even kinda distracting.
I'll definitely watch it again, but boy it was different.
Also (and this never bothers me) the profanity in this show was beyond extreme. I'm sure there were way more than 100 f bombs dropped in fifty minutes. It made Tony Soprano and Ari look extremely tame in the process. Really kinda surprised about that to the point where I thought it was even kinda distracting.
I'll definitely watch it again, but boy it was different.
