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John from Cincinnati - The Complete First Season
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Editorial Reviews:
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Just north of the border, in the tired coastal town of Imperial Beach, CA, live three generations of Yosts: surfing royalty turned society misfits. The Yost's reign and reputation, once defined in the cure of a perfect wave, has been eroded by years of bad luck, addiction and hubris. But just as things are looking like they can't get worse, a stranger named John arrives - and the Yost's banal existence is lifted into something profound, miraculous and, possibly, universal.
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A 2007 HBO television series created by Deadwood's David Milch, John from Cincinnati details a week in the dysfunctional Yost family--a family comprised of three generations of men obsessed with surfing who experience firsthand the perils of fame, paranormal events, and an inexplicable realization of the interconnectedness of man. Past surfing great Mitch Yost (Bruce Greenwood) had his career halted by a knee injury, but passed his love of surfing onto his son Butchie (Brian Van Holt) only to have fame drive his son to a heavy drug use that's destroying his life. Butchie's son Shaun (Greyson Fletcher) is being raised by Mitch and his wife Cissy (Rebecca De Mornay) and also possesses a deep love surfing and a talent that promises him a great future, if he can only get his grandfather to allow him to compete. The family's circle of friends and acquaintances seem mostly to argue, swear, and generally tear each other down and include retired and mentally unstable police officer Bill (Ed O'Neill), surfer girl Kai (Keala Kennelly) who works at the Yost's surf shop and watches out for Shaun, motel manager Ramon (Luiz G?zman), Butchie's settlement lawyer Palaka (Paul Ben-Victor), and a few other seemingly unrelated townspeople. The mysterious arrival of John, who insists on seeing Butchie, sparks the beginning of one strangely paranormal experience after another for the family and community including unexplained levitations and visions, a haunted hotel room, and two resurrections from death. Somehow, John emphasizes the connectedness of both family members and townspeople and, while John himself comes across as significantly dim, he has a knack for saying the profound without understanding a word of what he speaks. As the days go by, it becomes apparent that John gives voice to the words of his father or The Father. This eight-episode series is an exploration of self-centeredness, fear, and faith and John's role as savior, doomsayer, unwitting pawn, or simpleton is never clear--the end of the season at day seven brings no real resolution or sense of whether the Yost family is better off or worse than they were before John appeared. A truly bizarre show full of unanswered questions and crude language and subject matter, it is somehow intriguing even as it is repulsive and unsatisfying. --Tami Horiuchi
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John from Cincinnati - The Complete First Season
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User Comments About John from Cincinnati - The Complete First Season
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The best show on TV, ever.
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John From Cincinnati was one of those miraculous shows that come around once in a blue moon. I was so sorry to see the season cut short and the series ended so prematurely, but I treasure having the DVD. It was continually enthralling and puzzling and hilariously entertaining and uplifted me at a time when that was exactly what I needed.
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At this price, get it because who knows how long it will be around. Unlike some other five star reviewers of JFC, I won't pretend like I"m in some special club because I "got" this show. It took me a while to realize what I was looking at-going to wikipedia and getting a brief character background helped make a little order out of chaos. I'd say the pacing is like "Deadwood" with content more similar to "Carnivale". That is, its not really casual viewing, some things you'll need to draw your own conclusions from, it does not guide you to any.
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The word love is not strong enough. (See God Kai)
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I had not watched any of Milch's series before this. I don't know, Butchie, instead. I did. You'll know by the 2nd episode which group you are in. I love the show, and I love him for creating it.
If you can do those three things, you may love this show. You either get this show or you don't. I wasn't a Soprano's fan, wasn't a Deadwood fan - I don't even get HBO. Nothing against those who didn't get it (a few of whose reviews you can read here).
It solidified something very important in me. That everyone and anyone is eligible. I wait for DVD's. 1) Have a more-or-less spiritual point of view on life, 2) Be willing to live with ambiguity for a little while, and 3) Have compassion for the humans. Are you going to like it. That God's (or whatever you want to call it) grace is not selective.
:-) I think you need to be able to do three things to appreciate this show.
I have watched the season twice, and will probably watch it again once or twice a year. Those people should move on to the next HBO show. This is not your typical HBO, or any other network for that matter, show.
That miracles do occur. That healing can occur. I think David Milch must have a touch of the divine in him (as we all probably do) to have conceived of this show.
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It shouldn't have been cancelled!
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I couldn't decide how I felt about Greyson Fletcher's performance. I quickly realized that I wanted to see it in sequence and I ordered the set. I missed it when it was current and only recently saw a couple of episodes, but I didn't see it from the beginning. Rebecca de Mornay may have provided her best performance ever.
You probably have never seen someone who allows her ball-busting demons such free reign. The show's last episode started with the brilliant John and Shaun sequence, but seemed to fade to grey shortly after that. Willie Garzon, Luiz Guzman, Dayton Callie, Paul Ben-Victor and especially Ed O'Neill form a brilliant tribe of support characters for this story line.
I would very much like the show's creators to provide some sort of wrap up for the project for clarification. It was either a very weak performance, or Shaun was supposed to be a blank slate and character development was cut off by the premature cancelling of the show. Her bitch roots might startle you, but they are presented quickly and then left behind in the dust of yet another set of revelations. This was a spectacular show with a tremendous balance of mystery, revelations, great acting performances, superb casting and terrific story development. It ended with a limp and a whimper, but everything up to that was well worth seeing.
Unfortunately it was cancelled and we are left hanging.
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This is very nearly the greatest single season's worth of television show in history.
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That is the magical quality in human beings(lost by the time we are adults) that is depicted in JFC. Let me say right off the get go that I have not actually seen the DVD's of the series so I cannot attest to the kind of job that HBO did; although my experience with like products from HBO has been very good. I have seen the series and taped the episodes. The conversations between characters is dance like.in fact if you loved the dialogue in DEADWOOD you will love this. The first season of that series is in my view the best single season of any program in history.well, it was until John From Cincinnati. If you are a creative type in love with deep plots where there is more going on than meets the eye, you will no doubt enjoy this and could probably buy it sight unseen and be happy. We have but to re-connect with it.
The creativity is extraordinary. That quality is our salvation. Remember when you were a kid and you could run up to a group of children your own age that were say;digging a hole to China or building some contraption. They are neck and neck. I have viewed every episode several times and I never tire of this thing.
I was and am a huge fan of the HBO series Six Feet Under. However, If the programing regularly seen on the major broadcast networks is your idea of superior entertainment; you should refrain from buying JFC until you have seen it. You didn't know them and they didn't know you, but within seconds you were participating in something. The series helps in that effort just a bit, so that makes it more than worthwhile.
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