harley-cross

As a sequel, they almost had it, if the producers would have finessed the talent that they had. Jimmy Baio added nothing good to the group. With the existing players. the film could have made it, but bringing in the "weird" talent - the producers killed the movie. A gamble that lost. Sigh.

I believe that Joe Weisberg's personal life influenced the lack of Henry's ( Keidrich Sellati's) role in the series. The plots and character development are certainly powerful enough to include him; maybe in the final season he will have a role. In the second season the use of "the other son" was quite disappointing; I attribute that to poor writing and that may well have killed off any hope for poor Mr. Sellati. It's a hard nut to crack. Paige certainly is a powerful element to the photoplay, but I still believe the premise is powerfull enough to carry them both. Adding the (marginal) Vietnamese character didn't help; but that may be because I live in an area with a tremendous TRUE Vietnamese/Laos refugee population so the Joe Weisberg character seems quite false in comparison. Henry could have, by comparison, been fleshed out more fully; but I do understand the need for the series to bring to light the other players in the Communist movement, so I do understand and support those plot-lines as well. Sounds wishy-washy, but that's politics. I just think that a Dad would have a closer bond to his son, especially knowing Philip's past. Every Russian I have known has has a very close bond to his son.

My family and I started watching this show via streaming video only because my wife and I were impressed by Steve Martin's film of the same name. That film was surprising to us due to its complexity, seriousness and character depth which was unexpected considering the advertising and actors involved, we did not think it would be as excellent as it was. So - there's my plug for the film.

The television show also is of an equal quality. I found the characters believable and mostly legitimate, though I must say in the later episodes Lauren Graham's character was so irritating (my wife said, "can she ever just stop talking??") we could not stand to listen to her and fast-forwarded past her dialog. Max Burkholder is our all-time favorite and who doesn't love Dax Shephard? What kind of name is Dax, anyway? My son always asks this as he liked him in "Zathura". Sarah Ramos is a talented studio staple, she was spectacular in "American Dreams". The content of the series although written as California-oriented most of the family issues could be found anywhere; however, the wide, wide liberal premise is a bit Ozzie and Harriet for mainstream non-inner-city America such as Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. But that's what television is - an escape from reality. All in all a good show, but we would have enjoyed it more if the writers had Ms. Graham and Whitman shut the heck up.

This is a refreshing series since the end of Mad Men and other vintage television series. Not quite up to the production values of Mad Men, but still a refreshing entry into the bland land of television today. The "Jewish" angle is a bit sketchy; depending on your particular (I can't think of the word right now, but it's similar to dedication, observation, belief in, etc) relationship to that religion; non-withstanding it is an entertaining show. The production values are high, and the acting is of good quality. The only part that I think could be done better is the time-shifting, it would be helpful to those of us whom are older (and use sub-titles) understand through a simple tag (November, 1960) as an example - to show what we are seeing is the past or the present. I would not think this would distract from the overall presentation of the scene. Such as with early on the diner scene with her in her wedding dress in the diner. After re-winding and re-watching we of course realize it's a flashback but actually that scene seemed completely meaningless in the scope of that episode. Also the relationships between the in-laws is just as vague without a clear idea why this is necessary. It seems that there is a great deal of unnecessary "fill in" which doesn't truly add to the plot. From the get-go we know she will be a fantastic stand-up comic so it's assumed that everyone will misunderstand and will question this, but I don't see why once Joel left why she would really deal with his family, being such a strong woman as she is. Obviously I don't understand the "family values" of the 1950s because if my husband did this today, in 2017 - it would be so long, Stan, and sue me if you want to see the kids ever again. But evidently womenfolk of that era were chattel and they could just do whatever they wanted. Wow have things changed. Interesting premise, and a show that I believe that once in the future having watched the entire series will bring it all together. This alone is the sign of the times, because I don't like waiting a week for the next part. TV in the sixties and seventies sucked because if, for instance (In my case it was a Disney two-parter) you parents took you on vacation, you were totally screwed because there were no ability to record or re-view, and I recall asking my cousin "Well -what happened?" So I believe a series should be completed before ever being released at all. In my humble opinion, the concept of TV is dead, along with all forms of advertising, and that the major corporations are completely missing the boat when it comes to a revenue stream. If they would like to learn a method to earn real money in today's climate, well just send me an e-mail and I'd certainly consult with them, because I know how. Dump the ads, provide the content for free, and the money will roll in like you've never expected. I can prove it. But the series is definitely entertaining, but fast-forward through the goofy parts. My seven-cents. Ciao!

If one edits out Miley Cyrus singing then this episode is quite funny, great skits. Miley is much more entertaining as an actor and needs to leave the singing to her father. Larry David has that understated "Chevy Chase" type of humor that really make the skits funny, and anything concerning Donald Trump is hilarious,

Though it has its twists and turns, this is the standard "bad nanny/babysitter" film and is fairly predictable. David Faustino prior to "Married with Children" was a fairly good actor; it's too bad he didn't continue in film instead of television. He and I are about the same age and I didn't ever do television and only met him the one time, but TV truly takes a toll on young people.

I found this film to be well-crafted for its budget. The storyline and plot follow a logical, though a bit unrealistic path towards the climax. I would prefer to see this on the stage, rather than the screen as the character development would come across as less wooden with a live performance. If one can overlook the flat affect of some of the actors then it's a good story. I am of the theory that the film was shot in sequence, as the actors loosened up towards the end. Mikah Carter gave a good performance throughout. All in all, this is a film created with a great deal of care, and for that I commend all involved.