Arts Movie Reviews

Family movie reviews for "Arts" sorted by average review score:

George Carlin - Playing with Your Head

Released in DVD by Mpi Media Group (28 January, 2003)

MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Director: Rocco Urbisci

Observational humor had been George Carlin's specialty for over 20 years when Playing with Your Head--the comedian's fifth special for HBO--was recorded in 1986. Carlin's not resting on his laurels here, presenting an abundance of new, politically incorrect material while expanding a few older routines. In "Sports" he applies hilarious criteria to what does or doesn't qualify (hockey doesn't count; lacrosse is a "faggot college activity"), and "A Moment of Silence" pays mock-mournful tribute to an ill-fated (and presumably fictional) group of "43 elderly, mentally retarded Bolivian senior citizen volleyball fans." If that kind of irreverence puts you off (and if so, why are you reading this?), you'll fare better with the universal humor of "Losing Things" (we all do it, right?), and a characteristic survey of language in "Hello and Goodbye." In any case, Carlin's best enjoyed when seen and heard, and the film noir spoof "The Envelope" provides a clever introduction to the funnyman's entrance onstage. --Jeff Shannon

Average review score:

A good routine, a good audience......

This show, George Carlin's fifth HBO stand-up concert special, was taped at Beverly Theater, Beverly Hills, California May 2-3, 1986. Includes "Hello-Goodbye," "It's Not a Sport," which is a modified sport routine, much like "Baseball and Football", "Losing Things" which is hilarious, and a short film-noir spoof, "The Envelope," featuring George as private eye Mike Holder.

George Carlin - What Am I Doing in New Jersey?

Released in DVD by Mpi Media Group (25 February, 2003)

MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Directors: Rocco Urbisci and Bruce Gowers

Average review score:

Carlin in Top Form and Never Disappoints

It's always a joy to see comedian George Carlin in action. Just when you think he cannot come up with anything more outrageous or funny, he surprises us every time. While I admit that I love his new stuff, I have to say I'm really a bigger fan of his older material. The man's funny either way, but still I love hearing his older material. So you can imagine how happy I was to find "George Carlin: What am I Doing in New Jersey?" on DVD.

I owned the album to this comedy concert for quite some time. In fact, I think it's one of his albums that I listen to the most. So it was great to finally see the stuff performed. As funny as he is on CD, his facial expressions are priceless. In this special he talks about everything from Ronald Regan to bumper stickers; from toll booths to keeping people in line; from cars and driving to singles bars, and a whole lot more.

There was hardly a single minute where I didn't find myself laughing. You can tell he really loves what he does and the man takes chances. He's not your typical comedian. The stuff he did back then was considered very controversial. Now, he's still a brilliant comedian who never seems to run out of ideas.

The DVD is great, being that the picture and sound quality is pretty good for it being so old. There's no extras available, which is a shame. I wouldn't mind seeing a documentary or two, or even a recent Carlin interview. Still, it is a high quality DVD nonetheless.

"George Carlin: What am I Doing in New Jersey?" is a must-have for any Carlin fan. Don't' even question or think about it. Just pick it up and enjoy the ride. I really wished there were more comedians like him, but what can you do? That's why he stands out so much. He's a man who can never be duplicated. This is a great comedy special that had me laughing from start to finish.

turning point in George's Career

This is the first special in which George actually expresses his political beliefs, and because of that I believe that this is one of his best. If it wasn't proven that George was a genius before, this one does it. It's funny as all hell, so do yourself a favor and go out and buy this one today.

Excellent works

Works from the late 80's - Mostly about topics such as health trends, driving, and Reaganism hypocrisy. This features the emergence of the openly "angry" Carlin we've seen in the past decade. Here he starts using more openly violent tones and language than in the 70's especially in the "Driving" skit and "Reagan" skit. He even bridges many skits by dismissing the earlier one, saying "That's enough of that!"

George Carlin - You Are All Diseased

Released in DVD by Mpi Media Group (27 May, 2003)

MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Director: Rocco Urbisci

Average review score:

"Disease Runs Rampant"

I grew up with Carlin; I can remember having my father run across the living room to turn off the 7 words you'd not see/hear on tv!
I own several of his cds and have seen many of his HBO specials, all of which are phenominal! Show me something that he has done, aside from the drug phase, that he sucked at! Agghum, there isn't much of anything that comes to mind, right?
As a testiment to how enduring and everlasting this cd is, I can tell you that has been circulated through several members of my large family; each has come back in tears, from laughing so hard, and wanting more.
I am telling you, get this and "Complaints and Grievances" as well - "I don't have to tell you I am not home..." Get it and you'll see! This is TOP knotch comic lunacy and is right up there with my other fave comedians like Eddie Izzard, and John Leguizamo.

Fearless, edgy, political, and yes smutty

The first 15 minutes of this concert, had my jaw on the floor. I couldn't believe what I was watching. Here, Carlin makes it funny to talk about airport security, terrorism, SARS and how afraid we've become as Americans. WOW. And this contemporary concert was held in 1999! His topics are so relevant to today, that it's both disarmingly funny and frightenly prescient.

However, no one today would have the fearlessness to *actually* produce something like this post 9//11. It's amazing to me that this is even on DVD.

I recommend this concert if you are tired of the namby pamby programming we've been fed by the corporate entities, post 9//11. Not only is this funny, but it is politically cutting-- much more so than Dennis Miller's meandering vocabulary. (Dennis Miller is bound to buy this DVD and owes this master a bow or two.) If you like the fearlessness of "South Park", you should also enjoy "You Are All Diseased".

There are some moments in the last 15 minutes where, like every comedian, even Jon Stewart's concerts, Carlin veers into "skanky" sexual jokes that are hit and miss. Overall, however, this is a refreshing anomaly in our oppressively "politically correct" times.

George Carlin at Carnegie Hall

Released in DVD by Mpi Home Video (28 August, 2001)

MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

"What are you, a comedian?" The question is being asked by a cop, played by George Carlin in a semi-improvised sketch, of a wisecracking scofflaw who just happens to be the real George Carlin. Well, yes, he is a comedian, Mr. Policeman, as it turns out. Carlin, the popular satirist, is making a persuasive and very funny case that comedy suffers from negative associations in our language ("That guy is sure acting funny..."), and the joke is typical of his 1982 performance at Carnegie Hall, captured here for an HBO special. On the rebound from his second heart attack ("I lead Richard Pryor in heart attacks two to one, and he leads me in setting oneself on fire"), Carlin follows his rambling observations through such random topics as whether one can argue with Rice Krispies or reject a well-wisher's blessing of "Have a nice day." ("Maybe I don't feel like it. I'm ready, by God, for a crappy day.") Other items on the agenda include a look at the news ("A man attempting to walk around the world drowned today..."), an overview of foods that don't look edible, the poor manners of dogs, and Carlin's ever-expanding list of dirty words to provoke the authorities. --Tom Keogh

Average review score:

What is a female Peacock?

George Carlin is a funny little (bleep), but not for little (bleep) kids, you know? Because George Carlin isn't for kids. His most famous routine is updated as he adds more words you can't say on TV. Very funny man!

George carlin on Campus & calin at carnegie hall

These two, are by far the best he has done since the 7 bad words.
No fan will be the slightest bit dissappointed in these two selections. I was there for the taping of one, and it still gets better every time I here it (CD) or watch.

Carlin's finest performance

George is at his best in the now classic performance at Carnegie Hall. It starts off with his one liner about abortion, then moves on through hilarious routines about food, dogs, cats, and much more. It includes several outrageous observations, and the grand finale about dirty words will have audiences clutching their sides and falling off their chairs. The hilight of the show is when Carlin performs a headline news skit. This is highly recommended for all Carlin fans.

George Carlin on Campus

Released in DVD by Mpi Home Video (28 August, 2001)

MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Directors: Steven J. Santos and Bob Kurtz (II)

The dean of observational humorists in America preaches to a like-minded choir in this lively 1984 college performance by George Carlin. Beginning with a little offstage psychodrama (albeit funny) about the pain of being a class clown in Catholic school, Carlin on Campus soon hits the boards with the former Hippie-Dippie Weatherman's take on Brooklynese pronunciations of the names of sexually transmitted disease ("hoipes"), plus a prayer for the separation of church and state, feuds between breakfast foods, and the absurdity of wearing jungle camouflage in a desert. Carlin's tone and choice of material toughen up as the show goes along: he makes an astute assault on passive-aggressive drivers, lobbies hard for his "world's most obscene cheer," and suggests that people may be ready for "full-contact chess." Much of this stuff is pretty funny, though the program is marred a bit by reliance on some lowbrow, pretaped material that punctuates Carlin's monologue. A contrarian to the end, however, Carlin is going to do what he's going to do, and that's part of his charm. --Tom Keogh

Average review score:

more, feed me more

In my opinion this is some of Carlin's best work. He does three classic monologues including "A Place For My Stuff", "Baseball and Football", and "Cars and Driving". I think a person who loves carlin should have this but one flaw is he throws in strange cartoons at odd moments.

Leaves you hungry for more

My favorite part of this DVD is the bit on Cars and Driving. This one's also got his classic bits on Stuff and Baseball vs. Football, along with some inspired observations on flamethrowers and the Rain Dance. There's also some fun memories about his Grandpa and his famous dog, Tippy. He even offers tips on how to deal with your boss ("Hey, it's MY JOB, I'll do it MY WAY!"). After watching the whole show, I've decided that you can't possibly own just ONE George Carlin concert on Video/DVD. Also, I found that it's even better to actually WATCH the guy perform than to just listen to his act on CD. Carlin's so good with pantomime and facial tics.

Stuff is the best of his work

I want to buy only the gig entitled "Stuff" Can I get this without purchasing an entire album??

Georges Bizet - Carmen / Nuria Espert · Zubin Mehta - M. Ewing · L. Lima · L. Vaduva - ROH Covent Garden

Released in DVD by Image Entertainment (12 October, 1999)

MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Director: Barrie Gavin

Opera videos come essentially in two categories: movies, such as the 1984 Carmen, directed by Francesco Rosi and starring Julia Migenes and Placido Domingo, and opera house productions filmed for television, such as this 1991 Carmen from London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Carmen is the most popular opera of all, and these two videos are both bestsellers, embodying effectively the values that make Carmen unique. Choosing between them is not easy. Musically, both are excellent. Domingo has more name recognition than Luis Lima, and Rosi's film catches him in top form. But Lima is vocally and visually a precise embodiment of Don José, the soldier seduced and betrayed by Carmen and finally driven to murder her. Migenes (in Rosi's film) gives a superb portrayal of the capricious Gypsy woman, but for my taste Maria Ewing's Carmen is even more vivid, natural, and subtly nuanced. Leontina Vaduva is exactly right as the innocent country girl Micaela, and Gino Quilico swaggers convincingly through the role of the bullfighter Escamillo.

The advantage of the film is presence and realism, particularly outdoor landscapes with plenty of space for the soldiers and smugglers to move around. Escamillo faces a real bull in a three-dimensional Plaza de Toros, something necessarily kept offstage in the Covent Garden production. A danger not always avoided in the film production is overstatement. There is more subtlety in Covent Garden's staging--there has to be--as well as a higher overall level of musicianship. And expert camera work gives the Covent Garden scenery a striking air of three-dimensional realism. If I had to live with only one of these Carmens, I would choose Ewing and Covent Garden. But I would miss many striking moments in Rosi's film. --Joe McLellan

Average review score:

After all, it is about Carmen

Maria Ewing is at her usual. To me, the best Carmen, ever. This is of course from the point of view of an opera lover who believes that opera is theater, not just singing. From that point of view only, Leontina Vaduva is a compromise.She sings well, but not credible as a 17-year old (Micaela).
But... Ewing is Ewing and this is one of her best, perhaps the Glyndebourne performance (Bernard Haitink conducting) was a little better for the drama that Ewing can provide (the first appearance of Carmen on the square at Glyndebourne is unforgettable), but that performance may not be available on DVD. Recommendation: buy it.

You will not be deceived by this version.

Carmen is one of the most popular and performed operas, so not just any performance can be put on screen. I liked this version. It is well acted (specially by Luis Lima and Leontina Vaduva) and well sung (by everybody) and I felt each singer had the right timber voice for their respective roles. A very appropriate use of cameras and a clever and tasteful set design, direction and montage contribute as well to make this version worthy of its release on DVD. You will not be deceived by this one.

Great DVD

Whoever said no big stars, please take back your words! I am an opera fanatic, conductor, and composer and I have been studying the art seriously for years. If you haven't heard of Maria Ewing or Gino Quilico, please open your ears and your eyes! This is a star-studded cast with great truth to Bizet's critical score and also, to the gentlemen who reviewed this DVD above my review, Carmen is SUPPOSED to be in French. I hope you didn't think it was in Italian.

The George Carlin Collection

Released in DVD by Mpi Home Video (28 August, 2001)

MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Starring: George Carlin

Once upon a time, George Carlin was a closely cropped, dues-paying, Ed Sullivan-approved comedian popular for his fast-paced satire on any number of (mostly safe) topics. That was during the 1960s; by the start of the '70s, a restless Carlin had removed his tie, broadened the range of his trippy observations, and kicked up a freedom-of-speech challenge to laws governing obscene language. He drew a dedicated, young audience and later the attention of Home Box Office, a fledgling cable channel seeking ways to distinguish its programming from that of more restrictive, commercial networks. A relationship was born that lasted more than two decades and resulted in a dozen uncensored George Carlin comedy specials on HBO. The George Carlin Collection, a five-volume set, skims some of the best material from that hefty television legacy and puts us in touch again with Carlin's classic repertoire.

On Location with George Carlin revives his slightly tentative 1977 debut on cable, taped at the University of Southern California and featuring superb bits about playing Monopoly and shopping while stoned. George Carlin Again! offers an in-the-round performance from 1978 and inspired pop philosophy on the nature of time. Carlin on Campus and Carlin at Carnegie are fine touchstones from the '80s, while Personal Favorites constitutes a worthy greatest-hits package culled from a number of Carlin/HBO specials. Carlin freaks will gobble it all up, while more casual observers will cherish such hall-of-fame material as "Baseball vs. Football" and "A Place for My Stuff." --Tom Keogh

Average review score:

Classic Carlin - but overdoses of repetition

I was excited by the promise of this set - hell who would not at the prospect of 4 -5 hours of Carlin?

Carlin has wonderful timing and a wicked and wacky grin that precedes anyone of his reflections on the absurdity of the human condition that he delivers with a complete mastery of American idiom.

This is a collection that is hard to ignore for a die-hard fan like me - but suffers from repetition of many of his classic pieces - like "Words they won"t let you say on TV" to "Stuff" especially since his delivery of his masterworks does not vary greatly from one performance to the other. The editors must have been sleeping.

But if you have the cash, splurge.

carnegie hall, etc, revisited

Me and my family rented Carlin at Carnegie a long time ago, and since then had a hard time finding it again. It's great that this show, and the others on this set, have been released again. The bonus disc, Personal Favorites, is similar to another anthology that came out a few years ago - Best Stuff, but with different material. The transition from the George of the 70's to the George of the 90's is interesting. It's sometimes hard to believe he's the same person. Very funny, nonetheless.

Absolutely essential set for Carlin fans

My family first got cable, and HBO, in 1982 when I was still in school. New Years Eve of '82/'83, I watched George Carlin as part of an HBO stand-up comedy marathon. It was the funniest show I had ever seen in my life. I actually had my little audio tape recorder next to the TV, taping the audio!
When HBO did a George Carlin tribute week a couple of years back, I was overjoyed that I would finally get to videotape the show I had seen in '82. Sure enough, it was NOT part of the week-long marathon. And it seems to be the only one of his shows they never re-ran again.
Now, finally, disc 2 of this box set contains "George Carlin Again!". It is still just as funny to me as it was nearly 20 years ago.And this is not to slight the other shows on this box, they are all essential viewing to George's faithful.
I just read an interview with George where he said he owns all the rights to these shows. So, to George, THANK YOU for finally releasing "Again" on dvd .

George Carlin - Personal Favorites

Released in DVD by Mpi Home Video (28 August, 2001)

MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Starring: George Carlin

After starring in a dozen or so HBO Special Presentations, comedian George Carlin has amassed a substantial body of work in the cable channel's vaults. Personal Favorites is a greatest-hits package, a selection of some of Carlin's best moments on HBO from 1977 to 1998 and, not coincidentally, some of his most enduring comic routines from any medium. Among the highlights is the satirist's classic "A Place for My Stuff" ("Your house is a pile of stuff with a cover on it"), stupid rules for kids ("The first sign of a dumb rule is 'Because I said so'"), and updating sports rules for fun and profit ("Let the Red Cross pick up the injured"). If some of the bits aren't quite up to par ("Earrings"), others border on folk wisdom (Carlin's brilliant "Baseball vs. Football" monologue) and political rage ("This country was founded by slave owners who wanted to be free"). All in all, this is a very fine anthology of Carlin's two decades of life on cable. --Tom Keogh

Average review score:

Something of a disappointment to me... read why

I received this disc as part of the Carlin Collection box set, and I'm sorry to say I was rather disappointed with it. About half of the material in this compilation is culled from his other standup DVDs included in the set! And I'm pretty sure the other half will see digital video release in their uncut, full-hour glory in the near future. So just grab the other GC standup DVDs, and don't worry about this one.

Actually, even with this dud, the Carlin Collection Box Set is still a better deal than buying the individual platters separately. So go for the box set instead, and pay this disc no mind. Pretend it's a complimentary coaster or mini-frisbee or something. Of course, if your curiosity's piqued about what's on this particular platter... well, there's nothing I can do to stop you, is there?

'Late

funniest yet

I have seen almost all of George Carlin's videos and this is by far my favorite. How could you beat the best of George Carlin. Great video

George Carlin Again!

Released in DVD by Mpi Home Video (28 August, 2001)

MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

"My job is thinking about goofy sh--," declares George Carlin, the ever-reflective absurdist and star of George Carlin Again. The second in Carlin's long string of HBO specials since 1977, Again (1978) finds the once buttoned-down comic performing in the round and musing, as is his wont, on many vital issues of the day. What, for example, do restaurants do with the rest of a frog after cooking its legs? Who empties the coins out of wishing wells? To the delight of his Phoenix audience, Carlin also takes a detour into pop philosophy with a look at our relationship with time ("There is no 'now.' It could be the middle of last month for all we know.") and death ("Everybody gets a two-minute warning. Try to use yours to die big."). Oddly, a nostalgic reprise of the Hippie-Dippie Weatherman from Carlin's early career falls flat; the comedian senses it and segues into a more trenchant and daring bit about dirty words and American law. This is not a monologue for the faint of heart, but Carlin fanatics will be pleased. --Tom Keogh

Average review score:

No reviews found.

Gergiev Opera Collection: Boris Godunov, Prince Igor, Ruslan and Lyudmila

Released in DVD by Universal Music & VI (14 October, 2003)

MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Average review score:

No reviews found.

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