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Author Topic: The Aristocrats Alex Rolfe Film Handler Posts: 37 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 06-11-2005 08:55 PM                        IMDB's plot outline said "One hundred superstar comedians tell the same very, VERY dirty, filthy joke--one shared privately by comics since Vaudeville" so I was a little skeptical that I'd like this since one hundred versions of one joke seemed like it might be boring. The description and the publicity materials are right- it's filthy and obscene. It's also 90 amazingly funny minutes as long as you aren't easily offended. It's not actually the same joke each time (in some cases, only the name's the same) and that's the point. The only boring part was Bob Sagat laughing so much at him self that he took forever to actually tell the joke. 4/5 stars plus at least 10 bonus points, one for every person who walked out.  |  IP: Logged Stephen LaPadula Film Handler Posts: 50 From: New York, Ny Registered: Mar 2005 posted 06-13-2005 02:30 PM                     I know we are opening this movie July 29th. We got some flyers from think films who wanted us to hand them out but once we read the back there was no way--it was so obscene. If I can get a hold of one I'll post the whole thing. It was really long. Just to give a hint it makes several references to the four letter 'C' word, you know the one most adults won't say because everyones automatically sexually harassed, it goes on to call Mel Gibsons Passion a 'bad gay SM movie about his imaginary friend to help him get into heaven.' Its so bad so offensive, and kinda makes me want to see the movie. I'll try and post the rest soon--it is not for the weak of heart.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 06-14-2005 10:21 AM                     The Aristocrats has no nudity, no sex, and no violence, but it's one of the most shocking movies you will ever see. This is the power of lauguage spoken by professionals. (comedians) Professionals trying to outdo each other with the most hysterically disgusting, offensive, f**ked-up verbal images they can spit out. You'll hear descriptions that will stay withyou the rest of your life, whether you want them to or not. I've been running it for the last month and a half. So I've listened & watched it a few times. *** for the first viewing That was just a small description from the Press notes to the film. Yes, the film is funny the first time, but gets old soon after that. They use every disgusting description and foul word available. TRT: 88 mins.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 06-23-2005 06:30 AM                     I saw the film at AFI's "Silverdocs" documentary film festival. It played to a sell out crowd of 400 or so people and I don't recall anyone walking out on the show. I didn't find the film offensive at all though I can honestly say that if you DO get offended at the mere utterence of some words, STAY AWAY. 4-letter words abound as part of the joke is to do unpleasent descriptions. In essence, the Joke is about out disgusting each other with essentially the same story line. The joke almost always starts and ends the same, regardless of who tells it but other than that, it takes on new twists and turns. Part of the humor in the documentary is just who does tell the joke. As one has already noted, Bob Sagat does a rendition...not the comedian that you would think would have this in his arsenal. Just remember when watching it (or deciding to go watch it) that the goal of the joke is to be over-the-top tasteless in the visualizations of the joke...that is where the humor comes from. As such, there are some that just won't find the humor while, from what I can tell, most people will find the humor. The film is to be released NON-RATED. I would not bring youngsters to the show since it is non-stop four letter words. Remember too, it is really a documentary, not a story For the documentary aspect of the film, I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars. Go if you want to explore this rather old joke as told by many different comedians; stay away if you are easily offended.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-21-2005 04:00 PM                        I thought it was funny as hell. It's not for the kids, but responsible adults who aren't easily offended by language will not stop laughing during its running time. Go see this one with a good crowd.  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 09-02-2005 02:22 PM                        Century Orleans 18 Thursday 1 SEP 2005 Screen #15, 1:50pm, $6.25 matinee ~7 people (1 walked out ) I didn't laugh out loud except for a couple of the renditions of the joke (having worked Las Vegas showrooms and lounges for over 20 years I've pretty much heard it all many many times over), but still enjoyed this very much. The premise of the joke is foul enough as it is, even in the short executive summary version which is given at the start. Part of the fun becomes watching these professionals try to top each other by improvising ever increasing layers of unspeakable mental images into the joke's middle section. Over the years the joke's running time has been anywhere from three minutes to two hours. Indeed this is like jazz for words. The other fun part is watching how the joke works as the various comics tell it. Each brings their unique stage personality into it and it pays off in sometimes surprising ways. It reminds me very much of the tradition of rakugo storytelling in Japan, where the stories and their punch lines are very well known and the entertainment comes entirely from the performer's delivery. Sometimes just the setting or the circumstances under which the joke gets told has as big an impact on the joke's success as the performer him/herself. Everyone will have their favorite versions, some work amazingly well and some just fall flat (cue the cricket noises). My favorites: Steven Wright's, Martin Mull's, Steven Banks' mime version, Eric Mead's card trick version, South Park's Cartman version, Wendy Liebman's, and to my biggest surprise, the Gilbert Gottfried version, told to a hostile NY audience after a 9/11 joke backfired, just weeks after 9/11. "No nudity. No violence. Unspeakable obscenity." Definitely recommended, especially to spring upon any uptight people you might have the misfortune to know. Have some evil fun at their expense. The Aristocrats * * * * * Good presentation at the Orleans. One nitpick though (Dolby Cinema Monitoring Inc would revoke my theatre inspector's credential if I didn't find something to nitpick). Someone didn't know where to cut the tail of the THX snipe, thus displaying a foot or so of tail jiz. Other than that, nice job.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 09-03-2005 07:21 PM                        Today, 12:05PM, Regal Cinema World 8 in Eugene, House #5, SR-D. Attendance: 2. The show started GROSSLY out of focus. I could see a girl (yes, she looked about 15) feverishly doing something with the turret, but nothing was changing on the screen. She worked and worked on it and finally the image came more or less into focus after a couple minutes. I mostly agree with Steve Guttag's comments, maybe some with Paul as well, though I liked the movie less than he did. I chuckled about 3 times and laughed out loud maybe once. Aside from that this is mostly about sitting there and observing these professional entertainers be as deliberately gross as they can possibly be. Drew Carey is funny. Bob Saget makes me ill, no matter what words he's saying. Jerry Seinfeld is conspicuous in his absense. I don't know what Tim Conway is doing there at all. * 1/2 stars out of *****.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-24-2006 10:36 PM                     I finally watched The Aristocrats today...on DVD (rented a copy from our local Hastings store). This is Oklahoma and the limited theatrical release didn't place any prints near here. This documentary wasn't quite what I had expected. My impression was there would be more in the way of comedians giving their stab at the joke from start to finish. Instead, many of the tellings of the joke are cut up into lots of little snippets. Very few are told completely. To the credit of the documentary it focuses more on the mechanics of telling the joke, perhaps as a way to show the viewer how to tell it to other people. It's a bit surprising there isn't an Aristocrats thread in Bob Marr's Joke-A-Thon. Or maybe not. There are some limits on what forum members can type and I'm sure that joke would cross the line just about every time. I think the funniest parts of The Aristocrats documentary are where the comedians allowed to tell their individual version of the joke completely without having it chopped up in the editing room. The ones that had me laughing the most were Eric Mead's very slick card trick version. The South Park version was really filthy and funny. I got a good laugh out of George Carlin's short version near the beginning. Gilbert Gottfried's version was probably the most outrageous -since he actually told it on stage in front of a hostile audience. Now that's fearless. Taylor Negron's version was more creepy than funny (I just think the actor is more creepy than funny). I laughed at some of what Bob Saget was saying, but his laughing and inserting observations about the joke ruined the timing of it. The DVD has some pretty funny bonus features, such as amateur tellings of the Aristocrats joke. One is illustrated (not actually animated even though that term is used). Overall, I give the show three stars out of four. But it isn't something I'll buy to add to my DVD collection. It's probably worth seeing at least a couple or so times. And I'm sure I'll get to see it that many times once HBO starts airing it. Technical Presentation Stuff: The documentary is presented on the disc in 1.33:1 "full screen" aspect ratio (or pillar-boxed if you have a D-TV). I'm guessing this is the proper aspect ratio for the show, given a great deal of the footage was captured on consumer grade MiniDV camcorders. The audio mix is available in DD 5.1 or DD 2.0. But it was all a very front oriented mix. I had to wonder if this wasn't actually a DD 3.0 mix.  |  IP: Logged Mark Lensenmayer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1605 From: Upper Arlington, OH Registered: Sep 1999 posted 02-19-2006 09:05 PM                     Very funny. The card trick and the mime were the best in my opinion. Did anyone else notice that Kevin Pollack was wearing a Cinerama hat?  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 02-19-2006 09:34 PM                        I watched about 30 minutes of it and fought really hard not to fall asleep. I didn't see the point in it all since the middle part of the joke doesn't have any surprising twists, it is simply about coming up with more elaborate grossness. I thought that became boring very quickly. But apparently, it did entertain a lot of people, so I am happy for them.  |  IP: Logged James R. Hammonds, Jr Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 931 From: Houston, TX, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 03-03-2006 05:46 PM                     I'm not sure what I was expecting from a documentary about a joke whose one and only goal is to be sick and disgusting. If the delivery is right, it can be funny, but most of the time it is just gross. The mime version was my favorite telling, but I wish they would have had the version involving the Bush administration in there somewhere. 2 out of 5  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 03-17-2006 02:52 PM                     It didn't play locally so I rented the DVD. I don't usually care for Gilbert Gottfried's humor but his rendition of the joke is priceless. I only wish they hadn't segmented it so much. Overall I liked the film but did tend to get tired of the whole thing about 2/3 of the way through.  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 08-29-2006 07:24 PM                     Just watched this and turned it off after about 25 minutes. The language wasn't offensive at all, I just couldn't really get over all the comedians fawning over themselves... the only one I've seen who can get away laughing at his own jokes is Jackie Martling, his laugh is priceless. The only funny part I saw was Gilbert Gottfried.  |  IP: Logged Pravin Ratnam Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 844 From: Atlanta, GA,USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 08-30-2006 12:54 PM                     I saw this on HBO but didnt want to review it since it probably is better served in the Afterlife section. But since it has been already bumped up, my review won't do any further bumping. I hated this "movie". This movie had no business being released in a theater even if it was more watchable. In the old days, you just had network tv and so racy concert movies could make it to theaters with an R Rating. Right now, with the abundance of documentaries with varied contet on TV, there is absolutely no need for someone to pay 8 bucks for a ticket to watch this kind of documentary, and a bad one at that. The funny moments were the Gottfried and the South Park sketches. That's it. A lot of it, including the Saget bits, would have been great if they did a hidden tape thing of them in action telling the joke casually instead of just recounting it to us. As some have mentioned in the show, it is the delivery and the moment in time that sells the joke more than the joke itself. In the days where South Park comes up with more inflammatory material than what the typical Aristocrat variation can be(Not to mention, those gross jokes on South Park are much funnier), I find this tradition quaint. It should have been a half hour or 45 min doc on HBO and that's it.  |  IP: Logged Hillary Charles Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 748 From: York, PA, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 08-30-2006 04:15 PM                     My favorite part was with Larry Storch. His delivery was funnier than any of the material itself, but there was just too little of him. I would have loved to hear him tell the whole joke (maybe in the supplimental material? --not there unless there are any easter eggs I'm not aware of).  |  IP: Logged

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