George Carlin: You Are All Diseased (1999)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Rocco Urbisci

Cast: George Carlin

Time: 65 minutes

By the time he was recording his 11th HBO comedy special, live from the Beacon Theatre, in New York, George Carlin was in his 60’s. But, that did not mean that the man considered by many, including myself, to be the greatest stand-up comic of all-time had lost any of his energy. In the hour-long set, Carlin discusses such topics as airport security, fear of germs, cigars, angels, kids, men, religion, advertising, Clinton, minorities and God. Here, Carlin is as caustic and edgy as ever. He takes no prisoners and spares no one as he dives head first into his view of things. This show certainly is not for the dainty minds out there. This is a solid set of comedy, packed with tons of material that will make you laugh, think and laugh again...or frown if you are overly sensitive.

Rating: «««««

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Genre: Biographical

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Cast: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy

Time: 134 minutes

This 2018 biographical film tells the story of Freddie Mercury and his rise to international fame with the band Queen, leading to their groundbreaking performance at Live Aid, in Wembley Stadium.

I had a lot of apprehensions before seeing this, considering a lot of the discussions about it over the last few years. That being said, I am glad I saw it. Rami Malek manages to bring Mercury back to life on screen. Malek manages to compensate for the ridiculous teeth prosthetic he was saddled with by giving a great acting performance. The rest of the cast was mostly good too, though the focus was clearly not on them.

This film is not without its faults. The script and direction delivered a lot of clichés of the genre and the filmmakers sure took a lot of poetic license, but, in the end, this is a feel-good movie that made me want to listen to the music of Queen again. Kudos for that.

Rating: ««««

Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh (2018)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Steven Brill

Cast: Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider

Time: 73 minutes

This comedy special covers the latest tour of comedy clubs and concert halls by Adam Sandler. It contains over an hour of brand spanking new jokes and songs by the actor-comedian. The editing, going from one location to another all the time, made the whole thing feel disorganized to me. A good chunk of the material was pretty good, but there was also a lot of weaker stuff. The highlights for me were the tribute, in song, to the late Chris Farley and the updated version of Growing Old With You, the tune from Wedding Singer.

Rating: «««

Tout le monde debout (2018)

Genre: Franco / Comedy

Réalisateur: Franck Dubosc

Distribution: Franck Dubosc, Alexandra Lamy, Elsa Zylberstein

Durée: 107 minutes

Jocelyn est un homme d’affaires qui ment continuellement pour séduire le plus de femmes possible. Suite au décès de sa mère, il rencontre Marie, qui, en raison d’un malentendu, pense que Jocelyn est confiné à un fauteuil roulant. Voulant la séduire, il ne lui dit pas la vérité. Marie présente à Jocelyn sa soeur Florence, qui est elle-même réellement en fauteuil roulant.

L’histoire du Don Juan réformé par l’amour de la bonne personne et qui se met les pieds dans les plats en tentant de changer est vieille comme le monde et un peu cliché. Cela dit, Tout le monde debout offre une version assez fraîche et sympathique pour que ce soit intéressant. Les personnages sont attachants et les dialogues sont savoureux. Cette comédie offre même quelques petits moments tendres sans pour autant tombe dans le mélodrame.

Somme toute, Tout le monde debout est une comédie fort sympathique et divertissante. J’ai beaucoup aimé.

Note: ««««

George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy (1997)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Rocco Urbisci

Cast: George Carlin, Jon Stewart

Time: 59 minutes

As you would guess by looking at the title, this show was created to recap the career of the great George Carlin up to that time. Hosted by Jon Stewart, the show starts with a brief intro by the host telling us about the importance of Carlin in the world of comedy. Then, there is a montage of the work done by the famous comic. Then, George Carlin himself takes the stage to deliver some comedy before being interviewed by Stewart. This show was near perfect. Really, the only flaw is I would have taken more, especially in the interview section. Carlin was always fascinating to listen to.

Rating: ««««

Halloween (2018)

Genre: Horror

Directed by: David Gordon Green

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak

Time: 106 minutes

Forty years after committing multiple horrible murders, Michael Myers is still locked up. During a transfer from one facility to another, Michael manages to escape. Now, he is on the loose on Halloween night, and his old nemesis, Laurie Strode, decides that she is the one that needs to hunt him down and rid the world of him for good.

This film serves as the official sequel to the 1978 original. In the process, it disregards all the other sequels that came after. It is a very entertaining horror film that does a great job of setting an atmosphere. The pace is deliberate, and key moments make you jump on your seat and increases your heart rate.

A few little plot twists were weird and questionable, but, overall, I enjoyed this movie.

Rating: ««««

Ron White: If You Quit Listening, I'll Shut Up (2018)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Tom Forrest

Cast: Ron White

Time: 63 minutes

Ron White does not have the most profound kind of humor, but, in his latest comedy special, he was laugh-out-loud funny in my book. Over the course of an hour, White discussed such subjects as homosexuality, sex, celebrities and geese. Some of the issues he tackles can be sensitive to many, but he does it well. A few jokes were not as solid, but, overall, I was entertained.

Rating: ««««