Saturday, August 06, 2005

"The Aristocrats"

Since I felt better late this afternoon, I decided to go to the 8 pm screening of The Aristocrats at the Arclight, mainly because afterwards there was a question and answer with Larry Miller, one of the comedians in the film. Larry Miller gives really good Q & A - he basically turned it into 20 minutes of improv comedy, even if he refused to actually tell the joke live - something about not wanting to tell a version that just wasn't dirty enough to follow the movie (which was spectacularly filthy).

I won't break the 'code of silence' and give away the joke, but if you're not easily offended (this is key - the joke, when told well, is funny as shit, but offensive beyond belief), go see it! It's hilarious and everyone in it is great (my one complaint is some of the camera work - they shot two angles and kept switching back and forth to make it more interesting. These people do NOT need to be made more interesting), but...

There's one person in the movie who was such a standout that I don't understand why reviewers haven't mentioned him more often.

The mime.

The mime stole the show - so much more than I can say without veering into spoiler country.

Go see the movie.

Oh, and I now have a girly crush on Bob Saget, because his version was so awesome.

2 comments:

Damon said...

I enjoyed myself as well, but I really wish they had included the entirety of Gilbert Godfried's routine, the film (and the press) built it up so much, I was a little disappointed to only get highlights. I saw it on the day it opened at the Arclight, and Jeff Garlin (from Curb Your Enthusiasm) was there, as was another comic friend of his, both of whom said "Did they put you in this?" And they, like Jay Mohr when I went to see Sideways, hammed it up when the usher gave their speech. This made me think that all across the country hundreds of comedians are probably saying things like "They cut me out" or "I didn't have time" or "I pissed off Paul Provenza once, so..."

Also, I'm sure I'm not the only one who started crafting a version of "The Aristocrats" in my mind while watching it.

Anonymous said...

This joke is really hard to tell. I tried it after I saw the movie, so props to all the comics. I actually prefer the alternative punchline "The Sophisticates!" coupled with Drew Carey's jaunty little arm gestures.
I also tried telling the funny one Eric Idle told about the piano player, with moderately greater success.
BUT this movie gets old really fast. Feels like it really should have been a one hour cable special or something. I agree that Gottfried's rendition was built up way too much and I felt gypped. So now I'm contradicting myself, because I just said the movie should be shorter..........*sigh*