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List Price: $14.99 | | Label: Velocity / Thinkfilm
Salesrank: 4786
Released: January 24, 2006 |
| Our Price: $2.62 |
| Used Price: $1.35 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Comedy veterans and co-creators Penn Jillette (one half of the hit duo Penn & Teller) and Paul Provenza capitalize on their insider status and invite over 100 of their closest friends (who happen to be some of the biggest names in entertainment, from George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Carey to Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget, Paul Reiser and Sarah Silverman) to reminisce, analyze and deliver their own versions of the world’s dirtiest joke, an old burlesque routine too extreme to be performed in public, called The Aristocrats. One of the smash hits of the 2005 Sundance film festival, this critically acclaimed, star-studded comedy extravaganza, which celebrates the art of improvisation and the finest (and most foul mouthed) traditions of stand up, is sure to stretch the limits of its audience, particularly for how loud and how long they can laugh.
Description of The Aristocrats:
Released without a rating and billed as "the most vile, disgusting, and vulgar" film of all time, The Aristocrats is also funny enough to qualify as a minor comedy classic. We say "minor" only because hearing the same foul joke told by 100 celebrated comedians is inevitably exhausting, even though the shaggy-dog gag (a vintage in-joke among comedians, allowing outrageously obscene improvisation, and always ending with the same titular punchline) is also a fascinating litmus test for each comedian's irreverent style. As codirectors and show-biz insiders, veteran comedians Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette (from the comedy duo Penn & Teller) corralled an unprecedented parade of stand-up celebrities (George Carlin, Robin Williams, Drew Carey, Whoopi Goldberg, Sarah Silverman, the South Park kids and many, many more), each telling "the dirtiest joke of all time" in their own inimitable fashion. The sheer volume of vaudevillian vulgarity takes on a life of its own, more fascinating than funny, until Gilbert Gottfried (at a celebrity roast for Hugh Hefner, shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01) tells what is unanimously hailed as the definitive version of the joke. It's a matter of context, style, and bawdy bravado, and for better or worse, The Aristocrats will endure as a testament to a joke so bad--so uproariously bad--that no comedian worthy of the profession can resist the temptation to tell it. --Jeff Shannon
The Aristocrats Reviews:
straight-ahead, fusion, or free? 
2009-08-03 - It's a documentary about comedians, their personalities using the motif of a joke. Very cool concept analogous to a jazz composition. It does lag in the middle but finished strong. The best interpretation of the joke in my mind was the mime (which is ironic because usually don't find mimes very funny or entertaining). Kevin Pollack's performances are brilliant as well. Some note that the jump cut editing and the interruptions of the joke by the tellers is a nuisance, I disagree as it keeps it the joke, and with it, the film from being redundant. "Why all the negative reviews?", you might ask? Because clearly those reviewers just don't get "it". Watch for yourself and think for yourself.
I love Disney Movies 
2009-07-30 - The Aristocrats: 3 out of 10: The joke in the Aristocrats is not funny. (Many comedians on tape admit this outright.) It really is not a joke as much as a Shaggy Dog story. The funny part of a Shaggy Dog story is watching someone squirm who thinks it is a normal joke. The more you can make a (in this case) prude squirm the funnier the raunch is.
The funniest scene in the movie is Gilbert Gottfried's masterful and legendary telling of the joke at the Fryers Club soon after 9/11. What makes it funny is watching a surprising prudish and confused Hugh Hefner's reaction listening to the joke. (The exact performance would not be as funny if Larry Flynt for example was on the dais. And the filmed performance wouldn't work had not Hefner not been shown in frame.) The Gottfried performance comes late in the film and we are treated to dozens of top comedians wasted telling the same joke sans victim. Moreover, since the audience by this time is intimately familiar with the mechanics of the magic this is true tedium. In addition, most of the comedians telling the joke do so to the camera with no audience in sight. There is an actual reason that most comedy routines are in a concert film style performance before a live audience.
There is a lot of top-flight talent here. Drew Carey, Robin Williams, George Carlin among others yet it is a mime (Steven Banks) that tells the joke most creativity and Bob Saget who tells the most disgusting version. Honestly, the film shoots its um... Gun much too soon in the feature and nothing removes humor from something faster than explaining it.
There are some self serving insights about comedy in general and some so called inside stuff that by its very nature isn't but the majority of the film really is dozens of comics telling the same joke over and over again that wasn't all that funny to begin with.
LAME JOKE! (The Movie).
2009-07-14 - How many comedians it takes to tell a bad joke right?
A.- None.
B.- Too damn many, if you ask me.
C.- Three: Richard Jeni, the mime, and the guy with the cards.
D.- All of the above.
Answer: D.
(Bada Boom!)
Great movie for the family 
2009-06-30 - My favorite part is when Bob Saget skins the puppies and makes a coat from their pelts. It's pretty funny. Ta-daaa!! (Axton)
Cult Classic
2009-03-15 - First off, I hate crude humor. A true artist does not need to offend to get laughs. I, however, loved this movie. On the surface, it is a group of well respected artists, and a mime, telling the same joke over and over, each with their own take on it. However, the more you watch it, the more it becomes a documentary about modern comedy, what it means to be succesful, and how that all fits into a free, but politically correct, world.
If you really do not know if this movie is for you, rent it, or find clips on youtube. Within the first few minutes, you will know.
