World Famous Comics: John Boskovich Without You I'm Nothing
John Boskovich Without You I'm Nothing
Starring: Sandra Bernhard, John Doe, Steve Antin, Lu Leonard, Ken Foree Directed By: John Boskovich Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: MGM (Video & DVD) Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: August 23, 2005 Running Time: 89 minutes Theatrical Release Date: May 11, 1990
Product Description: Sparing no sensibilities the "bold inventive and incisively funny" (Rolling Stone) performance artist Sandra Bernhard draws blood in this "heartrending merciless assault on the phoniness of entertainment rhetoric" (Roger Ebert). Both "ingenious and unsettling" (The New York Times) her quirky material makes for a wonderfully outrageous and revelatory experience.It is the cabaret act of a nightmare: you sing dance and tell stories to an utterly apathetic audience. But Sandra Bernhard doesn't know fear and she tears into a viewer's discomfort with vigor and relish. Stripping herself body and soul down to bare essentials she delivers no less than "an astonishing performance in this bizarre funny and prickly satire of pop culture" (The Wall Street Journal).System Requirements:Running Time: 89 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: R UPC: 027616927545 Manufacturer No: 1008762
Amazon.com: "You know," she says at the outset, looking straight into the camera," I have one of those hard to believe faces." Whether she's playing herself or any number of other outspoken characters in the film version of her Off-Broadway show, Sandra Bernhard's hard to believe face remains the one constant. First, she's a jazz vocalist, then a stand-up comedian, then a soul singer. Yet she is always Sandra--even if the MC repeatedly introduces her as Sarah--and the stories she tells come mostly from her own life. Other riffs concern such image-obsessed celebrities as Barbra Streisand and Andy Warhol. The musical performances and monologues take place in front of a black nightclub audience that feigns boredom the entire time. Songs include "Me and Mrs. Jones," "Little Red Corvette," and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" with John Doe in full-on "Rhinestone Cowboy" regalia. The stage bits are intercut with commentary about Bernhard from her manager (Lu Leonard) and actor Steve Antin (The Accused). Then there are the scenes of an attractive black woman walking around LA and the dance numbers featuring Madonna look-alike "Shoshanna." What does it all mean? Well, as Bernhard quips, "My father's a proctologist, my mother's an abstract artist. That's how I view the world." The R-rated Without You I'm Nothing was produced by Nicolas Roeg (who directed Bernhard in Track 29), features an original score by Patrice Rushen, and is (naturally) recommended for mature audiences. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Acquired Taste Sandra is very much an acquired taste, a love-or-hate entertainer. I have partially acquired that taste, having seen this show on English TV. I managed to track down the DVD, which is unavailable in the UK. If you have never seen the unusual style and act of Sandra, don't bother. If however, you have been intrigued by her unique act, as I was, then this is a 'definitive' must-have. To my mind, it is worth the price for her rendition of the classic ' Me and Mrs Jones ' which is spine-tingling.
This DVD is crazy! I remember seeing this DVD a long time ago when it was a special on HBO. I recently found it and purchased it. I laughed as much now as I did then. Highly recommended if you like raw, in your face, comedy.
Laughing So Hard We Couldn't Breathe! I remember seeing this movie when it first came out. My best friend and I went to an arthouse movie theatre in New York City.
I'm not sure even this jaded New York audience was prepared for what they were about to witness.
From the first moment, the movie is in your face. You're alarmed. You're thinking, "How am I supposed to react to this? Is this .......funny? offensive? What is this?" Then you laugh and can't stop laughing.
Of course my friend and I were the only two people in the theatre hysterical through the whole thing. The others were just stunned into shocked silence. eek! ha ha ha ha! *lol*
We were coughing, choking, passing soda, falling onto the floor!
The best.....wait! THE BEST BEST BEST PART - especially if you're a woman, ESPECIALLY if you lived through the 1960's is the Burt Bacharach/BRASIL '66 tribute (oh yes - they go THERE!)
They're all in white! Everything is white! It's AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZING....... the look of love. AHHHHHH ha ha ha haha
You'll run for your Sergio Mendes collection and will never let it go after this!
You must must buy this IF ONLY FOR THAT PART! I'm shocked nobody has mentioned it - it's PRICELESS!
The other part of this movie that not enough people pay attention to is the music. The arrangements are off the wall sensational. Patrice Rushen is an absolute musical GENIUS! The way the music compliments the comedy and the dark edge is unlike anything I have ever seen!
Are the jokes elitist? Yes! Are the jokes urban? Yes! Is it wildly funny and dangerous? YES!
A must see! A must buy for a Queer or Feminist Movie Collection!
What are you waiting for darling?!!!
Hilarious! I have been a Sandra Bernhard fan for a long long time and this is a great DVD. There's a few celebrity mentions, but mostly they are just funny stories, and outrageous performances. I can watch it over and over and laugh every time. She is a one of the best! I loved her "sermon" on feeling the funk. Overall a very entertaining DVD! Lots of dark humor!
Odd Duck This movie is an odd duck. If you watched it in 1990 when it came out then you'd probably think it was funny (like I did) but after buying it in 2006 and watching it again - I could barely sit through it! Sandra's humor is very "New York" and in some ways very sophisticated so if you don't know the name of designer furniture and clothing many of her jokes will go over your head as could many of the jewish and ethnic jokes. If you're into that type of humor then you might find it hysterical. It's a musical in case you didn't know but some of the songs are VERY SLOW (and, um, sorry to say... boring.) At the end of the movie she does strip down to a stars & stripes bikini and dances away to Prince (formerly known as) - which could be worth the price of admission for some.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
