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George Carlin: Life is Worth Losing
R1 - America - MPI Home Video Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (23rd February 2007). |
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The Show
 I once heard that the three pillars of stand-up comedy were Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and George Carlin. Mr. Carlin is fine form here, talking about everything related to human behaviour. It's basically one big rant about how stupid and perverted people are. He starts off talking about sex and various topics related to this I'd rather not write about in this review. Then he moves on to death. He's a cheery guy, you see. Political correctness be damned, he keeps moving on with torture and perverse human behaviours. This section didn't impress me too much. Though it's funny, it straddles the line of taste pretty finely, and sometimes I think he's only saying things to get a reaction out of people. He does make sense, though, when he says that humans are essentially no better than animals. After this it gets better, in my opinion. He starts talking about human stupidity, education, big corporations and the like. This is where he gets really piercing. With razor sharp satire, his scathing ideas come out perfectly. He's bitingly funny, talking about an all-suicide cable channel, teen autoerotic customs among other things. This is an amazing riff with tons of very perceptive observations about society and human nature. The end rant gets a bit weird, but it bookends the show nicely considering the start. Mr. Carlin is a funny guy, and nothing is taboo for him. Even at his age, he talks about things comics 50 years younger wouldn't try. Not only that, he's perceptive. His jokes are not just random thoughts about things he sees. There's a message in his material, making it timeless. Now that's special and explains Mr. Carlin's position in the stand-up pantheon.
Video
1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen. This being from 2005, the print is clear and clean, with no specks or scratches at all. The show has no real movement, so compression is never a problem, with no murky areas or other problems. The colours are faithful and level of detail good enough. Seeing the whiskers and Mr. Carlin’s face is never a problem.
Audio
The English Dolby 2.0 stereo track is clear and clean. All of Mr. Carlin's words are clear and audible. There's no hissing or popping or anything of the sort. There's nothing really other than the dialogue, and it's clear, so it's good. English subtitles are generously provided.
Extras
None!
Overall
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