Banners | E Cards | Visitors Photo Gallery | Rock Posters | Peace & Love | Hippie FAQ | Add A Link | Guest Book | Webrings | Crazy Wisdom

Lenny Bruce

(October 13, 1925 - August 3, 1966)

"(My friend) Carmelo's mother was the manicurist and town whore.

The symbols of my childhood are gone--what a shame!--

the country doctor, the town whore, village idiot, the drunken family from the wrong side of the tracks

have been replaced with the communist, the junkie, the faggot, and the beatnik."

Lenny Bruce Performance Film (2005)(DVD)
For any Lenny Bruce fan, this film is absolutely essential. It is the only time in his all-too-brief career that Lenny's nightclub act was filmed from begining to end. This is Lenny at the end of his life. It is August of 1965 and he has less than a year to live. The effects of four years of unrelenting persecution and personal self destruction are painfully evedent. He's not the Lenny of 1959: The hyper-energetic, brilliant young comic who burst apon the national consciousness with two riotous appearances on the Steve Allen Show. By the summer of 1965 it is obvious to even the most casual of viewers that Lenny Bruce is a broken, dying man.
And yet, even in this tragic condition, he is still screamingly funny. Some people have criticized his obsession with the American legal system during this period as ponderous and rambling. But when viewed within the context of historical hindsight and a knowledge of his own personal saga, Lenny's observations are fresh and eye opening.
A writer from Newsweek once refered to Lenny Bruce as "a sad, sick, self destructive genius of a dirty time". This film is an important document that records what it was that made him so unique.

Let The Buyer Beware (BOXED SET) Audio CD
by Lenny Bruce
UNEDITED, UNCENSORED, UNAPOLOGETIC...The ultimate Lenny Bruce box set 10 years in the making!
Let The Buyer Beware is an unprecedented 6-CD boxed collection of Lenny Bruce’s popular recorded performances, never-before-released performances, and various private recordings that tell the powerful, funny, and ultimately tragic story of the man whose brilliance and convictions turned stand-up comedy on its head. Lenny Bruce (1925–1966) was a brilliant, outspoken satirist unafraid to speak about such then-taboo topics as sex, race, religion and politics. According to critic Nat Hentoff, "Lenny delighted in exploring why certain words were forbidden—and then demystifying them." Bruce eventually became a victim of his own talent; he was blacklisted by the establishment, but fought the laws of censorship until it eventually killed him.
Much of the public remains unaware of the wealth of personal recordings Bruce made over the years; he recorded everything from private rehearsals of new bits, to phone conversations and paranoid tirades. This collection is the first to tell the definitive Lenny Bruce story.

Lenny Bruce Without Tears (DVD)
Lenny Bruce is a name that I've heard all of my life, but I've never known much about him, which is why I saw this film. I grant that there are better works out there concerning him, but this one definitely provides an introduction to what the man stood for and why he was persecuted. It would be hard today to see Bruce as anything but the martyr that he was. There was absolutely no reason why the government had to dance all over his head and sentence him to four months in the notorious Rikers Island over obscenity charges. If you ask me, there's nothing more obscene than equating personal taste with criminality. The director, in Bruce's death scene, reveals a certain artfulness. I felt for him as he lay sprawled out in the bathroom with inspectors crawling all over his house.
In the live segments, it is abundantly clear as to how much this man influenced future comedians. I would not be surprised if he were the first comic to make use of the "imagine so and so as a four-year-old..." motif; whereby, Bruce got to use his many impressions and caricatures in the course of his stand-up. His innovation, even if fans don't think much of the film technically, is fully on display here. Some luminous experts are brought in to discuss Lenny, such as Kenneth Tynan and Malcolm Muggeridge who were two of the most powerful cultural influences of the second half of the twentieth century. Frankly, I was taken aback that they knew him so well.

The Historic 1962 Concert When Lenny Was Busted [LIVE] Audio CD
This recording is not for the uninitiated Lenny listener, as it is a very uneven performance, and many of his references (for those under 45) may mystify some folks. But it is a vital historical document, concerning humor and censorship. At the time it was recorded (1964), Lenny's stage act had no peer within nightclub comedy, and few realized the groundbreaking nature of what he was doing and saying on stage. Lenny's satire was an in-your-face barrage of outrageous ideas and images (his King Kong "bit", hilarious when one gets past the sexual imagery, is available on no other released recording, to my knowledge) and he attacked religion and politics in a fashion almost guaranteed to result in career suicide. Yet, 40 years later, he is revered as a saint of free speech, an articulate commentator on his times who made it possible for later (and much less hip/funny) comedians who have only a small percentage of his intellegence and wit. The best reason to buy this disc is that it contains some material that is available nowhere else (yet) and that is quite funny. He also gets into an insult contest with an inebriated female audience member, that while brief, is a riot. This is an essential item for any serious Lenny Bruce collector.

Carnegie Hall Concert [LIVE] Audio CD by Lenny Bruce
"Back when it took a computer the size of the Pentagon to do long division, Lenny Bruce was the personification of hypertext, connecting ideas through puns, jokes, impressions, and the weaving together of complex tales. As Don Friedman says in his spoken introduction to this prestigious gig by America's (then) "nastiest" nightclub standup act, it's not Bruce that's nasty per se, but society. And while that's true, Bruce was dirty--a master of filth, from sexual innuendo to dirty words. In addition to all that heavy stuff, he gives you everything that was totally funny in second grade and still is, including the shaggy-dog story. Sure, there's a lot going on; you have to listen to it a dozen times to get the hushed-breath synaptic leaps uttered in between the big jokes that aim for the bleacher seats. This set is Lenny Bruce in rare form, at his most soberingly funny. --Mike McGonigal
When Lenny Bruce performed at Carnegie Hall, the cabs weren't even running in New York. It was one of the worst snow storms that ever hit The City. Nobody could get out. Bruce filled the freaking hall...check out the liner notes. Even Jesus would have had a problem filling that gig up...maybe that's why the Church at large got so... off about the man, maybe not. Maybe it was just before 200 channels of cable showing nothing."--   Donn Kean (New London, CT United States)

"(My friend) Carmelo's father had a barbershop with one chair and a poster in the window showing four styles of haircuts, and guaranteeing you surefire results in securing employment if you follow the tips on grooming: "The First Things an Employer Looks at Are Hair, Nails, and Shoes." An atomic-energy department head who looks at these qualifications in a job applicant would probably be a faggot."

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Pythons Website

"Nudge, nudge. Snap snap. Grin, grin, wink, wink, say no more"

The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset (DVD)
New for 2005, The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset packs together the original 14-DVD megaset with the two-disc Monty Python Live in space-saving Thinpaks. While more cautious fans may want to pick and choose among the previously released individual volumes of Monty Python for their collection, true Pythonites will want to own this definitive megaset that contains all 45 episodes (in chronological order) of Monty Python's Flying Circus. This "persistently silly" collection encompasses three-and-a-half seasons of dead parrots, cross-dressing lumberjacks, loonies, upper class twits, and spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam, spam, and spam. Click past the occasional clunker and go directly to such signature sketches as the Ministry of Silly Walks, the Spanish Inquisition, the Fish-Slapping Dance, the Dead Parrot Sketch, the Lumberjack Song, the Cheese Shop, the Argument Clinic, and Nudge, Nudge. Taken as a whole, one marvels at how Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam thoroughly subverted television convention with "something completely different," like sketches with no punch lines ("Your average TV viewer isn't going to understand this"). A warning to the uninitiated: there is much "material that some may find offensive, but which is really smashing." Violations of something called the "Strange Sketch Act" are the least of the troupe's offenses, as witness the Oscar Wilde Sketch, the Dirty Vicar Sketch, and the Most Awful Family in Britain Sketch, all of which achieve "the really gross awfulness" all Python fans are looking for. Say no more.

Monty Python's Flying Circus: Set 1, Episodes 1-6 (1969) (DVD)
In 1969, five overeducated British comics and an American illustrator invaded the homes of unsuspecting BBC viewers with a brand of comedy that was, at the very least, odd. "Absurd," "bizarre," and "incomprehensible" are other descriptions that jump to mind. Nonetheless, this wacky sextet inaugurated an absurd tradition that continued through three and a half seasons of half-hour TV episodes, a series of live performances, a handful of movies, and a legacy of dead parrots and upper-class twits. Monty Python's Flying Circus, Set 1 features the first episodes foisted on a still-reeling public, introducing running gags ("And now for something completely different") and recurring characters (an armor-clad Terry Gilliam wielding a rubber chicken, Graham Chapman's pompous Colonel intruding on sketches he deems simply too silly, and of course Michael Palin's "It's a Man" wandered through the entire season). Among the sketch highlights in the first three shows are Nudge Nudge, the Funniest Joke in the World, How to Defend Yourself from a Man Attacking You with Fresh Fruit, Confuse a Cat, and The Dull Life of a City Stockbroker, all interspersed with various and sundry cut-out animation sequences by Terry Gilliam. These early episodes may lack the consistency and stream-of-consciousness flow of their later, more assured work, but they're packed with some of the most memorable moments of the group's brief but brilliant history.

The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus : All the Words, Volume 1
by Graham Chapman, Monty Python
If you haven't yet memorized any of Monty Python's scripts, here's your chance. It's difficult to read this book without breaking into a broken English accent -- or at least without laughing aloud. Alarm luckless pedestrians as you gesticulate wildly with an halibut, learn how to determine whether a parrot is really dead or not...
"Nudge, nudge. Snap snap. Grin, grin, wink, wink, say no more".
Forty-five classic episodes of the most entertaining writing to have gone into television anywhere. The minister of silly walks, the dead parrot, banter in a cheese shop - here is every silly, satirical skit, every snide insult, every sexual aside.

Monty Python and Philosophy : Nudge Nudge, Think Think
by Gary L. Hardcastle, George A. Reisch, William Irwin
From the 1970s cult TV show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, to the current hit musical Spamalot, the Monty Python comedy troupe has been at the center of popular culture and entertainment. The Pythons John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam are increasingly recognized and honored for their creativity and enduring influence in the worlds of comedy and film. Monty Python and Philosophy extends that recognition into the world of philosophy. Fifteen experts in topics like mythology, Buddhism, feminism, logic, ethics, and the philosophy of science bring their expertise to bear on Python movies such as Monty Python’s Life of Brian and Flying Circus mainstays such as the Argument Clinic, the Dead Parrot Sketch, and, of course, the Bruces, the Pythons’ demented, song-filled vision of an Australian philosophy department. Monty Python and Philosophy follows the same hit format as the other titles in this popular series and explains all the philosophical concepts discussed in laymen’s terms.

Saturday Night Live

SNL Website

Saturday Night Live - 25th Anniversary (2004)(DVD)
Like many of the clips that make up the bulk of its content, the Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary special suffers from that malady specific to almost every SNL sketch: it starts out brilliantly, loses steam about halfway through, then slowly but gamely limps to the finish line with occasional spurts of humor. This special (which actually marks the show's 24th anniversary, but never you mind about those small details!) gathered almost all of the Saturday Night Live alumni--well, the funny ones, anyway--for a celebration of the show's entrenchment in the cultural landscape. It's basically an occasion to show a lot of clips, ranging in time from the Coneheads to Mary Katherine Gallagher, put together in a sprightly, rapid-pace manner and interspersed with occasional live audience-interaction bits. An hysterically funny Bill Murray kicks things off as a lounge singer at an Indian reservation casino who hobnobs with the celebrity audience members; Tom Hanks, a fave guest host, offers up a lively Q&A session (with a dryly funny Christopher Walken, among others); and Billy Crystal revives his Fernando persona to great effect. Dan Aykroyd, Laraine Newman, and Steve Martin provide the best cast tribute, warmly remembering John Belushi while wryly offering up memorabilia for online auction, and Jan Hooks introduces a heartfelt short film featuring her and the late Phil Hartman. Other cast members, with the notable absence of Eddie Murphy and the surprise appearance of Norm MacDonald, pop up for various intros of clips--some are funny (Dennis Miller), some are not (Adam Sandler), some are obviously uncomfortable (David Spade), but at about the halfway mark it all starts to wear on you, like most tribute shows. Still, the stable of classic skits (including a surprisingly strong showing from the current cast) make this worth sticking around for.

Saturday Night Live: The First Twenty Years
by Michael Cador.

This lavishly illustrated scrapbook recreates hundreds of Saturday Night Live's best moments, while for the most part omitting the vapid filler that usually makes up much of the late-night comedy/variety TV program's fare. Published to commemorate SNL's 20th anniversary, this entertaining album features more than 200 color and black-and-white photographs, as well as scripts and synopses of memorable sketches. Seasoned with backstage lore and stars' reminiscences, the book includes profiles of recurring characters, parodies of TV commercials, a rundown of guest musical performers, interviews with writers and producer Lorne Michaels and a list of guest hosts. Cader, president of Cader Books, has produced a number of SNL books; Baskin is SNL's photographer and art director.
The volume is filled with trivia about all aspects of the program?cast members, hosts, musical guests, etc. The bulk of the book is taken up with sketches?either summaries or full scripts; it's hard to imagine any YA not finding a favorite character. Every page is filled with photographs. Many of the stars have gone on to even greater fame, such as Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Billy Crystal, and Mike Myers. There are also interesting sections on how the show is produced and the famous commercial parodies.

Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live
by Tom Shales, James Andrew Miller
This oral history of NBC's Saturday Night Live is the juiciest treasure trove of backstage gossip, sex and drugs since The Andy Warhol Diaries. With almost three decades' worth of memories from cast members, celebrity hosts, writers, crew and network execs, readers get first-hand reports (often contradictory) on the volatile, competitive, grueling and often drug-fueled process of creating a weekly, 90-minute, live comedy show. While the cast and writers changed over the decades there were two constants: the universal loathing of guest host Chevy Chase and the power of producer Lorne Michaels ("I think he picked the right profession," assesses Jane Curtin, "because he gets to lord over people who want to kneel at his feet and he doesn't acknowledge them-which makes them work harder."). Regulars like Dan Aykroyd, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Billy Crystal, Bill Murray, Al Franken, Martin Short as well as guest hosts like Tom Hanks, Penny Marshall, Alec Baldwin, Carrie Fisher, Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin contribute sterling anecdotes that are alternately hilarious, touching, upbeat and scathing. With the exception of Eddie Murphy (who's positively portrayed), virtually the only missing voices are of those who have passed away (the editors use only interviews conducted for the book and not vintage interviews with John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Phil Hartman or Chris Farley). Scandals, infighting and plenty of showbiz dirt make this a guilty-pleasure page-turner from start to finish.

George Carlin

George Carlin Website

"How can it be a spy satellite if they announce on television that it's a spy satellite?"

The George Carlin Collection (DVD)
by George Carlin
For decades, George Carlin has been entertaining audiences with his uproarious stand-up routines. His distinct ability to poke fun at life's hypocrisies and idiocies strikes achord with countless people, making Carlin one of the best-loved comedians of all time.

This special George Carlin Collection highlights five of the 12 specials that Carlin has created for HBO since 1977 including:

On Location with George Carlin from the University of Southern California (1977)
George Carlin Again! from the Celebrity Star Theater in Phoenix (1978)
Carlin at Carnegie from New York City (1982)
Carlin on Campus from the University of California-Los Angeles (1984)
George Carlin: Personal Favorites a compilation of live performances (1977-1990)

When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
by George Carlin
The thinking person's comic who uses words as weapons, Carlin puts voice to issues that capture the modern imagination. For instance, why are there Ten Commandments? Are UFOs real? What will the future really be like? This brand-new collection tackles all that and more.
In When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? Carlin's sharp observations demolish everyday values and leave you laughing out loud -- delivering exactly what his countless fans have been waiting for.

Napalm and Silly Putty
by George Carlin.
Standup comic George Carlin follows up his dark-horse smash bestseller Brain Droppings with another compendium of cranky meditations, cinching his reputation as the Andy Rooney of boomer hepcats. "Road rage, air rage," Carlin rails. "Why should I be forced to divide my rage into separate categories? To me, it's just one big, all-around, everyday rage. I don't have time for fine distinctions." Carlin is not into the lengthy essay--he's a sprinter of the mind. Most sentences in the book could be lifted out to stand alone and provoke deep thought: "How can it be a spy satellite if they announce on television that it's a spy satellite?" Good question. "Why do they bother saying 'Raw sewage'? Do some people cook that stuff?" Yuck, but yes, Carlin's got a point.
He can do an extended bit too, most memorably the transcript of Jesus on a talk show plugging his new tell-all memoir about the Trinity, Three's a Crowd. Carlin is funny, but genuinely angry and poignant at times: "You live 80 years and at best you get about six minutes of pure magic," he says. Sad, but about right.
And how did Carlin get into his line of business, "thinking up goofy s---," as he puts it? There's a clue in one entry in this book: "As of 1995 the number of people who had lived on earth was 105,472,380,169 ... it means that at this point there have been almost 1 quadrillion human bowel movements and most of them occurred before people had anything to read. These are the kind of thoughts that kept me from moving quickly up the corporate ladder."

More Napalm and Silly Putty
by George Carlin
"Carlin is a master at two things:
1.) Carefully choosing the exact words to describe stupid things about life
2.) Expression and delivery
In this book he talks about some of the silly things we say like, "Give my love to so and so" and "Do you have the time"? Both very funny sketches. Its not a live comedy show so there is no laugh track which I find makes the silly nature of the subjects even more amusing.
At times, he goes overboard and I think his far left political commentary will offend but I'm sure he doesn't care. Some of the jokes aren't that funny and I think he was running short on the "A" material. Nevertheless, there is plenty of hilarious stuff here and if you're a fan of George Carlin you won't want to miss it." (Amazon Review)

Brain Droppings
by George Carlin.
"George Carlin's been working the crowd since "the counterculture" became "the over-the-counter culture" around 1967 or so; his new book, Brain Droppings, surfs on three decades of touring-in-support. It's the purest version of book-as-candy that one could imagine, serving up humor in convenient, bite-sized packages. Snack on chewy one-liners like "A meltdown sounds like fun. Like some kind of cheese sandwich." Or: "If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten." Brain Droppings also contains highlights from Carlin's concert repertoire, and that more than makes up for the occasional spray of pointless nihilism. Tell us, George, what exactly were you going for with "Kill your pet" and "Satan is cool"? Quick--hide the paper before Daddy sees it! Still, if you're a fan of this sarcastic semanticist who's given Bad Attitude not necessarily a good name, but at least a comfy bank account, by all means rush out and snag Brain Droppings. Carlin's book melts in your mind, not in your hand." (Amazon Review) 

Gary Larson's Far Side

Far Side Gallery 3
by Gary Larson
Gary Larson has teamed up with Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist and taxonomist --Harvard University, to create a biologically funny book. Humor has a purpose in this book. It is used in an attempt to cause the reader to think biologically on a macrocosmic level. Social interaction of all animals on the smallest level effects the bigger picture.

The Complete Far Side 1980-1994
by Gary Larson, Steve Martin (Foreword)
Gary Larson calls The Complete Far Side, the massive two-volume collection of his Far Side cartoons, an "18-pound hernia giver." Sure to give any coffee table a solid workout, the handsome and heavy 1,272-page "legacy book" is a must for fervent fans; over 4,300 single-panel comics with more than half in color and 1,100 that have not appeared in any book form before (the popular--and far less weighty--paperback collections).
Set in rough chronological order, the comics share pages with occasional letters from fans, detractors, editors, folks made famous by a particular cartoon, and those begging for explanations. Though few explanations are provided (Larson personally supplies merely one, plus a single apology), this collection helps answer the inevitable "how do you think up these things" conundrum. Before each year's cartoons, Larson provides insight with essays about his childhood, various travels, occupational hazards, and his official rules for dealing with bedtime monsters (which often turned out to be his older brother). Most wonderful is the first essay on how the comic started. (His longtime editor Jake Morrissey's long introduction is a must read on The Far Side's story).
Comedian/author Martin provides a foreword that captures the offbeat and candid humor underlying each comic, as he sorrowfully reports that "many of the scenes depicted in this book are actually false.

Far Side Gallery 2
by Gary Larson
The Far Side Gallery 2" gathers together a generous helping of cartoons by the brilliant Gary Larson, with an introduction by horror icon Stephen King. Larson's work is a surreal blend of horror, science fiction, and satire, all filtered through Larson's twisted, often macabre, sense of humor. Larson aims his pen at many targets in this collection; vampires, nuclear holocaust, the Bible, the tooth fairy, obesity, game shows, suicide, Vikings, vegetarianism, creationism, and much, much more. He often pokes fun at famous people or characters from literature and popular culture: Albert Einstein, Humpty Dumpty, Frankenstein, Carl Sagan, the Brady Bunch, etc.
One of Larson's trademarks is to feature non-human characters who talk and behave remarkably like humans. Many such characters appear in this book: worms, extraterrestrial creatures, sharks, slugs, elephants, dragons, flowers, roaches, and more.
The book is full of weirdness, but throughout it maintains an oddly consistent "Larsonian" logic. So if you want to see a Venus Kidtrap awaiting a meal, a devil leading a nightmarish aerobic workout session in hell, or Spanish-speaking dolphins confounding a team of scientists, check out "The Far Side Gallery 2."

Robin Williams

Robin Williams Website

"Funniest man in the world"

Live 2002 [EXPLICIT LYRICS] [LIVE] AudioCD
Robin Williams
There is a label on my copy of the double CD which states "NO performances from this CD appear on "Live on Braodway" DVD or VHS, which is very misleading. Perhaps they were not recorded at exactly the same locations, but they are almost word for word the same as the DVD performance, so please be warned.
The second disc however, is all different, and relates (by track) to different locations on the tour, where Robin has tailored 3-6 minutes of material per location, to be locally topical. Great fun, but not for kids, some of the visual gags are obviously lost on the sound only version, but otherwise extremely funny. Too many expletives, but not offensive. A Comic genius at work.

A Night At The Met [EXPLICIT LYRICS] [LIVE] Audio CD
Robin Williams
Robin Williams is flat-out insane on stage, and "A Night ..." does a fairly good job of catching his insanity. From riffs on Tom Landry directing "Swan Lake" ("take Giselle, throw her downfield ten, fifteen yards!") to getting busted with cocaine ("I'm okay, I'm okay, red, blue, red, blue--OH, ...) to fatherhood ("I expected three nomads to come into the delivery room--'we saw a star, dude?'"), only the most humor-resistant won't crack up. The only disappointment is that this wasn't a double CD, since Robin did about 2.5 hours at our show, a lot of which was even funnier than what appears here! Believe it or not, Robin only made three comedy albums--his first two, "Reality ... what a concept" and "Throbbing Python of Love" are long out of print. "Reality" is his funniest, but "A Night ..." isn't far behind.

I tried to include my favorite films of Robin Williams -and it was difficult--so I will add the others on our New 60s & Further DVD Store..here are a few. When I am feeling really depressed or blue, a Robin Williams' film always uplifts me for days and days. -LionHeart-

Good Morning, Vietnam (DVD)
Directed by Barry Levinson
Actors: Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Tung Thanh Tran, Chintara Sukapatana, Bruno Kirby.
The V.P., a V.I.P., the P.C., on the Q.T, the V.C, MIA and K.P.
Who else can take all these initials, string them into one sentence and have us in hysterics. Only Robin Williams. The one liners are fast and non stop. He's absolutely perfect as he portrays the real life Adrian Cronauer, an armed forces DJ who shakes things up a bit in Saigon 1965.
Cronauer is a hip DJ, who tries to the chagrin of his lieutanant, to bring a little fun into the lives of the weary soldiers in Viet Nam. He livens up the base and surrounding Saigon with funny characters,absurd news stories(the real ones are edited), and some Rock and Roll, as the Vietnam War occurs around them. The Lt. is more of a Lawrence Welk/Jim Nabors kind of a guy and is appalled at this DJ's style.But nothing can stop this wild and crazy guy from his mission. The script is rollicking good fun, and of course all that great music from the 60's is on tap. But there are poignant moments and a serious nature to this film as well. The war still goes on, and for the people of Saigon it is tragic.As Cronauer finds out when he befriends the townspeople.
Williams' immense talent explodes in this film. He is both funny and compassionate. But he is not alone in making this film the classic it has become. It is directed by the brillant Barry Levinson(Rain Man/The Natural),who always knows how to pull us into a story and keep us there.The supporting cast is marvelous and play right to Williams. It includes the wonderful character
actor Noble Willingham, Bruno Kirby,Forest Whitaker, Robert Wuhl and I must also make mention of Tung Thanh Tran, who plays Tuan/aka Phan Duc To.

Patch Adams (DVD)
Directed by Tom Shadyac
Actors: Robin Williams, Daniel London, Monica Potter, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bob Gunton.
What makes this movie absolutely beautiful is that combined with the good acting and entertainment value, many life's lessons are portrayed. Here are just a few of many. The value of:
* treating patients (and all people) as individuals with feelings, dreams, interests and talents to improve their quality of life, regardless of whether one can cure a disease.
* patience, kindness, persistence, humor and imagination in dealing with personality conflict.
* having a dream, believing in yourself, and selling that vision to others who can help you manifest it.
* having the persistence to deal with obstacles that get in the way of manifesting one's dream.
* having the courage to speak and act out against injustice, even at considerable personal risk.
It's well worth watching this movie to gain wisdom from Patch Adams' life while being entertained by Robin Williams and a host of fine actors. However, those a expecting fast paced movie with lots of adventures and subplots may be disappointed.
http://www.patchadams.org/

What Dreams May Come (DVD)
Directed by Vincent Ward
Actors: Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., Annabella Sciorra, Max von Sydow, Jessica Brooks Grant

I Love this film because it's totally Pyschedelic and More!! -LionHeart-

Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra star in this visually stunning metaphysical tale of life after death. Neurologist Chris and artist Annie had the perfect life until they lost their children in an auto accident; they're just starting to recover when Chris meets an untimely death himself. He's met by a messenger named Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and taken to his own personal afterlife--a freshly drawn world reminiscent of Annie's own artwork, still dripping and wet with paint. Meanwhile a depressed Annie takes her own life, compelling Chris to traverse heaven and hell to save Annie from an eternity of despair.
The multitextured visuals seem to have been created from a lost fairy tale. Heaven recalls the landscape paintings of Thomas Cole and Renaissance architecture complete with floating cherubs, while hell is a massive shipwreck, an upside-down cathedral overgrown with thorns and a sea of groaning faces popping out of the ground (one of those faces is German director Werner Herzog). Williams is the perfect actor to play against the imaginative computer-generated imagery--he himself is a human special effect. But the lack of chemistry between Williams and Sciorra is painfully apparent, and the flashback plot structure flattens the story's impact despite its deeply felt examinations of the heart and the spirit. Still, there's no denying Eugenio Zanetti's triumphant production design and the Oscar-winning special effects, which create a fully formed universe that is at once beautiful, eerie, and a unique example of movie magic.

The World According to Garp (DVD)
Directed by George Roy Hill
Actors: Robin Williams, Mary Beth Hurt, Glenn Close, John Lithgow, Hume Cronyn.
Aside from being a warmly enjoyable movie, and the best screen adaptation of any John Irving novel, The World According to Garp features several young actors who went on to be among the best in the business. Oscar nominee John Lithgow is the sweetest transsexual ex-pro football player you'd ever hope to meet; Oscar nominee Glenn Close is a sensible, utterly sexless nurse and mother; Amanda Plummer is a mute crime victim; Mary Beth Hurt is a schoolgirl turned wife and mother, the love of T.S. Garp's life and the personification of the idea of Home. And Robin Williams, in his first starring role, has never been better cast--in the role of a human being, that is. This most unusual life story--written by Steve Tesich (Breaking Away) and directed by George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)--perfectly captures the tragi-comic, absurdist/humanist worldview of Irving's novel. The opening credits, with a wide-eyed baby floating about the screen to the tune of the Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four," sums up the movie's scope and tone. After watching The World According to Garp, you may find yourself marveling anew at the world around you, a strange and wonderful place indeed. --Jim Emerson
In this splendid film adaption of John Irving's bestseller, Robin Williams plays the role of T.S. Garp, a complex and unpredictable writer at odds with a violent and cruel world. "The World According to Garp" earned two Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor, John Lithgow, and Best Supporting Actress, Glenn Close.

Awakenings (DVD)
Directed by Penny Marshall
Actors: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson, John Heard.
The film is based on Dr. Leo Sayer(Williams) and his work with people who have come down with a mysterious sleeping-sickness in 1918, which has left them in a catatonic state. Dr. Sayer is a shy person who is not comfortable conversing with others, but is also a very dedicated neurologist.
Definitely one of the best films to come out in the past 12 years, and should be in any serious movie buff's collection. There are no extra's on the DVD, but the quality of the picture is pretty good. But in the end, isn't it about the movie, not the extra's(by the way, I love the extra's just as much as everyone else). Marshall, Williams, and DeNiro have made a special film that they should be proud of and will be watched by generations to come.

The Fisher King (DVD)
Directed by Terry Gilliam
Actors: Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer, David Hyde Pierce.
This is the one for which Robin Williams should have received an Oscar; for as Parry, the victim of a senseless tragedy, he is nothing short of brilliant in "The Fisher King," directed by Terry Gilliam and co-starring Jeff Bridges (who also gives an Oscar-worthy performance here). Gilliam has created the perfect mood and atmosphere to tell the story of successful radio talk-show host Jack Lucas (Bridges), and the homeless and mentally unhinged Parry, whose lives intersect in the wake of an act of unconscionable violence that leaves them both barely clinging to the memory of a reality that no longer exists for either of them. With this movie, Gilliam has deftly crafted a study of the symbiotic existence of mankind and the impact of human nature upon the space we all must share in a world growing smaller day by day.
With "The Fisher King," Gilliam has given us a wonderfully textured morality tale, both entertaining and engaging and rich with metaphor and substance that will endure the test of time, because it is, in the end, a story for the ages. This is definitely one you do not want to let pass you by.

Please Continue On To

"Just For Fun"

Bookstore 2

Featuring:

Steve Martin, Michael Moore, Bill Maher, Al Franken,

Jon Stewart, Dennis Miller and Swami Beyondananda.