Tag Archives: HBO

DVDs, TV

Laugh loud and learn much with “George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy”

So he had 10 words he shouldn’t say.
Hear them (maybe) in George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy (MPI Home Video), broadcast live from the Wheeler Theater in Aspen, Colorado, was the great comedian’s 10th special for HBO.
Different from all of Carlin’s previous specials, this award-winning program is a career retrospective hosted by a young Jon Stewart, who conducts a lengthy interview with his comedic hero.
During the interview, Carlin talks about his early life and how his upbringing prepared him for a career in comedy.

Highlights from this special include Carlin performing three new, thought-provoking pieces of material— “Advertising,” “Pets” and “American Bullshit.” Some of the material performed here is unique to this special and was not repeated again.
This must-have DVD also features classic Carlin clips from the first four decades of his career – a treasure trove of the work of one of stand-up comedy’s most original, hilarious and enduring artists.

Movies, TV

Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds are still in “Bright Lights”; the highly-acclaimed HBO documentary airs this month

Carrie is dead. So is Debbie. The mother-daughter duo died just 24 hours apart. What better why for HBO to cash in than by airing the documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds? It  debuts Saturday, January 7 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

https://youtu.be/E1EnDqhFU6I

HBO calls Bright Lights “an intimate portrait of Hollywood royalty, in all its eccentricity.” Carrie and her mother, Debbi, lived in the same Beverly Hills compound. The 83-year-old grand dame still has a Las Vegas act, but performing was taking its toll.

Carrie’s response is both hilarious and heart-rending. “Mother and I live next door to each other, separated by one daunting hill,” Carrie explains. “I usually come to her. I always come to her.” Featuring vintage family films that bring iconic old-world Hollywood to life, as well as extensive vérité footage, the film has been directed by Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens.

Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds has already received audience and critical acclaim at many prestigious film festivals, including the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. The documentary holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes; The Hollywood Reporter called it “warmly engaging” and a “tender tribute to two iconic women”, and compared it favorably to the Maysles Bros classic 1975 mother-daughter portrait, Grey Gardens.

The film was reportedly Fisher’s idea, who wanted to document Reynolds’ final live performances in Las Vegas two years ago, aged 82.

Not enough?

HBO’s 2010 special Wishful Drinking will receive an encore presentation on January 1 at 9 (ET/PT). This feature-length adaptation of Fisher’s hit autobiographical stage production tells the intoxicating tale of her life, combining her raucous one-woman stage performance, interviews with family and friends, and archival footage.

Holiday Gift Guide, TV

HBO offers the perfect holiday present for those addicted to really good TV shows

Stop gifting your friends and family members with ugly sweaters, uglier ties and “stuff” that they would love to stuff . . .

HBO is making holiday shopping easier than ever this year, offering TV fanatics the chance to give a gift everyone can enjoy—the HBO NOW gift card. HBO NOW gift cards are available now in denominations of $25 and $50 at Walmart, Best Buy and GameStop stores throughout the U.S. and will launch at H-E-B grocery stores in Texas later this month . . . just in time for TV fans to add an HBO NOW subscription to their holiday wish lists.

HBO NOW provides audiences with instant access to all of HBO—addictive series, unforgettable movies, thought-provoking documentaries, thrilling sports programs and entertaining comedy and music specials—across a variety of their favorite devices, including Android phones and tablets, Amazon FireTV, Fire Tablet, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and Samsung Smart TVs.

Subscribers can catch the latest must-see box office hits like Deadpool, The Revenant, Ride Along 2 and Sisters, plus HBO’s amazing line up of current series including Game of Thrones, Westworld, Silicon Valley, VEEP and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, plus the recent seasons of Ballers, Vice Principals and Girls. HBO NOW also features every episode of every season of HBO classics like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, True Blood, The Wire, Six Feet Under and Deadwood. 

sopranos_4_02
The Sopranos: Still a bloody good time!

 Whether your best friend is a Carrie or a Samantha, your brother is a Dinesh or a Guilfoyle, or your father is a Stark or a Lannister, the HBO NOW gift card is the perfect gift to help everyone on your wish list channel their inner HBO star.