[.ca] Sandra Bernhard: "I'm Still Here...Damn It!" (ISBN 6305755434)

From Amazon.com:
Sandra Bernhard's dazzling one-woman show comes to video after a wildly successful Broadway run and national tour that virtually jump-started her career after a low-key decade of writing books and making various television appearances (Roseanne). Less structured and formal than her previous film, the cult classic Without You I'm Nothing, I'm Still Here... Damn It! catches La Diva Sandra in San Francisco, some six months pregnant and laying waste to the cultural detritus of the '90s. Nothing and no one emerges unscathed from Bernhard's lacerating wit as she paints a vast, swirling portrait of today's media-saturated landscape. This breathtaking ride showcases Bernhard in top form as she offers commentary on everyone from Mariah Carey to Courtney Love, as well as the waifish girl singers of Lilith Fair, to whom she offers the advice, "Just get out of that dirty bathtub for starters!" Bernhard is not afraid to call a spade a spade--and make that spade live to regret the error of its ways--but I'm Still Here... Damn It! is also about the efforts to keep your soul pure under increasingly superficial circumstances. Bernhard touches on issues of religion, self-fulfillment, bravery, and motherhood, and utilizes her stunning voice as well as her scathing wit. A tribute to Christine McVie, "Nightingale," is both a send-up and homage to the Fleetwood Mac pianist, and Bernhard ends her show with an intoxicating Moroccan prayer and a stunning cover of "Midnight Train to Georgia." And as photographed by legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler (Medium Cool, Matewan), Bernhard is an electrical presence, beautiful and shocking at the same time. At only an hour, it's a condensed version of her show (for the full-on effect, buy the soundtrack), but amazing nonetheless. The DVD features about 30 minutes of bonus footage, including ribald observations of Rosie O'Donnell, Melanie Griffith, and Liza Minnelli, among others. --Mark Englehart

Wait for the outtakes:
Sandra Bernhard is a true original as far as stand-up comedy and performance art go, and it is unquestionable that at a certian moment in time she represented the absolute cutting-edge. Diehard Bernhard fans will be fiercely furious for suggesting so, but I think it's true her act doesn't wear so well as the years go by: her onstage persona's dripping contempt for everyone and everything is not as funny as it once was in 1990 or so (and can get more than a little tiresome), and, while she can sing decently, the numbers she performs are not always suited to her voice (she's not as strong a singer as she imagines). I began to get depressed while watching this video, and actually began to be really put off (for the first time) by the fact that her act is so much about ripping to pieces mostly women in her own chosen fields (comedy, music, fashion, and acting). While she at one point signals her awareness of this in her act (and blames the media for it), this doesn't seem to excuse her entirely. But after the formal show this video present outtakes from it, and she redeems herself utterly. Bernhard seems less soulless and monstrous (and much funnier) when she can give and take with an audience and break down the fourth wall, and there are some routines (especially one about Linda Evangelista fixing her watch) that are absolutely hilarious. I fastforwarded through the songs and even some of the bits of the main show, but I replayed the outtakes several times.

Laugh out loud funny:
This is a really great DVD. Sandra is very funny throughout the whole thing! The show is about an hour long, but it's the cut scenes that are the funniest. She is quick and funny. She has a nice singing voice, although at times it's hard to tell if she's trying to sing or just trying to make fun of a certain style of singing. There were some great jokes here, about Courtney Love, Lilith Fair, modern technology, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Versace, and many others. The bonus cut scenes are funny, even funnier than the show. The Rosie O'Donnell joke is hilarious. The "Diva Moment" is also a higlight. She doesn't miss a beat. I hope she releases another DVD sometime soon, she's very funny and this is an enjoyable show that you'll enjoy watching again and again.

A good way to unwind after a horrible day:
I have seen this DVD perhaps 10 times since I bought it this past Christmastime and I'll probrably see it again tonight since I'm thinking about it. You have to be a Bernhard fan to really appreciate the sarcastic wit of hers and her take on society, politics and celebrities, albeit how it effects her in the world that she lives in. The fact that this HBO special filming of her night club act was filmed while she was very pregnant (I'm guessing 9-1/2 months by the shape of her physique) and wearing a rather see thru dress (due to club lighting), shows that she has absolutely no shame and we are all the better for it. Spending the hour just listening to her puts my miserable life into perspective (well at least for an hour anyway). Make sure you see the extras with her dozen or so (1 minute long) comments on different subjects and people (Mother Teresa and her house painter are favorites). She sings too! I loved the tribute to Giani Versace (a song on how the tragedy effected the lives and more importantly, the careers of the grieving supermodels left behind on the catwalk) and the cover of "Midnight train to Georgia" just brings a tear to my eye every time- who!! who!! Get the incense and bottle of vodka ready, and enjoy the sights and sounds of Miss Sandra Bernhard!

A good way to unwind after a horrible day:
I have seen this DVD perhaps 10 times since I bought it this past Christmastime and I'll probrably see it again tonight since I'm thinking about it. You have to be a Bernhard fan to really appreciate the sarcastic wit of hers and her take on society, politics and celebrities, albeit how it effects her in the world that she lives in. The fact that this HBO special filming of her night club act was filmed while she was very pregnant (I'm guessing 9-1/2 months by the shape of her physique) and wearing a rather see thru dress (due to club lighting), shows that she has absolutely no shame and we are all the better for it. Spending the hour just listening to her puts my miserable life into perspective (well at least for an hour anyway). Make sure you see the extras with her dozen or so (1 minute long) comments on different subjects and people (Mother Teresa and her house painter are favorites). She sings too! I loved the tribute to Giani Versace (a song on how the tragedy effected the lives and more importantly, the careers of the grieving supermodels left behind on the catwalk) and the cover of "Midnight train to Georgia" just brings a tear to my eye every time- who!! who!! Get the incense and bottle of vodka ready, and enjoy the sights and sounds of Miss Sandra Bernhard!

A RARE GEM:
Sandra is a rare Gem. She is one funny Gal. Bright, Witty, and Refreshing. This is here at her best. I have seen her live many times. I'd travel far to see her but this is as close as you can get when she's not in town. Love You Sandra.