I could've sworn I had already seen a documentary about the life and times of Richard Pryor, but a friend recommended this one to me, and judging by it's year of release (2013)- don't think I had already seen this one..?? Well, anyway, I saw this one off Showtime the other night, and it's a winner!
I would say all modern-day comedians can be traced back to Richard Pryor- Louis CK, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Steve Harvey, etc...in the ability he opened up to pretty much test all the boundaries of an audience, and WOW- did he test them! I'll occasionally go back and watch some of his live shows and think to myself- hmmm.... I really wonder if a comedian in the present day could get away with saying something like that-??
This movie goes into Pryor's life and upbringing, basically in a brothel where grandma was the madame, his dad was a pimp, and his mom was a ho!- talk about "Father Knows Best"!?? LOL Well, it sorta gives you an idea of where his roots shaped his sorta unconventional thinking for the time. The film also goes into his struggle with drugs, especially those incidents lived in the world-wide press. The first movies I remember seeing of his when I was a kid were "Stir Crazy", "The Toy", and "Bustin Loose"- where I recall him having a kinda weird, scaly skin texture. At the time I didn't know that was from his face being lit on fire from free basing cocaine!
Well, again, I'm sure there have been other docs. about this very important comedian, actor, all-around entertainer, but this one has got to rank up among the top. Thumbs up to a good film, and a life lived to it's very fullest!
Please check out all my reviews, plus lots of good interaction and group discussion about anything/everything movies/TV/entertainment at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/movie.holiks/
Email us at:
movie.holiks@groups.facebook.com
And don't settle for second best!- lots of copy-cat and imitation groups out there, but "the REAL movie-holiks" is THEE original one!
I would say all modern-day comedians can be traced back to Richard Pryor- Louis CK, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Steve Harvey, etc...in the ability he opened up to pretty much test all the boundaries of an audience, and WOW- did he test them! I'll occasionally go back and watch some of his live shows and think to myself- hmmm.... I really wonder if a comedian in the present day could get away with saying something like that-??
This movie goes into Pryor's life and upbringing, basically in a brothel where grandma was the madame, his dad was a pimp, and his mom was a ho!- talk about "Father Knows Best"!?? LOL Well, it sorta gives you an idea of where his roots shaped his sorta unconventional thinking for the time. The film also goes into his struggle with drugs, especially those incidents lived in the world-wide press. The first movies I remember seeing of his when I was a kid were "Stir Crazy", "The Toy", and "Bustin Loose"- where I recall him having a kinda weird, scaly skin texture. At the time I didn't know that was from his face being lit on fire from free basing cocaine!
Well, again, I'm sure there have been other docs. about this very important comedian, actor, all-around entertainer, but this one has got to rank up among the top. Thumbs up to a good film, and a life lived to it's very fullest!
Please check out all my reviews, plus lots of good interaction and group discussion about anything/everything movies/TV/entertainment at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/movie.holiks/
Email us at:
movie.holiks@groups.facebook.com
And don't settle for second best!- lots of copy-cat and imitation groups out there, but "the REAL movie-holiks" is THEE original one!