HBO Documentary Films: Public Speaking - A Conversation w/ Fran Lebowitz (HBO)

[livingdeadgrl18]

God, I love her!

[netu1987]

Hey there! Have you thought about the book Public Speaking for Frankenstein ? I got some great techniques from it and could then did a speech without fear.

[stinabeib]

Wow, this woman is really cocky. I have never heard of her until I looked up this trailer because it's a film by Martin Scorsese.

I'm always fascinated to listen to intelligent thinkers, but it totally ruins it for me when they're overly arrogant. I'm going to watch it anyways, partly to see if there is indeed a valid reason for this arrogance.

[PublicSpeakingTruth]

A different but valid view of public speaking

[captainDread]

A random comment, lost somewhere in my browsing history, stating that Lebowitz reminded the commenter of a less sardonic George Carlin made me want to watch the doc. Afterwards I agree she might be less sardonic, but she's no Carlin. Not even close! Carlin's cynicism was motivated by disappointment with western society as the humanist he ultimately was. And it shone through. Lebowitz's observations just seem motivated by unabashed nostalgia. It doesn't seem very enlightened or enlightening.

[Glodean6360]

She's great in the movie but the movie isn't very good. There's these silly asides about Martin Scorcese's "Taxi Driver" because she owns a checker and the pacing and editing is all really rudimentary. Fran's an original but the film is cramped and conventional.

[mrlopez2681]

@Glodean6360 - the footage from Taxi Driver has little to do with Fran's car & more to do with the conversation taking place while the footage is showing.

[Glodean6360]

@mrlopez2681 well, actually the footage from "Taxi Driver" is a nod to both the car that Fran owns (a checker) but more importantly it puts Martin Scorcese - the filmmaker making the film - into the story which is kinda tacky because he doesn't add much. Fran Lebowitz writes so little and is interviewed so little that this "conversation" is a bit of a wasted opportunity to find out more about her.

[mrlopez2681]

@Glodean6360 - I suppose it's a bit of a wasted opportunity if one requires an A&E style Biography episode about her, but one can find out everything one needs to know about Ms. Lebowitz from the film. I think Scorsese did it in a straight forward way to showcase Fran, rather than himself. I found that the "Taxi Driver" footage took care of 2 things - it illustrated the things Fran was talking about at that moment in the film, & showed a checker, which I think was only secondary.

[NicoleK0381]

She mentioned Buster Keaton...love her even more. 

[SapBurough]

An obnoxious gay Jewish loudmouth from New York of all places?! I don't believe it!

[chilIin45dope]

@SapBurough haha nice

[codownni]

I wanna get pissed with her

[MzOnyx360]

I REALLY NEED to know the name of the song that plays at the very end of this documentary...its an a foreign language... LOVE her BTW.

[SlowWalkHome]

Great speaking takes training. I've helped a few people and they quickly grow to love it.

[TheSololobo]

It seems like she's worked out all her kinks or at least she does a better job at decoding them than most.

[inspirationalspeake]

I just love to run in to these type experiences in today�s cynical and lost environment.

[parafleet]

Didn't this woman take photographs of Bruce Springstein while he was nude?

[nycfunrun]

I NEED A DOCUMENTARY filmmaker SEE MY CHANNEL....

youtube search: 73 Intense Seconds Of My Nightly Passion / Documentary Movie Proposal (need film maker)

[Kantace]

I really don't get it

[rocky213]

does anyone remember the artists she mentioned in this film.

[arcticstroke93]

I want to be friends with her !

[makwingka1985hk]

who is he

[Saternoc]

Wow I seem to agree with her on everything!

[coolitababy]

@Saternoc that's because she's always right.

[Saternoc]

@coolitababy I finally watched the entire doc. After Goodfellas and Casino PUBLIC SPEAKING ranks as my third favorite Martin Scorsese film.

[Ahuvati]

:D good

[triptoheaveandho]

god i love this woman

[jcali619]

I like her view on gay marriage:

- Get over it people, it's not slavery and why would you want to marry someone and inherit their bad credit. lol

[chaote]

@ritter89: "I still enjoy listening to her speak, though." That's the point.

She offers insight, ideas and alternative points of view about society and she does it well. So well, in fact, that many people, myself included, gladly pay her for her effort (ie: lectures, etc). In the land of the free, home of the free market dreamers, what better way to make a living?

[bettyjoon3]

Fran is an unconventional genius.

[bdreene]

Love me some Fran. Way to go Marty.

[seaniebouy]

I saw it last night. It's time to see it again. She's so smart and funny.

[ritter89]

She hasn't really aged in the past 20 yrs. I guess she's a walking endorsement for anti aging benefits of chain smoking (being facetious, of course). As a kid, I looked forward to her appearance on talk shows like Letterman, Carson, etc but could never quite figure out why she was famous. I still feel that way about her. Aside from her gigs at Interview and Social Studies, which was written in the early 80s, I think, what else has she done? I still enjoy listening to her speak, though

[Maskedman46]

@ritter89

She was a Columnist and wrote many books and is a brilliant speaker...

She's famous because she uses her mind unlike many in this world...

~MM~

[77postpunkchic]

Huh? You make zero sense and your posting reads like you are trying to convince yourself that you made the right decisions in life. Good for you that you love being a "we" but Fran is still insightful, gifted, etc, etc.. My sense is that you wanted to be a Fran L type but it just didn't turn out that way. It's ok. So many of us don't live the life we had planned on living. What is not ok is to be insulitng to the source of our envy. Be an adult, ok? Adults make good parents.

[77postpunkchic]

@ChiroQuacker I read your posting and had to double check the calendar to make certain that it wasn't 1959. Children, family, really? Once I finished laughing, I thanked God for Fran. Insightful, gifted, witty, articulate, original. Now you on the other hand....

[ChiroQuacker]

@77postpunkchic

...people like solitary fran..they are consumed with themselves...

...anyone who has kids...and loves being a parent...one of the greatest aspects is....is that its more fun and rewarding to be dwelling on their well being then your own..

thats what i love most about parenting...when it was just me..i used to dwell on myself and most of it was total bullshit...i dont miss those days in the least..i love being a "we"...as a parent...not an "I"...some neurotic selfconsumed ahole

[ChiroQuacker]

fran says she has WRITERS BLOCK.....

thank God for ME...

she is a way over rated writer....

...her yapping on and on is a bore...she is never had children...never had a family...

she is a solitary creature who is consumed with herself...

...typical selfish fucked up neurotic old cynic....RIP franny

[dancewomyn1]

@ChiroQuacker How is it that not having children and a family is synonymous with being a solitary bore? She's a woman with opinions just like everyone else, only her opinions are heard by a larger group of people, and apparently are intresting enough to have made her fairly successful in life. You may not like what she has to say, but clearly there are enough people who do to warrant the making of an HBO film special.

[ChiroQuacker]

@dancewomyn1

her opinions are worthless...its not like she painted the mona lisa..or she wrote porgy and bess...or she invented electricity...

its crap...they tell me jay z and lil wayne those rappers....are great talented artists.... who call women hoochies, ho's and bitches and call each other "nigga"...

so then i gues based on todays standards fran is brilliant too...

what the fuck then would that make nat king cole in his prime?

[ChiroQuacker]

@dancewomyn1 ...people like solitary fran..they are consumed with themselves...

...anyone who has kids...and loves being a parent...one of the greatest aspects is....is that its more fun and rewarding to be dwelling on their well being then your own..

thats what i love most about parenting...when it was just me..i used to dwell on myself and most of it was total bullshit...i dont miss those days in the least..i love being a "we"...as a parent...not an "I"...some neurotic self consumed ahole

[ChiroQuacker]

totally overrated writer...she is amusing when she gabs but as a writer nothing special....

[shopping222]

LOL will someone answer this GUY with the photographer comment...... its in all the Fran videos

[diddeliduddi]

wonderful and inspiring, she reminds me of Chico Marx's forgotten twin sister. In a good way that is..

[scumbag25]

just saw the documentary...she reminds me of how much i miss the great conversationalists of years ago. Her observations are so rich and dead on I wish we saw a great deal more of her. I forgot .. there are no more real "talk shows" Where would you be able to se her

[paperraven]

@ChiroQuacker and @DigitalDiscoNYC: To paraphrase Lewis Black , some people should think about what they say beofre they say it, and then shut the f*&k up anyway...

And @Bodogjoe, your hatred of reading shows with every word you speak

[franksvideovault]

As a writer, I found this piece to be absolutely inspiring Live life the way you want to live it - screw society, tell it like it is, be free, and most of all, don't give a rat's ass about what people think of you and your work. Marvelous. Engaging. Awesome.

[spfane]

@ChiroQuacker Yeah...that oughta get some good comments going on here!!!

[Bodogjoe]

I cant stand femisist types. However, after watching the documentary I can honestly say she is spot on on ALOT of issues. Like the smoking cigs thing. SPOT on. I had heard of her before, but just dismissed her as another ugly feminists. After seeing this though, her social commentary is amazing. Hell I might even read one of her books. Erm NM, I fucking hate reading.

[carsanookdotcom]

Is she related to Leibowitz, the photographer?

Bangkok Johnny

Royaume de Thailande

[ejw23]

I love Fran Lebowitz!

[armando5908]

Fran Lebowitz for president...

[DigitalDiscoNYC]

@ChiroQuacker

disgusting!

[ChiroQuacker]

@DigitalDiscoNYC

I totally agree wih you...Fran is "disgusting".

But if you're a desperate lesbo looking for some action...and its 2AM and the bar is about to close..and you dont wanna go home alone...and Franny is sitting there at the end of the bar looking at you cock-eyed...then what the hell...so OK...you down a double scotch and say to yourself..."ahhh in thirty years we'll all be sand anyways"...and you take her home.

Biggest problem is getting her out of your home after you're done.

[rdefrancisco2310]

@ChiroQuacker

You should call Fran out like that in a public conference. When she's done with you, you'll rightfully go and buy some rope at the local hardware shop (make sure it's good quality so the noose doesn't loosen) and hang yourself from your fan.

[ChiroQuacker]

@rdefrancisco2310

first off i wouldnt bother going to hear her talk on and on....

like shes some expert on life..shes a poor man woody allen without the envied penis and balls....

and if i happened to get into a verbal match with her...i'd bury her...

i'm sorry shes a man trapped in an old shriveled up jewish womans body...

blame God or her parents hymie and selma...

not me...HA

as for her writing..like i said..way way over rated.

and she has writers bloack which is good for me.l...hope

[rdefrancisco2310]

@ChiroQuacker Get in front of a crowd and be even half as sharp as she is, and I won't think you're borderline retarded, as I do now. As for making fun of her physical appearance, refer to my first comment. Remember, good quality rope. :D

[ChiroQuacker]

@rdefrancisco2310

sitting in a room packed with other neurotic spinster aging lesbians types...listening to another spinster aging lesbian type pontificate about LIFE...

..you're right..if my life came down to that..i'd fucking hang myself.

Franny never wrote the grapes of wrath or war and peace...she never composed a porgy and

bess, she cant sing, she cant dance, she cant play a musical intstrument, she didnt paint the mona lisa, she never wrote an opera.

yeah...shes a talent HA HA

[rdefrancisco2310]

@ChiroQuacker So her more than obvious virtu in speaking isn't a talent to you, but merely playing an instrument is? So you're one of the ones that thinks Justin Bieber and the Jonas Brothers are talented, huh?

[nickypeeps]

@rdefrancisco2310 really? will it be something as scathing as the comeback she mentioned in this stupid movie when she asked the frat boy if he wanted to meet her hair dresser? the fact that she was hanging her fucking hat on that shitty line made me want to throw my TV out a window. there's nothing worse than pretentious literary nerds who think they know what funny is. really? is that a hilarious book review? shut the fuck up. yuck

[rdefrancisco2310]

@nickypeeps The content of her comeback wasn't the amusing part of that story, but the reaction of the stupid frat boy for leaving his university. I bet you think you're a much better speaker because you get on youtube and sum up hours trying to come up with belittling remarks using a thesaurus, since you're in dire need of grammatical advocacy.

[nickypeeps]

@rdefrancisco2310 we're not comparing her to ourselves, retard. we're comparing her to funny people. like any standup comedian who can tell a joke and not awkwardly blink quickly and gnash their teeth around because their delivery sucks so much, they don't know what to do with their own face. every shittily timed, corny joke she told at that table interview gave me douche chills. "Stroller with a shaving mirror. Wakka wakka!"  she stinks, and that's all there is to it

[rdefrancisco2310]

@nickypeeps She doesn't label herself as a stand-up comedian, though. She's a public speaker that happens to be pretty funny with her witty remarks. I think you should just get off her very well deserved penis and not criticize her so much. She's much more than you'll probably ever be, especially if you keep wasting your life denunciating people via youtube instead of worrying about yourself.

[nickypeeps]

@rdefrancisco2310 i found that letter thing really hard to believe, anyway. and when you combine it with her saying, "Because i don't have a cell phone and a microwave oven," as if those two things are fucking related in ANY way, "I'm the only one who really sees what's going on in society," you can tell she's an irrelevant bore who fancies herself some philosopher of modern day counter-culture, and for some reason, it's enraging to me

[rdefrancisco2310]

@nickypeeps I think you're looking at that comment way too superficially. What she means is that society is "dumbing" themselves down wasting their time with their fancy electronics instead of paying attention to whats going on around them (impossible to disagree with that statement). She never said she's the only one (if she did it was probably a figure of speech), but that she was one of the few in New York that didn't walk the streets while on an electronic device, which is probably true.

[nickypeeps]

@rdefrancisco2310 you're telling me to not criticize someone who is fucking famous for criticizing shit. could you possibly be defending her just because you like her a lot and are holding her at a different standard? i wonder. you're right. i should be denouncing people on HBO. everyone knows that being on HBO legitimizes your stupid opinions. please cut the hypocritical shit, and please don't tell me to stop being a bitter cunt for no reason

[nickypeeps]

@rdefrancisco2310 and I live in new york. it isn't true. it's just something a person would say if they're trying to portray themselves as a pretentious observer with a keen eye for nuances regular shlubs won't notice. it's something an annoying person would say

[rdefrancisco2310]

@nickypeeps The whole New York thing, it may be that she dwells in a pile of her own crap a bit more than often, but then again we all do at certain times. It's what keeps us confident.

[nickypeeps]

@rdefrancisco2310 her criticism of superficiality is in itself her patting herself on the back. i fully understand what she's saying, and I also understand what she's implying, and it's self congratulating horse shit with an end product of hacky opinions. the only novel thing i saw in the movie was her take on how people act like smoking is a moral failure. in two hours, that was the only interesting thing she said. everything else was intellectual attempts at comedy that blew

[rdefrancisco2310]

@nickypeeps You only agree with her take on smoking? You can't say you don't agree with what she had to say about genders and how scientifically the male is the stronger gender, something a potential feminist like herself would rarely concur with. I can understand though why certain things about her itch under your skin, but try not let shit like that bug you so much. Life is too short to let other people's inferiorities emotionally affect us.

[nickypeeps]

@rdefrancisco2310 but i like being emotionally affected by petty things. i think it's funny. i'm a lot like Oscar Wilde, except i don't have a head like a juke box.

i don't think i'm anything like Oscar Wilde. I just wanted to make a joke about that giant melon he used to lug around

[nickypeeps]

@rdefrancisco2310 on second thought, please don't entertain my fucking nonsense with any actual arguments. i'm wasting both of our time. or times. do we both have different senses of time? like if one of us were on the moon. or are we using the same time in different ways? who the fuck knows, aside from people who make watches, i guess. i own a pocket watch that has the engraving "BAD MOTHER FUCKER" on it, like Samuel L Jacksons wallet in Pulp Fiction. it seemed like a good idea at the time

[rdefrancisco2310]

@nickypeeps There's a difference between criticizing ideas and general actions and criticizing individuals. Remember the quote, "Intelligent people talk about ideas. Mediocre people talk about things. Small people talk about other people." I'm implying you stop being a "bitter cunt" for you own good. Don't tell me now how Lebowitz is a bitter cunt herself, because I wouldn't know about her personal life. She does portrays herself, though, as an arrogant cunt, but definitely not bitter one.

[rdefrancisco2310]

@nickypeeps Lol and don't take the statement "waste your time" so literal. Obviously we don't actually "waste time", just invest it on activities that can potentially achieve you greatness in your future. And please don't touch on how greatness is in the eye of the beholder blah blah blah. I can tell you would by your tendency to go off on a tangent.

[MsZephyra]

Saw the documentary last night. Fantastic!!

[cherd1971]

shes really smart

[Indzzgracey]

This woman is my idol