Bad Movies - Borat!

[AAFO_WSagar]

Well.... as long as we are bein' all "movie critic" and all in another thread.. and since the "star" of the movie I'm about to rip is on the screen in front of me with Conan right now..

Did anyone here manage to make it through that POS of POS's BORAT???

I made it to just a moment or two beyond "how's my manpussy doing?" and my thick skin had entirely enough of this particular waste of cellouse and electrons!

Now... using this movie as an example, which was created with a very crappy budget, had little known talent (loose term) and less than no taste, if THIS movie can be a hit...

Chime in.. are some of you Siskel and Ebert types into this one??

If so.. what about it appealed to you?


(remember when movie directors used these?)

[MRussell]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

People liked it because it was original, not because it was "good" in the classic sense. They liked it because it was a wiley European who never came out of character, purporting to be a representative from Kazakstan (?sp) all-the-while taking advantage of "stupid Americans" and playing up every stereotype Americans have to deal with in the international limelight, and also taking advantage of the Americans who went far out of their way to show him some hospitality as he toured and filmed. In some ways he basically set us back a few decades and we paid him a couple hundred million to do it. I actually have a friend who grew up in that same "holy roller" church in MS, if you remember that scene from the movie. He was really embarrassed to see that a few of his childhood friends wound up in the movie looking silly. But hey, at least it wasn't the "bring back slavery" kids from the RV scene.

[Jim58]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

Have'nt seen it Wayne......Would'nt waste my time.

To me it's just another example of how out of touch these "Hollywood Actor" types are with the country they live in. they want to be "global patriots" (read as f#$@ing commies) some things will never change.


cancel useless diatribe:\

[bergschrund]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

Jim58 wrote:[".....out of touch these "Hollywood actor" types are..."] Actually Borat is a Jewish guy from England, not Hollywood. I saw the movie and although it was basically moronic, it did make good fun of Texas red-necks and religious coo-coos.

[speeddemon]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

I think Sacha Baron Cohen is actually quite a gifted and talented actor....and his sense of humor is more in the sense of South Park, in that there is nothing sacred that he won't poke fun at. And that is what Borat is all about...about poking fun at how foreigners see Americans and America. Guess you have to have traveled to other, not so fortunate countries who love us and loathe us at the same time to see it from their perspective.

Case in point...his character in Talladega Nights is one of the funniest roles I can remember for anyone in a long time. A French (re: snooty), gay (with his "husband" Andy Richter, with whom he raises gay German Shepherds), Formula One driver (even more snooty) for whom Stock Car racing is so blase' that he drinks latte' and reads poetry while leading the pack--oh yeah, did I mention that the car is sponsored by Perrier?

"Oh, eu du not like zee jazz?"

[SCEPTER]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

If so.. what about it appealed to you?

very funny......borat trailer

[Randy Haskin]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

there is nothing sacred that he won't poke fun at. And that is what Borat is all about...about poking fun at how foreigners see Americans and America. Guess you have to have traveled to other, not so fortunate countries who love us and loathe us at the same time to see it from their perspective.

I think that last part is the one that most people in the US don't get. After having lived in the UK only 6 months, I see that the image we have of ourselves in the United States is VERY distorted compared to how the rest of the world really sees us. Even here in the UK, whom we have a "special relationship" (quote from Tony Blair) with, America is loved and hated in the same breath and with the same vigor.

Personally I thought Borat was completely offensive, totally tasteless, and funny as hell. If you only look at it on prima facie value, it seems every but the piece of trash that others have described. Unfortunately, Cohen is much smarter than that, and the joke is on US in America...most of us just don't seem to get the joke.

[Trey Carroll]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

I think that last part is the one that most people in the US don't get. After having lived in the UK only 6 months, I see that the image we have of ourselves in the United States is VERY distorted compared to how the rest of the world really sees us. Even here in the UK, whom we have a "special relationship" (quote from Tony Blair) with, America is loved and hated in the same breath and with the same vigor.

Personally I thought Borat was completely offensive, totally tasteless, and funny as hell. If you only look at it on prima facie value, it seems every but the piece of trash that others have described. Unfortunately, Cohen is much smarter than that, and the joke is on US in America...most of us just don't seem to get the joke.

I loved the movie and totally agree with Hacker ( about that most Americans dont get it, not living in England) I've got friends who love it and friends who hate it. It's not a movie for everyone. But I love it. I'm the kinda guy who likes pointless humor and offensive jokes. My two cents have been deposited...

[Propellerhead]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

Sacha Baron Cohen is an equal opportunity offender, although some of his targets are too easy. But he really did nail the militant feminists as the most humorless folks on the planet. That's one of my wife's favorite scenes: "Is it not problem that woman have brain size of squirrel?"

Cohen sees his job as to "take the piss" out of everybody. I haven't seen all of the HBO Ali G episodes, but his targets are not all rednecks or evangelicals. I'm not surprised that he provokes a strong response, his humor can be cruel at times. It was well reviewed because movie critics tend to love films that make Americans look bad. This movie is not for everyone and that's OK. Millions of Americans have seen "Wild Hogs" which looks like a big POS.

Cohen can be included with actors from the full commitment school of comedy and like Trey Parker and Matt Stone ("Team America" - best movie EVER), he can go too far sometimes, but I see far more hits than misses.

Did I laugh? Yes, a lot and with tears running down my face. Will I watch the movie again front to back? Probably not. Unfortunately, the nude wrestling scene will leave most of us who saw it in the theater scarred for life.

BTW, stay away from the "Ali G Indahouse" movie - it's crap. Like a mediocre SNL sketch forced to be a movie.

[speeddemon]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

Okay....so Wayne....you may not like Borat, but check this scene out....the BEST scene from Talledega Nights.

"Mah neme is Jean Girard, an I am a rece cahr driveh jes like eu, ahxcept I am from fomula uhhhh"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hiFfn0VzrE&mode=related&search=

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

Okay....so Wayne....you may not like Borat, but check this scene out....the BEST scene from Talledega Nights.

"Mah neme is Jean Girard, an I am a rece cahr driveh jes like eu, ahxcept I am from fomula uhhhh"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hiFf...elated&search=

*sigh* I must just be getting too close to being truly an old man (closer to 60 now than 50 and isn't 60 when you're truly old?)

Though I did find a scene or two in Talladega Nights amusing, I did not like it either.

Borat was like a really bad, REALLY long uncensored, disgusting SNL skit... Talladega Nights hit me the same way... although it wasn't nearly as disgusting.

My response to the foreigner insulting us Americans... Maybe next time they get their butts in a sling we should just stay home and let them fester with their pompous "Americans are so... American" attitudes...

I know that the rest of the world sees us in a different way than we see ourselves but geez.. I guess I don't appreciate some Jewish guy from England poking us as hard as he did. "My Generation" had our Ugly American" movie... if this is "this generation's" answer to it..

*sigh* I'm sorry.. leaves me disappointed in ourselves that so many of us enjoyed this movie..

[Mike51]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

My response to the foreigner insulting us Americans... Maybe next time they get their butts in a sling we should just stay home and let them fester with their pompous "Americans are so... American" attitudes...

Which goes a long way towards explaining............

1) Why this movie has been such a hit, and....

2) Why the rest of the world sees the US the way it does.

[Apteryx]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

*sigh* I must just be getting too close to being truly an old man..

I'm with you old man.
Starting to feel like the old guys in the balcony, on the Muppets?

[Randy Haskin]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

Beware: Off Topic Rant Ahead!

My response to the foreigner insulting us Americans... Maybe next time they get their butts in a sling we should just stay home and let them fester with their pompous "Americans are so... American" attitudes...

This is exactly....exactly....EXACTLY why Americans have a bad name in the world right now.

The term "Ugly American" originated in the 50s, but is a perfect descriptor for the image that we currently have in the eyes much of the other 95% of humankind.

Yeah, so the US helped stave off the Axis 60 years ago. The problem is, instead of us letting the world simply appreciate that for what it is, we DON'T LET THEM FORGET IT. And we REMIND them of it every chance we get. It's asinine. It's brash. It's arrogant. It's cocky.

If you think I'm completely off my rocker here, then I suggest you spend some time outside the US. Seriously, I'm not joking. The US is but one viewpoint among many viewpoints. We are NOT always right. We are NOT always the good guys. Not EVERYONE in the world wants what we have, be that freedom or democracy or whatnot. If you can't possibly fathom that concept...then that's precisely why you should try and see things from somebody else's point of view outside of North America.

I've had the rare opportunity as an International Military Student Officer to fly and train with pilots from all over the world...from nationalities I never thought I'd have contact with. The ones that come to mind are Pakistanis, Egyptians, Bahrainis, and Singapore. I've talked with them in detail about their countries, their education, their values, and what some of the social and political angles are in their country (I can't help it, I'm a Sociology Major, hee hee).

As a result of those conversations, I was let in on an interesting fact: There are lots and LOTS of people in the world that have no desire for "freedom" or "democracy". That's not one of their values. That doesn't make them EVIL, as we so quickly label those who don't believe in "The American Dream", it just makes them different. Different is okay. We don't have to be missionaries on a crusade to convert them to loving freedom. They don't need or want to be "saved" by the US of A. Americans are not always going to be seen as crusaders, or liberators, or harbingers of good. Having seen the actions of the United States through the eyes of the British media, and talking to indigenous people here in the UK, have only served to solidify that fact (you'd be surprised at how much different the media -- television, especially -- is in the UK).

What we NEED to be is a little less egotistical...a little less arrogant...a little less spring-loaded to remind the world how righteous and powerful and good we are. There is something to be said for being a "quiet professional" instead of the loud guy at the end of the bar that everyone wishes would just go home.

Personally, I'm not above criticism. I don't think my country is, either. Fact of the matter is, in my opinion, "they" have some pretty dang valid points...and if We could collectively stop being so knee-jerk defensive about it and objectively look at criticism, we'd be a lot better off for it. Making my country better is something that I am all for.

...and I'm off my soap container.

[Leo]

Re: Bad Movies - Borat!

It takes a special sense of humor, dry, warped, irreverent and appreciative of the humor that goes too far to get it. I thought it was so-so, but Team America is one of my favorites, and now the whole family's.But then, Family guy, King of the hill, the Simpsons, South Park, all hit my funny bone.
And for "out there" humor, I'm a HUGE Firesign Theatre and Tom Lehrer fan...
Don't fret it Wayne, we're all getting older! I find a lot of things I would have probably loved a few years ago just plain dumb now!