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Directed by: Larry Charles Starring: Sasha Baron-Cohen Borat is a feature film adaptation of British comedian Sasha Baron-Cohen's comedy hit, Da Ali G show, particularly Baron-Cohen's three personas, Borat. The film starts in Borat's home village, and continues to a (largely reality-based) road trip in the USA, under the auspices of documenting american life. The flim expands on many comedic techniques and gags used in the television version. The character displays highly comedic anti-semetism (Baron-Cohen is Jewish himself, obviously) as enacted through his cloistered kazakh alter-ego. Neither I, the writer nor my friend with whom I attended this advance screening (First showing to the open public!!) were offended, and we are both jews. Bottom line, see this film. One might suggest pairing the film with marijuana, but my friend and I were unable to do so the other night when we saw Borat, and it was still quite hilarious none the less. RATING: 4 PROS: Hilarious, a must-see for any fan of the borat character from Da Ali G Show CONS: At times overly-juvenile and predictable. A little trying too hard? ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: imdb.com/title/tt0443453/
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Feb 4, 2006 08:13
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 10:29 |
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Adding to the original post, there's a lot in this movie that you really have to love. There wasn't a minute in the movie where I wasn't giggling or laughing my rear end off. I don't know if the advanced-screening audience had anything to do with the level and amount of laughter in the movie, but sometimes you would miss more jokes because you were laughing so hard. The amazing part of the movie, that really ties it together more than anything, is how the Borat character is constant throughout the movie. I can't recall a time Cohen goes out of character at all, which makes every scene where his character's emotions are displayed even better. The best example of this is when Borat enters the house of a Jewish couple. The look on Borat's face when he realizes where he is, is simply wonderful. There's other moments when Borat does the same thing and it just adds to the humor when he's not breaking character in front of honestly serious people. The subtle humor in the movie really adds to the blatant in-your-face jokes, which really gives no reason for you to stop laughing. The one blatant example I can think of is the whole hotel room scene (you'll understand when you see it) and the enormous black bar covering part of Borat's body that remains obtusely long the entire segment. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard period. I don't really know how to explain the movie without giving all the jokes away, but I have to say there has never been a movie that has had me laughing this much this often. You could try and parallel Jackass 2 to this movie, but Jackass 2 focuses more on gross-out humor while Borat rides on the unscripted humor of the American people. I give this movie a 5.5/5. Funniest movie I've ever seen, hands down.
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Sep 21, 2006 19:46
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The unedited version I saw near the beginning of the 2006, under the promise I wouldn't talk about it until the movie was near release, was amazingly funny. I don't think I've laughed so hard at any movie ever. South Park was great, Dumb & Dumber had me rolling the first time I saw it but nothing comes close to Borat. I'm interested in seeing what, if anything, was cut from the version I saw, as the version I saw was considered the de facto "Director's Cut" as it was beyond what was allowed in an R rated movie. I can't wait to see this opening night in a packed theatre. 5.5/5
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Sep 26, 2006 00:03
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My girlfriend got her hands on tickets to an advance screening, we saw Borat two nights ago. It starts off with jokes very similar to ones he's made in Da Ali G Show already, and then it just gets absolutely off the wall hilarious. My girlfriend and I spent the entire night giggling after we left the theatre. Some of our favorite moments:
Another one I just thought of - Everyone in the theater went, audibly, "Oh poo poo." when he went to Atlanta and the MLK Blvd sign came up on the screen. I think even Sacha Baron Cohen didn't want to push his luck there. This is, no joke, the best comedy ever made, better than anything I've ever seen, including The Big Lebowski. However, I'm not sure how funny it would be the second time around. As with many Ali G jokes, a large part of the humor is in the shock value and reactions of his victims. I'm also quite curious about which skits featured paid actors and which were real people. I'm pretty sure that the rodeo and church were real, while actors featured in Pamela's book signing and a few of the other people who just seemed way too well written, like the driver's ed guy and the frat guys. The only problem I can see with this movie is that it is so funny, that stupid people will beat all of the hilarious jokes into the ground within a week of the wide release. 5.5 Keshik fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Sep 30, 2006 |
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Sep 30, 2006 06:33
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I can't make up my mind about this. I want to like it, but I'm not sure if it held up to my expectations. Part of the problem is that it spent a lot of time trying to have a plot. There's too much exposition, and not enough making fun of hicks. I think as a compilation of these improv situations it would've been funnier, instead of a whole story about Borat with everything in context. The naked fight scene was disgustingly hilarious. The reactions of the other people in the elevator... so funny. And later, when he made friends with Mister Jesus. And the zinger at the end, "I no longer find you attractive. NOT!" There were tons of other great parts; I'll be quoting this for weeks unintentionally. Eh, I think I'll give it a 3.5/5: quotable, but not Monty Python
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Oct 10, 2006 13:53
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I hope a bus runs over your favorite paperback edition of A Catcher In The Rye.
Somebody fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Oct 11, 2006 |
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Oct 10, 2006 20:22
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Just caught an advanced screening, and to reitterate what everyone else has said. I have never laughed so hard in my entire life. Ever. Not even joking. I easily give this a 5.5 out of 5 as this movie, is truly one of the funniest things ever made.
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Oct 13, 2006 04:09
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I made it to an advanced screening tonight and I'll be echoing what everyone else has said and agree that it's a loving hilarious movie. During the first 15 minutes I was a bit skeptical and thought it was going in the wrong direction; however, it quickly became simply hilarious and didn't stop being hilarious until the end. This is certainly a must see. 5/5
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Oct 19, 2006 10:07
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I'll copy-paste what I said in the "Rate The latest movie.." thread. Borat - 10/10 Sacha Baron Cohen is a genius. He truly is. That movie was everything I expected and even more. Cute little storyline was an added bonus, I don't know why I thought it would be just a 1,5 hours of random clips. Naked wrestling had all the movietheater in stitches, bagging of Pamela Anderson and the way she ran off was even better. What makes the whole thing awesome is the fact that I got a free ticket into a secret premiere  Hahah.I recommend this movie very very much. And I'll also say that DO NOT BUY POPCORN. I made the mistake of buying popcorn and even though I managed to eat most of it before the movie began, even eating the last of the box was extremely hard. 5.5/5
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Oct 21, 2006 08:41
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To those who attended the screenings: you guys don't know when the movie comes out, do you? I want to see this movie so bad! (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Oct 23, 2006 04:35
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Thought I'd balance out all the 5s and 5.5s by saying I was fairly disappointed by this. While there were some geniuinely funny moments, and a few surprisingly touching ones, the "oh ho ho look at that, he's being inappropriate" joke quickly got boring for me. A lot of the time the audience would laugh at the hilarious potential for a scene, in an "oh boy, he's going into a church! This is going to be hilarious" way - but then the actual scene itself would prove disappointing. This happened over and over again. Like an earlier poster, I also found it extremely hard to tell which scenes were staged and which involved real people, and a lot of the time I found I couldn't really laugh at something because it seemed so obviously staged. Thanks to the internet I found myself desensitized to a lot of the "shock" elements in the film. For example, in one part Borat mentions meeting "a real life blackface" when speaking to a black guy. This gave most of the audience a huge outrageous laugh, and the guy next to me even said "He can't say that!!!!", but it didn't really do anything for my SA-adjusted sense of humour. A lot of the jokes are also recycled from Da Ali G Show/Ali G In The US-Aiiiiiiiiii - such as attending etiquette training and a dinner party (I know this was Ali G in the TV show, but the outcome is pretty much the same). If you haven't seen the TV shows before then you'll probably really enjoy these parts, but I personally found them much less funny the second time around. Still, it wasn't a bad way to spend 90 minutes. I'm just glad my ticket was free. 3/5 Darn Cotts fucked around with this message at 22:13 on Oct 25, 2006 |
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Oct 25, 2006 22:11
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I have been looking forward to this film for a long time, and as soon as I saw there were preview showing at 00:05 this morning I couldn't resist. I wish I'd had waited for a showing at a normal time now. I am one of Borat's biggest fans, but I came out of the cinema very dissapointed. I found myself getting a little bored at some points, but the laugh out loud moments made up for this. I thought that there were far too many scenes that had been set up rather than on the spot stuff. My favorite part of the whole movies was infact the guys face after he had ate the cheese from Borat's wifes "teets". How he first went in to shock, and you could see him gagging on the stuff. 3/5
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Nov 2, 2006 10:14
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This has been one of my most anticipated films ever. As with all eagerly anticipated films, it didn't exactly live up to the expectations. To a large extent, it was my own fault for following the reviews and posts too closely. Compared to the brilliance of Da Ali G Show (the US version), it still felt a bit too brash and Hollywoodized, a bit lacking in subtlety. Put it this way, it's resembles more Borat's public interviews, instead of the best-of Youtube clips "from before he was massive". Still, I laughed quite a lot, and would expect someone, who'd go in with no idea or expectations about the film or the character, to be pretty much blown away. It's also the kind of movie that could look better in repeat viewings. It's just such a darn funny movie. 4.5/5 quote:My favorite part of the whole movies was infact..
pigdog fucked around with this message at 11:53 on Nov 3, 2006 |
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Nov 2, 2006 22:46
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When I saw the previews, I thought I saw the whole movie. Boy was I wrong. Everything has been mentioned, and yes he does borrow from things he did on both the british and american shows, BUT I felt that he did it in a way that couldn't have been done on tv. The one thing that I enjoyed the most, besides laughing my rear end off, is Baron-Cohen's abilities as an actor, and to do it in real-life situations I do agree that the Pamela Anderson encounter was staged, but that in no way damaged anything else in the movie Lastly, I honestly don't know how this movie did not end up being NC-17 5.5/5
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Nov 3, 2006 18:17
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The only downside was that the ending with Pamela was far to obviously fake/staged. But after the hotel fight/chase/elevator/chase continued this movie could do no wrong. I think I stopped breathing for a few minutes at that part. My eyes were tearing up and I couldn't breath, definitely the hardest I have ever laughed in my entire life Also: Even though the trailer and ads showed a lot of good lines, they were still hillarious in the movie, I don't think they really detracted from enjoying it at all. 5/5!
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Nov 4, 2006 04:33
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What I love about the tv show is knowing this guy is in character freaking out people who have no idea they're the butt of the joke. The movie took a turn for the worse when it was decided that Borat himself was the joke, not the people's reaction. Too much of the movie was staged. I spent what could have been quality laughing time wondering why people weren't having honest reactions or realizing a scene had been rehearsed. What a disappointment. I just wanted 1h30min of the Da Ali G Show's Borat bits but they had to change the format and rely soley on the crazy antics of Borat instead of his craziness in eliticing a response and the humor that comes from said response. The trailer gave away every stop on the map of his journey too. It was pretty predictable, unfortunately. I did still laugh some, so: 2/5
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Nov 4, 2006 05:29
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The pacing of the jokes was very good. It seems like an awful lot of comedies these days gently caress that up--they take a SNL skit's worth of jokes, then stretch it out for an hour and a half with lots of filler scenes, and there are painfully long stretches of non-funny plot. (ie, I-saw-all-the-funny-bits-already-in-the-trailer-itis) Borat kept them coming, so even if one joke wasn't uproariously funny, there's another one coming. But most of them were actually funny, so that's even better. Once I have a copy of this movie, I would like to remove about 10 seconds of footage--gah! Yeah the fight scene was hilarious, but they didn't need to go THAT over the top. You'll know which 10 seconds I'm talking about. 5/5
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Nov 4, 2006 05:39
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I just came back from this movie and I must say it is definitely one of the most awesome comedies of the year. I loved Borat's schtick on Da Ali G Show, and I was happy to see that it was still mostly intact in his feature film. I don't remember the last time where I sat down in front of a movie screen and laughed so consistantly. If there is one con with this movie, it is probably how some of the staged bits seem very forced. If you are going to plant actors, it should be in order to garner reactions from the people around you, not to show that the planted actors are fools. i.e. The frat boys in the van. They're just so stereotypically dumb that no one in the room really laughed at their whole segment. Bummer Still, I think that everything Borat does with normal people and with his producer is hilarious beyond belief and that it's enough to make the public look over some of the more scripted, and generally less funny scenes. 4.5/5
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Nov 4, 2006 06:06
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HOly poo poo I just got back from watching it and freaking Sacha Cohen was in the theaters! This movie was awesome in all ways the people listed above. That one nude fight scene could've ended sooner, I didn't need to see the fat guy rubbing his rear end against Borat. Funny nonetheless Rating: 5
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Nov 4, 2006 06:11
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Wow, this movie is a non-stop laughfest. I was really looking forward to seeing it for the past few motnhs, and it does not dissapoint at all. As a bonus, there was a guy in our show dressed up as Borat, completely in character, he was absolutely amazing, looked just like him, and led the audience in a rousing rendition of "Throw the Jew Down the Well" before the show started. I had seen him on halloween downtown, and he was completely in character then, and just as hilarious. Rating: 5.5/5
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Nov 4, 2006 06:45
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This is, hands down, the most funny movie I have ever seen. Never, ever have I laughed so hard as when the nude wrestling scene hit me in the face, as it came totally unexpected during a slower period in the movie Watching this with a packed theather makes it all 10 times better. Go see it. 5.5/5
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Nov 4, 2006 09:59
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This movie was great, but I'm afraid I built it up a bit too much. I also felt really out of place laughing at the insane racism in certain parts, although it was absolutely hilarious. One thing that I felt was kind of weird was the jarring back-and-forth between the scripted and un(or less)scripted parts. At parts, it's like you're watching a string of YouTube clips of pure hilarity, but then you're back to the (thin and kinda dumb) main story that drags Borat across the country. Stay for the song during the first part of the ending credits though, that may have been my favorite part. 4.0/5
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Nov 4, 2006 10:48
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This movie has rear end to mouth. 5/5
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Nov 4, 2006 11:34
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Hilarious, but at times predictable, which kept that last .5 from my score. Almost as constant-funny as Jackass 2. 5/5
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Nov 4, 2006 18:44
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Whilst I loved the movie, I could have done with way less story-related parts, and more scenes with Borat doing what he does in the TV series. In fact, this movie would have been perfect if it were just an hour-and-a-half of these. Asides from that, when the Borat was doing his thing, the movie was absolutely perfect. My two favourite scenes were the Kahzakhstan national anthem and the dinner he went too. In particular, the former had me literally crying with laughter. Very, very funny, but not at all consistently hilarious, especially in the second half. Still, well worth it for the scenes which are. 4.5/5 hope you are ok fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Nov 5, 2006 |
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Nov 4, 2006 23:58
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I liked this movie more than I expected to. Cohen is either quite insane or a brilliant social satirist, probably both. The scat humor got a little tired, but some of it was so over the top I had to laugh. I did find myself watching the movie in a very meta way, however. Throughout the movie, I was wondering about how they filmed all the stunts. I found myself thinking less about the people on-screen and more about the poor people whose job it was to get signed consent forms from all the people in the stunt scenes. Which then got me wondering at each turn which bits were set up and which were real. It's not really possible to watch the movie as the heartwarming story of a Kazakhstani journalist coming to America. You have to already get the joke to enjoy the movie. Borat gets white Americans to talk on camera the way they do when they're sure there are no minorities around, and Borat's interviews reveal a lot that would be making us cringe in any other context. I could also see why this might be a bit offensive to actual Kazakhs and Kazakhstanis, however. I've been to Kazakhstan myself, I was disappointed to learn yesterday that the "Kazakhstan" scenes were actually filmed in Romania. But this also led to what, for me, was the funniest meta joke in the film. The last scene, with Borat stuffing Pamela Anderson in a "wedding sack," may have been based on an actual practice in Kazakhstan and some of the other 'stans. Kidnapping is somewhat common for men who cannot afford - or just don't want to pay - the dowry on their betrothed. A man can kidnap his woman, take her to a different state, and elope with her without paying her parents a single Tengi. If the sack scene is based on this, I have to give Cohen a shitload of credit for a brilliant meta-joke. Also, I have to take off a half point for them using ВОRДТ on the movie posters, which would be pronounced "VORDT" if there were a letter R in Russian/Kazakh. 4/5
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Nov 5, 2006 01:05
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the running of the jews where the female one stops to lay an egg and people run out to break it before the chick hatches was seriously the funniest thing I've ever seen in a theatre 5/5
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Nov 5, 2006 06:48
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I'm glad the movie was only 83 minutes long, because about 20 minutes in my face started to hurt pretty badly from laughing so hard. 5.5/5, possibly the funniest movie I have ever seen.
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Nov 5, 2006 06:58
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Just saw it tonight at the 10:10 showing. I have to say it was surprisingly funny. I went into the theatre not having heard how funny it was supposed to be and I had never heard of this movie or the whole premise before I actually had the ticket given to me. The moment the opening credits started to go on and the subtitles went on, I knew I was going to like it. The first maybe hour or so were completely hilarious, literally crying laughing moments in there. The Jew parts and the blatent hard racism was so wrong it was hilarious The whole theatre was going OHHHHHH!!! like surprise and alarm but I knew they were laughing inside as I was. Then: The hotel room scene went from a little disturbing to a little funny, back to disturbing and then up to utter hilarity, and then gave funny and disturbing a miss and went to shuddering gross disturbing. That whole scene was WAY too long and totally unecessary. The movie lost points for that. Although I wouldn't reccomend the movie, I will tell you that you'll laugh hard! 4/5 (because of the one part/\)
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Nov 5, 2006 07:01
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Holy gently caress this movie was excellent. I honestly wasn't familiar with Borat prior to this movie coming out though I had seen pictures of Ali G so I knew it was another character of this comedian. God drat this movie was funny, I have never laughed so hard in a movie and it was worth every god drat penny. Holy poo poo, I never got bored at any time I just enjoyed the loving movie and by the end my loving CHEEKS HURT! God drat dude, what comedy makes your CHEEKS HURT?! Wow, I don't know about you guys but the naked part in the hotel was so loving funny, the "accidental" sexual positions had me laughing today with my friend as we remembered the scene. God drat haha, I can't help but laugh just thinking about that scene. This movie was just so drat ridiculous and silly. It seemed even better that many parts were filmed with people who thought he was a real person. 5.5/5 Honestly, how many comedies make you laugh this hard?
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Nov 5, 2006 11:41
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It was gross, vulgar, racist and loving hilarious. 5/5
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Nov 5, 2006 15:14
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This film is what a comedy should be. I've never laughed so consistantly before at ANY film. Therefore this film is the funniest film ever made. 5.5/5 More than makes up for the Ali-G movie.
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Nov 5, 2006 21:25
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It was pretty good, not at all boring. The naked wrestling part had me laughing so hard that my shoulders hurt. After that the movie was below average on the jokes. 3.5 / 5
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Nov 6, 2006 00:16
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This is the single funniest movie I have ever seen. I caught a 7:40 PM showing with three of my friends (one a goon). I honestly think that was the most laughter I ever heard in a theatre in my whole life. The naked wrestling was both disgusting and hilarious, and the scene with the bear in the ice cream truck was loving amazing. I don't know why I singled them out, as I was laughing almost constantly from the first frame to the end of the credits. 5.5/5
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Nov 6, 2006 06:45
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Not a review
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Nov 6, 2006 15:15
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Probably the funniest movie I've seen since Airplane, although it might have topped that if I didn't already know so many of the jokes from looking at his MySpace and various interviews. My favorite parts were: -The driving lesson when he gets into it with other drivers and where he sees the Uzbekistan embassy and yells gently caress YOU MOTHER FUCKERS -Throwing the bag down with the chicken inside of it, and hearing it squawk -The scene in the antique shop -Mixing up retired and retarded -His reaction when he realized the old couple was Jewish. -WHAAAAAAAT? I could have done without the pictures of his son's penis and the rear end to mouth scene, but the rest of the naked fight was hilarious I dont know how well it will hold up after multiple viewings (like how Airplane still makes me laugh my rear end off every time), but I'll give this the top score since it is still the funniest movie in a long, long time. 5.5/5 Carlton Banks fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Nov 6, 2006 |
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Nov 6, 2006 17:48
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Just saw this an hour ago. Spent half the movie cringing/in pain from laughing, and the other half laughing so hard I was loving crying. My ribs hurt. There was room for improvement, but only in the parts that were scripted. Funniest film I've seen in a very long time. 5.5/5!
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Nov 6, 2006 22:14
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Craiglen posted:Just saw this an hour ago. Spent half the movie cringing/in pain from laughing, and the other half laughing so hard I was loving crying. My ribs hurt.
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Nov 6, 2006 22:15
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Having already watched almost everything Sacha had done a year or two ago, the movie sadly didn't have a big effect on me, and I saw most of the jokes coming. Everyone around me loved it though, but I suppose if you are already familiar with the schtick and the sort of stuff Borat says, it will seem a bit tame or rehashed. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled this movie did well, but as a fan already it just missed the mark. 2.5/5
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Nov 7, 2006 05:38
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 10:29 |
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I would appear to be the voice of dissent, but every party has its pooper. When I initially read reviews of this movie it sounded right up my alley, poking fun at people who take their causes too seriously. I went in expecting an intelligent satire, especially reading about scenes like the Rodeo and the feminist society. And I'll grant you that those scenes pointed that out rather well, and hey, they were some of the funnier ones. You could have made a trailer out of them though, and at the end told me not to blow cash on watching it. Everyone's first reaction when I tell them I hated it has been "well you must not like offensive humor," but I highly doubt that's the reason. The scenes I enjoyed were the ones that cleverly offended Cohen's interviewees. And there were some amusing lines. The xenophobia scenes at the bed and breakfast were funny. But honestly how many times can you talk about "vagines" before it gets old? How are you supposed to get a laugh out of human cheese when I saw it coming as soon as he offered it? I feel like people just laughed because it was offensive and if they didn't convince themselves they enjoyed it, they thought they were being lampooned by the "oh man, people are uptight  " sentiment.Everyone brings up the naked wrestling too. That played into the naked-in-the-elevator bit, which was funny for the old guy trying to look nonchalant. But all the "hurr they're administering oral sex lololol" crap? It wasn't subtle, it wasn't clever. It was just crass. It could have been skipped and they could have jumped straight to the elevator. I hate to sound like some sort of patron saint of highbrow humor but I don't poo poo in the gutter so I don't see why I should get my laughs from it too. 1.5/5.
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Nov 7, 2006 05:56
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