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BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 9:37:34 AM

JudgeDredd

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I'm going to see this movie at the weekend...looking and hoping for a couple of hours of laughter. It's got fantastic reviews in Britain (although I guess not so much in Kazakhstan).

Anyone know how many laughs I am going to expect?

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 10:06:00 AM

jvgfanatic

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I have seen a bit of this guys earlier stuff and was totally unimpressed. I didn't find it offensive though I know his intention is to be humourously offensive. What I didn't like about it was it's sophmoric nature. There's nothing wrong with being silly and having a good time but I don't think the guy deserves all the attention he gets. Again, I don't mind that he's offensive, I just wish he wasn't so simple.

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 11:12:21 AM

martxyz

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I always thought his "Ali G" was a bit better. At the time, the chracter Borat, was less developed. The good thing about Ali G was that because he was black, a lot of very reactionary people, who thought they were taking part in a serious interview, were really keen to notshow themselves as prejudiced. He always managed to end up, by saying outrageous things, get them to really show themselves up. It was great. the movie of Borat sdid, I know get some mixed reviews amaong the critics. One of the criticisms was that the film tended to split between scenes where the other people didn't know they were being set-up, and scenes that involved other actors. I hope you enjoy it. It sounds a blast.

Incidentally, after first hating it, I heard some interviews on the BBC that the Kazakh government were gradually coming round to the idea tht Borat was just so ridiculous that people woud get the joke, andit could put the country on the map for tourism etc. (admittedly there were still a few who were a bit cheesed off). The kids they interviewed in Kazakhstan thought the whole thing was really cool. They also realized that, in a way, that it was so bizarre, that the joke was not on Kazakstan, but on the people who appeared in the film. The highlight appears to be at a rodeo in Montana where he gets the crowd cheering, in all seriousness and bloodlust, about the great notion that George Bush likes to drink the blood of babies! I think this said a lot more about the crowd than it did about Kazakhstan (where apparently the cars are pulled by horses!)

I hope you have a really fantastic night out!

Martin

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 11:34:32 AM

JudgeDredd

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I 'm hoping for some laughs. Like you I was no big fan of Borat on the AliG show, whereas Ali G was the highlight...but I have heard good reviews (constantly seeing 5 stars for it in many written reviews) so I'm hoping for a good old belly laugh.

God knows I could use it at the moment, what with my boss reading my emails and justifying it on some comment made between me and another colleague and "making an assumption" from said conversation and taking it upon himself to check my email system! (bastard!)

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 1:59:17 PM

Marc von Martial

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I'm going to watch it too, the guy rocks.

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 2:37:49 PM

****Sabot

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****I liked Borat on Ali G, but I was dissappointed in the movie. Many of the skits are "rehashed" from previous ones on the Ali G show...and they are just not as funny the second time around. Wait for the DVD is my advice.

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 5:54:56 PM

BAL

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HBO ran some of his TV (?) episodes last week. The guy is funny for about two minutes.

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 6:09:45 PM

JudgeDredd

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I'll let you know...can't wait!

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 6:10:32 PM

anarchyintheuk

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I would say less than a minute. Don't get/like his comedy, never will. Never will see that $8.50 again.

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 6:12:15 PM

JudgeDredd

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$8.50!! Cheaper then the $13 I'm going to pay (�7,65 to go to the pics here in Colchester in UK!!)

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 8:34:31 PM

anarchyintheuk

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That's pretty steep. Hope you enjoy it more than I did.

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/9/2006 9:51:02 PM

martxyz

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Maybe it's because the comedy was a little on the weird side, but the british already knew the character. There's also another element to all this. If you take something like the horrendous bloodthirsty ravings he managed to stir up at the rodeo, the point isn't so much whether Borat is funny (which varies), or that he temporarily upset the Kazakhs. The funny thing is that he was showing, in a lot of the scenes, something of the country he was visiting. It wasn't the Kazakhs that were being taken for a ride, but the people inthe film. Is it possible that this may make it less popular in the States than it is in the UK, and perhaps this is a factor in who finds it funny. There is an argument that Borat is so obvioulsly ridiculous, that he's not the bit of the film that's ultimately so gross.

Though this is obviously a reflection of some of the ridiculous things he found in the states, you can all take comfort that, as Ali G, he did EXACTLY the same in the UK. Seeing politicians, religious leaders etc trying to grapple with this monster of a creation, who they believed to be real, was just so very revealing. But, as mentioned - sometimes it works, and sometimes it falls flat. I just hope he doesn't come to visit the place where I live!! The attitudes of some people would REALLY be cringeworthy to watch!

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/10/2006 12:10:56 AM

anarchyintheuk

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This isn't the first time I've seen him. Saw most of his stuff on Ali G. on hbo. I understand the basis of Borat's/Ali G.'s humor being in the reaction that he elicits. IMHO it still doesn't make him funny.

Andy Kaufman's humor was, to a large extent, based on the same premise, only he did it about 20-30 years ago. Some folx in the US considered him a genius, some thought he sucked. I was in the latter group.

Edited for graphic violence and partial nudity.

< Message edited by anarchyintheuk -- 11/10/2006 12:20:16 AM >

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/10/2006 12:28:56 AM

coregames

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This movie was a hoot. I laughed out loud at least 20 times. I never saw much of Ali G, but this guy is obviously a comic genious. As I am a big Andy Kaufman fan, this shouldn't come as a big surprise.

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/10/2006 3:14:19 AM

Raverdave

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quote:

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

$8.50!! Cheaper then the $13 I'm going to pay (�7,65 to go to the pics here in Colchester in UK!!)

�7.65 !!!!!!! Holycrap that $19 in Aussie dollars!

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/10/2006 11:28:20 AM

watchtower

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Raverdave

quote:

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

$8.50!! Cheaper then the $13 I'm going to pay (�7,65 to go to the pics here in Colchester in UK!!)

�7.65 !!!!!!! Holycrap that $19 in Aussie dollars!

It can cost �15 in Central London - I don't go to the Cinema!!!

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/10/2006 7:10:48 PM

ShermanM4

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quote:

Maybe it's because the comedy was a little on the weird side, but the british already knew the character. There's also another element to all this. If you take something like the horrendous bloodthirsty ravings he managed to stir up at the rodeo, the point isn't so much whether Borat is funny (which varies), or that he temporarily upset the Kazakhs. The funny thing is that he was showing, in a lot of the scenes, something of the country he was visiting. It wasn't the Kazakhs that were being taken for a ride, but the people inthe film. Is it possible that this may make it less popular in the States than it is in the UK, and perhaps this is a factor in who finds it funny. There is an argument that Borat is so obvioulsly ridiculous, that he's not the bit of the film that's ultimately so gross.

Though this is obviously a reflection of some of the ridiculous things he found in the states, you can all take comfort that, as Ali G, he did EXACTLY the same in the UK. Seeing politicians, religious leaders etc trying to grapple with this monster of a creation, who they believed to be real, was just so very revealing. But, as mentioned - sometimes it works, and sometimes it falls flat. I just hope he doesn't come to visit the place where I live!! The attitudes of some people would REALLY be cringeworthy to watch!

I'll admit that I do not know very much about this actor. Though, I saw a few minutes of the Ali G show on HBO one time and promptly turned it off. I have two thoughts about it. I love humour. I don't think something has to be vulgar or offensive in order to be funny. Second, I think there is a fine line about joking about normes, mores and values that can be funny and can be flat out offensive, hurtful, and only funny to a select crowd; the select crowd being the people who are not the target of the joke.

There is plenty of humour out their that can make fun of things without offensive jokes and forces us all to look at our own normes, mores, and values and have a laught at them only at the expense of ourselves. Monty Python was at times able to walk this line. Woody Allen might be the master of it. Mel Brookes did it with Young Frankenstein. Sorry can't think of anybody recent at the moment though Scoop was good. Everything I have read about this film and Ali G makes me think he is part of the hurtful and offensive crowd which is only funny to people who are not the target of the joke.

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/13/2006 3:47:13 PM

JudgeDredd

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Well.....oh dear, oh dear.

One and a half hours and �15 worse off and not an awful lot to show for it.

Some laughs, some OMGs and lots of embarassment. Didn't enjoy it at all.

You know, some people on the film showed themselves are real a$$holes (the guy at the rodeo was a prime, right wing dickhead), but there's nothing wrong with people being nice....and alot of the people filmed were just "trying to be nice" and being shown up for it.

I was uncomfortable with the references to incest and child sex, limited though they were.

Humour is a very individual thing. Many, many people will find this funny. I did not. I laughed out loud all the way to the bank with Dumb and Dumber, and my father in law said it should be called "Stupid and Stupider"...so horses for courses...but I wasted time and money on this.

I'm not recommending people don't go to see it...just reporting on what I watched.

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RE: BoratBorat - 11/13/2006 4:14:27 PM

Les_the_Sarge_9_1

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Humour is a tricky thing.

I love anime, and think South Park is worthless crap.

I will NOT watch Andrew Dice Clay, I think he's an unimaginative low forehead moron commedian who without the use of the word f**k is rendered a mime not a comic.

That said, a friend has told me this movie is a great laugh, although you might find yourself laughing at parts and then nervously looking to see if anyone else laughed afterwards.

He said it was offensive, but you can't stop laughing.

Then again, I was told Clerks was great, but I got bored of the style of humour and turned it off after about 20 minutes of just not caring for it.

I sure won't be paying a theatre ticket for this though. I'll wait fore the cheapest possible chance to see it. Free if possible.

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