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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America (1 Viewer)

DwightK

Second Unit
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Sep 12, 2000
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I live in possibly the reddest city in the reddest state and Borat is showing here to large audiences. Very funny. The crowd on Friday was reasonable in size and I only saw one person get up and leave so that is something. Oh and my "city" is only 50k people of mostly potato farmers and ranchers. I think Fox underestimated middle america, myself.

Famous potatoes
 

EricW

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i saw this last night and it was very, very funny - much more so than the actual Borat sketches on the Ali G show (which usually have a couple good laughs then run way too long). here each interview just goes for the punchline and leaves. of the jokes he 'lifted' from his own show, i wish he'd taken the horse joke too, or at least put it in the credits! ('when horse cry, we say it is like a man cry'... priceless)
 

Sam Favate

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Surpassing expectations, Borat will earn $26.4 million this weekend, according to AP. Fox is set to expand the release of the movie to 2,500 screens this week, and a Fox exec said the picture was playing to full houses around the country.

It is currently in 837 theaters, less than 1/4 the number that Santa Clause 3 and Flushed Away are playing in. Those films were #2 and #3 this weekend, respectively.
 

Shane Gralaw

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Jul 24, 2001
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Ok, my expectations were a little low. Loved the HBO show, but all the web/SNL type pre-release media blitz had Mr. Cohen rehashing a lot of the same jokes (#4 prostitute sister, 12 year old son Huey Lewis, ect ect). That said, this really surprised me - it is a genuinely funny picture where you can sit in a theater and have a lot of really good laughs- somewhat of a rarity in any comedy these days- usually you are in suspense for the comedy to actually deliver- no waiting here.
Some of the biggest laughs came from little call-backs (like when Borat throws his suitcase down in despair and you hear the chicken cry out or the final "Not" joke). This attention to detail is what could make this a classic. But this did feel more staged than the show. Not that that is a deal-breaker kinda problem, as this is a feature and has to build some sort of narrative momentum, but still. Part of the fun of the show is that it felt spontaneous - whereas the movie often had you wondering how much the participants knew what was happening and were acting out a Jay Leno-style segment for the camera.
But hell, it was funny. Ya go to a comedy to laugh and you WILL laugh here.
 

JediFonger

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parts of it were certainly staged... but the funniest parts came at the non-staged portions.
 

MattGuyOR

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Jul 31, 2001
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GREAT MOVIE! I'm thinking the Pamela Anderson part was staged, but if so, it was very well done. Anyone know if she was in on the joke? Her security team seemed pretty bad if it wasn't staged. haha.
 

MikeRS

Screenwriter
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Jul 17, 2002
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Pamela was in on it (her best acting ever ;) ). I don't think the rest in the scene were.

There was another scenario originally filmed.



 

John Doran

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well, it's apparently done about $26 million over the weekend, which is $8 million more than its alleged $18mil budget.

not bad.
 

Chris

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To quote Borat, and referenced in another thread:

Great Success! Borat will not be execute!
 

Richard Kim

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Supposedly, Sascha Baron Cohen and Pam Anderson are close friends in real life, so I'd imagine that her scene in the end had to be staged.
 

Chuck Mayer

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I also thought it was staged, simply because her security sucked. But the joke still works because the other people in line didn't know that, and it's still a huge shock :D
 

Mark Leiter

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That hope the Pam Anderson part was staged. That for me was the only time I thought he had gone to far. The more we thought about it afterwords the more it had to be. If it wasen't staged then wouldn't he be in jail for assault and sued so the footage would not be used in the movie?
 

EricW

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i remember laughing at it, but could someone remind me what the final NOT joke was?

thanks
 

Steve Felix

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Jan 17, 2001
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I liked it when I saw it but my opinion has been rising ever since. Like many others, I initially considered it a weakness that Cohen seemed to entrap basically good and well meaning people. But the movie is (heroically) only 84 minutes long. It would have been easy for him to find all the nasty people he wanted -- people like the rodeo guy. It was a choice to let us see the goodness in truly average people, while still subtly demonstrating that insular tendencies lurk, and in some cases, have consequences tragically beyond their intensity in any given person. In the midst of the shock humor there is a strikingly measured essay on xenophobia, and Americans, with the thesis being Borat himself -- an amiable guy who takes for granted his completely random and unwarranted prejudices.

That he doesn't "go further" and take the easy shots makes this a classic.

I'm curious to hear what this was now. :) For me, the horse falling over was the comedic and poetic peak.
 

Aurel Savin

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huge fan for quite a few years now ... did not dissapoint at all

best bits for me were the humor coach and car dealer ... just classic!!! LOL
 

Al.Anderson

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Wow. I must be really out of the mainstream now. I needed a day off so I stayed home yesterday and my wife and I went to see this. Even had a couple of drinks with lunch to put me in the best possible frame of mind. We were totally unimpressed. It had its moments, don't get me wrong; but it mostly just amused. (I agree with Mike.P that the pacing didn't seem optimal.) For me it was more interesting as a social statement.

My high point: I really liked the look he got when the elderly Jewish couple said they were Jewish - I interpreted that as "I can't do this to these people" and he backed off.

And okay, the horse was hysterical.

But I think the hype propelled the large opening weekend. The critics loved it, but I predict that after the target audience runs out this'll fade away. That should be by next weekend. I only say this to go on record so I can collect in a month - not to offend you nutzos that posted your admiration so far - I'll be back to collect.
 

JediFonger

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well, it's certainly not for everyone =). but it was very entertaining for me =).
 

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