borat Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Prepare to divert your eyes, the first trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno has debuted online ... and it's just nasty. How is it nasty? I think a better question would be how is it not nasty -- from the looks of it Baron Cohen has upped the ante considerably since taking on the Borat character back in 2006, and will use his Bruno character -- who he pretends is a gay Austrian fashion reporter -- to expose the rampant homophobia across the United States and, while he's at it, somehow manage to offend everyone else by falling, destroying, cursing and dressing up as your worst nightmare ... in heels.

The trailer itself -- which kicks off with a quote from Ain't It Cool News (take that Ben Lyons!) -- is pretty hilarious and very R-rated, so you'll need to enter in a proper birthdate and all that. Just how many lawsuits will come from this one, we do not know -- but I'm positive folks will be rolling in the aisles of their local movie theater come July 10. Remember, as of its first pass through the MPAA, Bruno was given an NC-17 -- but they'll probably shave some meat off and bring this sucker down to an R before it's all said and done.

You can watch the trailer over on MySpace, but be warned that this is definitely NSFW. (Oh, and check out the image that came with this new trailer in the gallery below.)

We've heard a lot about the unbelievably ridiculousness of Sacha Baron Cohen's new mock-gotcha flick Brüno (which is sorta like a sequel to Borat, but with another one of Baron Cohen's over-the-top characters), and so the news that it's received an NC-17 rating upon its first run through the MPAA shouldn't be all that shocking. According to The Wrap, that's exactly what happened -- and it was due to scenes where Baron Cohen (as Brüno ,the gay Austrian fashion reporter) "appears to have anal sex with a man on camera." Another "problem scene", according to The Wrap, comes when Cohen "goes on a hunting trip and sneaks naked into the tent of one of the fellow hunters, an unsuspecting non-actor."

Universal confirmed the NC-17 rating by noting: "On its first submission the film did not receive an R but it is far too early to say that there is any struggle to get there as the process is only at its inception." Since Universal won't release a film that's rated NC-17 -- especially because they know this sucker will make a ton of money for them assuming it gets its R rating -- you can bet Baron Cohen will be forced to cut or trim the scenes the MPAA deems not appropriate and leave them for an unrated DVD. So fear not, friends, this will find its way to theaters -- it'll just take a little more time to hash out the ratings snafu. That said, Brüno should still make its July 10 release date.

For more on Brüno, check out our report on the footage screened at SXSW.

I can think of at least three movies in the coming two weeks that feature scenes that are strikingly out of tone with the film they're a respective part of and yet seemingly included as a means of getting people to tell their loved ones how ridiculous Bit X in Movie Y is. And so today's Cinematical Seven list will be an arbitrary, far from ultimate compilation of the most distractingly disgusting and supremely superfluous parts in recent movies. Sure, most of these are comedies, and yes, most of them seem to have been released from the year 2000 on, and as always, we welcome your comments below. Just make sure they're not too gross.

(Speaking of which, NSFW clips follow after the jump.)

Okay, for those of you who haven't been keeping track at home, here's a quick recap of the most recent release date changes:

• The Ugly Truth moves TO July
• 2012 moves FROM July
• and now Bruno moves TO July,
  if BOM is to be believed
  

This leaves the tepid-seeming Truth firmly wedged between the likes of Sacha Baron Cohen's R-rated comedic drawing power and Judd Apatow's (both Universal titles, to boot), so if Sony did indeed tuck tail and return to the April safe spot, it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

It also wouldn't surprise me if the Bruno move was made for any of the following three reasons: to give the film a longer lead with which to promote itself (Borat popped up at Cannes in May of that year and proceeded to be screened excessively for its eventually successful word-of-mouth campaign), to give the filmmakers more time to shoot, and to give them more time to cut what they already have (again, Borat had something like 400 hours of footage to whittle down to feature length).

In silver lining news, this takes a wee bit of pressure off of Summit's May-scheduled bow of The Brothers Bloom, but that's a whole other story...

(We're re-posting our review of Religulous from the Toronto Film Festival to coincide with the film's theatrical release this week)

By: James Rocchi

I contend we are both atheists; I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. -- Stephen F. Roberts

In Religulous, stand-up social commentator Bill Maher doesn't just assert how he believes in one less god than many of us, and he doesn't just craft bold, bizarre and hilarious moments of comedy and discussion with the help of director Larry Charles (Borat). More importantly, and more intriguingly, Maher states the film's thesis in an introduction filmed at Megiddo, the prophesied location of the final battle of Armageddon as written in Revelation; Maher, much like author Sam Harris does in his excellent (if dry) book The End of Faith, proposes that religious belief, in an age of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, actively endangers humanity through encouraging conflict, promising rewards for irrational behavior, justifying artificial divisions and enabling other unfounded and unkind forms of thinking. Or, as Maher succinctly puts it early on, "When Revelations was written, only God had the power to destroy the world. ..."

And then the opening titles kick in, a montage of Maher globe-trotting in search of people to talk to, and as the guitar riffs of The Who's "The Seeker" ring out, we recognize that we're going to get plenty of sizzle along with the steak in Religulous, lots of showbusiness to liven up the soul-searching. Like most documentaries dealing with weighty matters, though, the concern in Religulous isn't that there'll be no sizzle with the steak but rather if there'll be steak to go with the sizzle; does Religulous have the right ratio of factual points to funny punch lines, a balanced mix of context and comedy?

Here's a suggestion for all would-be litigants: read the agreement you signed before you decide to sue someone. Lawsuits brought against the makers of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan by three individuals have been tossed out of court by a New York judge who said that "all three accepted money and signed agreements releasing the filmmakers from liability," according to an article by the Associated Press.

The lawsuits in question were initiated by a driving instructor and two etiquette schoolteachers. Judge Loretta Preska ruled that they all agreed to appear in a "documentary-style" movie. I'm sure the contract didn't say it would be a "documentary-style movie that might make you look like a fool," but I don't think the driving instructor, at least, came off that bad -- he looked sincerely helpful if befuddled, as I recall from my single viewing a long time ago. When Monika reported on the filing last December, she noted that he had been paid $500 in cash. He sued for $400,000.

Since its world premiere at the Toronto film festival two years ago, Borat has sparked so many lawsuits and rumors of lawsuits that it's difficult to keep them straight. There were the unhappy frat boys (later thrown out of court), someone who didn't even make the theatrical cut but was fearful about the DVD version, the man who ran away on the street, and probably others. The statute of limitations is longer than I thought it would be for this type of lawsuit.

I contend we are both atheists; I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. -- Stephen F. Roberts

In Religulous, stand-up social commentator Bill Maher doesn't just assert how he believes in one less god than many of us, and he doesn't just craft bold, bizarre and hilarious moments of comedy and discussion with the help of director Larry Charles (Borat). More importantly, and more intriguingly, Maher states the film's thesis in an introduction filmed at Megiddo, the prophesied location of the final battle of Armageddon as written in Revelation; Maher, much like author Sam Harris does in his excellent (if dry) book The End of Faith, proposes that religious belief, in an age of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, actively endangers humanity through encouraging conflict, promising rewards for irrational behavior, justifying artificial divisions and enabling other unfounded and unkind forms of thinking. Or, as Maher succinctly puts it early on, "When Revelations was written, only God had the power to destroy the world. ..."

And then the opening titles kick in, a montage of Maher globe-trotting in search of people to talk to, and as the guitar riffs of The Who's "The Seeker" ring out, we recognize that we're going to get plenty of sizzle along with the steak in Religulous, lots of showbusiness to liven up the soul-searching. Like most documentaries dealing with weighty matters, though, the concern in Religulous isn't that there'll be no sizzle with the steak but rather if there'll be steak to go with the sizzle; does Religulous have the right ratio of factual points to funny punch lines, a balanced mix of context and comedy?

Call it performance art, savage prank behavior or audacious social satire. Call it whatever you want, but there's no question Sacha Baron Cohen is at it again. As Erik reported back in March, the Borat star began surfacing as his Bruno alter-ego in a variety of absurd situations likely intended for the movie starring the effeminate European character. Wearing chains at a Kansas church? Check. Weirding out Ben Affleck? Check. Airport dancing? Yep. Now, bizarre reports of a cage match in Arkansas, where attendees paid for admission expecting to watch a fight and instead witnessed two men get naked and lock lips, suggests Cohen is still at it, more than three months down the line. Not only that, but he appears to have pulled the stunt twice: First on June 5 at the Four States Fair Grounds in Texarkana, then again at Fort Smith's convention center, where a character named "Straight Dave" apparently selected a planted audience member to challenge him.

Whether or not you agree with Cohen's brash style -- he claims to take inspiration from Michael Moore's stunts --
the actor definitely constructs his gags with very specific ideas in mind. Borat took a stab at American stereotypes of foreign cultures, but Bruno looks like it's geared more towards attacking homophobia -- specifically as it manifests in middle America. However, it's hard to say whether or not such excessive spectacles will manage to correct misinformed perspectives or reinforce them.

Universal Studios appears to have claimed next May the 15th on which to release Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat follow-up, tentatively titled Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt.

That pretty much explains what type of shenanigans Cohen is up to for this stealthily filmed outing, and I believe that it comes across as a remarkable vote of confidence from Universal that they're willing to face off against the likes of a DaVinci Code prequel (which, if the first film is any indication, might be worth a couple of laughs itself).

Sure, Borat did well enough to justify such a prominent spot, but that came out in early November, not the week before Memorial Day. Maybe I'm too adjusted to having my summer comedies laced with special effects or Judd Apatow; who knows, maybe we'll get a blockbuster comedy that gets by on actual ... laughs.

[via Box Office Mojo]

Because Michael Moore can't make enough movies to piss people off 24/7, we fortunately have people like Bill Maher, whose new anti-religious documentary, Religulous, hits theaters this fall. Of course, Maher has said that he shouldn't be compared to Moore, whom he considers to be a genius. Plus, Maher didn't direct the film, Larry Charles, of Borat, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame, did. But in the same way that Al Gore is credited with An Inconvenient Truth, Maher, who hosted one of my favorite shows of the past (Politically Incorrect) and currently hosts HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher (which I've never seen, because I don't have HBO), will be continually given credit for this film. No matter who gets the higher billing, though, it's certain that Religulous is going to be hilarious thanks to the talents of both gentlemen.
Now, to help promote the film and presumably to get people either laughing or offended a few months early, Maher has unleashed a new website called Disbeliefnet.com. It seems to be part satire, part examination of the world's religions, part blog of religion-related news and part movie marketing. Movie fans might want to check out the grouping of clips/trailers from films detailing the endless suffering of Jews. Personally, my favorite gag is the "Donate Now" button that goes to a randomly chosen religion's donation form. Now I can give to everyone equally with ease.

And speaking of equal coverage, Maher and Charles' film seems to touch on all the major and minor religions of the world, bringing their "guerilla" shooting style into places cameras have supposedly never been before. But if the film doesn't focus any attention on your religion, don't worry: you can be offended about not being able to get offended. Or something.

Religious opens October 3rd.