Opening in Dallas, 11/03
by Brian
I’m so late this week!
Babel (trailer): Already been reviewed by Nick. Not sure what to expect myself; I admired 21 Grams more than I liked it, and I’ve embarrassingly never seen Amores Perros, a situation I meant to rectify before this came out, but failed.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (trailer): Mildly apprehensive if looking forward to it all the same. Saw Borat on “The Daily Show” last night and was only mildly amused; the bit doesn’t seem to work if he doesn’t have a sucker to play off of.
Flushed Away (trailer): From Aardman, but unlike the previous (great) Aardman features, this one’s not directed by Nick Park. So I assume it’s same old, same old from Dreamworks Animation until convinced otherwise.
American Hardcore (trailer): No, not porn, but hardcore punk in the early ‘80s. Features Henry Rollins talking about how awesome he is.
Paradise, Texas (trailer at official site): I’ll take “Ironic Titles” for $500, Alex.
The Great Warming: This is a shortened version of a 2003 Canadian TV special about global warming, narrated by Keanu Reeves and Alanis Morissette. I know, I know, every element of that previous sentence sounds made up, but I swear, it’s all true.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (trailer): Also sounds made-up, especially when you hear that Martin Short plays Jack Frost, thereby sure to strip the franchise of whatever charm it may have once had. One would think that this would join stuff like Land Before Time XCVII and American Pie: Stifler’s Eighth Cousin Goes to College on the direct-to-DVD shelves, but I guess not.
Babel (trailer): Already been reviewed by Nick. Not sure what to expect myself; I admired 21 Grams more than I liked it, and I’ve embarrassingly never seen Amores Perros, a situation I meant to rectify before this came out, but failed.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (trailer): Mildly apprehensive if looking forward to it all the same. Saw Borat on “The Daily Show” last night and was only mildly amused; the bit doesn’t seem to work if he doesn’t have a sucker to play off of.
Flushed Away (trailer): From Aardman, but unlike the previous (great) Aardman features, this one’s not directed by Nick Park. So I assume it’s same old, same old from Dreamworks Animation until convinced otherwise.
American Hardcore (trailer): No, not porn, but hardcore punk in the early ‘80s. Features Henry Rollins talking about how awesome he is.
Paradise, Texas (trailer at official site): I’ll take “Ironic Titles” for $500, Alex.
The Great Warming: This is a shortened version of a 2003 Canadian TV special about global warming, narrated by Keanu Reeves and Alanis Morissette. I know, I know, every element of that previous sentence sounds made up, but I swear, it’s all true.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (trailer): Also sounds made-up, especially when you hear that Martin Short plays Jack Frost, thereby sure to strip the franchise of whatever charm it may have once had. One would think that this would join stuff like Land Before Time XCVII and American Pie: Stifler’s Eighth Cousin Goes to College on the direct-to-DVD shelves, but I guess not.
|Link|5:51 PM
9 Comments:
I went from being offended by the Da Ali G show when I was first made to watch it to actually finding it very funny after a few episodes. I never saw the Da Ali G movie, but I'm even less enthusiastic about Borat--it would sometimes wear thin as a segment of a 30-minute show, how could it possibly work as a feature? The publicity over it only makes me want to reconsider seeing Talladega Nights, in which I heard Sascha Baron Cohen was very funny.
I loved the Wallace & Gromit films and I enjoyed Chicken Run, but I watched an EPK making-of on Flushed Away and just didn't get it.
I don't like Martin Short, either.
Martin Short was great (hilarious)in:
SCTV/SNL
Three Amigos
Parts of the Father of the Bride(s) & that movie with Danny Glover
Arrested Development
So he has earned some good will from me....of course, most of that stuff was 80s and i was a child in the 80s, so you never know.
I admired 21 Grams more than I liked it, and I’ve embarrassingly never seen Amores Perros
I liked Babel more than 21 Grams, but Amores Perros is still the classic to beat. Has a real zest for life, but Babel sometimes comes close to recapturing some of that. Liking it more and more the more I think about it.
how could [Borat] possibly work as a feature?
96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so it's working for the critics people.
Premiering over here as well, and to very high reviews. Was at the main cinema in town, and all the weekend's shows were sold out. Even my parents have asked about it (my father's a Ali G fan).
That and your 9 million friday from 800 screens screams of big cross-cultural hit.
thereby sure to strip the franchise of whatever charm it may have once had.
This series had charm?
This series had charm?
I'm sorry, I thought I was being as non-committal on this question as possible.
Nonetheless, I did see the first one, and while I was pretty bored by it, I didn't think it was offensive at all. I could see how people might find it entertaining.
I'm sorry, I thought I was being as non-committal on this question as possible.
I'm sorry, I was just caught by surprise by the ability of this series to have any charm. Loathing Tim Allen has much to do with this. I haven't seen it.
Nonetheless, I did see the first one
But apparently some have.
Tim Allen was pretty good playing against type as a hitman (Critical Jim) in "Cletis Tout"....Why am I defending these comedians?
I'm apprehensive about Borat, too. I don't like "squirm" humor, and I don't like watching people mocked. I'll probably wait for DVD. It sure did better than I thought it would at the box office, though.
Yeah, the Da Ali G Movie barely registered at the box office (and I never saw it), though that was the strongest segment in his TV show. Is it just timing or better marketing, or is the general public just more comfortable with him playing a Kazakh?
Saw Borat last night. It's funny but I really have to wonder about the "funniest movie ever" crowd. It's not transcendant or groundbreaking or anything like that. It's basically an extended comedy sketch - albeit a good one - but as with any other movie like this it's fairly uneven, and at 84 minutes still feels too long.
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