Borat

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

3 GOOMBAS


I don't even know where to begin with this movie. After being heavily warned by many, many people that my virgin eyes would no longer hold its innocence following the viewing of the movie, I readied myself for naked-man scenes that my friends told me to brace myself for.

Borat is a mockumentary about a news reporter, Borat, from Kazakhstan who is sent to the United States to report on "the greatest country in the world." His trip leads him through many adventures, mostly including his quest to understand American culture and win Pamela's (accent on the "e") "vagine." Some ridiculous plot escapades include him needing a bear as protection from the Jews because he was unable to buy a gun as a non-citizen, Borat botching the US anthem, and Borat bringing his fecal matter to the dinner table.

There are many hysterical, yet uncomfortable moments. My political correctness hindered much of the fun for me. This movie sets up scenes of conflict, where the people featured do not know that Borat is an actor. He purposefully angers the people he meets with anti-Semitic, homophobic, or chauvinistic comments. He brings up very sensitive political subjects without regard. He breaks all social rules, American or universal, and its funny to watch people's reactions to such unexpected rudeness. American society is very uncomfortable with differing social norms (although, come to think of it, I don't know if Borat is representative of any social normalcy) but is, in my opinion, pretty tolerant of at least attempting to be open minded (not so sure about the rodeo people though). Hence, the featured American's downfall.


I have issues with the ethics of this film's production. Many of the people featured in this film signed release forms prior to understanding that this was a mockumentary that would probably be mass distributed. Instead, they were asked to sign release forms prior to meeting their guest, and were unable to do anything about what unfolded. Many people were hurt by these filmmakers. As far as I'm concerned, they were lied to, and America laughs at their inability to be in on the joke.


However, putting my opinions on the filmmaking process aside and just judging this work as what it is, I think this movie was pretty funny; crude, yet funny. But when you watch this, please take it with a grain of salt.

Movie Review by Jenn Bollish at 11:17 AM 1 comments  

The Holiday

Friday, March 23, 2007

4 GOOMBAS


If I could have anything right now at this moment, I would want Cameron Diaz's DVD collection and entertainment system in the movie The Holiday. Heck, I'd even settle for just her DVD collection. An entire living room wall . . . with just DVDs ::heart flutters::. With my awe aside, I enjoyed The Holiday a lot. At first, I was hesitant about the whole Jack Black-Kate Winslet thing, but both characters exude such hopelessness that it actually works.

Iris and Amanda react to their breakups in opposite ways. Although dumped by Jasper for another woman, Iris still fawns over him, at one point making a ridiculously pitiful attempt at killing herself by inhaling gas fumes from her stove. On the other hand, Amanda breaks up with her boyfriend, literally screaming him out of the house. What was really bad ass was that this house was Amanda's, and it wasn't a house. It was a ginormous mansion, which immediately made me like her character (aside from the DVD collection). Successful, independent chick, my goal in life. ::sigh:: Did I mention that she can't cry? There are some goofy scenes of her many purposeful attempts at achieving the water-works. Anyway, what they do have in common is how they deal with their break-ups. Both just want to get away, so thanks to the glorious Internet, they find each other and make a house swap, and since this is a chick flick, they meet more boys.

This movie was able to garner a likability for its characters despite the reality, or I should say, fantasy, of the situation. Amanda was able to find love in a man who understood her need for support yet maintain her Independence while Iris needed to, first, get over her obsession with Jasper and realize that she could be her own leading lady.

For a chick flick, this had all the right "Aweeeeeee that's so cute!!!" moments. A great movie to see when you want to feel happy in love.

Movie Review by Jenn Bollish at 11:43 AM 1 comments  

Premonition

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

2 GOOMBAS


Sandra Bullock in another time-space travel movie, gee that's new. . . Maybe she had an obsession with Back to the Future and is trying to create her own classic. Sandra, it's definitely not working. Premonition takes a creative concept and regurgitates it onto the big screen as a terrible excuse for sophisticated screenwriting.

I guess I can't blame Sandra too much. The story probably looked much better on paper. Linda Hanson, played by Bullock, has a freaky Friday moment when she was told that her husband had been killed in a car crash only to find her husband eating his cereal, alive and well, on the kitchen counter the following morning. Of course, like any normal human being, she thought it was a dream. But throughout the remainder of the week she begins to realize that this is her life . . . just out of order.

The downfall of this movie isn't its concept, it's the delivery. The audience gets that Linda and Jim (aka Lazarus) weren't a happy couple, so you'd think that the issues between them would be resolved in a powerful way by the end . . . you'd think. Basically, this film features Sandra Bullock running around town like that chicken from Babel (you know, the one without its head), and the whole time I'm hoping that this film will finally just pull itself together. What the heck is her problem? Get with it man, your husband is about to die! Come up with a plan! Beat the space time continuum! But ::gasp::

***********SPOILER WARNING******************
he actually does die moron, because you did everything that the future said you would do! And what about the priest? Here was the perfect vessel of wisdom. I know you were trying real hard to be creative there screenwriters, but obviously it still didn't make the point. "Its never too late to fight for what you love." They even repeat these words at the end of the movie . . . so apparently they're suppose to be important, and yet, Jim still dies. Why? Because of Linda . . . she fought for what she loved, but by doing that, she is the reason for his death. What the heck kind of message was that?

Other than tha abomination, there were other terrible holes in the plot. Why did Linda's daughter need to get cuts all over her face (not to mention the cuts occurred on the 'wrong day')? Why was any of it necessary? I guess so that Linda's mother would have an excuse to send her to the mental institution, but that wasn't necessary either. The mental institution happened at the end of her freaky Friday week, but at the end of the film, Linda is perfectly happy at home 6-8 months later. Did something change in the space time continuum? If so, why didn't it affect Jim's death? I don't know, bad writing?

Stuff like this drives me crazy. If you're going to do a movie that involves time and space, you have to be meticulous! The daughter's cuts can't happen on Tuesday but not be there on Thursday when Linda is putting stickers on the new glass window. Even Bill and Tedd did it right.

I think this movie wasn't a complete waste of my time. In Jim's imminent death, Linda was able to realize that she did still love her husband. It was kinda cool to see things unfold, even if I was disappointed. So if you see it, I don't blame you. Just don't get your hopes up for a mind blowing experience.

Movie Review by Jenn Bollish at 11:27 AM 0 comments  

Stranger Than Fiction

Friday, March 09, 2007

3.5 GOOMBAS

Will Farrell is kind of a hit or miss for me. Sometimes I think his characters are totally likable. Other times they're just quite annoying, mainly because they're so insane. I do appreciate Will Farrell and his ability to bring out his inner-little boy (I'm a sucker for the little boy act, but not whiny little boy, innocent little boy), a quality that I don't think any other comedian of his caliber posses.

Stranger Than Fiction is about Harold Crick. He lives a pretty monotone kind of life, but extraordinarily, he starts hearing a voice that is narrating his life. In the meantime, we meet Karen Eiffel, played by Emma Thompson, who is actually a very depressed, artistic spirit of an author writing a novel. She is totally oblivious to the fact that she is basing her novel on Harold Crick, a real, actual person.

This film is nicely put together. There are some charming visual graphics that help articulate details and bring interest to an otherwise "whatever" kind of shot at the beginning of the film. It also brings up the pretty weighty theme of destiny vs. free will in a light kind of way. Harold chose his destiny with heroism, and yet 'The Narrator' interferes with a destiny of her own.

I liked this movie, so I recommend it for a Friday happy kind of movie night.

Movie Review by Jenn Bollish at 12:48 PM 0 comments