I watched a couple films the other night, a documentary and a fake documentary. The actual documentary is the better of the two, but both are worth seeing. First off, we have a fun film called The US v John Lennon. Not a whole lot of new information, but I'll always watch a documentary about John. I'd probably watch one about Paul and George too, but if anyone ever saw fit to make a film all about Ringo, I'd have to sit that one out, which is why no one will ever make one... if I won't watch it, who will? Anyway, it's all about his deportation battle and the FBI's constant surveillance. Yoko has a lot to say... big surprise there, as do John Sinclair, Tommy Smothers and Bobby Seale. Tariq Ali's comments were really interesting and I didn't know much about him before watching it. However, G. Gordon Liddy's contribution was by far the most fascinating. That mother fucker still feels the government did the right thing by trying to run him out of the country. What a fucking tool. The other nice little tid-bit is the footage of the 10 for 2 concert in Ann Arbor.The other movie I watched that night is Borat. It's funny as fuck, but rather than just listing the hilarious scenes, I have a few issues to discuss. I found it a bit problematic that he stayed in character when no one else was around. The reason the humor works is because he's fucking w/ people. It's the reactions that are so great. If no one is there to react, why pretend to be Borat. It's like they couldn't decide whether to make it a fictive narrative or a guy fucking w/ people and both just doesn't seem to work. It's like watching the Man Show Boy sitting by himself trying to figure out how he's going to make a profit by selling beer on a street corner.
2 comments:
I don't understand your problem with him being in character the whole time. That's the movie. The movie is about Borat, not some guy playing a character. The whole thing is supposed to be like a documentary. The "genius" of the movie is that the people around him are not actors. He's not supposed to be fucking with them, that's just Borat being Borat.
No... if that's the case, it's too transparent. The character isn't believable, so the humor only works when people believe it. As an audience member, one knows what's really going on, and it's funny because the people in the movie don't know.
Of course, their staying in character is what allows the naked wrestling/dildo chase which is hilarious.
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