Reviews

Borat was about playing a character that was unaware of the western ways and went about trying to explore America with the eye of an outsider, benign by premise but revelatory by intent. There is a certain sense of naivete' to the western ways coupled with an enthusiasm to learn that make Borat a laughing riot. Much of what Borat does, at least by premise, is not choice which in part is what makes him likable and funny. In a way, he evokes empathy in a typical immigrant who goes through similar trials and tribulations.

Bruno on the other hand is a pompous ass who condescends upon Hollywood with a narcissistic (even predatory) intent to burst into the American mainstream. The fact that Bruno is a know-it-all who can throw money at any PR firm/artist to short cut his way to fame sounds like the exact opposite of what the American public loves. If Cohen is trying to tell the American public that this is what it takes to become a celebrity here, the American History is rife with celebrities who raced their way to the top but fell like a pack of cards when they could not graduate to become role models for next gen.

Also, the movie tries to win a few laughs by trying to corner heterosexuals with an overdose of homosexuality. The fact that homosexuality is still not exactly welcome in mainstream is not acceptable and I respect every effort to change that.

However, if we assume for a second that it is accepted, this would at best be laughing at sexual harassment - a mild form of rape on tape. Making homosexual overtures is one thing and definitely funny. A 60 second clip of a dancing penis that exclaims Bruno at the end shoved down the pipes of unsuspecting survey takers, however, is like watching fish struggle to breath in an unclean tank and unkind.

The boxing ring scene, however, takes a different approach and something about that struck a cord with me. The irony of it - people who paid to watch violence not being able to withstand a few minutes of pure passion between two men is both eye opening and opens a wider debate at the same time.

However, a bulk of the movie revolves around the plot of a condescending snob who will do anything to get his shaved rear to the top. This was another mainstream movie's chance to change the taboo around homosexuality and Cohen just ruined it.period.

There is something to be said about poor taste and this movie.

We thought the movie was a comedy about two journalists on an unpredictably wild trip but we were pleasantly surprised that it had a message and did not choose take sides, like a normal bollywood movie is inclined to.

Yash raj films needs to be commended for venturing into a complete new area with this film and Aditya Chopra has proved once again that he knows what he is up to.

The movie suffers from the newbie syndrome since it cannot boast of a big start cast but it clearly deserves a special mention at film festivals at Cannes and elsewhere and is worth going to theaters for ! What is also unique about this one is that it sugar coats an otherwise serious story with loads of funny one-liners (Warsi & Afghan wala).

There is something for every family member in Mayabazaar! I love the songs in the movie and how Radha krishna tried to get out of his mold.

Indraganti is a brave, new director with tons of talent and I can clearly see him ruling the Telugu film roost for the next few years comfortably! He made news with his debut "Grahanam" by winning 12 awards straight up and after this movie, he is definitely going to join the ranks of all time great directors in Telugu - Vishwanath, Kommula, RGV, Raghavendra, Dasari, who are not only known to produce good cinema but also clean, family entertainers.

Kudos to Satyanarayana for repeating the trick right after Missamma.

This movie is definitely bigger than Al Gore ! As an outsider, I see some political overtones here and there but on the whole, it is a compelling argument in favor of how we could potentially alter the 'global climatic cycles' !

The analogies he draws, his call for action and most importantly his passion for environment come across clearly.

Even more so, we understand Al Gore himself as a son, a brother, a father and most of all a human being who cannot just sit there and watch his neighbor's house burn !

As a movie, I would rate it as 'worth a watch' and 'worth telling your movie-buffet buddies about'.

Despite all this, the absence of something caught my eye. Al Gore explains all his charts and data very well...

.. but when he shows this particular chart that has the temperature-CO2 levels projected over the last 600,000 year time line, he only shows how high the 'current CO2 levels' are compared to any other time in this span!

At this point, I was really curious to know how the temperature changed with respect to it in recent years and if it still adhered to the previous 'cyclical limits' but he does not display that data or even attempt to project future estimates!

May be a convenient omission? I have not seen this data anywhere else but if one of you come across that last piece of information missing in the movie, can you please post it here?