Jul 20 2009 Your Weekend Box Office Top Five
Use these weekend box office figures to determine if you, a studio executive, can afford that new boat:
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - The only way a Harry Potter movie wouldn't open at #1 is if people's heads started exploding when watching the Quidditch scenes. But that didn't happen, so it made $79.5 million
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - $17.7 million. Time to move on beyond the Ice Age and use CGI and Ray Romano to make a representation of EVERY age, so that we can finally throw away our history books and replace them all with charming family films.
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $13.8 million, easily besting last week's winner, Bruno, even though, if you pay attention, this film actually has far more exposed penises.
4. Bruno - $8.3 million, taking a massive, 73% drop. I guess the old Irish guy's admonition worked in scaring everyone off.
5. The Hangover - $8.3 million. I had no idea this would remain in the top 5 for so long. There's absolutely nothing else to comment about it. You win, The Hangover.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Jul 17 2009 Ireland's Moviefone Would Like to Warn All But One or Two of You About 'Bruno'
Things like this really make me wish my grandma were still alive, so I could solicit movie reviews from her. As I recall, every movie she ever saw either elicited the reaction "that was a nice one" or "that's just terrible," and I distinctly remember her once expressing disappointed in this Jolly Rancher commercial, explaining that she "thought it was a commercial for fruit in general." Thank god we now have digital means by which to forever store our elderly reactions.
(via The Hater)
Jul 14 2009 New 'Bruno': Now with Less Genital!
Good news, 15 to 17-year-olds of the UK: soon you'll be able to get in to Bruno without making your older-looking friend with the mustache buy your tickets! Universal International has made a new, less sexually explicit cut of the British Board of Film Classification has given a 15 rating (only those 15 or older admitted), and the studio plans to release this edit alongside the current, 18 certificate film.
The watered-down version will be released July 24, so until then just keep buying tickets to Ice Age and nonchalantly strolling into Bruno, like you're doing now.
UPI unveils tamer version of 'Bruno' [Variety]
Jul 13 2009 'Bruno' Wins Box Office, "Is Nice!" (Like How Bruno Says)
The top five movies in the country, in order of both box office gross and likelihood of there being a funny voice at any given point in the film:
1. Bruno - $30.4 million. According to research, "the main reasons people checked off for seeing the movie were the "Humor" (74 percent), Sacha Baron Cohen (57 percent), Borat (52 percent) and the "Outrageousness" (50 percent)," which is surprising, because how do 50% of people list "outrageousness" among their criteria for anything?
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - $28.5 million, and each ticket sold was voiced by Brad Garrett for some reason.
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $24.2 million. Who would have expected the Fallen's revenge would be living well?
4. Public Enemies - $14.1 million. Who wants to see Christian Bale face off against someone as pedestrian as John Dillinger? The guy's fought Terminators and Jokers! At least give Dillinger infrared vision or something.
5. The Proposal - $10.5 million, reasserting that marriage is both beautiful and hilarious.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Jul 9 2009 Movie Shows in Your Town This End-of-Week!
Some films open this weekend; here are some of them:
Brüno
Director: Larry Charles
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen; oblivious fools, many of whom will be revealed as homophobes
Good if you want to see: further Borat-like exploits, this time with a flamboyant Austrian; what people will be quoting for the next few months.
I Love You, Beth Cooper
Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust
Good if you want to see: A high school nerd pining over a popular girl? I don't really remember, but I did hear that Heroes' much-talked-about nude scene is from behind, so don't go in looking for boobs.
Blood: The Last Vampire (limited)
Director: Chris Nahon
Starring: Gianna Jun, Allison Miller
Good if you want to see: Blade with an Asian girl.
Humpday (limited)
Director: Lynn Shelton
Starring: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard
Good if you want to see: heterosexual best friends attempt to make a gay porn together; the "bromance" genre reach its logical conclusion.
Apr 27 2009 'Brüno' Poster: Don't Forget 'Borat' Was Also a Movie!
I have to say, pretty subdued compared to what I was expecting (I was expecting a recreation of the American Beauty naked-Mena Suvari-on-a-bed-of-rose-petals scene, except with Sacha Baron Cohen and thousands of dildos).
The Brüno Poster Revealed! [Coming Soon]
Apr 2 2009 'Bruno' Red-Band Trailer (Red-Band Means Dildo Shots and Only Semi-Obscured Breasts)
In 2006, he made us laugh with him, at him, and at our culture with Borat; now, Sacha Baron Cohen is back at the pranking-but-not-calling-it-a-prank game, and playing a flamboyant Austrian in Bruno. Judging by the trailer, it will again make us laugh--at least until the non-stop impressions make us never want to see the character again.
Sep 26 2008 'Bruno' Sighted in Milan, Swathed in Fabric
Sacha Baron Cohen, currently playing pranks as he shoots Borat 2: Gay Joke Borat, was spotted in Milan today acting like an a-hole on the runway of Agatha Ruiz de Prada's show. From Yahoo:
Baron Cohen is in Milan making a new film about fashion centered on his character Bruno, a flamboyant Austrian fashionista.He bowled onto the start of the catwalk rolled up in what turned out to be a long, black caped outfit with eccentric accessories.
After a few minutes of darkness while Baron Cohen, or Bruno, was escorted off the catwalk, the show started again. Models had kept their cool but the designer was visibly upset when she appeared at the end of the show.
Baron Cohen's film is titled "Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Male."
Agatha Ruiz de la Prada's show restarted after the actor left. The designer said her show was inspired by Spanish painter Diego Velazquez and the headdresses were based on typical Spanish piatas
Whew! I'm glad they got back to the fashion by the end. Even if an article is titled "Borat actor crashes Agatha's party at fashion show," I still expect to hear whether or not the crashed show was inspired by Spanish painted Diego Velazquez. Good reporting, Jo Winterbottom.
Jul 9 2008 'Bruno' Somehow Turns Shirtless, Wrestling Men into a Gay Thing
Did you recently attend a cage fighting event that quickly devolved into man-on-man love? Then you just may be one of the many angry, unwilling stars of Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen's new film where he exposes homophobia by playing another ridiculous caricature. (Or you may just be going to really gay cage fights.) From the The Smoking Gun (thanks to Jonah):
Lured by $1 beer and the prospect of "hot chicks" and "hardcore fights," thousands of Arkansans were duped last month into appearing as extras in comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's latest staged mayhem. Cohen and his confederates organized cage fighting programs on consecutive days in Texarkana and Fort Smith. Both cards ended with two male grapplers (one was identified as "Straight Dave" and wore camouflage) tearing each other's clothes off and, while in underwear, kissing down their opponent's chest. This man-on-man action triggered Fort Smith fans to throw chairs and beer at the ring, according to one cop present at the city's Convention Center.
Cage fight fanatics who attended were less than amused by the event, which was, as one attendee described it on a forum, "a maxed out fag fest." Over at The Smoking Gun, there are even more amazing outraged responses--such as the one from Brad, who assumes that Bruno is a reprisal of Balki from Perfect Strangers. Is he implying Balki was gay or that anyone with a foreign accent is inevitably playing Balki? I hope both.
Still, some of them make a valid point. As one fan noted: "your right going to make mma look like hicks but at least we arent cock suckers like borat." You can't argue with that.
Mar 28 2008 'Bruno' Terrorizing Kansas with Flamboyancy
If you're living in America's Heartland, watch out: the next homosexual you assault might catch you on camera (again)! British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has been sighted in Kansas shooting scenes for his upcoming film about the travels of Bruno, his flamboyant Austrian alter-ego. According to reports, he has Wichita Airport reconsidering their decision to let him shoot there, with Cohen running around the lobby in hot pants, "kissing, dancing, and fighting"; he later broke up a church's Easter play by showing up in chains. All for the purpose of commentary on bigotry, of course!
Bruno Takes Over Kansas [Faded Youth]
May 23 2007 Baron Cohen Shooting Bruno
"People from L.A. are so genuine, don't you think?"
The guy who gets to bone Isla Fisher was spotted in character (as Bruno) at the Foreign Trade Association luncheon at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles yesterday.
“Clearly, 99 percent of the people had no idea who he was,” the spy wrote to defamer. “Sacha had about 10 people with him. Three people running around with releases to sign, 4 camera people, a blonde haired producer watching the whole thing and a frazzled old dude with string salt and pepper hair checking the sound at the other end of the ballroom.”
Come on guys, there's no excuse not to know all of the Ali G characters by now - don't you people get HBO? To me the most shocking part of those South Carolinian douchebags suing over the first movie was that there were college students out there willing to admit they'd never heard of Borat.
Anyway, for the sake of good entertainment, thank God there are stupid people out there to make fun of. And babies to kick. Now that's a party!
