Post-Borat: Quivering in Ecstasy

Considering I was expecting to be let down, Borat pushed the limits of satisfaction. If you’ve been busy putting together a collage or knitting in your closet, you may have missed the countless TV appearances that Sacha Baron Cohen has made in the past few weeks. Hype for this film has been just as much or more ridiculous than that of Snakes on a Plane earlier this summer. Cohen, of course, never appears as himself, but instead remains in character at all times, apparently even after the camera shuts off. Instead, he’s used the same lines on every show on every channel. I didn’t laugh when I saw him on the Daily Show last night, and I didn’t laugh when he was on Fox News this morning when I walked into the office and passed by a co-worker’s TV. Same jokes. I wasn’t expecting much after all the hype and all these carbon-copy appearances.

I was absolutely wrong. This is by far the funniest movie I’ve seen since Dudley Moore starred in 10. Pure genius. I can’t tell you the scenarios or describe any of the sometimes painful situations because I don’t want to give anything away and ruin your movie experience. In all honesty, I’m pretty sure I could go see this again tonight and laugh just as much. Just as the media has been reporting, there are a lot of people in the film that are most likely very embarrassed right now. The guy at the rodeo won’t respond to phone calls from reporters, and I’m pretty sure that there’re a few South Carolina fraternity boys that are currently being expelled. Other than that, the only backlash from this movie will be the urine stain on your pants and the subsequent dry cleaning bill. As my good friend the Duke just told me, “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in a movie theater.” I completely agree. The last time I remember coming close was when Jeff Daniels was taking a very audible poo in Dumb and Dumber—I laughed a lot then, but not this much.

Sprint to the theaters and give Sacha Baron Cohen your money immediately! He deserves it and he needs it to make another movie. And damnit we need that movie (maybe this one or maybe this one will live up to the same glory). My life will forever be haunted by the image of Borat lying in bed in the dark clutching an axe-hammer in one hand and a wad of cash in the other. Thank God for that, or should I say Jesus?

Pre-Borat: Quivering with Anticipation

This is part one of a two-part segment. Duke Frankencow is your author for Part One, and Rocky Racoon will be your author for the follow-up.

Since Rocky and I are our own bosses, we can adjust our schedules to conform to cultural events here in Washington. The Million Man March was just such an event, as were the inaugurations of President Bush. Earlier this year when thousands of immigrants marched on the Mall to gain rights as guest workers and to further their efforts in becoming naturalized citizens, Rocky and I closed down the Styched offices to bear witness. And today, another of those events is taking place, the kind of event that defines a generation. Rocky and I will be putting our computers on "sleep" mode, turning the lights off, and locking the doors behind us for two hours. Why, you might ask? To paraphrase David Byrne, "The answer is obvious. [Borat] has come to town."

That's right. Sometime around noon today, in a dark movie theater somewhere in downtown Washington, Rocky Raccoon and yours truly will be experiencing - what we anticipate will be - comedic brilliance: the first public showing of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Male nudity, rampant anti-semitism, a grizzled Pamela Anderson-Rock, and ignorant Americans - does it get any better? Sure, there's been a bit of over-exposure for Borat. When I was returning from lunch one day last week and found the Kazakh reporter being interviewed on CNN, I suspected that the joke might be getting old before it had even been told to most of America. But, in the words of my 7th grade English teacher, that's neither here nor there. I have a feeling that after the whirl-wind of promotion surrounding this film's release dies down, we'll never see or hear from Mr. Sagdiyev again. So my advice is to cram in as many laughs as possible while you can.