Bruno Review
Bruno
Directed by: Larry Charles
Written by: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer, Jeff Schaffer
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten
In 2006, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen took America by storm with the release of his feature film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Borat was one of three characters he had been developing over the past 10 or so years, which eventually gained mainstream attention on Da Ali G Show. The movie ended up taking over $260 million worldwide, but was followed with controversy, lawsuits and a backlash, leading many people to wonder if a follow up film would even be feasible, let alone profitable.
Cohen’s response is an even more outrageous movie based around another one of his alter-egos, the gay Austrian fashion critic Bruno. Drawing from his own experiences working briefly as a model out of university, he simultaneously skewers the fashion industry while preying on homophobia and shallowness. There was no question that Bruno was going to push plenty of buttons, but would the character remain compelling for a full 90 minutes? And, more importantly, with the popularity of Borat, would Sacha Baron Cohen and his crew still be able to pull off the same pranks or would they be forced to resort to more scripted, pre-planned scenarios?
Bruno essentially follows the same formula that set the Borat movie apart from everything that came before it. There are a series of real-world sketches and interviews tied together through a loose, fictional narrative. Much like Borat, Bruno decides to take a trip to America after he finds himself fired from his show on Austrian TV, Funkyzeit mit Bruno. Here he sets off on a quest to become a celebrity by any means necessary, starting with a hilarious TV pilot pitch, building to the adoption of an African baby, and culminating in an attempt to turn himself straight. Along the way, he is accompanied by his loyal assistant’s assistant Lutz, who plays a similar role to Borat’s producer Azamat, and also eventually becomes a part of the story.
I have to admit, my expectations for this movie were lowered somewhat because I really didn’t think Bruno was as funny or as versatile as Borat. However, I am happy to say that they found a way to adapt Bruno’s character for the big screen in a way that was both appropriate and hilarious. For one thing, changing the primary focus to be achieving celebrity status was the perfect way to open up the movie to go almost anywhere. While I did enjoy his fashion interviews on Da Ali G Show, it would have been a little too limited for a feature film. Here they only open with his Milan runway stunt before moving on to a much bigger platform.
While I thought the fictional portion of Borat quarreling with his assistant and his goal of meeting Pamela Anderson were perhaps the most clumsy aspects of that movie, here the fictional elements seem less forced. The story arc in Bruno feels a lot more significant, and flows natually with the other material while never overstaying its welcome. The point where the fiction and non-fiction worlds collide is also once again a major highlight of the film.
As expected, there aren’t quite as many interviews with real people this time, and most of the celebrities who appear are in on the joke (Paula Abdul apparently being the one noteworthy exception). There is also a good ambush of Republican candidate Ron Paul, and a discussion between a former Mossad agent and Palestinian politician that is quite amusing. In both instances Bruno seems to take on some of the traits of both Borat and Ali G, in that he is an oblivious foreigner who doesn’t quite understand America, but also mixes up words and names with humourous results.
Bruno is definitely less likable and more of a direct agitator, however. People don’t cut Bruno as much slack, and as a result, a lot of the segments don’t last quite as long, which can either be good or bad depending on your point of view. Some things, like the terrorist leader meeting, are so short that they are almost not worth including. As a result, there aren’t quite as many memorable scenes this time around, but a lot of quick laughs along the way. The major setups still pay off, though, and the cage match at the end is a pretty amazing finale.
Ali G writer Dan Mazer was originally supposed to direct Bruno, but was later replaced by Borat director Larry Charles, who really seems to have been the best choice all along. His experience with Bill Maher on Religulous also seems to have been beneficial (if not a direct influence), particularly when it comes to incorporating things like the Middle East conflict and the gay converter. Thanks to topics like this, Bruno may actually have more to say about the world than Borat did. Of course, it goes without saying that it also probably has the highest amount of male genitalia yet seen in an R-rated Hollywood comedy, so it’s certainly not all high-brow satire. (I can only imagine what parts of Bruno’s journey were excised by the MPAA.)
In the end, I don’t think Bruno surpassed Borat for me, if only because I didn’t laugh quite as much and because, let’s face it, it was nearly impossible to top what he had already done before. Still, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Bruno comes a lot closer to measuring up than I would have thought possible. It still feels fresh, but it maintains the majority of the things that made Borat work. I can actually see some people finding this even funnier than Borat, considering that it does up the ante in various ways, but on the other hand, some will likely be turned off by the shock value and the more incendiary jokes. I’m just glad that I can honestly say Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedy still has not yet jumped the shark. What he will do for an encore at this point is anyone’s guess, but whatever it is, I’ll definitely be there on opening night to check it out. — Sean
SCORE: 
Recommended If You Like: Borat, Religulous, Jackass: The Movie
Comments (60)
I saw this film on Sunday, and the theatre was packed with a lot of kids!
Awesome!
I would love to be a fly on the wall when the parent/s have to explain that psychic scene.
Posted by Jkame on July 12th, 2009Glad you liked it Sean, and I think I agree with you that it wasn’t as good as Borat.
So did a lot of people seem to be really offended and walk out?
During the talk show with Brunos baby there was a group of black teenagers sitting in my row that walked out, but other than that, everyone else seemed to be laughing their asses off throughout the whole film.
Posted by Steven Carpenter on July 12th, 2009it was a 2.5/4 for me, but as i describe it to people i realize there was more i enjoyed than I thought. I still strongly feel it could have had more of a real story, that there was more that fell flat here than in Borat.
I saw it on the first show on Friday morning. Not an empty theater but not packed. I sort of wish I saw it with a more packed crowd :/
Posted by Goon on July 13th, 2009“but also mixes up words and names with humourous results.”
He thought Ron Paul was RuPaul
– that line made up for the rest of the segment, which was meh.
Posted by Goon on July 13th, 2009It’s kind of going the opposite way for me. The more I think about it and discuss it, the less I’m liking this movie. I went in with too-high expectations, and came out obviously disappointed. There were a few laughs, most notably the psychic scene and the finale, but the rest simply wasn’t funny to me. I wouldn’t say I was offended either, it was just trying too hard.
Posted by Ashley on July 13th, 2009As a parent that mistakenly took his family (including my 12 year old daughter) to this trash, I was sickened and find it odd that anyone finds this porno pretending to be humor acceptable… how do you explain it to your kid.. you don’t.. you just get up and walk out. I wish you all luck and hope you get help soon.. when I was a child this “man” would have been arrested for this.. Just goes to show how sick our society has become.. I have always found it odd that what came in with “what one does in one’s own bedroom” has become “lets slap you in the face with a twirling penis and dildo machines” fo public display.. my advice.. take it back into your bedroom.. !!!!
Posted by Bob Woodside on July 13th, 2009Hey Bob Woodside,
The only reason your 12 year old daughter was exposed to a ‘twirling penis and dildo machines’ is because you didn’t do your research. Why don’t you spend less time hitting up comments sections and chastising everyone else for enjoying Bruno and more time finding out what is appropriate viewing for your child. Stop blaming everyone else for your lazy detective work.
Our viewing habits are not dictated by what’s best for your 12 year old daughter, and neither are yours apparently.
Posted by Jay C. on July 13th, 2009I feel no sympathy for someone who takes their family to an R rated comedy, especially when the marketing for this film makes it extremely clear that this is not a family film.
I actually don’t even believe this person has a family that he took to this, and is just offended he saw cocks and needs an angle to argue, failing to see the illogic behind his premise.
Posted by Goon on July 13th, 2009Clearly some of this stuff was over the top-The Mili Vanili scene was out right pornographic. People in my audience were groaning. Actually 15 people or so walked out! Having said that I never laughed so hard at a film. I was in pain laughing. I wonder if you will see a few lawsuits against the MPAA for giving this an R-rating when clearly this was an NC-17. Some might want to make a point. It was clear that some people in my audience were highly offended and pissed off after seeeing it. Have a feeling this might cause a change in the rating system to something like an R-EXTREME. Still for me a 9 OUT OF 10. It just made me laugh the entire time.
chuck
Posted by entertainmenttodayandbeyond on July 13th, 2009SERVED
Posted by jason smart on July 13th, 2009Who takes their 12 year old daughter to an R-Rated film in the first place, regardless of “research” one does?
I saw it Saturday, and thought half of the film was funny, the other half way over the top. I think the character of Bruno is a lot more shallow and limited than Borat.
A few of the gags I really didn’t understand why they were in the film. The Ron Paul scene (Paul was pretty subdued AFAIK), and the “interview parent about their babies” scene.
I’d give it 2-2.5 out of 4. I just wonder what people were expecting when going into this film.
Posted by Larrybud on July 13th, 2009In the UK the film was rated ‘18′ by the BBFC. Sorry Bob, but you should always check the content of a film before taking young family members. The onus in the UK is very much with the parents; a 12A film for example may be too strong for some children, but not for others so the decision lies with the parents as to whether they think their children will be adversely affected by it.
“This film was classified ‘18′ in accordance with BBFC Guidelines, for strong sex and strong sex references. At ‘15′, the Guidelines state that ’sexual activity may be portrayed but without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour’. Both the scenes of strong sex and the sex references were considered by the Board to go beyond the ‘15′ level, but acceptable at the adult ‘18′ category. There are three strong sex scenes in the film. The first one features a montage of exaggerated sexual activity between Bruno and his boyfriend. The second shows Bruno comically miming fellatio and anilingus as he pretends to have oral sex with a deceased person with whom he is in contact through a medium, while the third scene features sex between couples at a swingers’ party, with sexual detail obscured.
Posted by Paul Andrews on July 13th, 2009“
Most theaters have a piece of paper at the ticket booth showing reasons why the film is rated R. If you’re taking a family to an R rated movie and skip everything that could inform you, you’re just being stupid to complain later. You might as well also not fasten your seatbelts and then blame the car when you crash.
Posted by Goon on July 13th, 2009There was a 10 year old kid in the showing I attended. The kid’s Dad made him go outside during the swinger’s party, and when they were walking out at the end of the film my girlfriend heard him say to the kid “This is the last time I let you pick the movie.”
I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or shake my head.
Posted by Matt Gamble on July 13th, 2009Roger Ebert’s always been a proponent for the NC-17 becoming a fully accepted rating that would bridge the gap between R and XXX. I’m in Canada where 18A and R are I guess the equivalent to R and NC-17(?) so we have a widely accepted rating that still allows harder films to be shown in theatres and advertised in papers. This film seems like a perfect example for American theatre chains and newspapers to stop being so prudish with the NC-17 and allow the MPAA to differentiate between the two and make it so that adults can go see a film like this without having to worry whether or not some clueless moron is bringing their kid to something that they shouldn’t.
The lack of foresight from people boggles the mind. Entertainment nowadays is constantly pushing further and further the boundaries of what’s accepted. This means that people NEED to be more active in what they are allowing their children to see. I personally love anything that has the potential to piss people off. Especially in comedy. On the other hand, I like to see ADULTS have their sensibilities tested, NOT little kids.
Posted by Fatbologna on July 13th, 2009If you’re a parent, then parent your children! They’ll no doubt have some questions about what they see in this film (if you’re stupid enough to take them).
Answer them. That’s called parenting!
Otherwise the next time they see this kind of stuff, their little heads will spin around and they’ll foam at the mouth. And what will you do? Blame people for your shitty parenting!!
Posted by Jkame on July 13th, 2009Gamble, when I went to see Away we go there were two 12 year olds there on a date, and the guys’ dad was a couple rows behind them as a ‘chaperone’.
After the very first scene, 10 seconds into the movie, dad moves down the rows, grabs the kid by the ear in front of the girl and drags him out, even while he was still in mid cuddle.
DENIED.
Posted by Goon on July 13th, 2009Twirling penis, dildos, etc and this thing is only rated ‘R’. How much labia can be shown in a film and still be rated ‘R’. I agree with father who was upset. Most professional reviewers purposefully did not mention the most explicit content in this film – for fear of spoiling it. The whole purpose of the film was to assualt/offend the viewer. Refunds should be given to those who walked out because this movie should have been rated NC-17. I will be writing the MPAA.
I can’t believe that even people like Letterman did not bring up all of the male nudity during the Cohen. I guess the studio wanted to keep that hush so that hey could offend as many as possible.
Posted by Viper on July 13th, 2009That’s bad parenting. FU DAD at Goons theatre.
Posted by Henrik on July 13th, 2009Oh god another ’show me the labia’ guy. Probably the same guy again.
“The whole purpose of the film was to assualt/offend the viewer.”
This is idiotic. The purpose of the film is to entertain the viewer. If you weren’t entertained, fine, but don’t present me with this bullshit statement.
Posted by Goon on July 13th, 2009What was the dad’s problem? The movie or the cuddling? Are you sure you meant to type Away We Go and not Bruno? Pls clarify and/or speculate, kthxbye.
Posted by Dave on July 13th, 2009How much labia can be shown in a film and still be rated ‘R’
Labia? Honest to god labia? Not too goddamn much I can tell you that!
Posted by Dave on July 13th, 2009AWAY WE GO SPOILER
AWAY WE GO SPOILER
I was just reminded of it and I told Gamble because he’s seen AWG and would get it, but here you are.
The very very very first scene of Away we go is John Krasinski eating out Maya Rudolph under a sheet and telling her that her pussy smells different, and it goes on for a few minutes. Clearly daddy thought this was enough to stop the preteens date, right away. The scene is not visually explicit, the movie is rated PG-13, but daddy hit the kill switch on that movie right then and there.
Posted by Goon on July 13th, 2009Huge letdown for me. The physical scene (Milli Vanilli) and swingers scene really ruined it. They just didn’t do anything for the story at all, and were cheap shockers. I think all the focus on the extreme gay sex was a cover up because a flamboyant gay man simply doesn’t provoke much anymore. Cohen had to go pretty deep into hick country, the bible belt and even the middle east and even bring out some really big guns to upset people.
I just didnt find the intelligence from Borat in this one. 50/50 amazing satire and cheap gay sex jokes. He really could have done way better.
Also ended up sympathizing with Ron Paul, so that one kind of misfired.
Posted by K on July 13th, 2009@ the movie is rated PG-13
Really? That’s interesting, i looked it up and it’s R in the states, which I was not surprised of. In the US even implied pussy eating gets an R.
Posted by Rusty James on July 14th, 2009this movie was funny but its not for little kids. I mean who wants to see brunos package. Also Austrian people may be offended by it. IT made no sence at all 3/5 for me. The only thing that was cool was the begginig with the techno song or Scooter.
Posted by Tom Bond on July 14th, 2009Rusty, well actually here we call it ‘14A’ – basically it allows for the supposed PG 13 movies to get away with more, but of course it cuts off a years worth of teens
proof of 14A status
Posted by Goon on July 14th, 2009http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?exid=amc&house_id=10818&rdate=07/14/2009&edata=mw_home
This is a great review. But i dissagree, the Paula Abdul scene was the least likely to be real. I don’t think Ron Paul would want to be in on the act here, but he set himself up perfectly, for SBC, that scene was as good as scripted.
I went to this not knowing anything about it. And it was hillarious. For 80 per cent of the movie i was laughing of lould. The other 20 i was trying not to look away. The no limits aspect and sick humour was compleatly refeshing. I do believe that this is the funniest movie ever to hit cinema (albiet in v.bad taste)
Bruno’s characther was imense. Like ghrame linnihan did with fater ted, SBC takes a stereotype way over the top no matter what the script, bruno remains funny for an hour and a half. SBC’s character keep getting better and he keeps pushing the outragous barrier back.
Posted by simon on July 18th, 2009Bruno was a filthy, painful waste of time.
I cannot believe I was stupid enough to not read a review about it first. It was 60 minutes of vile filth, abhorrently offensive, brainless: a waste of $17. If CHILD ABUSE offends you, if graphic HOMOSEXUAL PORNOGRAPHY offends you (just a straight porn would offend someone – no Im not homophobic) and If watching real COUPLES Have SEX and S&M scenes offends you(although some may be turned on by this), and RELIGIOUS VILIFICATION and RACISM offends you, then PLEASE DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE.
Little Britain was funny, Summer Heights High was funny, We Can Be Heroes is funny…. This is NOT. For me who has a high tolerance to “unique” movies, and I “get satire”, in fact i love it. But I found this INHUMANE and PUTRID. It was an ASSAULT to my senses, my ears and my eyes.
To see a “Black Baby” by the name of “OJ”, being crucified on a cross, and a penis that fills the screen. Shame on the musos (Bono??) at the end who supported the Cruelty, Ignorance and Hate in this movie. It is very sad that it relies on extreme antics.
Yes I “get it”, No it is not right: BOYCOTT BRUNO.
Posted by molly on July 20th, 2009^
lol
yeah sure, you ‘get it’, all right
Posted by Goon on July 20th, 2009Psychic scene was genius!
Posted by scott on July 20th, 2009Amongst many others, there are those who laugh at this movie because they find it’s content makes them uncomfortable and ridiculous, there are those who walk out of the movie theatre because they find it’s content makes them uncomfortable, and then there are those who find it funny that this humor makes both people so uncomfortable.
This is an extremely well-executed social commentary.
Although he only portrays the tasteless, he points out that there can be vulgarities in both heterosexual sex and homosexual sex, both of which have potential to be tasteless, and also beautiful in their own right.
Posted by Jon on July 21st, 2009I disagree with regard to this film exceeding my expectations for a formidable follow-up to ‘Borat’.
Check out my full ‘Bruno’ Review at:
http://thequintessentialgeneralist.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/film-review-bruno/
Posted by TheQG on July 21st, 2009I watched it last night .
Posted by Tom on July 22nd, 2009All I can say, it was a horrific experience for me.
Bruno, insulted my intelligence. Seems like the whole purpose of this movie was to assault and offend the viewer.
Molly, sorry to see your religious and have no sense of humour you may wanna stick to seventh heaven or watch some late 70’s movies. The Black baby on the cross was the most hilarious part of the movie hahaha, Most straight people don’t like it because they don’t get allot of the hidden jokes like “Oh thats such a samantha thing to say” when going out for a cup of coffee with the boys you can relate with.. OR that over reacting fat bald guy ain’t extreme to most men you meet hahaha.
Posted by tommy on July 22nd, 2009I love the gay convertor, blow job lips and ‘are you seducing me?’ hahaha This seriously has to be the best movie of 2009.. I also LOVE how they over act on Bruno being a gay father and how extreme he is by having naked men in the spa with the gayby and the dildo machine rocking the cradle…and they hit another stereo type when he gets whipped and beaten by the muscle woman trying to have sex with him, showing females aren’t all innocent submissive objects as most males would sex boast about to his mates – It shows how extremes play out in life, if people thought it sucked or insulted their intelligence, it obviously struck a nerve of how they view the world and offended that part of them..and they got angry cause they are so set in their ways, they take it as a insult cause everything must relate to them- Its bullshit, It aint racist, if you think you represent ‘africans’ or a ‘colour’ then ur racist yourself and you need to view the world in a broader sense-WALK OUT if you cant hack real life and live in ur african crib!
I give it a 4.5 star.. I think it could of gone a little longer
I’m a 17 year old straight male and i thought this was the funniest fucking movie i have ever seen. I find it hilarious that so many people are offended by this movie and how so many people walked out of the movie theatre i was at. I laughed so hard that i cried 5 times! Its obvious that Most people didnt like this because they are homophobic religious bible beaters with no sense of humour. But that is there problem so i will just keep on laughing at the movie i enjoyed. The only letdown was how short the movie was… and the ending was horrible… It is so funny reading the views of people who HATED this movie.. hehe
Posted by Dillon on July 24th, 2009A warning to all those who post here. Sean and Film Junk practice selective censorship !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Tim1974 on July 25th, 2009No they don’t Tim, your just an asshole and your posts deserve to be removed.
Posted by Drew on July 25th, 2009I have to draw the line somewhere Tim. I might cut you some slack if you were posting on other threads that weren’t directly related to your “agenda”, but you’re not.
Posted by Sean on July 25th, 2009Drew, you asshole, yes Sean did. He allowed a person to attack me but refused to allow my response. That is ouitright censorship. And just for your knowledge Sean, I do include other conversation but I do continue to bring up the lack of nudity equality each time it is shown in a film. And, you should know this, there has been plenty of it within the last two years. So, are you proposing that I stop speaking out against an injustice ??? Is that not censorship in its own right by limiting what you allowing to be stated ?? If the movie has it in it, like this piece of crap film, then there should be no problem with bringing up the injustice.
Posted by Tim1974 on July 25th, 2009And Sean, If you are drawing the line somewhere, then it should be drawn equally and not within a double standard of allowing one person’s attack on me but not allowing a response to it in the same format that she attacked me. How about keping in mind that she was the one who attacked me, it was not the other way around. So Sean, if I am discussing something that is within a film why do you consider that not appropriate ? It should make no difference that I continue to discuss the same point if the films continue to present the same crap.
“I do include other conversation”
I’ve searched your name pretty thoroughly on the web Tim, because its fascinating that you’ve been consistently spending so much time every day posting all over the web exclusively on this issue. and every thread you’re involved in is about this same issue, including long dead threads. There were threads that didnt have posts since 2007 (ie the Simpsons Movie) that you had to bump in to post the very same thing you post in every thread. Even on the MovieMom website the people there told you straight up they were sick of you saying the same thing every time. Even in movies where there was no nudity you had to add comments like “so glad there was no double standard nudity” and launched into your tirade.
You said on one of the threads I found that the second you start using insults that your opinion becomes null and void. If you actually believe this, you would take the high road and not feel you get to call people names when you feel insulted. There are another threads I found where you got your friends at your forum to help you, and a person named Kim was being very respectful toward you, and by the end you and your cohort Jeff were namecalling, calling her sexist for disagreeing with you, a ‘typical female’ and other very baiting words. in your MPAA group you yourself among friends called anyone who disagreed with you either to be a feminist or gay/submissive if they are okay with penises being displayed in films. You have stated flatly you dont want to see vulvas in film either in numerous threads, so this claim that you are standing for equality is extremely intellectually dishonest. If I were to assume about you the way you assume about other people, I’d conclude that by the number of times you mention your daughters, you are an ultra concerned parent about your children seeing penises in film, and that’s probably the nicer end of my assumptions.
I find your accusations against Sean very hypocritical since he has otherwise been very accomodating towards you even in spite of overwhelming evidence that you visit movie sites almost exclusively for the purpose of pushing one agenda, and reposting the same argument long after others have concluded conversing with you.
And again, it would be easier to accept you presenting the same argument if you actually had seen half of the films you argue against, rather than relying on hearsay descriptions from your friends who in most cases have not seen the film either.
In conclusion, you show up in these threads to provoke and rile attention with no intention to agree to disagree when you face opposition. This is the very definition of trolling. If it were my site I’d flat out ban you, and live with the fact that an unreasonable troll thought I was censoring him, when in reality its showing respect to the other posters who have actually seen the films, show concern for more than one issue in film, and can respectfully disagree with one another.
Posted by Goon on July 25th, 2009Goon. Let’s get something straight. I do not bring friends into the forum room. I guess it is like you with Dave and Rusty and whomever comes to show you support. As I have just stated. If this injustice is in the film then why do you or anyone else have a problem with me bringing it up ? If it isn’t in a film, yes, I may comment on the fact that I am glad that there isn’t any male nudity in it for a change. And since you seem to wnat to find out all about me, then you should also know that I have said on many occassions that I would prefer that there isn’t any nudity in any of these films. However, if they choose to continue to exploit the male body and not the female then, yes, that to me is an injustice. And yes, it is time to show as much of the female as the male. “Bruno” is but another film in which this happens. If the roles were reversed and they showed a close up of a vagina with the labia moving like talking and then show the pee hole, well there would be an uproaor.
Posted by Tim1974 on July 25th, 2009And I find you come off as very hypocrtical yourself. You talk about me insulting but yet you and your friends had no problem mocking me. See Goon it works both ways.
So, in conclusion, if an injustice is in a film then I should have the right to present how I feel. Anything less is censorship. If you and others have become tired of reading about it then maybe you should start taking a closer look at all the films where this injustice exisit. Second, stop trying to be so righteous and except the fact that I do not ask anyone to come to my aid in any chat room. There are others out here who feel like I do but they act on their own.
I will agree with you though, that things have gotten carried away at times and unecesssary insults have flown back and forth. I will accept the responsibility for that mistake and will attempt to correct that problem in the future. However, if I am attacked then I will not just sit back and take it.
“I do not bring friends into the forum room.”
“except the fact that I do not ask anyone to come to my aid in any chat room. ”
what do you call this?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Fight_the_MPAA/message/117
Looks explicity like asking people to come help you to me.
“I guess it is like you with Dave and Rusty and whomever comes to show you support.”
Dave and Rusty are part of this community. If I am in an argument on a site they don’t visit I don’t recruit them to stack the deck.
“if an injustice is in a film then I should have the right to present how I feel. Anything less is censorship.”
You had your opportunity to express your opinion over and over again. There came a point where you were making the same points but the only new ones were insults to people. There comes a point when repetition is seen as spam… just noise. Can you see this point of view?
“I will accept the responsibility for that mistake and will attempt to correct that problem in the future. ”
All I am requesting is for you to show your commitment to being more than a troll by showing interest in other issues on other Filmjunk threads rather than just showing up with the same points whenever there’s a new movie with a penis. Maybe then you will get treated with more respect.
Personally, and I’m sure others agree, I also have to say I don’t like arguing specific points about movies with someone who hasn’t seen it. It’s unfair to ask of us to respect your points when you are without your own specific experience of viewing the scene, and don’t make it clear when you first attack the film that you have not seen it. It would be courteous to make that clear so people can decide whether or not they want to spend the time arguing specific points or arguing for the context of certain scenes. Please keep this in mind.
Posted by Goon on July 25th, 2009I am willing to discuss other topics as well but will not forego what I believe is an injustice of displaying male nudity more graphically than female nudity. I will apologize for the one time I did ask the group for help. I had simply forgotten about it.
Posted by Tim1974 on July 25th, 2009BTW, these “other issues” you speak of. Are you referring to movie topics/social topics ? I know how to find the movie topics but not sure where to go if you are talking about social topics.
“I am willing to discuss other topics as well but will not forego what I believe is an injustice of displaying male nudity more graphically than female nudity.”
You can continue believing whatever you want. But you have to respect that others may disagree with you and theres a point where its more reasonable to agree to disagree and move on. Try to realize there comes a time when you need to stop reposting the same thoughts and hope that the first dozen times you posted it can stand on their own.
Sometimes in order for a thread to stay on topic you have to swallow hard at something that comes across as an insult and insinuation and deal with it. I’ve had to get over this myself before and it’s still difficult, but please try. The louder you make your points, the more likely it is to escalate.
By “other issues” I mean anything from trivial issues such as opinions on casting rumors to more serious discussions often held in Seans “Open Forum Friday” threads about everything from accusations of racism in Transformers to most recently issues about special interest groups attacking the film “Orphan”. And of course, opinions on movies that you’ve seen within movie review threads and ‘whats now playing’ posts. If you follow the FilmJunk main page you’ll see different things pop up day to day.
If you don’t post on other threads, but a new movie with a penis comes out you can’t help but talk about, it would be more appreciated if you posted “I discussed my objections to this injustice in the Hangover discussion thread” and provide a link to it, or post a link to another website you’re discussing it at, so people can see an extended argument without having to spend their time raising points that I or others already raised. Because having the same argument every month with no new developments can be annoying/unproductive. Can you appreciate this?
Posted by Goon on July 25th, 2009As long as the film displays male nudity more graphically than female nudity I will point that out and my objection to it. However, I will not dwell on the issue and move on. As for annoying, maybe when there is equality then it will become a non factor. I will not allow an injustice to exist without my expressing my feelings towards it. But, I will make my point and then move on as you suggest. Hopefully you will appreciate my stance as well.
Posted by Tim1974 on July 25th, 2009Thanks, and I guess we’ll see you later and we’ll see.
“I will not allow an injustice to exist without my expressing my feelings towards it.”
I hope the next time I see you piping up about an injustice it will be about another issue. I would assume there are other things in the world depicted in movies that you find unjust.
One more little thing: There are only so many commenters on FilmJunk. Keep in mind if you’re travelling around the web posting on this issue you may just be repeating yourself to the same group of people every time/not reaching a new audience. Something to consider if getting a message out is that important to you. You may want to spend time finding a larger website with more people to talk with. They may hate me for this
– but try Slash Film, the Movie Blog, or Filmspotting.
Posted by Goon on July 25th, 2009I love Sacha Baron Cohen
Posted by Kartono Widjaja on July 31st, 2009To be honest , I’m gay too
I’m proud . Because it’s my right to be what I am
This movie is rated ´11´ in Sweden which means any kid over 11 can go and see this movie by themselves. Younger than 11 needs to be accompanied by mom and dad.
Posted by Gustafo Pung on August 3rd, 2009This might seem shocking to people easily offended but swedish children get a proper sex education in school and the sight of a penis is not considered so terribly shocking that it might scar an 11 year old for life. Violence in movies are considered a much bigger issue than a glimpse of a tit, a butt, a penis or a joke of a sexual nature. Any hardcore sex in a movie and its rated `15´ which means noone under 15 allowed not even accompanied by parents.
In Borat the arrows were often pointed at Jews but knowing that Cohen is Jewish himself that turned it into irony & satire.
It is a bit too easy to base a movie entirely on homophobic jokes. You’ll have (some) people laugh and it will provoke reaction. But it just seems to be a cheap trick to provoke that over other people’s back.
Posted by J.Offerman on August 27th, 2009Especially since Cohen isn’t directing the jokes at himself indirectly this time.
I liked Borat more than Brüno. It is basically the same movie with a different character. A couple of the scenes was hillarious especially the talkshow, but as a whole it was not all that imo. Was a little hard to watch some of the scences, embarassing stuff for sure. But i have no idea why some are offended by a penis etc on the big screen though. Go watch the news if you want something significant to complain about.
Btw Tim, If you so desperatly want equal male/female nudity go watch some (straight) porn.
Posted by K.Running on August 29th, 2009Im a 13 year old and i saw this movie. I personally thought Bruno was pretty funny, but not as much as Borat. There was some strange scenes, but I still laughed at some of the jokes.
Posted by meh on September 9th, 2009BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Waste of my my time!!!
Posted by Fred on September 17th, 2009Finally caught Bruno and thought it was miles better than Borat.
Posted by Wintle on September 19th, 2009give me fame <333
Posted by Keisho Afri on September 20th, 2009KRunning- Why should I have to go to porno to see equality when females are given that in mainstream films and on the big screen ? It is a blatant double standard.
Posted by Tim1974 on October 2nd, 2009I honestly thought the film was a victim of its own satirical style. As per usual, Sasha Baron Cohen has done a brilliant job of satirising his target (in this case Hollywood) and has pushed the envelope yet again in terms of shock value and satire, which actually works against it.
Whereas Borat took the same tactic but managed to recognise lines of decency in the average person, Bruno tends to ignore them completely, meaning that in cases like with the hunting party you cannot help but find hllarious, but then you have cases like the Milli Vanilla astral blowjob that are an even bigger train wreck than a Jerry Springer show (can’t bring yourself to watch but can’t look away either).
Unfortunately unlike Borat, the enjoyability of the film suffers. People who found Borat funny (to the point of even buying the special edition complete with mankini) for the reasons of the style of satire are just as likely to find the humour in this sporadic- where one minute you’re in stiches, and the next minute you’re cringing and on the verge of walking out of the cinema.
If Sasha Baron Cohen was to take any lessons from Borat and Bruno, it would be that for all his brilliance in researching a target for his satires, he’s failed to recognise just how far to push the envelope in terms of how far to push the boundaries of peoples’ comfort zones. Shocking people has always been a fundamental part of satire, but the thing is that if people are shocked too much, they switch off and the underlying satirical message gets lost. The trick that he needs to learn is to gauge where the line is that that will take place with each gag, and get as close as possible to it, while not crossing it.
Hopefully in his third film, this is something Cohen will recognise to give people something that even tops Borat. While I’d happily give Borat 4/5, the best I find myself rating Bruno at is 2.5/5- it has it’s moments, but there’s so many misgauged shock gags in there, that many people who enjoyed Borat will find themselves constantly cringing through and resisting the strong urge to switch off the DVD player throughout each viewing of it.
Posted by bowspearer on October 10th, 2009i bet Astro Boy will be better then Bruno. That’s how bad it was a movie.
Posted by watch astro boy on October 20th, 2009^Okay, who let the youtube comments out of their cage?
Posted by Goon on November 14th, 2009Disgusting, revolting. It insulted my intelligence. Worse movie ever.
Posted by Brad on November 20th, 2009Leave a Reply