Below we have the trailer for Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen’s follow-up to Borat. It looks funny. I guess. I mean, I saw Borat. Twice. In the theaters. And I kind of felt like that was enough of the Sacha Baron Cohen uncomfortable-humiliating-rednecks documentaries. Dan saw some footage of it in Austin, and he felt that it was basically Borat with a gay guy. The trailer bears that out. He goes hunting. He adopts an African-American baby and names him O.J. He chases around a guy with two dildos. It’s all very ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha … I guess.
I'll see it. It'll be good for some chuckles and to learn dildo defence. The gays keep saying they're going to take over, I like to be prepared.
Posted by: admin at April 2, 2009 4:49 PM
I love that header pic, it's sixteen kinds of cute.
The husband and I saw Borat in the theater, because we heard part of the fun is experiencing other people's reactions (did I read that here???). That turned out to be very true. Later, we won a copy of the DVD from a radio station, which was kinda weird, but free is free, right? We've never watched it. It's kind of a one-timer. Some of the situations were so embarrassing, the husband couldn't even look, but then again he gets embarrassed for characters even in fictional stuff, so.
I doubt I'll go see this in the theater but I'm morbidly curious enough to rent it.
Posted by: Anastasia Beaverhausen at April 2, 2009 4:49 PM
The original Bruno clips were much funnier, he interviewed "smart(er)" people and managed to get some sort of designer/fashion person to admit that we should send all bad dressing people to a camp, a concentration camp. he also interviewed some white supremacists as bruno - gutsy move. now it's just borat recycled. To quote rayliota - meh.
Posted by: marija at April 2, 2009 4:50 PM
Anastasia - I can't watch people be embarrassed either (even fictional people)! How awesome that I'm not alone! Also, this is why I've never seen Borat and will never see Bruno.
Posted by: king at April 2, 2009 4:57 PM
Either my blood sugar's low or I really am utterly lacking in taste, but that looked pretty darn good.
Sacha Baron Cohen should've killed of Borat and Bruno along with Ali-G.
A long time ago it seemed like a good idea, but then again so did "The Macarena".
Posted by: Mr. Rotinaj at April 2, 2009 5:03 PM
Some of the situations were so embarrassing, the husband couldn't even look, but then again he gets embarrassed for characters even in fictional stuff, so.
Anastasia, ugh, I have that exact problem. I call it "Three's Company Syndrome" because that's the first TV show I remember making me so physically uncomfortable that I had to walk out of the room. I did see Borat and mostly enjoyed it although I did turn my head away in parts.
Bruno is definitely wait for cable fodder.
I actually met Isla Fisher once and thought she was the nanny because she is so little and cute and unassuming.
Holy shit indeed that IS him, isn't it. The grandfather of trash talk shows in the flesh I remember that fucker when he did Nine Broadcast Plaza before it morphed into the Richard Bey Show on WWOR, New Jersey.
Posted by: BarbadoSlim at April 2, 2009 5:16 PM
What a joy to know I am not alone! Watching people who are embarrassed can be so miserable I have to look away - read, I hated Meet The Parents and will never watch the sequel.
I think Borat made me laugh two times, and the rest of the movie was excrutiating, especially listening to my man-child husband practically piss himself laughing. luvs
There are exceptions to this rule, of course. Ever see the Frazier episode (kiss my ass, it had moments and I was a teenager) where Niles is trying to iron something, and he ends up passing out from the sight of his own blood? No dialogue for maybe 5 minutes, best 5 minutes of Frazier ever.
Posted by: Patty O'Green at April 2, 2009 5:18 PM
I agree with Anastasia Beaverhausen. Borat was funny, but it was a one viewing kind of thing. Maybe in a couple of years I'll watch it again, who knows. I also get embarrassed for characters on television and in movies so watching actual people being duped in Borat was unbearable at times. I don't see myself even renting Bruno.
And Isla Fischer is cuter than Amy Adams, says I! If I had a same sex five freebie list, Isla would be on it.
Posted by: Pinky McLadybits (formerly Dangle McGee) at April 2, 2009 5:20 PM
I was in the first-ever public screening of this movie.
Holy shit, we laughed so hard we cried... A LOT. It's very much like Borat. A gay porno Borat. There's a part where he's hiring child actors to be photographed... the things these stage parents are willing to do to get a paycheck from their kids is ridiculous (they even agree to liposuction, heavy antiquated machinery, LIVE BEES, among other things.)
If I had a same sex five freebie list, Isla would be on it.
Now let's not start that again!
Posted by: Shadows of Dakaron at April 2, 2009 5:23 PM
I imdb'd them both tt_marie and I still can't tell the difference. Apparently it was Amy Adams in Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day and so therefore she gets my vote. I am sickly in love with that movie and her outfits.
oh yeah, and I can't stand Meet The Parents either, but I dunno. Something about Borat and Bruno never made me feel really that embarrassed for them, it's purely shock value. Just like I never feel embarrassed for Mann Coulter. Though I would've loved to see Bruno attack her with a couple of dildos.
Oh fuck it. It made me laugh. I'm gonna see it. I know me. There's no way I won't see it, even if I protest to the contrary.
And yes, admin, we are coming. Just ask the Baptists.
Posted by: The Pink Hulk at April 2, 2009 5:27 PM
Now let's not start that again!
I read that and heard the voices of the vultures from The Jungle Book. "So what are we going to do?" "I don't know, what d'you wanna do?"
And sorry! But the vote for Isla stands!
Posted by: Pinky McLadybits (formerly Dangle McGee) at April 2, 2009 5:33 PM
Bruno sounds exactly like Edna Mote from The Incredibles. I couldn't get passed it and it totally took me right out of the trailer.
Posted by: JapJay at April 2, 2009 5:41 PM
Pinky McLadybits! Cool Bond girl name. Dig the change. I watch The Jungle Book way too frequently.
you must understand, i'll be seeing this in a theater in tulsa, oklahoma, surrounded by people who will not be on the knowing end of this.
i know, i know, you must be thinking tulsa must be so cool, what with gp and agent bedhead living there.
you'd be amazed.
Posted by: gp at April 2, 2009 6:57 PM
I'm in the same boat as The Pink Hulk. Regardless of how much I may protest to the contrary, I know I'll end up seeing this film in the drive-in, getting stinko in the bed of a pickup truck. It's inevitable. I really shouldn't fight it.
Posted by: Leigh Hacksaw at April 2, 2009 7:02 PM
There is no doubt that it is just Borat with a gay Autstrian but I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. I thought Bruno was funny on Ali G. I don't know what this says about me but if I think something is really funny the first time, altering it in a way that supplements the repetition of that funny = still funny. Of course the funny has a half-life, it just degrades slower depending on how funny the original premise or act was. For example, Will Ferrell schtick didn't get old for me near as quickly as it did for many 'jibans. Unless I'm forgetting something, I think Semi-Pro was the first Ferrell-schtick movie that I really hated.
Jeez, I wish I was better at making these posts. They always sound better in my head then turn out all ramble-y.
Side note: Borat is definitely a one maybe two time viewing.
Posted by: Handel at April 2, 2009 7:06 PM
That Handel, he's sooo hot right now.
Will Ferrell's all I can think of when I see your handle, Handel. Coincidence?
Posted by: Leigh Hacksaw at April 2, 2009 7:15 PM
I fall into the catagory of people who crawled under their seats and hid through most of Meet the Parents. I also had to see Borat twice not because it was a modern comic triumph but I actually missed some good gags due to redfaced shoe-gazing during the key moments of hilarity.
For some reason I just simply cannot stand watching characters either inflicting embarassment or suffering it themselves. Even when I know its fictional, it doesn't matter. I think its because I empathize and put myself in their shoes, thinking only of what it would feel like for ME to have to suffer a similar fate.
So yeah. I'll see this, but it will be like standing in front of my graduating high school class naked for two hours while they heckle me.
Does that make me a sadist?
Posted by: Roaddog at April 2, 2009 7:30 PM
Come to think of it, I come to this site so often because I laugh everytime Rowles does a somewhat repetitive vulgar description of how shitty a movie is. Everything is a anal boil this or a cum bubble that. Now you are going to sit up there and say "He chases around a guy with two dildos. It’s all very ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha … I guess"? Yes Dustin, Bruno chasing a guy with two dildos is funny. Just like its funny when you say one of your seemingly endless variations of "Drink my shit-milkshake, pisswad...you anus-brained fucknut(s)" (see Review,Disaster Movie).
Posted by: Handel at April 2, 2009 7:31 PM
Hacksaw,
Originally, I was going for the Handel/handle thing so I guess that would be a coincidence but Mugato (sp?) is hysterical so, I can't say it bothers me. I think of wrestling everytime I see your handle. I'm guessing that is no coincidence.
Posted by: Handel at April 2, 2009 7:35 PM
Holy, sh*t!! He looks just like the Stewart character from MadTV! I kept expecting him to break into a silly dance and yell "Look what I can do!!"
Posted by: ~M~ at April 2, 2009 7:45 PM
On the topic of feeling embarrassed for people on TV and in movies, whether fictional or not: it takes a LOT for me to get all squirmy on their behalf and look away, but my husband absolutely cracks me up.
If he's watching TV in bed and something like that happens, he'll just really casually flick the sheet over his head. Not in a dramatic way at all, just like "Oh God, I can't even watch this." If he's not where he can do that, I've seen him just close his eyes.
None of us like the show, but the daughter and I will turn on early episodes of American Idol JUST to watch him close his eyes and eventually get up and leave the room because he simply can't handle the embarrassment. Or the sound.
Posted by: Anastasia Beaverhausen at April 2, 2009 8:17 PM
I'm really sick and tired of 'comedies' based on humiliating people. I hate them. They make me feel dirty, and embarrassed for them, and it makes me want to kick Cohen in the nuts.
The worst part is that this will probably be a huge hit like Borat was. Ugh to the world.
Sounds like your better half and I are kindred spirits. I have a rep in the family of leaving the room when the embarassment gets too brutal. Actually as a tot, my dad would turn on shows he knew would scare/embarass me because he thought it was hilarious that I would actually get up, and toddle off until I couldn't see the screen any longer but was still within earshot. As soon as I knew they had cut to commercial, I would wander back in with a lame excuse of having to go find a toy.
This has continued into my adult life, except now, I simply have to turn away or leave the room. Being trapped in a crowded theater where I can't easily escape is akin to water-torture for me, yet I generally willingly submit to the experience.
Posted by: Roaddog at April 2, 2009 8:27 PM
Roaddog - It's like never admitting you're scared. Don't let the bastards win!
Posted by: king at April 2, 2009 9:24 PM
I too saw Borat twice in the theaters. It was still out when I slid back home for a short visit before my brother shipped off to the Air Force. And what did we want as our last shared civilian experience for at least 6 years? Take Mom to see Borat.
I tell you, there are few moments as pleasing as seeing my one time Sunday school teacher and current church lady extraordinaire squirm in her seat trying to make heads or hairy anus of what she was watching. Our theatre was only half full, and soon she gave in to the protection of the dark.
Mom never mentioned that movie to either of us after the deep dish pizza and root beer we ate later that night. But we both know she was laughing.
Sentiments aside, I love this part-staged, mostly guerrilla-filmed pranking. True, Bruno is the weakest of Sacha's characters, but it should work. Looks funny to me.
Too bad it's not opening in May. I bet the bro, his new wife and I could've gotten my grandma to an evening at the ehhtheatre.
Posted by: Jackseppelin at April 2, 2009 10:04 PM
So "Borat" goes into the one-hit wonder category we had recently? Too bad.
Uh-oh, Figs, we have an ... issue.
Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at April 3, 2009 12:58 AM
Groupthink central around here, huh?
Bruno was always the funniest of the three Baron Cohen characters, and I would expect this movie to be an improvement on Borat. It's too bad that he feels the need to include so many scripted scenes and "narrative" elements. The confrontational humor is what's funny, it should really be fine to just throw a bunch of unrelated scenes together.
Posted by: Jesus at April 3, 2009 8:09 AM
I originally typed that as Boart, which made me laugh.
Julie, you've inspired me to commit an atrocity of comedy. Please forgive me...
I saw Borat. Twice. The second time, just to take my brother so I could watch his reactions. He laughed so hard and loud the people sitting in front of us actually moved. Which made us laugh harder.
It's all about allowing yourself to enjoy the experience of getting tickled. Just letting go. It feels pretty good.
Sascha Baron Cohen is pretty good at that. He sacrifices himself so that I may laugh. Really: when he falls out from backstage at the fashion show? I live to see shit like that: Uptight, self-important people focused on something so utterly unimportant as haute couture (although I love to indulge too), shocked and aghast at the interruption. Love it.
In conclusion: don't take things too seriously. Life is too short.
Final conclusion: I'll see this movie in the theaters. I might even buy myself a big frosty beer and some candy.
Isla Fisher in a Smith's t-shirt is one of the hottest things ever!
Fuck you Pookie...
Posted by: Ted at April 3, 2009 10:48 AM
Roaddog and Anastasia: I as well can't handle embarassment, but I scamper off like a little girl.
I hated Borat. I also hated Napoleon Dynamite. And Nacho Libre. Then I wondered if I was losing my sense of humor. Finally I just decided that the people making movies got dumber.
Posted by: Captain Steve at April 3, 2009 11:08 AM
Embarrasment doesn't bother me at all, it seems.
The movies I can't stand are the ones where everyone thinks the sane character's a jerk because he doesn't like the totally insane, life-ruining character. It's all too "Cassandra's curse" for me.
For instance, "The Cable Guy" and "What About Bob." Yeah, I said it, "What About Bob." That movie gives me the creeps so bad it hurts.
I don't know, Bruno was always my favorite Sascha Baron Cohen character. And really, we all know this is the format that works for him. Remember Ali G Da Movie? He tried to do an actual movie instead of a mockumentary and it was universally thrashed, so I can't say I blame him for sticking with what won him awards.
I never know what the point of SBC's films are. Different strokes.
Question: Heard a rumor that Isla Fisher only converted to Judaism for SBC (like that whiny character from Sex and the City). True or false?
Posted by: Nate at April 3, 2009 9:43 PM
Ever see the Frazier episode (kiss my ass, it had moments and I was a teenager) where Niles is trying to iron something, and he ends up passing out from the sight of his own blood? No dialogue for maybe 5 minutes, best 5 minutes of Frazier ever.
Yes, oh God yes, it was a Valentine's Day episode. Highlight of the series, for sho.
Posted by: Nova at April 4, 2009 9:35 PM
I'm not going to lie to you, I laughed a bit more than I was expecting to.
Posted by: starfish at April 5, 2009 1:29 AM
Hi, my name is Courtney and I suffer from second-hand embarrassment. Can't do it - have actually gotten out of my seat and left the room until whatever is happening on screen is over. Saw I Love You, Man this weekend and almost died, being confined to a theatre seat. There must be some deep-rooted psychological projection-thing about it, whatever the cause, watching Paul Rudd stammer and make an ass out of himself made me want to cry.
meh. It's Borat with a gay guy. The trailer told us so. I can never remember which cute redhead he's married to.