Craig's MovieBlog

Borat - The First 4 Minutes

This needs no introduction.  In fact, it is an introduction.  Enjoy:

A General Malaise... Link Dump

I know I haven't been writing lately.  For whatever reason, I just haven't felt inspired by anything going on in the industry or the press, which is ironic since this is the time of year when the films really start to get interesting.

I'm trying to break my writer's block by just linking to a bunch of items I've saved up.  Maybe this will bring back the blog love:

• The Worst Box Office Grosser of 2005: I think Chris Anderson is smart, and with my blog and AdSense, I now have a vested interest in seeing the Long Tail theory make it big.  Having said that - this entry was crap.  He says in his first paragraph "if you can get your movie to open on more than 3,000 screens, it's bound to do big numbers," which we all know is nonsense.  Forget how much money it costs you for marketing and distribution to those 3,000 screens, I can point you to at least a dozen films that opened on 3,000 screens and opened worse than Battlefield Earth. [via Frank at Glass House]
• Warner Bros. Fools the New York Times: and David Poland calls them on it.  Seriously, no one at the NY Times did the research to see that When Harry Met Sally only opened on just 41 screens?  No one?  Pathetic.
• Kids are Watching These Shows? Really?: According to MediaLife Magazine, the most watched new shows for kids between 2 and 11 are Studio 60 and Brothers and Sisters.  I'm assuming the ones watching Brothers and Sisters are being punished by their parents for something... [via Market My Monkey]
• Two Week Vacation from Hollywood Crap: I couldn't be prouder of this theater owner... seriously.
• Worst. Justification. Ever:  Evan Almighty is now up to $200 million, before marketing and distribution costs.  Universal Co-Chairman David Linde justifies this by saying, "It's based on two story sources: Bruce Almighty and the Bible, both of which were incredibly successful."  Oh, NOW the $200 million makes sense.
• Borat's Film Has a Soundtrack: I can't tell if I'll enjoy Grooming Pubis, Truck Have Die, or You Be My Wife better.
• Oscar Predictions: are flying in from the AP (via Yahoo) and David Poland.
• Golden Globe Predictions: can be found over at The Blog on In Contention.

Borat Goes to Washington

You can't buy PR like this.

If there has been a better quote by anyone about anything this year, I have yet to hear it:

“If there is one more item of Uzbek propaganda, claiming that we do not drink fermented horse urine, give death penalty for baking bagels, or export over 300 tons of pubis every year, then we will be left with no alternative than to commence bombardment of their cities with our catapults.”

Borat Causes International Diplomatic Incident

While this may just be an excuse for me to post this picture (that's certainly not beyond me), I couldn't believe this article.  Apparently the Kazakhstan government is so outraged with how their country is portrayed in the upcoming Borat film, that their president is coming to the US to meet with President Bush to discuss the image problem that their nation has.

I'm not convinced how real this is, or more precisely, whether the film is actually causing the meeting with President Bush.  Perhaps he was coming anyway, and an enterprising reporter is connecting dots that were never meant to be connected.  However, their President has confirmed that they will be buying educational TV and print ads to clear up any misconceptions about "the real Kazakhstan."

More Borat at the Toronto Film Festival

You may have read about how great Borat's entrance and performance were in Toronto last week, even though the projector broke.  However, as we all know, nothing really counts unless it's been filmed at put on the internet for everyone to view.

So, first is Borat's entrance:

and then his actual ad-libbed performance onstage while waiting for the film to be fixed:

Borat Kills at Toronto Film Festival

If the movie is half as funny as what Borat did in person at the Toronto Film Festival last night, we've got a winner.

• "Borat arrived on a woman-peasant-drawn carriage."
• 10 minutes into the screening, the projector broke.  "Borat leapt to his feet in the last two rows of the theater and apologized, explaining that they had used the best quality Kazakhstani film, pieced together with the best horse glue... Borat soon excused himself to go to the projection booth to execute the projectionist."
• "About 10 minutes into this, they [brought] Borat on stage for some Q&A. He killed, of course. He flirted with one girl in the front row, eventually asking her “how much?” He was amazed that women were allowed to go to the movies here. He mentioned that people at home made sexy time often and heads of state got to use “the little hole.” He suggested that based on the quality of projection, Canada and Kazakhstan have a lot in common."
• "But Borat wasn’t happy. He demanded at least one testicle from the festival programmer. And of course, in the end, he blamed it on The Jews."

I just know I will be quoting lines from this movie for months... I'll be insufferable.  Good times.

Interview with Borat

I'm back from vacation, so the blogging activity should return to normal.  I'll also update all the box office data from the last two weeks.  Yes, yes... I missed you terribly as well.

While you're wondering whether you even knew that I was gone, check out EW's interview with Borat himself:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What are some of your personal favorite movies?
BORAT: My favourites movies is Robot Cop. Womanman Doubtfire, Little Lord Fontelroy, Transsibierskiy Ekspress 2, Gerald McGuire and sex comedy The Accused.

New Borat Trailer

I'm on vacation again (yes, my life is very difficult right now) so I'll be only sporadically blogging, but the new trailer for Borat is unbelievable.  Enjoy...

The Real Borat Movie Trailer

I guess the trailer on YouTube version got pulled, so here's the real one.

Borat! The Movie! The Trailer!

If you didn't get enough of those photos of Borat on the beach at Cannes, I've got good news for you.  The trailer for Borat! The Movie! is here:

Oh, and you can read more about the film at Cinematical.

UPDATE: Looks like YouTube has pulled the trailer down.  You can find it Yahoo now.

Borat Goes to Cannes

Apparently Borat (from The Ali G Show) has a new movie, and he's promoting it at Cannes, in a way that only he can.  Some of these pictures are beyond description, so I won't even try, but the words "avert your eyes" come to mind.

I love that his real life girlfriend is Isla Fisher – the redhead from Wedding Crashers.  This pretty much makes her just the coolest woman on Earth, doesn’t it?