76 replies to this topic

[Loomis]

I love the Tom Cruise, Kevin Spacey and John Travolta gag.

[Mr_Wint]

Fighting with dildo's was maybe fun in the 90s. I will skip this one.

[dinovelvet]

Saw BRUNO today. Loved it.

Cool. I think I'll wait for the hype and fratboy crowds to die down a bit before going (though it might be amusing to see some fratboy reactions to what apparently happens in the, er, climax of the film). I just can't stand being in a theatre when everyone is laughing like hyenas at every little thing, even the non-funny stuff.

[JackWade]

Fighting with dildo's was maybe fun in the 90s. I will skip this one.

Were modified exercise bikes with dildos fun in 90's too?

[Mr Teddy Bear]

Terrible.

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

Terrible.

Each to their own, I think it's the best comedy ever made!

[Safari Suit]

Hey, lets be careful out there.

[dee-bee-five]

I didn't care for BORAT or its brand of "satire," so I'll skip out on this one.

I agree. Borat was all Emperor's New Clothes for me; easy laughs dressed up as intellectual insight. Still, I'm old enough to remember when British comedians were funny... I'll join you in skipping Bruno.

[The Shark]

I didn't care for BORAT or its brand of "satire," so I'll skip out on this one.

I agree. Borat was all Emperor's New Clothes for me; easy laughs dressed up as intellectual insight. Still, I'm old enough to remember when British comedians were funny... I'll join you in skipping Bruno.

When would that be then?

[Cruiserweight]

I'll pass

[DamnCoffee]

Just seen this. Definately not a horrible film, but not that remarkable either.

It isn't as funny as The Hangover, not by a long stretch. It's quite short aswell, I swear I was only in the cinema for around an hour and a half, plus 20minutes off that for the adverts and previews.

Some great moments, but I'd like to have seen a lot more.

[Safari Suit]

Well, I would stop before calling it "the best comedy ever made" or even "film of the year", but neither would I call it "terrible"; Bruno is a fine trip to the cinema. I did wonder fairly often during the earlier parts of the film if scenes were staged or not. Not that it matters as long as you're laughing of course, but I did find myself distracted by this matter a few times. At any rate most of the stuff after the first half an hour seemed pretty genuine to me (although there is one obviously staged moment). If the "straight pride" scene was real, Cohen is a brave, brave man. There is some eye-opening stuff.

It does end on kind of a bum note though with a music video. Am I supposed to be glad that old establishment bores like

Spoiler

Bono, Elton John, Sting

, probably others I've forgotten and worst of all

Spoiler

Chris Martin

were in on the gag? OK, I could be mistaken and some of them might not have been in on the gag, but

Spoiler

Elton John

definitely was. Mark Kermode described the ending as screaming "sell out" in his review. I wont say that as I generally find the term adolescent and a bit needless, but still it felt... off. Though to be fair, there is one genuinely funny bit with

Spoiler

Snoop Dogg

in the music video.

[Loomis]

Mark Kermode described the ending as screaming "sell out" in his review.

Well, it definitely exudes the air not so much of "Bruno", as of "Sacha Baron Cohen larking about with his celebrity chums" (and, watching the sendup of stars adopting African infants, it's as well to remember that Baron Cohen is apparently a close friend of Madonna). It's a bit smug, I guess, a bit backslapping. But I'd hardly go as far as to call it "a screaming sellout". The film's over by that point, anyway - it's the closing credits we're talking about, not the finale. Sheesh, give the guy a break, Mark. What did he demand of the film's final moments? Bruno fooling Robert Mugabe into singing "Go West"? Bruno prancing down a street in an especially rough neighbourhood of Kingston, Jamaica? (Actually, those things really would be life-on-the-line pranks.)

Though to be fair, there is one genuinely funny bit with

Spoiler

Snoop Dogg

in the music video.

I'll confess I didn't see what was meant to be funny about his presence.

[DamnCoffee]

Did anyone else get the impression that this movie was far too short, It ended just as it got going, imo.

[Loomis]

Did anyone else get the impression that this movie was far too short, It ended just as it got going, imo.

It left me wanting more, which is a good thing. I love BRUNO, but I think it might have really outstayed its welcome had it gone on much longer. 80 minutes is a perfectly reasonable running time for many films, this one included.

[Matt_13]

Loved it.

[killkenny kid]

Hey whatz up, Matt..... I'm really getting old, I just didn't get it at all.

[DamnCoffee]

I've gotta say, I enjoyed Harrison Ford's brief cameo.

[DaveBond21]

I didn't care for BORAT or its brand of "satire," so I'll skip out on this one.

I could be wrong, but I'm not sure that BORAT was meant to be - er - satirical.

Er...yes it was.

[Matt_13]

Hey whatz up, Matt..... I'm really getting old, I just didn't get it at all.

Robert my good man, how goes it? I don't blame you at all for not being a huge fan of Bruno, I'm actually surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. Part of it I think was that there wasn't really much to "get" with the film, as it was for the most part one offensive, over the top, silly sketch after another that somehow managed to form a fairly coherent story. It wasn't the extremeness of these pranks that made the movie so enjoyable for me, though. As with Borat, I found the random people that Cohen unleashed his mayhem on and their equally (and only occasionally justified) over the top reactions the most enjoyable part of the film. The character of Bruno is far sillier than Borat was, and his antics were also quite silly and (for the most part) harmless. The anger his stunts produced from so many people was just remarkable and, at least to me, sickly hilarious. The cage match at the end for example, was NOT staged (speaking of which, if you get the chance, check out Cohen's interview on Letterman, it's really fantastic) and the outrage that those two men kissing brought out from that crowd was shocking yet intensely funny.

Yes the film has it's lulls, especially that clearly staged Dallas talk show appearance, but for the 80 or so minute run time I found myself constantly entertained and wanting to see what he would do next. Part of the film's purpose was to expose, like Borat, the ugly side of our culture. All the hate that is targeted towards nothing (in this case gays) is ridiculous, and it take someone as over the top as Bruno to show us that. The message got through to me by films end, with Snoop Dog's line "Bruno's gay...Ok," summing up the entire purpose of the work. Yes it was unnecessarily OTT at times (the TV promo is a good example...), but at other points it was eerily down to earth (the casting auditions). I don't blame you one bit for not enjoying Bruno, Robert, but when it comes out on DVD give it one more go. It took me a few tries to enjoy Borat because I too thought it was pointless and confusing. Bruno is a lot smarter than it's predecessor, though, and for that I urge you to give it another go a little ways down the road (rest assured, sir, your age will not handicap you ). And come on, what ISN'T hilarious about a Gay Austrian insulting a terrorist leader?

[DaveBond21]

Loved Baron Cohen's interview with Rove McManus on Australian TV, in the character of Bruno. When Rove asked him why he made the movie the reply was:-


"You may as well as why Aristotle built Rome in a day. Why did Leonardo Di Caprio paint the Mona Lisa? Why did Jesus write the Bible? Basically I wanted to make the first blockbuster movie starring a gay Austrian since Terminator II. I hope that this movie, like herpes, will still be affecting people 1,000 years from now...."

[Vauxhall]

Not as consistent as BORAT, and some of the novelty has worn off, but still has some hilarious moments that brought bursts of applause from the audience. Arguably, the staged moments were far clearer, and thus more distracting, compared to BORAT. However, yet again the real shock value comes from some of the general public encountered. Perhaps the most notable instance in this regard is the casting call for babies and the subsequent interviews with their parents. With BRÜNO, I felt that the danger which Baron Cohen was placing himself in was far more apparent than in BORAT, and as such, I felt that more of a spectacle was being made of the whole thing. As with its predecessor, the movie's strongest moments come from the clever exposure of underlying prejudices, and I find that the latent use of danger partly detracted from that aspect. Overall, still strong though; much funnier than a lot of the other stuff that seems to pass for comedy these days.

[Safari Suit]

Seems that while Bruno took the top spot at the US Box office, almost half of its $30.4 million gross (an increadibly figure for such a film though that is) was taken in on Friday. I wonder if this means that the film is a very "niche" thing in America, and as such most of those who wanted to see it rushed out to see it as soon as possible in numbers perhaps unrepresentitive of the general film going public? Or if it means that a large number of Friday night cinema goers found Bruno too much for them*, and told others to avoid it?

*Or simply didn't like it, which would be less interesting.

[Loomis]

In an unusual move, an alternative version of BRUNO, entitled BRUNO: SNIPPED, will be released to cinemas. This edit is almost two minutes shorter than the one currently playing and will carry a 15 certificate.

http://heyuguys.co.u...g/viewpost/1208

[JackWade]

Loved Baron Cohen's interview with Rove McManus on Australian TV, in the character of Bruno. When Rove asked him why he made the movie the reply was:-


"You may as well as why Aristotle built Rome in a day. Why did Leonardo Di Caprio paint the Mona Lisa? Why did Jesus write the Bible? Basically I wanted to make the first blockbuster movie starring a gay Austrian since Terminator II. I hope that this movie, like herpes, will still be affecting people 1,000 years from now...."

I wish all comedies could put me in the hysterics that BRUNO did.

[AgentBentley]

I was ok with Borat, even though all the hype had made me expect a lot more than there was to it.
So I'll stay away from Bruno.

I remember Cohen in his old hiphop TV persona visiting Northern Ireland. That was very funny.

[Mr Teddy Bear]

If the "straight pride" scene was real, Cohen is a brave, brave man. There is some eye-opening stuff.

The whole film felt scripted to me. There wasn't a single scene where I felt 'I can't believe he's doing this' or 'how is he getting away with this?' Most scenes felt painfully long and dragged out, using the same gag over and over again with wooden actors.

[DamnCoffee]

In an unusual move, an alternative version of BRUNO, entitled BRUNO: SNIPPED, will be released to cinemas. This edit is almost two minutes shorter than the one currently playing and will carry a 15 certificate.

http://heyuguys.co.u...g/viewpost/1208

They'll probably just cut out the dancing penis.

[Loomis]

Yeah. Maybe some shots from the straight swingers' orgy will also go (they are, after all, having sex for real), and perhaps the jaw-dropping (obviously faked though it is) opening romp with Diesel. Those are the truly 18-certificate-worthy moments that spring to mind.

[Safari Suit]

If the "straight pride" scene was real, Cohen is a brave, brave man. There is some eye-opening stuff.

The whole film felt scripted to me. There wasn't a single scene where I felt 'I can't believe he's doing this' or 'how is he getting away with this?' Most scenes felt painfully long and dragged out, using the same gag over and over again with wooden actors.

Maybe, but it seems like the scene I was talking about was real:
http://www.thesmokin...8081bruno1.html

Check out some of the comments on the third page