Reviews

Da Ali G Show may not have been the first place where real people have been put in uncomfortable situations for the sake of entertaining an audience, but it is definitely the most thought provoking, edgy, and hilarious incarnation of the format for our time. The list of Sascha Baron Cohen's unfortunate interviewees is unbelievable, a survey of controversial figures from the worlds of politics, fashion, and caricatures of everyday types. And he milks each one for what we all really want to hear them say. The personas of Ali G, Borat, and Bruno are all brilliantly developed and right in the pocket of what is just barely believable to the subjects in the moment, and entirely ridiculous in the hindsight of the program. My favorite moments are when you can tell that Cohen himself can hardly believe what is coming out of the mouths of his subjects. It is a great reminder to be careful not to believe everything you encounter in the world, and to take a good moment to think before speaking- especially when you're being recorded.

You get what you come for with this movie. It's action, it's Marky Mark, it's lots of things getting shot at. It's also a good deal of libertarian propaganda, which I don't mind since it adds a very distinct color to things. Here's the scoop: Marky Mark just wants to be left alone with his guns in his house in the woods. Is that so much to ask? Apparently, yes, as the stupid government has to come in and mess up his life. He is sought after by sneaky Washington bad guys to help in their bad guy plot, mislead to think he's helping America, which he's a sucker for, framed, sent on the run, and ultimately faces his foes one by one, Bond-style, in an action-packed showdown in the names of honor and freedom. Oh, and there's a girl. That's our Shooter! Come on, it's fun.

This Is Spinal Tap has so many components that draw from distinctly different talents, it's a wonder that it bonds so brilliantly. Remember this is from 1984. The documentary style was hardly a vehicle for entertainment, and people were not used to watching hours of E! True Hollywood Stories, or Making the Band. It must have been a huge risk to assume people would go along with the premise in the first place, then get the satire and irony that make it so funny. Humor changes a lot over the years, but this is a movie that it not going away anytime soon. Lastly, the musical numbers are actually very catchy and clever. This might have been the make or break aspect of the film, because it would be much harder to stay interested in the movie if the band played awful or really boring music. But by the time the credits roll, you're likely to feel like a fan.

Sacha Baron Cohen is a fantastic actor and social commentator. He had been doing similar work for years, but this movie allowed him to reach a much larger audience, and get much more attention than he would have ever attracted through television. With a bit more of a budget, he has made a great film to cement Borat in cinematic and pop culture history.

While I have the utmost respect for Cohen and do not believe he is racist or ill-intentioned, I do worry a bit about people using the popularity of Borat as a green light for humor that actually IS racist or ignorant. Borat is funny because it exposes the ridiculousness of such behavior, and encourages us to question the roots of our own xenophobia. Cohen is not making fun of Kazakstan, he is making fun of our own ignorance of other countries, of the latent feeling that Eastern Europe is full of tiny backwards countries where the things he describes are perfectly normal. If people miss this point, then the joke really is on them.

This show had been recommended to me by a number of friends whose opinions I trust, so I was fairly confident that I was going to be hooked from the start. But after watching the first episode, I found myself feeling a number of things I didn't expect, none of which I would describe as "hooked." That came a little later. Most of what I was struck by in the pilot was the utter lack of an internal story arc. Not satisfying at all. It felt like I was watching the first hour of a 14 hour movie. I couldn't grasp who was who, what any of the characters real intentions were, not even more than one or two of their names. Never have I seen a less self-contained pilot. I realized after a few more episodes that this is where the greatness of the show comes from. It does not trouble itself with constantly trying to entertain, to clutter itself with unnecessary sub-plots it can tie up quickly. All it is is what matters, and that is creating and examining a real environment and a real case.

The Wire is the most honest portrayal of an inner city that has ever been done. There are no good guys and bad guys, just a complicated hierarchy made up of people looking out for themselves. Things don't get neatly wrapped up at the end of the hour, not even at the end of the season. Episodes sometimes feel like they begin and end arbitrarily, installments on a story too big to ever fully tie down. The result is that I feel genuinely invested in the fates of the characters, and that I have had a unique opportunity to examine a world I never otherwise would have seen.