Party Ends

   Holy crap. This movie is better than even I, a pretty big fan of all things Sacha Baron Cohen, could have hoped for. Following the somewhat dissapointing results of spreading his Ali G charatcer a little too thin in Ali G Indahouse, Borat takes the premise and organizes it in a way that not only expands our understanding of the Borat character (but not so much that you loose the humor of not knowing how he will react in a given situtation) and maintains the formula that makes his excruciatingly uncomfortable and unsettling interviews and interactions with unwitting Americans so funny. It's a pretty transparent blend of actual hidden-camera/interview pieces with pre written sketches, forming what is essentially a really long episodic Borat segment. Needless to say, no subject is taboo, and if you thought Jackass Number Two (one of our top picks so far this year) had some disturbing imagery, you are in for a good dose of eye avertion, let me tell you.

   The premise is vague, befitting the character, and is essentially a weak excuse for the character to travel across America poking fun at our faults, and revealing over and over again, just how fucked up people still are in this country. All of the controversy surrounding this film would be fitting if the extremely offensive things presented by Cohen were'nt so revealing about our modern ideas and cultural character. Everything from racism (Cohen being Jewish himself, and anti-semitism being one of his main themes), sexism, homsexuality, and retardation (just to scratch the surface) are blatantly paraded. There is also a lot of brilliant play on our current governmental policies and the war in Iraq that are both timely and, I think time will reveal, classic. The dualities of Cohens comedy are the brilliance behind every word, each joke is stupid and intelligent, dense and revealing. This may be the stupidest movie you see all year, but it's also one of the smartest.

   Go see it, it comes out next Friday. It's worth the money. I swear.

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   Hey, wonderful people of Austin and it's surrounding communities, come on out next Thursday and see another great movie, separated narrowly from this one (in fact, it's sort of the inverse) at the Alamo Draft House!

   The Vice: Guide to Travel is gonna be up for a FREE screening, open to the public, and a hot hot ticket. There will be tons of Beer, Wine, and spirits on hand to make sure that you enjoy the film, no matter what, and some mighty tasty food to make sure you can drive or bicycle home in safety afterwards. So come out and enjoy an evening of entertainment on us, or rather, on all of these sponsors:

Vice - Alamo Draft House Cinemas - Partyends.com - Austinist.com - Hi. Wines - and Waterloo Records