Brüno - Blue Collar Brawlin with BORAT!!

[GeneChing]

My best lol in weeks. Today is going to be a good day.

Borat II? Fake Arkansas bouts showing men kissing draw suspicion
By JON GAMBRELL , Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Crowds in Arkansas came for the lure of cage fighting and $1 beer, but police say what they got instead was men ripping each others' clothes off and kissing — a stunt suspected of being orchestrated by Sacha Baron Cohen of "Borat" fame.

"We had a contract for cage fighting. We were deceived," said Dwight Duncan, president and CEO of Four States Fair Grounds in Texarkana, where the first of two Arkansas fights raised suspicions last month.

Matt Labov, a Los Angeles-based publicist for Baron Cohen, said he had no comment Monday about the faked fights. One of Baron Cohen's movies is due out next year.

The day after the June 5 Texarkana bout, Fort Smith's convention center hosted "Blue Collar Brawlin.'" Fort Smith police Sgt. Adam Holland said organizers told him a character named "Straight Dave" would goad a planted audience member into the ring for a fight.

The two men would then wrestle, rip away some of their clothes and share a brief kiss reminiscent of one between Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell in the film "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."

Producers said "there would be a romantic embrace," Holland said. "They said it was kind of to essentially make fun, poke fun at wrestling — two guys rolling around on the floor, all sweaty."

An elaborate array of mounted and handheld video cameras caught the crowd of 1,600's reaction as the two men "went right up to the line" of the city's morality laws, Holland said. The two men stripped down to their underwear, kissed and rubbed on each other, the sergeant said.

The audience, as well as local fighters drawn to take part in the show, became enraged. "It set the crowd off lobbing beers," Holland said. "They had beers in plastic cups. Those things can get some distance on them actually."

Holland said it took officers about 45 minutes to clear the convention center, as the two actors sprinted away through a specially set-aside tunnel.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I find this whole thing offensive to beer and plastic cups.

[SimonM]

ROTFLMFAO

That Sascha Baron Cohen certainly knows how to push buttons.

[GeneChing]

Here's a clip, but he talked about the MMA prank before the commercial break, and this was the second part of the interview. Apparently the MMA prank is the finale of the film.

I'm moving this to the Media forum.

[Jimbo]

I'm looking forward to seeing Bruno in the coming week. This one has the potential to be funnier than Borat, IMO. I thought Borat would have been funnier as a half-hour short. Bruno, OTOH, due to the nature of the character, seems like he can push the envelope quite a bit further. I'd kinda been wondering when/if someone was going to pull a stunt like that and punk out an MMA audience but thought, "Naaaah."

[GeneChing]

those poor southern wrestling fans...

Bruno gets edge more from sex than satire, but Sacha Baron Cohen's latest still has plenty of laughs
Elizabeth Weitzman

Updated Thursday, July 9th 2009, 11:30 AM
Peterson/FilmMagic

Sacha Baron Cohen as 'Bruno.' His satire has lost some of its edge, but the movie has plenty of shocks and big laughs.

Packed with filthy jokes, insane sight gags, and body parts used in decidedly uncommon ways, "Brüno" is hands-down the dirtiest R-rated movie you'll see this year. Only you know if that's reason to run to the nearest multiplex.

With fewer moments of spontaneous madness, the latest double-dare from Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles doesn't offer the outrageous highs of "Da Ali G Show," the tv series that inspired it, or "Borat," the movie that preceded it. But while Cohen's samurai satire has lost some of its edge, he can still leave audiences howling - when they're not gasping in disbelief.

Brüno, for those who never watched Cohen's HBO show, is his Austrian alter ego, an absurdly flamboyant fashionista with more ambition than brain power. After an unfortunate catwalk incident, he heads to Hollywood to become an American superstar. He doesn't have much of a plan, but then, Cohen doesn't seem to, either.

Like "Borat," the movie is a blend of candid-camera moments and scripted sketches. Some fall flat (the adopted baby bit is funnier in the trailer), many are amusing (oh, Paula Abdul), and a few feel downright inspired (if Cohen ever gets bored, he's got a promising future as a Middle East envoy).

"Borat" came out at a time when immigration anxiety was at its peak, and Cohen deftly used his fumbling foreigner to unmask all manner of hypocrisy and prejudice. "Brüno" is similarly well-timed, given the contemporary debate over gay rights, and the best scenes remind us how provocative he can be. It's a safe bet that neither L.A. stage parents nor Southern wrestling fans will recover quickly from his assaults.

Unfortunately, though, Cohen can no longer fool the average moron, and his written material lacks the danger of his fearless improvisation. And the final sequence - in which he proves his own star power without earning any laughs - finds him flirting with the sort of celebrity self-indulgence he's spent much of the movie spoofing.

That said, when he hits, he hits hard. So here's hoping he resists the twinkling lure of fame, which has seduced men far better than Brüno.

At least, the gay crowd doesn't seem offended yet...

Bruno scores big, avoids wrestling beatdown
Jul 8th, 2009
by Cyd Zeigler jr..

“Hi, I’m Bruno.” This Friday, the gayest movie of the year is released; I saw it tonight and just loved it. It’s a relatively short movie, but in those 85 minutes I laughed as hard as I’d ever laughed. Many of it was uncomfortable laughter, but when he talks about the lips of his Christian “gay converter”… well, the entire audience I watched it with roared throughout the film and hopefully you’ll laugh too.

The climactic scene in the “love story” of the film comes in a wrestling or MMA ring (it’s not quite clear) in Arkansas. It’s “straight night” at the event, and Bruno makes a disguised appearance. Ever wonder how wrestling fans might react if an unexpected gay kiss showed up in the ring? You’ll find out….

There has been a lot of talk about whether this movie is “good” for gay people. To be sure, it plays on just about every gay stereotype there is. The story and the character and the jokes are so over-the-top, to me it’s just a fun, funny ride. Will it “push kids back in the closet”? Maybe if it was the only portrayal of gay people in the media, but those portrayals are so diverse now that getting offended at the movie was the furthest thing from my mind.

[Jimbo]

I saw this today and lol! Much funnier than Borat, IMO, but also much grosser. Even though it was very entertaining, I hesitate to say I 'liked' the movie...well, you just have to see for yourself. What is amazing is how deep Sacha Baron Cohen gets into character and doesn't even hint at cracking up as he's punking people out. If you think about it, it takes incredible discipline to do what he does. And the MMA scene has got to be one of the ballsiest set-ups ever. (No, it wasn't a pro rasslin' show, as some reviewers have described it).

It might be doubtful whether he could disguise himself into another character and pull the same kind of pranks in many (any?) future movies. Sooner or later, people have got to figure out what's going on as it's happening. Then again, looking at some of the people that were punked, maybe not.