Is “Borat” the best movie of the year?
Maybe not, but it’s up there — not only does it upend every expectation we have about what constitutes effective moviemaking, but it also has more to say about the reality of America (and Americans) than any other film on our screens.
Also it’s so funny it might induce hypoxia. And it has a naked wrestling sequence with three distinct acts. Niiiiiice.
Other movies opening this week:
“Boynton Beach Club“: A movie for people who really, really like watching TBS.
“Flushed Away“: The Aardman animation studio goes digital, with results so faithful to its previous Claymation productions that several critics don’t appear to have realized this movie’s made entirely of bits and bytes. It’s not “Wallace and Gromit” … but then, what is?
“Sleeping Dogs Lie“: Bobcat Goldthwait spent so much time in other people’s crappy comedies that he’s learned what not to do when making his own; yes, the DV aesthetic is atrocious, but the sweetness of Melinda Page Hamilton’s remarkable performance gives the movie plenty of sunshine. Too bad they changed the title; “Stay” was a lot more appropriate.
Due to a combination of really annoying factors — late print, throbbing tooth, rapidly disintegrating family — I managed to miss “Babel”, but you can find Chris Atchison’s review here, if you’re curious. I’ll try to catch it over the weekend.
You haven’t missed much, re: Babel, Norm. It’s frankly kind of awful, once you get past the fact that Innaritu is pretty skilled at pushing buttons.