What, no Borat review for Aqoul?

i saw Borat opening night. i haven't laughed so hard since i got loaded on absenth in Helsinki.

PS - Saw a trailer for the new Bond movie. Bless that new blonde guy, he is stunning.

But he's blonde? Ergo, he's not Bond.

Also, the last three-four Bond movies were so incredibly bad, I decided to pass on this one when it comes out, for the first time in forever.

I was rather disappointed when Clive Owen didn't get the part, but this blonde guy seems pretty good. Not quite suave-sexy, but still sexy.

Besides, the Bond franchise is getting pretty dated, especially when compared with Jason Bourne et al. Needs a reboot.

to bring the conversation back to Borat, where it rightfully belongs, check out http://www.stereogum.com/archives/003735.html for his new album, "New Borat - Stereophonic Musical Listenings that Have Been Origin in Moving Film 'Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." I must say, Sacha Baron Cohen really knows his marketing.

Re: Mr. Cohen's marketing skills: a note from a private e-mail from the director of the Balkan dance troupe I've been hanging out with:

"It seems that much of the music in the film is Balkan, including "Caje Sukarije" by Esma Redzepova, as as well as pieces by Goran Bregovic, "Kocani", "FanFare Ciocarlia", and
others. [Name], another member of our ensemble, mentioned that the father of Sasha Baron Cohen, the creator and the actor playing "Borat", is Sephardic Jewish from Yugoslavia - hence the Balkan musical connection."

Yay for regional studies heritage - not that the average viewer of the film is likely to be able to tell the difference between a Yugoslav and a Kazakh, in any case.

not that the average viewer of the film is likely to be able to tell the difference between a Yugoslav and a Kazakh,

Oh come on, it's easy. Yugoslav names read like the eye chart, line 5; Kazakh names read like eye chart line 5, backwards.

Really, you underestimate popular ethnic sophistication about the Balkans, everyone knows about their pointed ears and obsession with logic.

Yay for regional studies heritage - not that the average viewer of the film is likely to be able to tell the difference between a Yugoslav and a Kazakh, in any case.
Or a Romanian and a Kazakh. All the scenes in "Kazakhstan" were actually filmed in rural Romania.

ascendance: well, the Kazakhs have already proven that they can't take a joke as far as Borat is concerned, so I'm guessing they wouldn't have been too thrilled at the film being shot on location.

But couldn't they have filmed the movie in Uzbekistan? After all, they do hate the Kazakhs, don't they? (Ha!)