High five! Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan earned a shocking $26.4 million in only 837 theaters to win the weekend. Fox plans to show Borat in as many as 2,500 theaters by Friday (interesting, because the studio last week apparently got the jitters and cut the theater count by 1,200). Check out Joshua Rich’s Box Office Report for more number-crunching and gushing over the record-breaking win.
It just made opening-weekend history, but can the mockumentary outlast its initial hype? How many of you PopWatchers flocked the theaters, and did the film measure up to its premature media buzz? And who didn’t like the movie? It’s okay to speak up…
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Sure, it was funny, but was it the greatest comedy ever? An instant classic? Not even close. I definitely liked it, but I’d still say it was very overrated. I wrote a longer review at eFilmCritic.com.
This movie was awesome…I laughed until I got a headache….Masterpiece. The scene with the femanist, ettiquette group, and the wrestling bout, were all classic. The only disappointed scene was with the frat boys because it seems a little rehearsed. Awesome Movie!
Oh geez…I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that Popwatch hasn’t yet run an item with a headline like: “Oscar Watch: Best Actor…Borat!?”
I mean, it was a funny movie and i’m glad it pulled in great numbers, but to proclaim it the funniest movie EVER? Put some of the drool over this movie back in your mouth, EW.
I thought it was freaking hilarious!! Just juding with how much I laughed in this movie, I have to say it is easily one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. It’s not just that it was a funny movie… I also think it was ORIGINAL which truly makes it an instant classic.
A lot of it seemed scripted, stilted and rehearsed.
Definitely a classic. In my house, we speak movie speak. Borat is soon to become part of our vernacular.
Are you serious, Clark?
Overrated?…… not!!!!!!!!
I did not go see it because I did not find the few clips I saw the least bit funny. Just kind of sad.
Greg, the movie previews and clips on youtube don’t do it any justice. Go see it, you won’t be sorry.
And yes bloggers, i too have found myself 2 be speak like borat 4 the last couple of days. Very nice. I like !
Re: Best Actor.
I agree. If Roberto Benigni could snag an Oscar for Life Is Beautiful, then Sacha Baron Cohen shouldn’t have a problem. http://moviemartin.blogspot.com/2006/11/respect-for-moviefilm-for-make-good.html
And though I already have five definite locks (though one is now in the bubble) for Best Actress, I’d like to see Amy Sedaris get some recognition for her phenomenal turn in Strangers with Candy.
Comedy often gets the shaft come Oscar time, but the commitment of these two actors shouldn’t go unrecognized.
I saw a special screening of moviefilm a few days before it open nationwide on Fridays. (Geez-I’m even writing like Borat).
In a word: PERFECT.
Sacha Baron Cohen is God. Period.
Please EW: For your annual Entertainers of the Year, please place Cohen in your Top 3. With BORAT and the only bright spot in TALLEDEGA NIGHTS, this is the year of Sacha.
Sexytime!
seriously…with all the media hype and everything, i’m beginning to wonder if the magazines and newspapers are getting kickbacks from the theaters. is it funny? sure. funniest movie ever? not even close. i’m amazed at how many critics are falling all over themselves to praise sasha baron cohen who, although funny, is not the second coming of christ for the comedy world. the writers all sound like 13-year old boys in a state of frenzy over who can compliment baron cohen the most…wipe yourselves off, boys and pull up your pants.
Granted, it would take a hell of a lot to shock or offend me, but I thought it was supposed to be the most hilariously offenive movie ever made? It was really funny, but not nearly as “outrageous” as it was portrayed to be in the media. The media definately overhyped this one…they got it wrong again, just like the way Running With Scissors was made to look like a wacky comedy when it was actually a very sad little movie.
Do ya think Graydon Carter is kicking himself for going with Brad Pitt for the cover of Vanity Fair (Pitt is considering suing) instead of Borat?
I was shocked by how much I liked this movie! I went into it expecting a few laughs, but I typically don’t like this type of comedy. I’m a girl and it’s not my scene. Wow–hilarious, and I had a headache afterwards from laughing the entire time. I think I laughed even more than my boyfriend. What else surprised me was the crowd…it sold out the day before! It’s been a while since I’ve seen Saturday (all day) sell out on Friday morning. Also, on Saturday afternoon I saw a group of guys walking in the parking lot towards the theater and one of them looked ahead and saw the “sold out” sign…then he started yelling. I said “were you trying to see Borat?” and he said “what else would we be here for?..I guess we’ll have to drive the hour to the next big town” I thought it was amusing that a quirky low-budget film would garner that kind of absolute commitment.
I was shocked by how much I liked this movie! I went into it expecting a few laughs, but I typically don’t like this type of comedy. I’m a girl and it’s not my scene. Wow–hilarious, and I had a headache afterwards from laughing the entire time. I think I laughed even more than my boyfriend. What else surprised me was the crowd…it sold out the day before! It’s been a while since I’ve seen Saturday (all day) sell out on Friday morning. Also, on Saturday afternoon I saw a group of guys walking in the parking lot towards the theater and one of them looked ahead and saw the “sold out” sign…then he started yelling. I said “were you trying to see Borat?” and he said “what else would we be here for?..I guess we’ll have to drive the hour to the next big town” I thought it was amusing that a quirky low-budget film would garner that kind of absolute commitment.
I was shocked by how much I liked this movie! I went into it expecting a few laughs, but I typically don’t like this type of comedy. I’m a girl and it’s not my scene. Wow–hilarious, and I had a headache afterwards from laughing the entire time. I think I laughed even more than my boyfriend. What else surprised me was the crowd…it sold out the day before! It’s been a while since I’ve seen Saturday (all day) sell out on Friday morning. Also, on Saturday afternoon I saw a group of guys walking in the parking lot towards the theater and one of them looked ahead and saw the “sold out” sign…then he started yelling. I said “were you trying to see Borat?” and he said “what else would we be here for?..I guess we’ll have to drive the hour to the next big town” I thought it was amusing that a quirky low-budget film would garner that kind of absolute commitment.
oh vey–this was some funny stuff. very uncomfortable at times, some disgusting parts and but overall just hilarious. i’m almost embarrassed to admit i liked it. btw–the theater was full.
I haven’t seen it yet, but I definitely intend to do so. Some reviewer compared it favorably to “Jackass,” which I also love. I got a laughing headache from that one, Lj!
I saw it last night, it was definitely funny, although I wouldn’t say it was the funniest movie ever. I did think it was amazing though, I forgot that the people in the movie were all real (For the most part) that is what was amazing, just realizing that all these people actually bought into his schtick. It was funny, painfully so.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but what I thought was funny was that I had just finished reading the EW article on the train about how Borat was going to be beaten by Santa Claus 3 and that this would be the death knell of online marketing. Surely online marketing was the reason that Snakes on a Plane tanked (or was the fact that the movie wasn’t very good?). This movie had some of the best reviews of the year, and letting it grow organically instead of a huge number of opening screens now seems like a great idea. Maybe if you guys stop ringing the death knells for Studio 60 in your attempts to create a story (like you did in the same article), it will start picking up some viewers.
this movie is a great experience. best not to read all the hype, just go see it and take it in as a wild, absurd, so funny in ways so wrong, ride.
The real thing that is so brilliant about it is how Baren Cohen gets people to let their gaurd down and show themselves -thats the truly inspired part that is getting the critics all wound up, and i’d say rightly so, since it is groundbreaking. I realize that there has been pure comedy scripted better and funnier than this – but i have never laughed as much at a movie as i have at this one. not even close.
I saw Borat way back in September when MySpace screened it. The only thing Im “shocked” about is that how play it safe Hollywood didnt open this wider then 800+ screens. It was funny when I saw it then and according to my friends who I told to watch it, Borat still is hilarious. It will be interesting to see how this does through the week and next weekend.
If you don’t watch Da Ali G show, then it is hilarious. Ff you watch the show, the movie seems quite forced. But still funny!
I saw this movie opening night with a bunch of friends. Boy am I glad I bought my tickets online ahead of time. While waiting for a friend to show up to hand him his ticket, someone offered me $20 for it. Goes to show you how badly people wanted to see this.
Thanks to word of mouth, this movie will have staying power and is going to do very well. I’d also be willing to see it again (I can’t even think of the last movie I paid $8-10 to see more than once). High five, Borat!
The Nude Scene is the funniest thing I have ever seen on film. Followed very closely by The Running of the Jews.
This may be the last movie theater film– the last movie where it is important to share the experience with others. And it’s definitely a lot harsher to Americans than Kazhakhstanis, in that it shows how much Americans seems lead separtists cultures and purposefully exclude what frightens and threatens them.
This movie is about 2 hours of my life that I will NEVER get back. What a waste of time and $10.
It was F U C K I N G AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank God for Borat and vicious politically incorrect humor. Yes, I like very much, can’t wait for Bruno.
yes I did like, ney LOVED BORAT! Overhyped?…..NOT!
This movie was hysterical! I rarely go to the movies any more (since so many new films are terrible); I am extremely glad I went and saw this film. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard at a movie.