"Borat" raises $67.8 million

[Haleemah]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movi....ap/index.html

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A make-believe son of the glorious nation of Kazakhstan continues to rule the American box office.

Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" took in $29 million to remain the No. 1 movie for a second straight weekend, distributor 20th Century Fox said Sunday.

"Borat" raised its 10-day total to $67.8 million.

[Haleemah]

errm, i have not seen the movie obviously (always slacking with keeping on top of new movies) but its definitely making headlines. Funny thing is I bet it had bad reviews from the critics. Those critics always find something wrong.

The movie is hilarious as heck! Unfortunately offensive sha, but hilarious still. Here's some of the movie trivia


The suit Sacha Baron Cohen wears when playing Borat has deliberately never been cleaned.


Borat's greeting in the film's trailer - "Jak sie masz!" - is a common Polish greeting, roughly translated to "How are you?" The state and official languages of Kazakhstan are, however, Russian and Kazaki; Sacha Baron Cohen apparently chose to have Borat speak Polish on purpose as an inside joke.


The European Center for Antiziganism Research, which works against negative attitudes against Roma and Sinti people, accused the producers of defamation and inciting violence against the ethnic group. Thus, it filed a complaint with prosecutors in Germany (October 2006).


The character of "Borat" was heavily criticized by the Kazakh Government, "being a concoction of bad taste and ill manners which is incompatible with the ethics and civilized behavior of Kazhakstan's people". Ironically, Sacha Baron Cohen aka "Borat" gave a faked press conference at the White House gates on 29 September 2006, just one day before an official visit of Kazhakstan's president.


Many times, when Borat is speaking in Khazak, he is actually speaking in Hebrew with a fake Russian accent.


The greetings Borat says to the camera are spoken in Polish, phrases such as "thank you", "good day", and "how're you doing?"


Over and Over again in the movie, Borat will shape his hand into a W shape, which is a sign for west-side, which is from another one of Cohens characters Ali g.


This film broke Fahrenheit 9/11's record for the biggest box office opening weekend ever for any film that opened in less than a thousand theaters.


Ken Davitian's character Azamat speaks fluent Armenian in the film, passing it off as Kazakh as he bounces dialogue back and forth with Cohen.


The police were called on Sacha Baron Cohen 91 times during the production of this film.


Borat's son, who appears only in photographs, is played by Stonie, a gay porn actor.


The oddly familiar Russian folk tune is "Korobeiniki" (The Peddlers). It's used for the Game Boy version of Tetris (Music A).


Sacha Baron Cohen uses a few Russian and Polish phrases in the movie. In his conversations with Ken Davitian, he actually used a combination of Hebrew with a faked Russian accent and a small amount of Yiddish.


The character of Borat (as with Ali G) originated as short pieces on the satirical British TV show "The 11 O'Clock Show" (1998) presented by Iain Lee.


Borat's hair and moustache are real. It takes Sacha Baron Cohen six weeks to grow the moustache alone.


This film was originally to be directed by Todd Phillips. But creative differences between Phillips and Sacha Baron Cohen prompted Phillips to drop out of the project.


Borat is based on a Russian doctor Sacha Baron Cohen once met. He said the doctor was completely hilarious, but it was unintentional.


The government of Khazakstan is very unhappy with this film and hired two Western public relations firms to counter Borat's claims, running a four-page advertisement in The New York Times.

[Haleemah]

The government of Khazakstan is very unhappy with this film and hired two Western public relations firms to counter Borat's claims, running a four-page advertisement in The New York Times.

DANG! dats serious bad PR for them oh. No wonder they need to hire PR professionals to put it under control.

Anyways, controversial movies always make the most buzz...... but yea, heard it was very offensive.

The police were called on Sacha Baron Cohen 91 times during the production of this film.

Mzz Nita, where u get this info from ..... i can just imagine d police jus on d scene of production stirring up restraining measures. The dude try sha ...

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/2...346696000.html


'Borat' Victims Upset at Being Duped
Monday November 13 5:16 PM ET


While teaching American humor to a gregarious and absurdly out-of-touch foreign journalist, Pat Haggerty realized something was off who WAS this guy?

Haggerty, a public speaking coach from Washington, is one of the unwitting co-stars of the surprise hit movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit of Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." Haggerty has no hard feelings toward Borat, aka comedian Sacha Baron Cohen but the same can't be said for others who were humiliated, thanks to the awkward fellow with the bushy mustache.

Their embarrassment over the film's hilarious, cringe-inducing blend of fiction and improvised comedy is magnified by its success "Borat" has topped the box office two weeks in a row, earning a total of $67.8 million.

Last year, Haggerty agreed to be filmed for what he thought was a benign documentary on his client's journey across America. He hurriedly signed a release form, was paid $400, and the lesson began.

As cameras rolled, his client told raunchy stories in garbled English and laughed heartily at the expense of handicapped people. "And then, I'm starting to smell a rat," Haggerty told The Associated Press. "Each passing minute I'm going, `You know, this can't be real.'"

Confused, he ended up playing along. He later figured out thanks to his son, an HBO-watching college student that he'd been duped.

Duped by Borat.

"They were exercising a First Amendment right," said Haggerty, adding that he enjoyed the movie. "And this Sacha Cohen guy's going to make 87 gazillion dollars. You know, good for him. I'm just sorry that he had to do it in such a way that he allowed people to make jerks out of themselves exposing their character flaws."

Two of Cohen's targets fraternity boys who made drunken, insulting comments about women and minorities are suing 20th Century Fox and three production companies. The lawsuit claims that a production crew took the students to a bar to "loosen up" before participating in what they were told would be a documentary to be shown outside of the United States, and that they signed waivers after drinking heavily. Studio spokesman Gregg Brilliant said the lawsuit "has no merit."

Cohen's behavior also wasn't funny to former TV producer Dharma Arthur, who claims she was duped into giving Cohen airtime on a morning show segment in Jackson, Miss. Cohen's live appearance, in which he said he had to go "urine" and hugged a bemused weatherman, led her life into a downward spiral, she told the AP. She is seeking an apology.

Although Arthur has said she was fired from the show, she told the AP that she left the station.

Kathie Martin, who runs an etiquette school in Birmingham, Ala., was also left out of the joke. Even though she was gracious and calm when Borat showed her nude photos of his son, Martin admitted she was "taken aback" by his schtick during their on-camera meeting.

"Unless you can figure it out for yourself, you have no way of knowing you have been tricked into being part of a childish prank with an R rating attached," she told the AP in an e-mail.

"And even if you figure it out, you've signed a release that Mr. Cohen's people say relinquishes any rights on your part to take action against them."

Ronald Miller, of Natchez, Miss., was baffled by the ruse. He and his wife attended a dinner at a plantation house, which they were told would be an interview with an "Eastern European television reporter coming to Natchez to film social customs in the South," he told the AP.

Borat disturbed guests, Miller said, by making anti-Semitic remarks and saying slavery was wonderful. He also invited a dinner guest a woman posing as a prostitute to join the group.

In another scene in the film, former "Baywatch" babe Pamela Anderson was attacked by Borat's alter ego at a book signing, and he later chased her through a parking lot.

Did she learn of his antics in advance? Yep, claims Anderson.

"I love Borat ... Of course (Sacha) and I planned this years ago," she wrote in a recent post on her Web site. "And it turned out perfect I'm so happy for him."

bring on the lawsuits