Borat & Van Wilder 2
Recently had a craving for 2 comedies from 2006, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj starring Kal Penn. Both films loved sexually charged jokes, forced accents (Cohen is British and Penn is American), and had scenes filmed in Romania (also the USA in Borat and the UK in Rise of Taj). Cohen had already introduced the character in his Da Ali G Show (as early as 1998), had a voice in Madagascar (Julien the lemur, 2005), and only 3 months earlier in 2006 had stolen scenes in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (opposite Will Ferrell). Penn had already made Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (co-starring John Cho), was in The Namesake 3 months earlier (drama mirroring his own life as a son of Indian immigrants), and was in the original Van Wilder starring Ryan Reynolds in 2002.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
2006, 14A, 1h 24m
Studio – Fox
Budget / Worldwide Box Office (in millions) – $18 / $261
Filming Location(s) – Romania, USA
IMDB – 7.3
Borat is about a reporter from Kazakhstan that visits America to report on all things USA and falls in love with Pamela Anderson. The humor comes from folks unprepared to deal with the often absurd and infuriating Cohen who deadpans his delivery. Crude language, nudity, and lots of inappropriateness did not keep the film from being nominated for the Best Writing Oscar (losing to The Departed). Getting under people’s skin and irritating them to begin a joke is an acquired taste but if you like that, do check out this film. I liked how many laughs there are crammed into 84 minutes, including the opening titles, the introduction of his home country and family, the soundtrack and his one on one meetings. Authorities were called 92 times during the production, including the FBI who had a team assigned to him, and the DVD disc intentionally looks like it is pirated. Director Larry Charles, who took over for original director Todd Phillips, previous film was Masked and Anonymous (2003 dramedy with Jeff Bridges) and next made Religulous (2008 documentary starring Bill Maher). The film was written by Cohen, Peter Baynham (I Am Not an Animal), and 2 writers from Da Ali G Show, Anthony Hines and Dan Mazer. The DVD includes deleted scenes, a global PR tour, and a music infomercial.
Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj
2006, R, 1h 37m
Distributor – MGM
Budget / Worldwide Box Office (in millions) – $? / $6
Filming Location(s) – Romania, UK
IMDB – 4.8
The Rise of Taj is about college student Taj Mahal who travels to England to continue his studies and lead a house in a contest, his house is also the misfits of the school. Except for being overly dramatic during the competition scenes, the film does not take itself serious as it uses every opportunity to make raunchy jokes and lewd gags (in typical National Lampoon’s fashion). Penn is a fine choice to lead the sequel after Ryan Reynolds in the first film, as both charming leading man and goofy partygoer. If lowbrow humor is not your type, stay away from this film, otherwise it is a decent entry in the foul college humor genre, and feels more like a 1990s film in terms of quick pacing and generic portrayal of villains. Taj Mahal Badalandabad’s last name means, “land where people have big penises” in Hindi and a sequel to the film was made 3 years later (without Penn). Director Mort Nathan previously made Boat Trip (2002 comedy with Cuba Gooding Jr.) and writer David Dre Gallagher has no other writing credits. The DVD comes with deleted scenes, a making of, a gag reel, and 2 music videos.
Links
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj