Brüno (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

Absolutely shocking, surprising, hilarious and wild!  If you thought Sacha Baron Cohen was hilarious and crazy in “Borat”, wait until you see him as “Brüno”.  For the Blu-ray release, Cohen and Director Larry Charles reveal their secrets of the film in a surprising but informative video commentary and more! “Brüno” is one of those films that you will either enjoy it or really hate it!  But for those who loved it, will definitely enjoy “Brüno” on Blu-ray.

TITLE: Brüno

DURATION: 1 Hr. 22 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (Widescreen 1:85:1), English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DVS DD 2.0, Francais, Espanol DTS 5.1, Subtitles: English SDH, Francais, Espanol

RATED: R (Pervasive Strong and Crude Sexual Content, Graphic Nudity and Language)

COMPANY: Universal

RELEASE DATE: November 17, 2009

Directed by Larry Charles

Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer and Jeff Schaffer

Story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Peter Baynham, Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer

Character created by Sacha Baron Cohen

Executive Producer: Anthony Hines, Asif Satchu, Modi Wiczyk

Producer: Sacha Baron Cohen, Monica Levinson, Dan Mazer, Jay Roach

Co-Producer: Jon Poll, Todd Schulman

Associate Producer: Jeff Schaffer, Jason Alper

Music by Erran Baron Cohen

Cinematography by Anthony Hardwick, Wolfgang Held

Production Design by Dan Butts, Denise Hudson, David Maturana

Art Direction by Kate Bunch, Lisa Marinaccio

Set Decoration by Ute Bergk, Britt Woods

Costume Design by Jason Alper

Starring:

Sacha Baron Cohen as Bruno

Gustaf Hammarsten as Lutz

Clifford Banagale as Diesel

Chibundu Orukwowu and Chigozie Orukwowu as O.J.

Josh Meyers as Kookus

Paula Abdul

Harrison Ford

Bono

Sting

Snoop Dogg

Domiziano Arcangeli

Elton John

Chris Martin

Slash

Richard Bey

Brittny Gastineau

Lloyd Robinson

Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Ali G Show and Talidega Nights) brings you the comedy that has started more conversation, generated more controversy and dared to go further than ever before!

As Bruno travels the world in search of fame, everyone he encounters – celebrities, politicians, Hasidic Jews, terrorists and cage fighters – becomes a stepping-stone to stardom, with hilarious results!

So prepare yourself for nonstop laughs in the film Rolling Stone should be “Numero uno on your funnytime list!”

Absolutely shocking, surprising, hilarious and wild!  If you thought Sacha Baron Cohen was hilarious and crazy in “Borat”, wait until you see him as “Brüno”.  For the Blu-ray release, Cohen and Director Larry Charles reveal their secrets of the film in a surprising but informative video commentary and more! “Brüno” is one of those films that you will either enjoy it or really hate it!  But for those who loved it, will definitely enjoy “Brüno” on Blu-ray.

When Sacha Baron Cohen released “Borat”, needless to say that people were shocked to see how far the English actor/comedian would go.  Shocking and surprising, the actor was able to film people while in disguise as another character in absolutely shock moviegoers by the type of content shown onscreen.  You either loved it or hated it.  If anything, whether you loved the man as Ali G or Borat, one thing that Cohen knows how to do is push the button and one can only wonder what he has under his hat for his next project.

Sure enough, Cohen returned in 2009 with the character “Brüno” which came out in theaters and literally received nationwide press and notoriety as people got to see the character firsthand at the MTV Movie Awards flying in the air as fairy and landing upside down, crotch directly smacking on hip hop artist Eminem in the face, prompting the hip hop artist to leave the award show (note: Eminem came out a month later telling media that it was a plan that he and Cohen devised).  But by then, the Brüno project was fully in effect as even GQ featured a nude Brüno on their cover prompting many retail chains to deal with the headaches from customer complaints and eventually having to cover up the front cover of the publication.  Also, to further the controversy was that the publication featured Brüno with Los Angeles Birmingham High School football team (without much clothing in tight short shorts with his shirt pulled up featuring suggestive photos with the team) which led to even more controversy and problems for the high school.

Needless to say, Sacha Baron Cohen knows how good controversy sells and sure enough, the film received tons of hype.

And similar to Borat, the jokes are on the unsuspecting people who encountered him.  As Brüno’s goal was to become a celebrity in America, all these people knew was that he was a former TV host of a popular show callled Funkyzeit in Austria is now in the US developing his own show.

The character of Brüno is a naive man who is gay and loves fashion but also loves having sex with men and enjoys pushing the button by featuring things that you either will love or hate within the first 15 minutes of the film (note: expect to see men’s pubic hair, actual penis video and gay sex).

The film follows Brüno, the former host of Funkyzeit as he has decided to come to America to become a celebrity after being fired after a major mishap at a major fashion runway show in which he ends up getting blackballed.

In America, destined to try his new life at becoming a celebrity outside of Europe, he first visits agent Lloyd Robinson and of course, to the unsuspecting people, all they know is that a famous man from Austria will be coming to America to pitch his show and a film crew will be recording his adventures in Hollywood.

Robinson is willing to give Brüno a chance to pitch his show to a focus group and CBS producer but of course, the first red flag is when on the phone conversation with his agent, Brüno is off getting his anus bleached and discussing it with his agent (who is shocked by the discussion).  Needless to say, things get off the wrong foot when he starts showing off a man’s penis that is constantly rotating and urking the 40+ year-old focus group.

Robinson does give Brüno a chance though, by getting him a chance to become an extra on an NBC prime-time drama in which Brüno messes up and is removed from the recording studio.  Brüno then believes that he needs to do a celebrity interview show and his first guest would be “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul.  Paula who thinks she is coming in for an award from Austria is shocked when she sees three Mexican men who are kneeling on all fours and finds out they are the chairs.  But its when Paula Abdul sees a man coming out fully naked with sushi all over him, she storms out of the interview.

Brüno then gets the opportunity to interview high level politicians and one of the first people he interviews are Texas politician Ron Paul and Ron Barr who at the time was running as the Libertarian candidate for President in 2008.  With Barr, he is fed some cheese and when Brüno tells him where the cheese came from, he looks disgusted.  As for Ron Paul, Brüno takes him to his bedroom where Paul thinks the interview will be recorded but instead, Brüno tries to seduce him without his pants and of course, Ron Paul disgusted, storms out of the room.

Now, Brüno feels that things are not going as great as he expected, so he thinks he needs to up the ante by going to the Middle East and interviewing a terrorist, then try to bring peace between representatives of two countries and perhaps maybe have an African baby like Madonna and then go on a talk show in front of African Americans and show off his African baby (which he names O.J. and tells the audience that he swapped the baby for his iPod).

Needless to say, Brüno’s adventures get even more interesting when he tries to tone down his homosexuality and try to be straight and enjoy a “vagina” by going to Christian folks who would attempt to make him straight, attending a swingers club and watch men having sex with women but instead finds himself looking at the men, to hanging out in the South with hunters for a guys night out hunting rabbit and trying his best to make him sound like a straight man to the hunters and even trying to take part in a UFC-style match as a fighter which leads to a shocking moment featured in various news reports worldwide.

Sacha Baron Cohen tries to go farther than he had with “BORAT” but this time using the gay Brüno as a character who desires to become a celebrity in America.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Brüno” is featured in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1 widescreen) and overall, picture quality is quite vibrant and colorful.  If anything, the film definitely looks good in High Definition and I spotted no sign of artifact compressions, banding or any dust.  The transfer is well-done.

As for audio quality, the film is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (also included is a DVS Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, French and Spanish DTS 5.1).  The film is primarily dialogue and music driven but the music features house music and thus, bass is really nice and strong throughout the film.  But overall, the film is primarily front and center channel driven and also bass via the subwoofer and overall, sound is crystal clear.  All dialogue is understandable (that is if you are understanding Brüno’s accent).  Surround usage is primarily used in crowds but for the most part, the film is front and center driven and is satisfactory for this style of film.

Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Brüno” comes with the following special features:

• Video Commentary – Featuring Picture-in-Picture commentary with Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles who reveal how they did the film and revealing true stories behind the making of the film.  Secrets of the film is revealed.
• Deleted Scenes – (40:44) Featuring eleven Deleted Scenes which include: La Toya Jackson, Fashion Montage, Party Planner, Realtors, Interior Designer, Texas, Scientist, Gun Show, Manacle Mall, Anti-Gay Marriage Rally and Middle East (a Blu-ray Exclusive).
• Alternative Scenes – Featuring the following segments not in the final cut which include: Pete Rose (2:23) and Politician Sex Tape (3:18) – Brüno with John Bolton (former US Ambassador), Gary Bauer (president of American Values) and Tom Ridge (former secretary of Homeland Security).
• Extended Scenes – (22:38) Featuring the following extended scenes: Baby Casting, Wedding, Second Gay Converter, Swingers, Lloyd Robinson-Agent Meeting, Lloyd Robins-Focus Group, Lloyd Robinson-Dove of Peace and National Guard (Blu-ray Exclusive).
• An Interview with Lloyd Robinson – (5:30) Interview with Hollywood agent Lloyd Robinson about how he never saw Borat or Ali G and then when he met Bruno with the cameras rolling and how he had to pitch a show with Brüno as the host.
• My Scenes - The ability to selected your favorite scenes from the film and watch them later on Blu-ray.
• BD-Live – Access the BD-Live Center and download the latest trailers, host a chat with your buddies, upload your own webcam commentary and more!

Brüno comes with a second disc which includes a digital copy of the film.

I have to admit that I looked forward to seeing “Brüno”, especially knowing how hilarious Sacha Baron Cohen was in “Borat”, with all the things that were going at the time such as the MTV Movie Awards and the GQ controversial cover, needless to say, fans of Cohen can only expect what crazy plans he had on his plate for Brüno.

Needless to say, controversy sells and the film was #1 in the box office making $33 million and made $136 million worldwide.

Although I felt the shock value of what I saw in “Borat” was more surprising, I suppose with “Brüno”, the biggest surprise was seeing him get interviews with major politicians and of course, going in front of an all black crowd and showcasing his baby from Africa was definitely pushing the button.  But it’s the reaction of Cohen bringing his gay character to the South and even the shocking UFC-style match that literally made the audience so disturbed was definitely quite interesting.

But when it comes to Cohen’s films, it’s hard to say if people will enjoy the film “Brüno”.  I can tell you right now, if you are very conservative, this movie is not for you.  In fact, if you have children…you do not want your children watching this film (as many moviegoers found out in the first 15 minutes).  The film is more or less watching Sacha Baron Cohen in another disguise and seeing how far he is able to accomplish his goals of shocking individuals with his character and needless to say, Brüno is definitely an interesting character that spares no one with his gay-style in the film.

As for the Blu-ray release, probably the biggest selling point and what I found the most enjoyable was hearing how Cohen and director Larry Charles were able to pull this film off.  I was more shocked to find out how many of those scenes were NOT staged.  For example, the sex scenes between Brüno and his boyfriend.  Of course, for movie viewers, you figured it was simulated sex scenes but according to Cohen and Charles, during the filming, there was an accident and an object went up the character that was playing Brüno’s boyfriend and that was shocking.  In fact, both men reveal a lot of the secrets in the film.

I though the fashion show segment was just staged to help introduce Brüno’s character in the film but the truth was that the duo were infiltrating a fashion show in Italy prompting high alert to watch out for Sacha Baron Cohen.  But even more shocking to find out what took place afterward (he did get blackballed from the fashion shows) when he was taken to a police precinct and with the Italian police not so thrilled about what he did, had him undress fully nude and were going to do a full body cavity search on him as a form of punishment.

There are a lot of details mentioned on the video commentary that will shock people and it’s quite interesting because it’s one of the first video commentaries I have seen where the filmmakers actually pause the film to discuss what happened and then play again.  So, the commentary is longer than the actual film as they pause at times to explain what really happened during the filming.

Also, for those who have heard about scenes that were cut such as the scene with La Toya Jackson (which was pulled due to the death of Michael Jackson), the scene with baseball’s Pete Rose, to even more interviews with major names in politics, these are all featured in the special features on Blu-ray.

“Brüno” is one of those films that it depends on the viewer and their preferred taste in films and their overall humor.  If you are already used to Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedy, then you know what you are getting.

Personally, I enjoyed Cohen’s previous film, “Borat” even more as the scenes in that film were more shocking to me. With “Brüno” its more about how far a gay man can get into the skin of those who are straight, conservative or have never encounter a person like him in their lives.  To see the camera capture their uncomfort when Brüno brings up things that they are not cool with is quite amusing.  Again, this will either make one laugh or really turn people off.

For “Brüno”, may it be homosexuality or a gay man raising a black baby or how he is naive about what is going in the world, it was a different kind of shock value than “Borat”.   But I’m used to Cohen’s comedy by now and have always been interested to see how much he would be able to push that button and seeing the reaction of those people and I guess, for me…that was the more amusing part of the film.

But assuming you never watched “Borat” or are not familiar with Cohen’s work but you are curious about this film, my best advice is to prepare yourself for an interesting 1 hr. and 22 minutes.  You will either laugh and be amused or may find “Brüno” to be a film that is insensitive and terrible.

And for those who did enjoy “Brüno”, the Blu-ray is definitely worth it for the special features and most of all, the tell-all video commentary.