Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Rating: ****/*****, or 8/10

Hilarious, subversive and playful comedy about a journalist from Kazakhstan, Borat Sagdiyev (undoubtedly Sacha Baron Cohen's most memorable character), who is sent by his government to the 'U, S and A' to make a report on life in its various aspects in the greatest country of the world, together with his short tempered and less than enthusiastic producer Azamat. On a trip across the country, traveling from one great sketch to another, Borat falls in love with Pamela Anderson (after seeing her only once on TV) and aims to track her down and marry her the Kazakh way, whether she likes to or not. Though the scenes in Borat's village in Kazakhstan are quite obviously staged (to great comedic effect), since such a wonderfully silly place just can't exist anywhere, the question remains just how much of the American part of the film is for real, as Borat interviews many different average Americans and manages to get great reactions out of his subjects, most feeling very natural and many of them quite disturbing, but all of them the object of very funny, often completely politically incorrect gags involving every conceivable minority out there (Jews, gypsies, coloured people, women, homosexuals, prostitutes, etc.): if Cohen didn't happen to be Jewish himself, it's likely he wouldn't have gotten away with the stunts he pulls here, though after the success of this film (both in terms of reception and box office) he got into many a lawsuit for his outrageous behavior regardless. The funniest scenes of this film include the 'Running of the Jew' event in Borat's home town, Borat singing the Kazakhstan national anthem on the melody of the American national anthem at a rodeo in front of hundreds of conservative flag waving American citizens, and a fight between Borat and Azamat in the nude in a hotel that goes on for much longer than is comfortable to anyone. Cohen would repeat the formula verbatim in 2009 with the much less impressive and fairly predictable Brüno.

Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Luenell

Directed by Larry Charles

USA: Four By Two Production, 2006

Austin Powers in Goldmember

Rating: ***/*****, or 6/10

Third and final entry (so far...) in the Austin Powers trilogy. Despite an even higher budget and an even bigger abundance of gratuitous celebrity cameos (including Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg and Britney Spears), this one is definitely the least funny of the three, but still a decent enough watch. Austin finds his father Nigel Powers (Michael Caine) has been abducted by the insane Dutch villain Goldmember (Myers in a fourth role!) who's in cahoots with Dr. Evil in a mad ploy for world domination. Together with agent Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyoncé Knowles), our favorite spy of British Intelligence finds himself confronted with personal demons as he tracks down his father, a better secret agent in every respect, who always showed little respect for his own son. Meanwhile, Dr. Evil must cope with the odd Dutchman's irritating traits, as well as the continuing rivalry between his son and his clone, while he too is in for a big surprise in regard to his parentage, in a bizarre plot twist near the climax of the film which ever remains a favorite in the category of 'Most Non-Sensical Movie Endings Ever'.

Starring: Mike Myers, Mike Myers, Mike Myers, Mike Myers, Michael Caine

Directed by Jay Roach

USA: New Line Cinema, 2002

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Rating: ****/*****, or 7/10

Second entry into the Austin Powers trilogy. Clearly it had a much bigger budget, given the much more lavish look and the worldwide theatrical release (the first movie was released directly to video in several countries instead, including the Netherlands). However, the big joke of Austin and Dr. Evil being characters out of time is now replaced by being in their own time for most of the movie, as it deals with a time travel plot that sees both of them returning to the late sixties, thus taking some fun out of the equation established by the first film. Fortunately there's still plenty of laughs to go around when Austin's 'mojo' is stolen by his archenemy's overweight agent Fat Bastard (Myers adding a third role to his repertoire in this set of films), while Dr. Evil has to deal with his midget clone Mini-Me and his son Scott who can't really get along, plus the execution of his evil scheme to fry the world with a giant laser installed on his secret moon base. It's a good thing Austin can count on the expertise of special agent Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham) to combat this diabolical plot!

Starring: Mike Myers, Mike Myers, Mike Myers, Heather Graham

Directed by Jay Roach

USA: New Line Cinema, 1999

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Rating: ****/*****, or 8/10

The first of the Austin Powers movies is also the best. A delightful spoof of the James Bond films and similar spy movies, Austin Powers is a top agent of the British Secret Service in the late 1960s, and also a world renowned fashion photographer, swinger and sex icon. When his nemesis Dr. Evil freezes himself and is shot into space, Austin also freezes himself to fight him again should he return. Both of them are thawed out in 1997, picking up where they left off, but both considerably out of place coping with the strange new world of the late nineties, with many hilarious consequences. Free love and carefree experimenting with mind expanding drugs are out of the question for Austin despite working with gorgeous female agent Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley), while Dr. Evil has a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that one million dollars just isn't enough money to ask for ransom any more, plus he also has to deal with his son Scott Evil (Seth Green) who was artificially created in his absence. Overall, Austin is funny, but it's Dr. Evil who gets all the really good jokes: since Mike Myers performs both characters, he gets out on top of both. The movie failed at the box office though, but turned out a surprise hit in video stores to such an extent, it nevertheless spawned two sequels, both of them good for a decent laugh but not nearly as much as this one.

Starring: Mike Myers, Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Seth Green

Directed by Jay Roach

USA: New Line Cinema, 1997

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Rating: **/*****, or 4/10

A not very successful attempt to parodize the monster-on-the-loose subgenre of horror and science fiction films of the fifties. The intriguing title unfortunately cannot live up to its expectations, though the plot does indeed revolve around giant tomatoes attacking and killing people, necessitating the US government to deploy a team of silly experts to combat this threat. Obviously shot on a very low budget, this movie does contain a few good jokes as well as a  fabulous opening song, but is otherwise rather dull and drags on for too long. It nevertheless managed to spawn no less than three sequels, the second film, Return of the Killer Tomatoes, generally being considered to be the only really worthwhile flick of the bunch for being genuinely funny and surprisingly co-starring a young George Clooney.

Starring: David Miller, George Wilson, Sharon Taylor

Directed by John De Bello

USA: Four Square Productions, 1978