Borat

Rated R

You gotta see this if: You aren’t horrified at the idea of a man in a neon green thong.

final analysis: **** The full name of this movie is “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” and it just may be the funniest movie of the decade, perhaps the funniest movie ever. And Sacha Baron Cohen is one of the most talented and fearless character actors in existence. Cohen portrays Borat, a reporter from Kazakhstan who travels from New York to Los Angeles to interview Americans for Kazakhstani television with a side goal to find and “make sexy” with Pam Anderson. Borat is anti-semitic, racist and sexist, yet Cohen manages to make him likable as his prejudices are rooted in complete ignorance. As he travels the country interacting with real citizens who haven’t been let in on the fact that Borat is a fictional character, he manages to offend or reveal prejudices in everyone he meets. It’s a movie filled with cultural learnings of America, such as Borat singing his own version of the National Anthem at a rodeo or taking hip hop lessons from urban kids. Through his interviews, Borat reveals countless aspects of American culture, primarily those that make us squirm in our seats. But even when he’s poking a stick in America’s soft spots, he’s side-splittingly funny.

Flushed Away

Rated PG

You gotta see this if: You like to accompany your cup of English Breakfast with a handful of chocolate covered coffee beans.

final analysis: *** I enjoyed DreamWorks films “Shrek” and “Madagascar.” While neither were great, both movies amused my son and me. They were, however, puffs of smoke compared to the brilliance that blazed in both “Wallace and Gromit” and “Chicken Run” produced by Aardman Pictures with a little DreamWorks on the side. I was worried when I heard that the third and final DreamWorks/Aardman collaboration was going down the path of computer animation. Rumor has it that a fire at Aardman Studios is responsible for the switch from clay to CGI. Still, CGI is not the root of animation evil. The main problem plaguing “Flushed Away” is the inclusion of pop culture references and potty humor. The timeless simplicity and originality of Aardman’s past productions isn’t entirely gone, but it’s fighting a tug o’ war with DreamWorks slick action sequences and inside jokes. The movie feels like an English tea party being held inside a Starbucks. All that being said, “Flushed Away” is a fun movie about a posh English rat trying to find his way out of the sewer system and back to the gilded cage that is his home. There’s plenty of laughs to be found but, unfortunately, much of its substance went along with the clay.

The Santa Clause 3:

The Escape Clause

Rated G

You gotta see this if: You’ve been wondering if Tim Allen was kidnapped and forced to act in bad Disney movies against his will.

final analysis: * If you ever believed in Santa Claus, I beseech you not to see this movie. It takes the legend of Santa and plows it into a heap of dirty snow. The first “Santa Clause” was cute, the sequel was dumb, and this third installation should leave Tim Allen and Martin Short selling maps to the stars’ homes for lack of better employment. The plot revolves around Santa feeling stressed under the pressures of a disorganized Christmas season and a pregnant wife due on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, her name isn’t Mary. Pressure mounts when Santa’s in-laws arrive; he has to dupe them into believing the North Pole is actually a section of Canada populated by very short people. Then when a creepy Jack Frost presents Santa Claus with a way out of his occupation, the strung-out Santa decides to ruin Christmas for everyone. There is no joy in this movie, no holiday cheer. It revels in the commercialization and stress that has become the holiday season for so many of us. Thankfully, this movie is being released now and should be long gone from theaters by December 25. This is one lump of coal no one deserves in their Christmas stocking.