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Citizen Kane (1941)
Kenny and Penny rating 7/10
"I guess 'Rosebud' is just a piece in a jigsaw puzzle... a missing piece."
First Impressions:
Kenny: First, I thought this movie would be more humorous than it was. This was because of the trailer we had watched right before watching the movie. Although it was different from what I had expected, I was not disappointed.
Penny: I feel the trailer was a bit misleading, like Kenny said, but I was not disappointed either. I think the trailer and the movie were both really good, but separately.
Review:
After a couple of minutes of Kenny and Penny trying to change the movie they had downloaded's language from Russian to English...
Kenny: The movie starts off with the story of our protagonist, Charles Foster Kane's, life. Though we zoned out for a bit, we gathered that when he was a child, he was sold off to a wealthy man called Walter Parks Thatcher.
Penny: Kane was sold off to this man, and lived his life in wealth. When he wanted to buy something, he could, no matter what it was. One day, he decided to purchase a newspaper hoping that he could resurrect it.
Kenny: The word "rosebud" and its meaning was often mentioned in this movie. Rosebud was the last word uttered by Kane in his deathbed. In my opinion, the biggest factor in this movie being watched so much in 1941, was this word and the mystery that surrounded it. To be honest, this word being repeated so much did not interest us as much as it did others back then, as we were more used to themes such as this. It would be a lot more effective if we had seen the movie at the theatre.
Penny: See, Kenny, one thing that interested me about this word was its use in one of my favorite childhood games: The Sims. Rosebud was a cheatcode in the game that would give you a thousand simoleons. (The in-game currency) First, we thought the meaning of this "rosebud" would be connected to money, but maybe it was because of how wealthy Kane was.
Kenny: Wow, what an interesting fact, my friend. Thank you for sharing.
Penny: You're welcome.
Kenny: The most intriguing part of the movie, for me, was the insight it gave to the life of journalists both politically and psychologically. After the failure of his goals of becoming governor, and the downfall of his newspaper; the movie starts to focus more on his love life with his second wife.
Penny: Right, and that part was my favorite. After Kane and his first wife start having disagreements about him spending too much time working on the newspaper, Kane meets another woman. This woman is Susan Alexander Kane, an aspiring young opera singer who is a bit short of the talent but not of the ambition. When Kane was found cheating on his wife, all the papers published it and his first wife filed for divorce. Shortly after, he got married to Susan and opened up an opera house just for her. (That was largely due to the fact she could not land a role elsewhere.) The public was not happy with Susan playing the lead role in these operas, constantly ridiculing and shaming her in the papers, but Kane would not let her stop starring in them.
Kenny: The character development of Susan after her marriage to Kane was expected. After a certain amount of time, she started to feel discontent with all the things she had, though she had basically everything money could buy. However, she was constantly lonely and bored out of her mind in the big mansion she and Kane lived in. I feel like instead of complaining about her life and situation she could have worked harder on her singing and/or could have found a better teacher who would not give up on her like her current one did.
Penny: The movie closes off with the death of Kane, once again, and the cleaning of his warehouse which he stored his many sculptures (and many other forms of clutter) in. *BIG SPOILER* The meaning of the word rosebud was never fully understood by the characters of the movie, thought in the very last scene we were shown a sled we had seen before during his childhood being burned. This sled had an inscription on it that said "ROSEBUD." After hours of critical thinking, we concluded that this could be what rosebud was referring to: His childhood...
Kenny: Whew, I feel relieved. Case closed.
Chosen tracks from the movie :
Tatcher Library (Litany) ~Chosen by Penny
Galop ~Chosen by Kenny
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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Kenny and Penny rating 5/10
"Although Kazakhstan a glorious country it have a problem; economic, social and Jew. "
First Impressions:
Kenny:I feel so close to this gypsy actor, he is someone to be disgusted from but at the same time so hilarious that
you want to travel to Kazakhstan and bang her sister for once. I lost the green card lottery yesterday myself, so I'm
glad that he's been there to spread our culture and honored this glorious country.
Penny:I thought it would essentially be a satire movie about a Kazakh man and I was right. Also, I had a feeling it would have some Recep İvedik-esque characteristics, and I was right once again. To be honest, I didn't go into it thinking I would be watching a cinematic
masterpiece but I knew I would be amused anyway. Just seemed like an overall feel-good, satire movie.
Review:
Kenny:Movie starts in Kazakhstan where we meet his family and neighbor Nursultan Tulyakbey. I love how honest the movie is
about family issues, uneducated children playing with ak 47, prostitution and raping, a big breasted annoying wife. Also
the way it describes the location of Kazakhstan on map is one of my favorite jokes. "This is my country of Kazakhstan. It locate
between Tajikistan and Krgyzystan and assholes Uzbekistan.". He leaves Kazakhstan to go to
Murica, as a TV reporter. And when he arrives to New York, he tries to kiss everyone in the metro to greet, while carrying a
turkey in his case. This is the reason why European union will never accept us...
Penny:In order to better understand American culture, Borat thinks it's best to talk to a humour coach, Pat Haggerty, and learn about American humour. This scene shows us just how culturally different Kazakhs and Americans are. Borat seems to have no filter when it comes to his jokes, often resorting to vulgar and offensive material while the American coach recommends him some regular, American slapstick comedy. After this meeting, Borat returns to his hotel room and turns on the TV. There he watches Baywatch, a very popular American TV show, and sees Pamela Anderson's character, C.J. Parker, for the first time. It's love at first sight. He goes to bed, thinking of C.J., and when he wakes up he sets out to interview a feminist group. After disturbing them with his outdated, and rather hateful, ways of seeing women he mentions C.J. Parker and his desire to meet her. The women tell him that she is just a fictional character that is played by Pamela Anderson, and if he wanted to find her he would have to travel to Los Angeles. There he decides on purchasing a car, and going on a road trip with Azamat from New York to California.
Kenny:I want to add additionally to the car purchasing scene. Right before purchasing one he attends to a test driving with an instructor. I liked the scene where Borat gets used to this man and so he feels like drinking vodka in the middle of the traffic. And how serious the instructor when he says "You must not hit the children.".
After he purchases himself a pussy magnet (an ice cream truck) , now its time to move to la la land baby. Right after his arrival, he has an interview with a party official from the ruling regime. Borat treats him with a cheese from his own lands, made with his wife's milk from her tit. Very nice!
Then he participates a LGBT parade gets really friendly with people there. And finally he ends up in a Rodeo. He is honored to sing the national anthem of Murica in this event. "We support your war of terror! -wooo- May US will kill every single terrorist! -wooo- May George Bush will drink the blood of every man
woman and child of Iraq! -hell yeaaah-" And now let's stand a minute for the national anthem of America.
And after all this cultural exchange, he becomes a hommie himself, but sadly his black ass is not accepted to the hotel for the night. So they can't bang bang and skeed skeed nigga.
"I arrived in America's airport with clothings, US dollar and a jar of gypsy tears to protect me from AIDS"
Penny:Left with nowhere to stay, Borat and Azamat have to stay at a bed and breakfast house owned by a married couple. This welcoming couple instantly treats them like family, and prepares their room. However, Borat and Azamat realize they are Jews. Another recurring joke in this movie is Borat's anti-semitism. Because their hosts are of Jewish descent, Borat feels like they are trying to poison him when they are just trying to be good hosts. Due to their irrational fear of Jews, they run away late at night and are, once again, left with nowhere to stay. After this, they travel to, I think Alabama (?), and attend a formal, American dinner. This is where Borat has to learn courtesy and congeniality, but of course, he fails at this too. He even calls up a prostitute and invites her to dinner, and because of this he and the woman he invited are kicked out. Once they are kicked out, the woman, who we learn is called Luenell, offers her home to Borat. Borat, does not accept this offer but thanks her anyways and moves on.
Kenny:He comes to a Civil War Antique Shop. "Why is there a lot of things with flags here?" , there are not anymore because I broke them all, lulz. He causes 460 dollar damage, so he pays 180 dollars + original pubic hair from Kazakhstan.
Fair deal. After they empty their pockets, they have a rest in the hotel. But Borat catches Azamat jerking off to Pamela's photo so he gets pissed off and they 69 to punish each other on the bed. This argue causes their
friendship to broke and so Azamat leaves Borat, takes all the money and Borat's passport with him.
Now Borat is all alone empty handed, he cannot afford gas for his pussy magnet, so he hitchhikes. Some DANK muricans accept him to their van and offer him to drink with them. This moment is heart breaking for him, because when he gets drunk and emotional, they turn on Pamela's porn cd and he faces the truth. Nothing will be the same Pamela, nothing.
Penny:After parting ways with the frat bros, Borat decides to burn his Baywatch booklet. While he is doing this, he also accidentally burns his return ticket to Kazakhstan and, therefore, his only way of ever escaping the States. Now he's not only homeless, but also hopeless. Deprived of all ambition, Borat attends a United Pentecostal camp meeting. There he regains his faith, and converts to Christianity. He forgives Azamat, and also Pamela, and chooses to start looking for Azamat. He finds him, dressed as Oliver Hardy, and mistakes him for Adolf Hitler. After their long-awaited reconciliation, they go on the road once again to find Pamela Anderson. Borat finally meets Anderson at a book signing, and attempts to kidnap her using his "traditional marriage sack." This, of course, does not work and he is chased by security guards. After all this, Borat finally visits Luenell again and they return to Kazakhstan together. They get married, and bring several American customs to Borat's village including technology like iPods, and even Christianity. Personally, I really loved this ending because we really got to see how these two cultures intertwined at the end. Not to mention, I quite like Luenell and Borat together.
Chosen tracks from the movie :
Gypsy's Kolo ~Chosen by Penny
Magic Mamaliga ~Chosen by Kenny
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