The summer is far from over, but the biggest blockbusters have already hit the cineplex.

Does anyone believe “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” will be the next mega-movie franchise?

So calling the Summer ‘09 movie season a major disappointment hardly seems premature – or incorrect.

Maybe last year spoiled us. “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man” provided the kind of one-two action punch few summers could match.

This season, “Star Trek” delivered on the hype — and that’s about it. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” proved all sound and fury and not an ounce more. “Drag Me to Hell” underwhelmed, no matter what Sam Raimi-besotted critics claimed.

“Terminator Salvation” made us long for the days when Ah-nuld ruled Hollywood, and the less said about the stupefying success of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” the better.

And the hits kept on … missing.

“Bruno” proved Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” was even more special, and singular in its greatness, than we suspected. And “Public Enemies” reminded us director Michael Mann may be a technical whiz, but like the Tin Man his movies lack heart.

Thank goodness for “The Hangover,” the kind of out-of-left-field smash that relied on great visual gags and hearty word of mouth to give us a reason to smile this summer.

NOTE: This critic still, inexplicably, hasn’t seen “Up.” Hope to amend this post as soon as I do so.

(Photo: “The Hangover” provided summer movies fans with the best laughs of the season./Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.)

Related posts:

1. Summer movie staying power
2. Summer ‘09: Movie critics weigh in
3. Summer ‘09 Movies – Risky Business

Yes, Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Bruno” did solid business over the weekend.

But is the film’s $30 million haul only part of the story?

“Bruno” also earned an impressive 69 percent “fresh” rating over at RottenTomatoes.com, not bad for a film this critic found extremely weak.

Methinks some critics applauded who “Bruno” targeted in the film – homophobes – more than its laugh quotient. WWTW wished it mocked that group in a funnier fashion.

The original “Borat” earned nearly that same amount during its first weekend, and that was back in 2006 in far fewer theaters.

“Borat” became a mini-sensation because it caught nearly everyone off guard and built up its sturdy box office tally mostly through word of mouth.

In comparison, it seemed all but impossible to escape the Bruno PR blitz over the last month.

Comedy often ages poorly, and shock humor ages even worse. Here’s betting “Bruno” will sink fast this coming weekend and, years later, people will talk much more about “Borat” than “Bruno.”

Update: Here’s a look at the marketing machine behind “Bruno.”

Update, the Sequel: LA Times predicts “Bruno” won’t even crack $100 million.

Related posts:

1. ‘Bruno’ – We miss ‘Borat’ already
2. Does it matter if ‘Bruno’ is a fraud?
3. Cue the faux outrage over ‘Bruno’s NC-17 rating

The Summer movie season sends another crushing disappointment our way this weekend.

“Bruno,” Sacha Baron Cohen’s follow up to his brilliant 2006 comedy “Borat,” uses the same comedy template but can’t come anywhere close to repeating the howls of laughter the latter inspired.

Yes, the film is outrageous, and as The Washington Times’ Sonny Bunch succinctly said:

“The Motion Picture Association of America has effectively thrown its hands up in resignation and said to filmmakers, “Do the craziest thing you can think of, cut a small portion of that, throw in a few black bars that don’t really obscure what’s happening when hard-core sex is depicted, and have at it.”

You can read my review at PajamasMedia.

(Photo: Universal Pictures’ “Brüno” is Sacha Baron Cohen’s follow-up to Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: Mark Schwartzbard / Universal Pictures
Copyright: © 2009 Universal Studios. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)

Related posts:

1. Cue the faux outrage over ‘Bruno’s NC-17 rating
2. Does it matter if ‘Bruno’ is a fraud?
3. Wish I Wrote That: The ‘Miss March’ edition

Sacha Baron Cohen pulled a Howard Stern over the weekend.

Easier said than done.

The man who gave us “Borat” flew down from the rafters as his Bruno character during the MTV Movie Award Show and landed, buttocks first, on a dazed and confused Eminem. The rapper quickly left in disgust along with his posse.

Staged? Most likely. There’s precious little reality in television today despite the proliferation of reality showcases.

But the bigger question concerns “Bruno,” Cohen’s upcoming follow-up to “Borat.” Just how real is the reality on display in the movie?

Check out the trailer - it’s clear segments of the movie are staged. How could Richard Bey, a longtime talk show host, not know he was being punk’d by Cohen? And the audience appears like they’re mimicking the worst of the worst “Jerry Springer” crowds.

If these bits are staged, then something special is lost in the translation. It doesn’t take great skill to write a scene like that. But when Cohen coaxes real reactions from people it adds an extra layer of tension – and humor – to the sequence.

Remember the outrageous sequence in “Borat” when Cohen tramples just about every societal norm during a Southern dinner gathering? The scene doesn’t work nearly as well if it’s all a fraud.

Something is missing when we know moments like that flow from a screenwriter’s imagination, not the clash beteween polite society and a rabble rouser like Cohen.

Update: Yup, it’s a fake – the MTV appearance, that is.

Related posts:

1. Cue the faux outrage over ‘Bruno’s NC-17 rating
2. Summer ‘09 Movies – Risky Business
3. Top 5 reasons 2009 could be a great year for movies

Oh, no. Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” follow up, “Bruno,” has been slapped with an NC-17 rating.

That’s the kiss of death for mainstream films, since it complicates where movies can be advertised and whether anyone under the age of 17 can even see the film in theaters.

But the news is barely news at all.

The film will be recut/resubmitted and it will earn its R rating soon enough.

Meanwhile, “Bruno” will get all the ink it could want.

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