Sacha Baron Cohen as Brüno

The tagline says it best, “Borat was so 2006.” Sacha Baron Cohen has successfully adapted yet another one of his unique characters from his addictive “Ali G.” show to the big screen. Now, instead of a playing a hairy Kazakhstani television reporter named Borat, Mr. Baron Cohen plays a flamboyantly homosexual Austrian named Brüno in “Brüno”. This film, on a much higher level than its predecessor, transcends the line of conventional slapstick comedy and remains one of few films brazen enough to poke fun at everyone and everything

“Brüno” tells the story of the self-proclaimed 19-year-old who, after loosing his fame as a fashion icon in Austria, journeys to America to become a star—what type of star, however, is never set in stone. With his assistant’s assistant Lutz (Gustaf Hammarsten) at his side, Brüno travels to various places, all-the-while never disappointing to hit on some random guy (e.g. former presidential candidate Ron Paul) or insult a minority (using Latinos as chairs). His rampant raunchiness never ceases whether he is trying his luck at hosting a television show, adopting an African baby, or interviewing a real terrorist. Though no discernable plot is presented in the first half an hour of the film, Mr. Baron Cohen allots this time to presenting Brüno’s shocking idiosyncrasies in some of his most sidesplitting, and often appalling, antics.

While “Brüno” as a character isn’t as inherently hilarious to watch as “Borat”, the inconceivable tomfooleries in this film far surpass Mr. Baron Cohen’s last work. The comedic genius of this film is insurmountable as it transcends the conventional frontier of inducing laughter. To say that Mr. Baron Cohen doesn’t worry about criticism is an understatement; he strives, and undeniably succeeds, in targeting gays, Latinos, women, Jews, the mentally disabled, and many more. He encourages people to laugh at what the politically correct public would view as racism, bigotry, supremacy, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and misogyny. When this, the root of this film effectiveness, is meticulously melded together with pervasive vulgarity, gratuitous graphic nudity, and ubiquitously crude images and jokes, it makes for a delightful 83-minute piece of cinema.

While numerous similarities can and will be made between “Brüno” and “Borat” (mainly plot structure and controversial subject matter), “Brüno” completely goes above and beyond anything (“Borat” included) that has ever come out of Hollywood. “Brüno” sends a profound statement on society through tapping the core of modern Westernized ideology. Admittedly, this film isn’t for everyone. For those who receive and appreciate the film the way its creator intended, they will likely love it. However, there will inevitably be those who find the film gauche and tasteless, and will thus loathe it. Nevertheless, this polarity hasn’t prevented “Brüno” from already surpassing early box office numbers generated by “Borat.”

“Bruno” is rated R for pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language.

CoreRating: 3.5 out of 4 stars

Johnny Depp as John Dillinger

In a summer that thus far has brought more lackluster films than blockbusters, director Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” was a hopeful contender to salvage some dignity for Hollywood. While Mann had 80 million dollars and two of the hottest actors on the market today (Johnny Depp and Christian Bale), the film ultimately disappoints.

“Public Enemies”, based on the non-fiction novel of the same name by Bryan Burrough, is the story of bank robber John Dillinger (Depp) and his run-in with the FBI, spearheaded by Agent Melvin Purvis (Bale). In the midst of the Great Depression, this crime-drama tracks the peak and downfall of Dillinger and his gang of miscreants.

This film lacks several components fundamental to creating a cogent motion picture. Poor character development prevents the audience from attaining anything more than a superficial understanding of cerebrally complex characters like Dillinger. The contrived love story between Dillinger and Billie Frechette, played by Oscar award-winner Marion Cotillard, only obscures what should’ve been the more centralized relationship between Dillinger and Purvis. Furthermore, the story is loosely strung together in such a way that the 140-minute marathon couldn’t achieve any tangible direction. The scenes jump around from one to the next devoid of transition, thus diluting any potential suspense. Moreover, sporadic use of music that often obscures dialogue and generally poor sound engineering only adds to the film’s sloppiness. The visionary audacity of filming with high-definition digital cameras instead of conventional 35mm film is an apparent, but unsuccessful, attempt to break into a seldom trodden upon aesthetic realm in order to furnish the film with a more ‘authentic’ feel. However, Mann’s attempt at artistic inventiveness generated a cheap, ‘made-for-TV’ look that proved detrimental to the film’s overall appearance.

Casting also contributed to the downfall of this film’s quest to meet (or surpass) its fairly high expectations. With the exception of Depp, who adequately inhabited the eccentric mind of Dillinger, the majority of the supporting actors simply didn’t fill the shoes of their roles. Casting directors Amy Kaufman and Bonnie Timmermann are culpable for such significant miscasting—specifically the soberly unconvincing performances of Christian Bale, Marion Cortillard, and “Watchmen” star Billy Crudup, who tried to embody J. Edgar Hoover.

Luckily, the ample servings of raw-looking, choreographed shootouts lessened the otherwise soporific film. Nonetheless, when the smoke clears,“Public Enemies” is nothing exceptional beyond the intrinsic nature of the story. It looks like the academy will have to search elsewhere for movies to nominate for next years Academy Awards.

CoreRating: 2.5 out of 4 stars

With modern technology and the internet, the new place of advertising in our society has been well documented. People can see how many eyeballs they are attracting on their blogs, who is reading what type of article, who clicks on what, and what gets the most hits. Bottom line: advertisers can see the true effectiveness of their advertisements.

Even in the days of early television, a company could air an ad, and then see how many viewers there were, and how their sales boosted (if this was a single isolated ad). However, with something like Citifield, or a product placement in a movie, there is no ability to gauge the overall effects. You don’t know whether a Pepsi appearing in a new Angelina Jolie movie is going to boost sales by three or three million.

The changing game of advertising—especially in the world of entertainment—prevents the efficiency of the past. In past decades, a store could judge how sales increase by hanging a poster in their window or flyering around the neighborhood. As technology increases, news travels faster and comes from a variety of sources, and in a certain sense, nothing can be monitored in a wholly accurate sense.

Furthermore, having an advertisement like CitiField also eliminates the physicality of the product. If one is to do business with Citibank, you can do so online or from hearing about it, whereas in the past, you may have had to formally go to a bank or a store front to get the product. Now, people can buy things over the internet, put up ads anywhere they can, and the effects are rippling.

This leads me to believe that there are other reasons for product placement or purchases like stadiums, buildings, and monuments. Maybe, in a sense, it is more of the form of a donation, like someone would make to the local Boys and Girls Club or Community Center. However, the scale to which it is being done, to have a huge stadium named after you is much greater than the Jones Family Gymnasium of Ridgefield, CT.

Yet, now Citibank gains certain benefits, with boxes and seats to games and this could be more of a motivating factor. The executives and the CEOs want to show off their purchasing power, and yield baseball tickets, a stadium, and its benefits for themselves or to give them to clients. It must be cool for a Pepsi executive to see his product being gulped down by a famous model in a bikini in a movie?

I guess there is no real conclusion here other than it is interesting to think about the effectiveness of advertisements and how they play a role in our day-to-day lives. After all, we (the public) feed them, and without us, there wouldn’t be a CitiField.

photo credit: David Berkowitz

Core Junction founder, Jacob Shapiro, with Open Trophy

The 2009 U.S. Open-skies is finally complete as of a few hours ago and like all major golf tournaments, the final round was the definition of exciting. But while players and fans will quickly turn their attention to the British Open and the PGA Championship (in July and August respectively), the U.S. Open raised some serious questions for the USGA (United States Golf Association) and its relationship with golf fans.

On the first day of the tournament (Thursday), play was canceled for the entire day after just two hours due to relentless rain. When questions immediately rose about compensation for fans holding Thursday tickets, the USGA instantly fell back on its stated policy: that 90 minutes of golf constituted a full day and that there would be no refunds or readmission.

It is true that the policy was noted on all tickets, but what the USGA failed to understand is that when you hold a tournament in New York City, the fans are as unforgiving as the weather. Fans immediately went ballistic, ESPN started reporting the story, newspapers picked up on it and New York government officials even commented on the issue within a few hours.

It didn’t take long for the USGA to remember that the Bethpage State Park is in New York and administrators decided to allow Thursday tickets holders into Monday’s makeup session (if necessary) and they offered a 50% refund if there was no golf on Monday. I’ll come back to this point in a minute…

As a Sunday ticket holder, I trekked out to Long Island to get my day of golf in even though rain was looming again. After waking up early, I learned the the tournament was delayed until noon and that the 4th and final round of golf would only commence late on Sunday afternoon. I was upset that I wouldn’t get to see the last round of the tournament (especially after paying extra for Sunday’s tickets), but I was more disappointed with the state of the grounds when I arrived at Bethpage.

To be concise, Bethpage was gross. It was quickly evident that the rain and massive amounts of people had pretty much destroyed the course turning Bethpage from a gorgeous public course to a farm in just a few short days. Out of all the golf tournaments that I’ve attended, this one turned out to be poorly executed and uncomfortable from start to finish for several reasons:

1. It takes a village: The “village” which includes sponsor tents, merchandise, food and the clubhouse was not close to the main parts of the course. In order to reach any of the middle holes (which are the easiest to get good seats at), I had to walk about 20-30 minutes through Amazon River terrain to see some action. Not to mention, the village was small in comparison to other tournaments, lacked any free giveaways (no chapstick or Advil this time) and provided no places of refuge for fans to take a comfortable seat at a table or wash/dry themselves off.
2. On the road again: Simply stated, the walkways were cattle roads. The intense rain turned most of the walkways into slushy mud where spectators trekked, balanced and fell through the mud on their way to certain holes. I was shocked that the organizers didn’t devise any system to map out alternative routes or to clear up existing routes so that fans could move FASTER and EASIER throughout the course. Even tossing down a bunch of wood chips would have improved things significantly. Even worse, golf carts were constantly driving on the same road that people were to walk on (which wasn’t the case at other tournaments that I’ve attended) making us move into the muddier sections of the road and creating deep tracks that exacerbated the mud problem. While the state of the roads was horrible to deal with, it also provided for some comic relief in the form of fellow fans who were dumb enough to wear flip flops and such to the tournament. I witnessed fans who could barely walk, some who were barefoot and yes, was able to see some falls (which were funny, but prove a point at the same time—see point 4).
3. Seeing is believing: Seating was also interesting at this tournament as fans were only allowed to bring limited types of chairs into Bethpage. At past tournaments, lawn chairs, coolers and golf stools were the staple of the experience and fans were really able to set up shop at a location to comfortably watch golf. At the U.S. Open, I barely saw anyone using chairs (which was partly due to the muddy conditions), but furthermore, the boundaries kept fans farther back from the course and players then at other tournaments. It was a given that the course superintendent needed the fans farther off of the course to constantly clear it, but the result was that it was difficult to get a good view of the action at certain holes unless you were able to make it up one of the grandstands (which I was able to do at Hole 4).
4. Timing: Ok, so it rained all weekend and therefore, I understand why I wasn’t able to see the final round on Sunday. But what I did find, is that the USGA could have changed several things to improve the timing of the tournament. I don’t know what the official rules are, but the organizers should have considered sending three players onto the course for round 3 instead of the traditional pairs. While time could have been made up there, the decision to wait 80 minutes in between rounds 3 and 4 on Sunday was damaging to fans. Waking up early in the morning and coming in from Manhattan, the idea of standing around for 80 minutes after being caked in mud with nowhere to sit was not appealing to me or the thousands of fans that left after round 3 ended. Worse, the last few holes were so packed with people that it was impossible to see and so at that point, I was looking at 90+ minutes on my hands before golf was to resume. Even worse, everyone knew that round 4 would only include a few holes before darkness (or more rain) set in and so the smart thing to do was head home to shower. The result is that most Sunday fans only saw about 5 hours of golf in a round that was less important than the one they paid for. Its a far cry from the 12-14 hours of final round action that people were hoping for.
5. Pure unpreparedness: The worst part of the experience was that it seemed as if the USGA and the course officials were just unprepared for the weather conditions. Given that fact that it rained in New York at some point for 18 out of the first 21 days (and it rained today, so make that 19/22), there is simply no excuse for not being prepared. The USGA should have had plans for how to deal with crowd control and safety in the event of rain and mud. Alternative routes and plans to clean up the walkways so that fans would have an optimal experience after paying premium prices for tickets should have been in the works from day 1. While watching people fall has entertained humans since the beginning of time, I came across one injured person and thousands of older people who didn’t look to sure on their feet to begin with. Descending down steep hills caked in mud was not fun for me, but it really wasn’t safe for most—and it certainly wasn’t part of an optimal golf experience. Considering Bethpage and the USGA had 5 years to plan this tournament, more foresight was needed.

Don’t get me wrong, the U.S. Open was fantastic. There’s nothing that can take away from seeing the skill of these players up close during the biggest tournaments of the year. But as a (highly) paying customer, you expect your main course of golf to come with some delectible side dishes. The weather is the weather, which is why I’m not too upset that I didn’t get to see the last round, but I would have appreciated seeing the USGA doing everything in its power to make the course more hospitable to its fans and more fair for paying customers that were slighted by the rain. Because of the tournament’s importance, it will always be sold out, but that’s no excuse for failing to provide paying patrons with the best possible experience.

Team with MLB enovy Pat Boyle

Dear Friends,

It seems like just days since my previous update, but a lot has been going on since then.

In class during the first two weeks of June we worked on restaurant skills as well as cooking. We have learned how to be a better waiter, how to set up menus, as well as Cajun, Creole, and general dairy cooking.

The school’s slow-pitch softball team finally got its second win, 16-8. We have finished the regular season and are the number one seed in the Tier II playoffs.

My fast pitch softball team hasn’t been playing as well lately – we are on a 3 game losing streak. I came in as a pinch hitter in the last game with men on second and third with one out, behind by 8 runs. I hit a line drive shot between LF and C for a 2 run double. Though we have not been playing so well we finished the year 4th in our division, good enough for a playoff spot. We play a one-game elimination playoff Wednesday, June 10th for a right to play a best out of 3 against the number one seed.

My little league baseball team has continued to pound the ball while playing good defense and lights out starting pitching. After the 0-3 start we have gone 5-0 and are in great position for a playoff spot. In those 5 games we have out scored our opponents 64-37 and have averaged over 12 runs a game. We have 2 games left and are not looking back.

The past week we had the distinguished honor of being visited by Pat Doyle, MLB envoy, who helped our team with some drills and exercises.

After a great start heating up the Culinary Cook-off, I cooled down a little and finished 7th out of 20. It was a good experience but I think it was the main ingredient of Chicken that might have led to my downfall in the quarterfinals. Maybe I am just allergic to winning.

I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to spend Shabbat in Hashmonaim with Judy and Phil Stein, the cousins of the Krumbein family in Highland Park. It was such a nice Shabbat that I will be spending another Shabbat with them this weekend.

Caramelized Cherries and Deviled Quails Eggs

The past few weeks I have numerous visitors. My really good friends Sara, Tim, Josh and Becky Zwickl came to visit their son (and brother) David. I visited with the 8th Grade Schechter middle school trip, seeing some old teachers of mine. My cousin Gabe Pachter, from Detroit, stayed with me for a night while on his month long Israel trip from the Frankel Jewish Academy.

Last week I had another amazing opportunity in Jerusalem. I went to the kotel to daven shacharit for Shavuot morning and read the 10 commandments in front of a couple hundred people. It was an amazing experience.

I have finally confirmed my internship for the summer. I will be pulling double duty, working at both Olive on Emek Rephaim and Olive and Fish on Jabotinsky Street across of the Inbal Hotel.

This past week I also just opened my first website. It is a website for my KipahGuy business. Please visit KipahGuy.yolasite.com and tell me what you think. You can a look at some of the kipot I have designed and sold, including the CHUSY Kipot, CJHS Kipot, and NSS Beth El 60th Anniversary Kipot. We can customize any kipah, including your own design or logo.

I also just found out the past weekend that I have been accepted into the Associates Degree Program at Kendall College’s Culinary Arts School in Chicago. I will be starting there in the fall.

If you will be coming to Israel at any point this summer please let me know. I would love to catch up with you. You can reach me at 052-864-4133.

Hope you all have a great summer,

Avram

The comedy troupe was performing their show entitled “Rod Blagojevish Superstar,” of which the governor and his political corruption are central themes. Blagojevich who was removed by the Illinois state legislature, then recited a monologue to a stunned audience.

According to CNN.com, the cast then erupted into one of the main songs in the show: “What kind of isoit sells a Senate seat”, while the former governor was present, of course. Blagojevich also participated in a post-show improv session where he made fun of his own use of large hair brushes.

Although Second City had planned to end the show’s tenure, sustained popularity has caused the comedy club to continue performing it until the end of the summer. According to CNN.com, while audience members enjoyed the show, several people just found the entire situation awkward. CNN.com failed to report that Blagojevich apparently made the appearance on behalf of a charity.

But while the mainstream news reports end here, this writer wants to know what Blagojevich possibly had to gain by appearing at a show that mocks his very existence? It is highly probable that this appearance is just another part of Blagojevich’s recent PR campaign in an attempt to restore his image and limit or avoid potential jail time.

The one potential benefit for the embattled former governor is that mocking his own faults (or shall we say crimes) could potentially downgrade their importance. But honestly, who is this guy fooling? I find it shocking that Blagojevich is hanging out at Second City and pretending to be one of the guys. It seems to me like every person in Illinois—let alone the rest of the country—would like to throw a pie at his face.

Furthermore, this incident seems to go hand in hand with the comments that Blagojevich’s wife (who is on a reality TV show to raise some cash) made about the Repbulican candidate in the 2006 Illinois gubernatorial race, Judy Baar Topinka. Blagojevich’s wife—who must really love her husband to be eating dead spiders on TV to support a criminal—chewed out Topinka (who lost to Blagojevich three years ago) for no apparent reason. Is there even one plausible explanation for why the wife of a governor who tried to auction off a Senate seat could possibly be criticizing an opponent from 2006 (especially Topinka who has a clean record).

While I’m not sure I understand the recent behavior of the Blagojevich family, I can say for certain that these stunts are truly bizarre. I honestly can’t explain how the former governor proposes to get out of the hole he dug for himself, but at least I can take pride in knowing that I didn’t vote for him (I was one of those voters who read reports of early corruption, something that led to Blagojevich being rated by Rasmussen as “the worst governor in America” well before his most recent crimes emerged).

photo credit: swanksalot

Abramovich's Yacht Pelarus

Just when we all thought that the world financial crisis was really hitting home, Russian gagilionaie Roman Abramovich launched his new yacht in Germany yesterday. Abramovich, who was recently estimated to be the 51st richest man in the world by Forbes (with $8.5 billion), will add his new ship—Eclipse—to his private fleet which includes four other luxury yachts.

Abramovich's Private 767

The new yacht—which was built in secrecy—will have two swimming pools, two helipads, a spa, several tenders and a multitude of VIP guest suites. The 557 foot ship will also include a military-grade missile defense system, bullet proof accommodations for Abramovich’s suite and a submarine that’s intended to serve as an escape vessel if needed. As expected, the yacht is the biggest in the world is rumored to cost as estimated 300 million pounds.

The 43 year old mogul is the former mayor of Chukotka and the current owner of the Chelsea Football Club. Although the Jewish businessman lost a reported 3 billion pounds during the current crisis, he will certianly find some comfort on his new ship. To see pictures of Eclipse, click here!

photo credit: akifui, VitaliK