Da Ali G Show - The Complete Second Season

Description

If there's such a thing as sur reality TV, then Sacha Baron Cohen is da man, and Da Ali G Show is da bomb. Better known as his alter egos Ali G (the "wanskta" journalist), Borat (the clueless correspondent from Kazakhstan), and Bruno (the gay Austrian fashionista), Cohen is consistently hilarious in these six episodes (on two discs) from the 2003 season of his HBO show. With his cracked Cockney-Rasta patois ("does you 'tink ") and constant malapropisms (confusing "incest" with "incense" and "bi-lingual" with "bi-sexual"; calling MIT linguistics professor Noam Chomsky "Norman"), Ali G is the star. But so is the odd and, well, surreal assortment of folks he interviews in his relentless, "Candid Camera"-goes-hip-hop assault on the idiots and idiosyncrasies of American culture and politics. Some are at least partly complicit; Pat Buchanan, of all people, plays right along with the shtick, as does Immigration and Naturalization Service chief James Ziegler. Others are merely confused, like the doc who grows increasingly frustrated by Ali's inability to differentiate between "veteran" and "veterinarian," newsman Sam Donaldson, or former LAPD chief Daryl Gates. But as absurd as Da Ali G Show gets, this isn't Jackass , and Cohen is no dummy. Along with all the goofing are some shrewd questions about abortion, teaching religion in schools, Iraq, and homeland security, to name a few ("How come there ain't no security on trains?" Ali G asks Ziegler, who laughs off the question and then came the Madrid and London subway bombings). With a generous helping of extras (including Ali's commencement speech at Harvard!) along with the episodes, Da Ali G Show is a riot. Fuh real, yo. --Sam Graham Da Ali G Show: The Complete Second Season (DVD) The Emmy nominated, BAFTA Award-winning Ali G is back! British comedic genius, Sacha Baron Cohen, slips into the skins of his devilish alter egos, Ali G, Borat and Bruno to create loads of hilarious riffs at the expense of American culture in the second season of the international phenomenon called "riotous", by The Dallas Morning News and "deliciously wicked," by the Boston Globe. Review: Still Brilliant Almost 10 Years Later - After seeing the individual releases of the first and second seasons of Da Ali G Show on sale here at desertcart for a total of about 17 bucks, I immediately added them to my cart. So think about comparing the price of the individual first and second season releases before investing in Da Compleet Seereez . The DVDs arrived earlier this week, my older son and I watched all 12 episodes in two nights, and we laughed out loud like it was the first time we ever saw the show. Well, actually it was the first time my son saw the show, and he got his first lessons in Socratic Irony. The Ali G character is funny, and remember it is this series that also introduced the Borat and Brüno characters to the US as well. Sacha Baron Cohen takes his characters, puts them in interview mode with unassuming real people--often famous people--that believe they are actually participating in some kind of talk show. And the result is usually hilarity. The funniest part being the reaction to each character by the people that he is duping. Cohen's Ali G character (a stereotypical hip-hop, British ghetto banger TV host), Borat (a Kazakhstani reporter naive to US culture), and Brüno (a stereotypical gay mannerismed TV host) have the same modus operandi....And that modus operandi is Socratic Irony; Cohen's characters deliberately feign ignorance in order to expose weakness in the commitment that people have to being so politically correct that they almost always seriously (attempt to) answer the ridiculous opinions and questions that Cohen's characters come up with. Hence, his victims look equally stupid. The only victim that I ever saw that had enough intelligence to quickly walk out of the situation without any regard to whether or not he was offending a Cohen character (Ali G) was Donald Trump. Even if you were a fan of this show almost 10 years ago now, trust me when I say that if the last time you saw the show (like me) was when it was on HBO, you will enjoy watching these episodes again today just as if it were the first time you were seeing them. If you've never seen this show: Check. It. Out. But don't be fooled into being offended by any of the Cohen characters. They are not real; the man behind the mask really isn't that stupid. He's trying to make YOU look stupid. And if you take Cohen's characters seriously, you will indeed look stupid. You see? Socratic Irony. Booyahkasha! Review: Sacha Baron Cohen at his best - Da Ali G Show - Second season was made when Sacha Baron Cohen was famous in UK, but before he blew up in the US with "Borat." As a result, he's able to get away with things that would be impossible relatively soon after. His bogus interviews with celebrities and non-celebrities alike are equally hilarious. He pulls out his three now-famous characters: white gangsta rapper, Ali G; endearingly bigoted and clueless Borat; and the faaaaabulous Bruno. All have their unique appeals, and I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite. It's mind-boggling that Cohen's targets can't quickly figure out they're getting punked, but I think that's a symptom of how much certain people are affected by TV cameras. I know some people find him tiresome today, as I did to a degree after the "Bruno" film, but viewing "Ali G" brings back the laughs that made me love Cohen in the first place. I have Da Ali G Show - The Complete First Season , too, which is also a must see.