Ocelopotamus

Borat and Fast Food Nation both came out on video last week.

I suspect the Borat DVD will be well worth having for the deleted scenes alone. There’s at least one of them I saw on YouTube before seeing the film, and I was truly disappointed when it didn’t make the cut because it’s better and more telling than a lot of what was kept in.

Unlike Borat, Fast Food Nation didn’t get anywhere near the audiences it deserved — possibly due to a lot of reviewers dismissing it as nothing all that shocking. But shock isn’t really the point. I’ve read the book, but the movie brings its issues alive in a way words on the page don’t.

Yes, the process of adapting a factual nonfiction book into a fictional story is awkward, and sometimes the dialogue suffers from that awkwardness — but on the whole it’s a powerful and compelling film. And I’m not just saying that because of the vegetarian angle.

In fact, it wasn’t the meat-related scenes that stuck with me so much as the way the movie takes you inside the lives and experiences of the illegal immigrants working at the meatpacking plant, and what you see through their eyes — aided by haunting and powerful performances from Wilmer Valderrama, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and others.

In fact, while Greg and Bruce got top billing, it’s really Wilmer who steals the film. I say give it a look.

Meanwhile, Shortbus is out on DVD this week. I managed to miss that one in the theaters, but I’m looking forward to seeing it on video.