Or maybe it's just that Austria's nowhere near as funny as Kazahkstan

Yet another great week in Santa Barbara that affords me the time to catch up on a backlog of thus far untouched cultural fun mixed in with runs along the beach and tasty summer foods. I'll post a bundle of reviews as the week goes on. But I'll start with a pair of movies.

"Bruno" is "Borat" without the core of sweetness or the surprises that made Sasha Baron Cohen's comedy seem so intensely original. My rating - D-plus. I knew what we were in for, and I went in wanting to find the silver thong amidst a cloud of intentionally bad fashion. Sadly, it ain't there. Save you cash and wait for cable.

"The Hurt Locker" has a more authentic feel than any of the other Iraq War movies that have largely disappointed over the last many years. The setting in both time (2004 going forward) and place (chaotic Baghdad) is spot on. The actors do everything that's asked of them in a tense, brutal storyline centered on a bomb disposal team. But it just doesn't feel like a modern, insightful, off-balance classic. For that designation, I'd go more for "Full Metal Jacket" or to a much lesser degree "Three Kings". My rating - B-minus. I still recommend it strongly as a rental.

Hope your own blast radius has more to do with the outer limits of a backyard barbeque party today. Rock on.