Fridae

With Oscars just round the corner, we're seeing a glut of serious-minded
and highly-acclaimed films in our cinemas (Syriana, The Constant
Gardener, Brokeback Mountain, Hidden, Jarhead, North Country).
So, what's a bimbo viewer to do these days?

Fear not. Help is on the way. Comedian Ben Stiller hams it up as
male supermodel named Zoolander who has 10-per-cent body fat and
an equally low IQ. So spectacularly stupid is he that an evil fashion
designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell) decides to use him as a scapegoat
for his plan to assassinate the Malaysian prime minister.

The film is not consistently funny, but there are some wildly satiric
moments. For example, when the dim-witted Zoolander wonders aloud:
"Is there more to life than being really, really, really ridiculously
good-looking?" (A question some vainglorious gay men ask themselves
everyday, no doubt.) Or when Mugatu displays his latest clothing
line called Derelicte, inspired by poor and homeless people.

(NB: This comedy was released in the US in 2001, but was banned
in Singapore because of the film?s sensitive depiction of an assassination
attempt on the Malaysian PM. For some reason, the ban was recently
lifted so Golden Village is showing it 5 years late.)