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In Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen put the real-life country of Kazakhstan on the map. Now he's hoping to do the same for the fictional Republic of Wadiya in the upcoming The Dictator.
The actor and comedian plays Middle East dictator General Aladeen in the movie, which just lanched a viral ad campaign that includes an official webpage for the country. Offered in two languages — English and Wadiyan — the site introduces us to the country and its supreme leader. No stranger to hyperbole, Aladeen declared the site was already bigger than Facebook!
Interesting tidbit about Wadiya? The country had a "Hot Potato" period, defined as the time the country was traded from Italy to Switzerland for a truckload of cheese. Wadiya also has some, um, interesting holidays, including Holocaust Remembrance Day: When Aladeen remembers all those who were so tragically released from Auschwitz (can someone say bad taste?).
more about Wadiya and The Dictator >> Posted 02.03.12 by Chris -
In the dystopian future of Idiocracy, a movie called Ass wins Best Picture and the top-rated TV show is Ow, My Balls!, where the "star" repeatedly gets hit in the crotch. While we're officially still 495 years away from realizing Mike Judge's vision, if gratuitous nut shots as seen in last weekend's Grown Ups continue, Ow, My Balls! will be on FOX by the end of the decade. By contrast we found scenes that are actually funny.
That's Gotta Hurt: Top 10 Movie Low Blows
Posted 07.01.10 by reelz -
The ReelzChannel 100 began when we asked Leonard Maltin for his favorite Hidden Gems of the decade. His list led the web team into a general discussion about the best movies of the decade and — after no small amount of debate, arguing, and (we're not proud to say) some petty name-calling — we decided we'd better bring it to an end with a company-wide vote. Then it was just a matter of tallying up the votes and hoping for the best. Lucky for us, ReelzChannel is filled with a staff ranging from movie lovers to movie fanatics. What turned out isn't what you'll find on a critic's best of list — instead it's what movie fans really enjoyed.
In day eight of the ReelzChannel 100, we highlight the Top 10 Comedies of the Decade.
Posted 12.30.09 by reelz -
We wouldn't call Borat and Bruno full-fledged documentaries, since the title characters were fictional extensions of Sacha Baron Cohen's twisted psyche. Nevertheless, the movies' antics were steeped in reality, creating a kind of pseudo-vérité.
But now, it appears that Cohen has decided to abandon the candid-camera shtick altogether. Variety writes that the 38-year-old British comedian has founded his own production company, Four By Two Films, and will go to work producing a new fictional project scripted by Peter Baynham.
Accidentes will tell the story of an "ambulance-chasing personal injury attorney of Latin descent" (played by Cohen) who helps a poor immigrant with a case against his wealthy employer. Ambulance-chasing, huh? We'll be interested to see what that means.
Cohen struck a deal with Universal for Accidentes and also got Columbia to commit to another starring vehicle. Cohen will script that project, as yet untitled, with Baynham, Anthony Hines, and Dan Mazer, the trio who collaborated with Cohen on Borat and Bruno.
Posted 11.06.09 by reelz -
Cinema Blend has posted four new clips from Bruno, starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles (who also directed Borat). Here are a couple of samples to whet your appetite:
Posted 07.02.09 by reelz -
The first lawsuit is in.Variety reports that on May 22 a woman from Palmdale, CA, sued Sacha Baron Cohen and NBC Universal over a stint at a bingo game two years ago.
Cohen was filming a segment for his upcoming Brüno, due in theaters July 10, when Richelle Olson "struggled" with the film crew. She claims Cohen used obscenities in front of an elderly audience, at which point she tried to take a microphone away from him. She says that Cohen's crew then attacked her, resulting in Olson leaving the event in tears. The lawsuit says she subsequently fell to the floor hitting a concrete slab and is now "seriously injured" and in need of a wheelchair or cane.
We expected something like this sooner or later, after what happened three years ago. As a result of his antics in Borat, Cohen received lawsuits from several of the movie's victims, including a driving instructor, two etiquette teachers, and perhaps most famously, a group of frat boys who made racist and sexist comments on camera in a drunken stupor.
Courts dismissed several of the suits, claiming that contracts were signed relieving the filmmakers from liability. Although Olson signed a similar agreement, her lawsuit claims that the contract contained misrepresentations and that she signed under "duress."
It's unclear whether the episode made it into the movie, but we wouldn't be surprised if we suddenly hear about other lawsuits in the weeks and months following Brüno's release.
Posted 06.04.09 by reelz -
Closing the book on all sorts of speculation, MTV has finally fessed up that the notrorious Brüno-Eminem incident the other night was staged. In the bigger picture though, it's all part of the innovative under-the-radar marketing campaign that Universal has cooked up for its most outrageous product, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal.
The studio has, the Journal reports, skipped most of the trappings -- and expense -- of a normal marketing campaign for Brüno. It's all about putting into practice what it learned from Sasha Baron Cohen's previous project, explains industry analyst Robert Marich:
One of the things about Borat was that it surprised everyone.... It had a much bigger opening than tracking surveys indicated because it had such a viral buzz. The challenge here for Universal is to sustain that with Brüno, which isn't always easy with high-concept movies because they're not so fresh the second time around.
Given the huge amount of gossip swirling around Brüno's latest antics, it seems that the studio may well be on its way to overcoming that hurdle.
Posted 06.02.09 by reelz -
Sacha Baron Cohen's alter ego Bruno showed up in California over the weekend to pop in on a rally in support of Proposition 8, which would ban gay marriage in California.
Bruno joined those demonstrating against the measure, dressed unassumingly in a blonde wig and blue sweater. Even so, it wasn't long before the tall Brit was recognized. His team shielded him from fans and eventually took him away in a van.
Baron Cohen is continuing to film segments for his highly anticipated follow-up to Borat, although his popularity is making things a little trickier this time around.
Sorce: Breitbart
Posted 11.03.08 by reelz -
You Don't Mess with the Zohan opens tomorrow, and if you've seen the trailer you were probably reminded of a certain Kazakh reporter's visit to America a couple of years ago. We were, too, and compiled a Zohan vs. Borat Comparison Chart.
Posted 06.05.08 by Dack -
It's been over a year since Borat came out in theaters, and yet the lawsuits just keep coming.
Now Michael Psenicksa, the driving instructor, has decided it's his turn and is bringing suit against Sacha Baron Cohen and the other filmmakers. He is asking for $100,000 in compensatory damages as well as punitive damages for being mislead and his continued emotional distress.
Has anyone actually won any of these Borat suits? Just wondering.
Sourc: MTV.com
Posted 12.06.07 by reelz