Independent Spirit Award-winner tells MTV News ending awards season with her co-stars is ‘so bittersweet.’ By Terri Schwartz Shailene Woodley Photo: Getty Images “The Descendants” took home a handful of awards from the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon, but none of the winners were more enthused about the honor than first-time nominee Shailene Woodley. The “Secret Life of the American Teenager” star has been rewarded repeatedly for her emotional turn as the teenage daughter of George Clooney’s character in the Alexander Payne-directed flick, and the 20-year-old continued that trend Saturday, winning Best Supporting Actress. Sunday night’s Academy Awards marks the last major awards show of the season for Woodley and her “Descendants” castmates. On the red carpet before the Spirit Awards, the young actress told MTV News that ending her time with her co-stars is “so bittersweet.” “Tomorrow’s the grand finale. It’s awesome, because I’ll be able to have clean socks and do laundry for the first time in a few months, but it is sad because every single night has been this beautiful little reunion of people, and tomorrow’s the last reunion,” she explained. At least the reunions will go out with a bang, since the entire cast, including Clooney, is expected to attend the Oscars . Even though they won’t continue to see each other on the awards circuit this year, Woodley expects she and her castmates will stay in touch. If Clooney falls out of contact, Woodley promised, “I will track him down and say, ‘Keep teaching me, because I haven’t learned enough yet!’ ” The actress has made quite a splash on the red carpet while doing rounds for “The Descendants,” and she said her Oscar-night dress is ready to go. Picking out the perfect outfit hasn’t been something to stress about — as she said, that’s what stylists are for. “I do have a dress. It hasn’t been that big of a process because I know nothing about fashion,” Woodley said. “I have an awesome stylist who does know a lot about fashion, and so I’m sure she would say it’s been a big process, but for me, it’s been very simple.” The MTV Movies team has the 2012 Oscars covered! Stick with us for everything you need to know leading up to the awards show, and on Sunday, February 26, tune into MTV.com at 5 p.m. ET for our two-and-a-half-hour red-carpet live stream and updates on the night’s big winners. To join the live conversation, tweet @MTVNews with the hashtag #Oscars.
Billy Crystal’s return as host foreshadowed at 2011 Academy Awards. By Kevin P. Sullivan Billy Crystal at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images It certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but it was a year ago that “The King’s Speech” won top honors at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards . As we head into the 2012 Oscars on Sunday, it’s an appropriate time to look back on last year’s winners that surprised, moments that shocked and snubs we’re still not quite over yet. Anne and James In an attempt to appeal to a younger demographic, the Academy enlisted the help of Anne Hathaway and James Franco and “youth-oriented” segments including an Auto-Tuning of some of the year’s biggest movies. The result was a confusing three hours of underwhelming laughs and jokes that fell mostly flat. Afterward, blame flew both ways, but it seems unlikely that either will host again. Kirk Douglas, Show Stealer Leave it to a 94-year-old to show all the kids how it’s done. With more energy than the two hosts combined, Douglas won over the audiences in the Kodak Theatre and at home, overtly hitting on Hathaway and making sweeping generalizations about Australians and Brits. The King’s Night Despite hanging in second behind “The Social Network” for most of the awards-season love leading up to the Oscars, “The King’s Speech” came from behind to win three of the top categories: Best Picture, Actor and Director. Colin Firth locked up his award months in advance by sweeping the earlier ceremonies, but the race for picture and director came down to Oscar night, ending with Tom Hooper’s controversial win over David Fincher. The Dark Knight Rises His victory for Best Supporting Actor might not have come as a surprise, but Christian Bale’s tough-guy image was nowhere to be found. The actor sincerely thanked his wife and daughter after accepting the prize for “The Fighter.” Not only was he happy, but he even made fun of himself and his previous bouts with bad language. Billy Crystal’s Standing Ovation In the evening’s most-apparent act of foreshadowing, Billy Crystal took the stage to honor former Oscar host Bob Hope, and the audience welcomed him with a standing ovation. It wasn’t long after that talk of bringing Crystal back to host started, setting up the Oscar night we’re now anticipating. The MTV Movies team has the 2012 Oscars covered! Stick with us for everything you need to know leading up to the awards show, and on Sunday, February 26, tune into MTV.com at 5 p.m. ET for our two-and-a-half-hour red-carpet live stream and updates on the night’s big winners. To join the live conversation, tweet @MTVNews with the hashtag #Oscars. Related Videos 2011 Oscars Red Carpet Interviews Related Photos The 2011 Academy Awards Best And Worst Oscars Hosts Of All Time
With nominees ranging from Oscar winner Martin Scorsese to rising star Michel Hazanavicius, we put forth who should win as well as who will. By Kara Warner Martin Scorsese, Asa Butterfield, Chlo
Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Dictator’ stunt has us wishing we could see Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Johnny Depp in costume. By Gil Kaufman Johnny Depp in “Dark Shadows” Photo: Warner Bros “The Dictator” has spoken. After a flap erupted over Sacha Baron Cohen ‘s plans to walk the red carpet at Sunday’s Oscars in the character of Admiral Gen. Shabazz Aladeen , the leader of the fictional Republic of Wadiya, the comedian responded by issuing a stern warning to the “Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Zionists.” And while the fake war of words is all in good fun (and publicity), it got us thinking: What if some of Hollywood’s other biggest stars decided to ride Cohen’s medal-bedecked coattails and use movie’s biggest night to drum up a bit of hype for their projects? And so, we give you our wish list of other characters we hope to see come to life once the flashbulbs start popping on Sunday afternoon. Brad Pitt : We haven’t seen any glimpses of what the “Moneyball” star looks like in his potentially franchise-spawning zombie flick “World War Z,” but how refreshing would it be to see Hollywood’s prettiest face (sorry Angelina, we meant second prettiest) take a stroll with his best gal with flesh dripping off his mug? Jonah Hill : Speaking of Pitt, his “Moneyball” co-star Hill could leave the tux at home and totally break convention by donning a white T-shirt, fake braces, bleach-blond wig, backpack and baggy jeans to promote his upcoming upcoming turn in “21 Jump Street.” Or he could just wear that short-shorts cop getup. Hot! Angelina Jolie : As long as Brad’s doing it, Angie might as well get her evil princess “Maleficent” on. Or better yet, get the buzz machine going again for that by donning full regalia and being carried in by a procession of armor-wearing footmen. Johnny Depp : We’re not saying the cowboy suit and mask from “The Lone Ranger” wouldn’t be amazing, but can you imagine the long fingernails, pasty makeup and badass green trench coat/ purple fedora look from “Dark Shadows” ? Lindsay Lohan : She turns heads either way, but Lohan emerging from a limo dressed as Oscar royalty Elizabeth Taylor would slay. Owen Wilson : Nothing could get the buzz going for the long-rumored “Zoolander 2” reboot than “Midnight in Paris” star Wilson slipping into the Hansel duds and Ben Stiller pulling out some Blue Steel as his date. And it’s not just upcoming movies that these actors could use as hooks to play dress-up. Since many of them get back-end and maybe even DVD cash, why not toss in one more plug for the current movies as well? That might result in famed motion-capture star Andy Serkis putting on the mo-cap suit from “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” Rooney Mara spiking up her hair and slipping into something bondage-y to reprise her “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” character Lisbeth Salander or the cast of “Bridesmaids” taking one more trip down the aisle in those awful pink dresses. Hell, George Clooney is notorious for pranks, so if he appeared in flip-flops, baggy chinos and a Hawaiian shirt to give a plug to “The Descendants,” nobody would bat an eyelash. And can you imagine the cast of “The Artist” painting themselves up in all monochromatic black and white to throw off the HD cameras? Classic. The MTV Movies team has the 2012 Oscars covered! Stick with us for everything you need to know leading up to the awards show, and on Sunday, February 26, tune into MTV.com at 5 p.m. ET for our two-and-a-half-hour red-carpet live stream and updates on the night’s big winners. To join the live conversation, tweet @MTVNews with the hashtag #Oscars. Related Videos Oscars 2012: And The Nominees Are…
‘She has no choice but to go in the direction of the serial killer,’ actress tells MTV News. By Kara Warner Amanda Seyfried in “Gone” Photo: Saeed Adyani/ Summit Entertainment Amanda Seyfried has been stepping outside the proverbial box recently with her roles in films. The last time we caught up with the “Mean Girls” and “Mamma Mia!” star, she was fighting the Man with Justin Timberlake in the sci-fi thriller “In Time,” and this week, she has us on the edge of our seats in the suspense thriller “Gone.” The film revolves around recent kidnapping victim Jill Parrish (Seyfried), who is still trying to get over a series of harrowing, inexplicable events that occurred a year earlier, when she claimed she was kidnapped and buried in a hole in a ground. When Jill comes home from work one evening to find her sister missing, she is convinced that the same kidnapper has returned to torture her once more. Unfortunately for Jill, the people around her think she’s crazy, including the local police, and Jill has to take matters into her own hands to try to find her sister before something truly terrible happens. The story is told in such a way to keep the audience wondering if Seyfried’s character is really crazy and if the one police officer who believes her is actually the killer. When MTV News caught up with Seyfried recently, she revealed that she enjoys playing up the paranoid aspects of a femme fatale, but also explained exactly why Jill isn’t your run-of-the-mill damsel in distress. “She’s just the girl-next-door kind of character, and it kind of makes you realize that anyone is capable of anything if they put their mind to it,” Seyfried said. “She has no choice but to go in the direction of the serial killer, because he has her sister, and it’s a no-holds-barred really strong female character.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Gone.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
MTV News looks back on the most moving speeches and those that left us cringing. By John Mitchell Jennifer Hudson at the 2007 Oscars Photo: Vince Bucci/Getty Images Delivering a good Oscar acceptance speech is not easy. If you over prepare, you seem arrogant, like you knew you were going to win all along, and if you aren’t ready for your name to be called, you’re almost certain to forget to thank your significant other or your film’s director. Some Oscar winners suffer from a serious case of the sniffles and leave audiences unsure what they even said, while others go off on tangents that have nothing to do with movies at all. In the end, though, it mostly just comes down to having that special something, that je ne sais quoi . And let’s face it, you’ve either got it or you don’t. Below are five stars we think nailed it when they were called onstage and five who, well, didn’t exactly charm viewers’ pants off on movies’ biggest night. Best Cuba Gooding Jr., Best Supporting Actor, “Jerry Maguire” (1998) Gooding’s acceptance speech is basically an exercise in pure joy. The actor leapt to the stage and earnestly thanked just about everyone he’s ever met, starting with his mother and God, and issued “I love you’s” to “Maguire” co-star Tom Cruise, director Cameron Crowe and pretty much everyone else who worked on the film. His genuine enthusiasm captured the crowd and earned him a standing ovation. Halle Berry, Best Actress, “Monsters Ball” (2002) History was made when Berry won the Best Actress statue — she was the first African American woman to claim the lead actress prize — and she honored the moment with an emotional speech that she dedicated to “every nameless, faceless woman of color who now has a chance after tonight because this door has been opened.” She thanked the actors and actresses of color who came before her and declared the moment “so much bigger” than herself. Her speech was an exercise in humility and surprise — two things most Oscar acceptance speeches could benefit from. Jennifer Hudson, Best Supporting Actress, “Dreamgirls” (2007) Hudson’s took home the Oscar for her very first film performance and delivered a simple acceptance speech that was probably most notable for how humble and truly surprised she seemed to hear her name called. Though she’d been a favorite throughout awards season that year, she seemed shocked when George Clooney announced that she’d won and stuttered and stumbled her way through her speech, but was sure to thank all those she needed to, from “Dreamgirls” director Bill Condon and her co-stars to her family, friends and Jennifer Holliday, who originated the role of Effie White on Broadway. Tom Hanks, Best Actor, “Philadelphia” (1994) Hank’s Oscar acceptance speech may well be the only one to have inspired a movie itself. His lengthy speech was marked by some traits we don’t always love — it certainly felt rehearsed — but the actor’s gratitude seemed genuine when he thanked his high school drama teacher, Rawley Farnsworth, as well as a former classmate, who he called “two of the finest gay Americans, two wonderful men.” There was only one problem: Farnsworth was still in the closet about his sexuality. The slip of the lip inspired the 1997 film “In & Out,” in which Kevin Kline plays a high school drama teacher outed when his former student (played by Matt Dillon) wins an Oscar. In a nice turn of events, the always lovely Joan Cusack earned an Oscar nomination herself playing Kline’s jilted fianc
‘We’re thrilled to have him,’ Academy Awards producer Brian Grazer says. By Ryan J. Downey Sacha Baron Cohen as General Aladeen in “The Dictator” Photo: Paramount Action heroes like Rambo may not give in to threats, but Oscar producers caved to “The Dictator.” Of course, it’s all in good fun. In an interview with “Extra,” producer Brian Grazer confirmed Sacha Baron Cohen will arrive at the Academy Awards on Sunday as his character from his forthcoming political satire, contrary to earlier reports. “We’re thrilled to have him and he’ll be on the red carpet, I guess, dressed as the ‘dictator,’ ” he told “Extra.” Grazer, a producer on movies like “A Beautiful Mind” and “Apollo 13,” is also producing this year’s Oscars. In “The Dictator,” Baron Cohen adds the totalitarian leader of a fictitious country to his list of alter egos, which already included Ali G, Borat and Bruno, all of whom have headlined feature films since launching on “The Ali G Show.” He played a supporting role in Best Picture nominee “Hugo” but was insistent about attending the awards show in character as Admiral General Shabazz Aladeen. Earlier on Friday (February 24), the English actor and comedian called in to the “Today” show (as Aladeen) to address his alleged ban from awards. The “Today” interview came on the heels of a video message on the website for “The Republic of Wadiya,” in which the dictator made a number of threats. “On behalf of the nation of Wadiya, I am outraged at being banned from the Oscars by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Zionists,” General Aladeen said in the video. “While I applaud the Academy for taking away my right to free speech, I warn you that if you do not lift your sanctions and give me my tickets back by 12 p.m. on Sunday, you will face unimaginable consequences.” Back in 2007, Oscar producers wouldn’t allow the actor to appear in character as Borat. At press time, a spokesperson for the Academy told The Hollywood Reporter she had not heard about the plans for Cohen for Sunday. “The Dictator” arrives in theaters May 11. The MTV Movies team has the 2012 Oscars covered! Stick with us for everything you need to know leading up to the awards show, and head to Next Movie for a printable Oscar ballot . On Sunday, tune into MTV.com at 5 p.m. ET for our two-and-a-half-hour red-carpet live stream and updates on the night’s big winners. To join the live conversation, tweet @MTVNews with the hashtag #Oscars.
Producer talks to MTV News about collaborating with award-winning composer Hans Zimmer. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Ricky Louis Pharrell Williams Photo: MTV News This Sunday, super producer Pharrell Williams and Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer will show the world what they’ve been cooking up since the December announcement they would join forces as the musical consultants for the 84th Academy Awards . “You know, Hans called me and he said that [Oscars Producer] Brian Grazer had asked him to come on as a consultant and effectively score the music or whatever,” he explained to MTV News. “And Hans was like, ‘I can’t do that. … I’d do that if like I had, like, Pharrell.’ [Grazer’s] like, ‘OK, get Pharrell on the phone.’ That’s the story he told me. I got the call from Hans and he told them he wanted to do it with me, and so I pleasantly accepted and we’ve just been working ever since.” While Pharrell wanted to keep the collaboration as top-secret as possible, he did give some insight into what the two have in store for the big night, which will be hosted by Billy Crystal. “Well, you’re gonna have to watch the show and see, we can’t give it away. That’s what’s so funny about interviews. They always want to know what you’re about to do,” he explained. “It’s like some of us love you know music and art that blindsides, comes out of nowhere with a crazy impact. And then sometimes you talk about things because you want to warm up the feeling before the huge impact. “But this is another one of those things where we keep things under wraps,” he continued. “But it’s cool; it’s interesting; it’s very different. Definitely there’s an homage to the tradition of how the music was done traditionally. … [but] we’re different, and when given an opportunity and it’s our opportunity, Hans and I agreed we just would do it from the perspective of people who love music and love making music and respect it, giving back to what gave us so much, which is music and film.” The MTV Movies team has the 2012 Oscars covered! Stick with us for everything you need to know leading up to the awards show, and on Sunday, February 26, tune into MTV.com at 5 p.m. ET for our two-and-a-half-hour red-carpet live stream and updates on the night’s big winners. To join the live conversation, tweet @MTVNews with the hashtag #Oscars. Related Photos 2012 Oscar Nominees Related Artists Pharrell Williams
After 11 season, this faithful viewer might be trading ‘Idol’ in for new models ‘The X Factor’ and ‘The Voice.’ By Gil Kaufman Ryan Seacrest with the top 24 of “American Idol” Photo: Fox I’m a loyalist at heart. Back in the day, I watched “The X Files,” the original “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “The O.C.” until the bitter end, convincing myself that my patience would be rewarded well after the shark had jumped. But after slogging through another interminable pair of “American Idol” cut-down episodes Wednesday and Thursday , I think I’m finally throwing in the towel. I’ve been there since episode one with “Idol,” reveling in the joy of Kelly Clarkson’s win, cheering Ruben Studdard to his well-deserved crown and scratching my head when clearly inferior champs like Taylor Hicks, Lee DeWyze and Kris Allen took the top prize. Just a week before the season 11 live shows start, though, “Idol” has lost me, perhaps for good. The bottom line is that the show just feels like it’s on auto-pilot, from the bored looks on the faces of celebrity judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez to the predictable plotlines and not-so-clever editing tricks intended to keep our interest up through the early rounds. It was bad enough a few weeks ago when an entire episode of the group rounds went by without any discernible footage of, you know, singing. The biggest plot point that week was the exploitation of a sick teenage girl passing out and falling off the stage, which was used as a cruel cliffhanger. On Wednesday night, we got yet another rehash of the previous audition rounds along with mostly truncated looks at the singer’s final Las Vegas performances (most of which were bland, if not downright boring) before they had to make the long walk to the judgment chairs. Thursday night was more of the same. Sole original judge Randy Jackson seemed to run out of creative ways to torture the painfully eager singers with purposely vague platitudes about how hard it is to cut them at this point, purposely mangling his words to keep them on the edge of confusion. Watching this spectacle, I just asked myself, “Do I even care if Heejun Han or Reed Grimm make it?” “Do I need to see Jermaine Jones cry again?” “Who is Chase Likens and why haven’t I even seen him up until now?” In my long experience with “Idol” and writing about music, none of them seem like winner material, in the same way that such paint-by-numbers soul mamas like Jen Hirsch, Elise Testone, Erika Van Pelt, Shannon Magrane and stage mom’d Brielle Von Hugel fail to excite. And making Adam Brock — a weepy white dad who brags about singing like a black woman while using his dead grandfather’s handkerchief as a pity prop at every turn — a cliffhanger for Thursday night’s episode just seems pointless. This guy has no chance to win, and if he does, well, “Idol” has way bigger problems. In fact, the only contestant in the mix at this point who seems even halfway relevant in today’s music biz is skunk-mohawked former castoff Colton Dixon, but he hasn’t gotten nearly as much love as Phil Phillips, whose twitchy Dave Matthews impersonation has already grown unbearably irritating. Even 15-year-old Eben Franckewitz seems promising, but I can already tell his “story line” will be that despite lots of experience on the musical-theater stage, the judges are going to hammer him for his nerves. Before Wednesday night’s episode aired, I was already firmly in line with Entertainment Weekly columnist Mark Harris, who wrote an opinion piece in the February 24 issue about how he was switching sides. “The opening weeks of ‘Idol’ traffic in humiliation and tears — the neediness of the young, desperate to be extracted from the mob; the familiar weariness of the judges; the talentless clowns pimped as sneerworthy sideshows,” he wrote. “But the opening weeks of ‘The Voice’ are about hope and discovery.” In essence, he said, we’re at a tipping point where NBC’s upstart show is winning the race not by copying the template of “Idol,” but by purposely running in the other direction. The “Voice” judges are relevant musicians of today from varying genres with a sharp, entertaining rapport that crackles and brings a fresh energy to the show. That show starts from day one with good to great singers from varying backgrounds, singing mostly contemporary chart hits, who are eager to get help from those who are still charting today. Meanwhile, the “Idol” judges are riding the fumes of their fading careers as they continue to struggle to apply their hard-earned lessons in the music biz to mostly teenage strivers who can’t relate to their mother or father’s favorite singers. The leading contestants so far this year on “Idol” fall into two or three predictable camps: overreaching, throwback R&B belters, quirky imitators of no-longer-relatable stars or ultra-twangy country gals. Where are the edgy R&B divas like Rihanna? The cute boy singers like Justin Bieber? The hip-hop-influenced Drake wannabes? Hell, where are the Carrie Underwoods who can deftly mix pop and country? “The X Factor” and “The Voice” eagerly embrace singers of every color, style and persuasion. So are you telling me that there was not one woman of color out of the tens of thousands who auditioned worthy of the semifinal round? Have we become a nation of (almost exclusively) blond, female Mariah/Christina copycats? Just look at the talent that has already been signed in the wake of the first “Factor” season : a legitimately powerful soul diva in winner Melanie Amaro , a fascinating redemption story in rapper/crooner Chris Rene, contemporary R&B singer Marcus Canty, white blues man Josh Krajcik, high school cutie Rachel Crow and buzzed-about teen rapper Astro , any one of whom could legitimately blow up. Meanwhile, the first 24 semifinalists put through by “Idol” this week are almost without exception as blandly interchangeable (and old-fashioned) as Lopez’s spangly tops. And the “surprise” extra boy to be named later is one of the most tired tropes in the “Idol” dream factory bag of tricks. Sure, it’s very early in the process and nobody knows what could happen. But if you recall, even in the audition stage it was already clear that eventual season-eight runner-up Adam Lambert was destined to be one of the most exciting, unusual performers in the show’s history. It’s not like season-one “Voice” winner Javier Colon has set the world on fire, but at least that show focuses on mentoring and nurturing talent of any age, shape and style, rather than serving up cookie-cutter slot fillers. The sense of hope, discovery and optimism that Harris said permeates “The Voice” is wholly lacking on “Idol,” which feels more and more like a dated reality competition and less like a singing showcase. Tear-jerking backstories aside, it’s hard to see how any of these singers is going to win America over, not to mention make a case for idolatry or even above-average chart success. It’s been a fun ride, “Idol,” but unless you can prove to me that you can read the writing on the wall, I’m afraid my TiVo is going to be reprogrammed to NBC from now on. Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos ‘American Idol’ Season 11 Top 24 And Wildcard Contestants
Admiral General Shabazz Aladeen issues ultimatum, promises ‘unimaginable consequences’ if Academy refuses to lift ban. By John Mitchell Sacha Baron Cohen in “The Dictator” Photo: Paramount Sacha Baron Cohen finally addressed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ decision to ban him from attending Sunday’s Oscars , releasing a video and calling in to “Today” as Admiral General Shabazz Aladeen, his character in the upcoming film “The Dictator,” to promise “unimaginable consequences” if he is not permitted to attend. Baron Cohen was initially invited to the Oscars because he appears in one of this year’s Best Picture nominees, Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo.” The actor’s in-character appearance was intended to generate publicity for the film, a tactic with which the Academy apparently took issue. Purists believe such promotion is inappropriate, as the Academy hasn’t even allowed advertisements for films to run during the Oscar telecast until this year. “Good morning, great Satan of America. How are you? I am fine, thank you. On behalf of the nation of Wadiya, I am outraged at being banned from the Oscars by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Zionists,” Gen. Aladeen said in a video address posted to the Republic of Wadiya website . “While I applaud the Academy for taking away my right to free speech, I warn you that if you do not lift your sanctions and give me my tickets back by 12 p.m. on Sunday, you will face unimaginable consequences. … On top of all of this, I paid Hilary Swank $2 million to be my date and she will not refund a penny. My Sunday calendar is now as empty as a North Korean grocery store. “But whatever happens, I still plan to attend director Brett Ratner’s afterparty, since it is impossible to catch herpes twice,” he continued. “Death to the West. And good luck, Billy Crystal. You’re fantastic.” At the video’s conclusion, in a likely statement on what Baron Cohen believes inspired the Academy to ban him from attending in character, he concludes the video by saying, “How was that? Did I sound crazy enough?” This morning, during a call-in interview on “Today,” Cohen-as-Aladeen declared, “Normally I would be impressed by an act of cowardice by a faceless regime. But this is personal.” This isn’t the first time Baron Cohen has been shunned by the Academy after declaring his intention to show up in character. In 2007, Baron Cohen was asked to be a presenter but said he would do it only if he could be in character as Borat, the fictitious Kazakh journalist he played in the blockbuster film of the same name. Oscar execs said no, and Baron Cohen did not attend the awards — though he was not officially banned from attending the ceremony. The actor also appeared in character as Br
