Facebook.com – Become a Fan! Twitter.com – Follow Us! Sacha Baron Cohen’s publicity tour for ‘The Dictator’ is in full swing. He appeared on TODAY as his film’s character, Admiral General Shabazz Aladeen. He was interviewed by Matt Lauer. “By the way, how are your family? … How is your wife Annette?” he asked at the top of the interview. “What is she doing now?” “She’s probably watching this interview,” said Lauer. “Incorrect!” said Aladeen, pulling a swatch of brown locks from his pocket. “Is this her hair?” Fortunately, it was all an act. “The Dictator” opens May 16th.
The first trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen ‘s The Dictator had Megan Fox and Kardashian jokes, but those pop culture touchstones have been replaced by Anna Faris and terrorism gags in the new, longer trailer. An upgrade? Eh, sure. Maybe. Or not: Faris’s brunette pixie ‘do does make her look particularly adorable, but juxtaposed with her natural poise Cohen comes off as a poor man’s Adam Sandler . Like, hammy Zohan-lite Sandler. Here’s why Cohen’s Dictator schtick hasn’t really worked thus far, from the film footage that’s been released: When Cohen is 100 percent in character — clueless, masking any hint of self-awareness, as he was best in Borat or while Kim Jong-illing Ryan Seacrest recently at the Oscars — he absolutely slays. That unapologetic ignorance is key, and that’s how The Dictator seems to start out. But throw in those rom-com cliches and the lessons in humility and/or humanity that will surely come once Admiral General Aladeen falls for Faris’s hippie love interest, redeems himself, etc. (as the trailers suggest he will) and he’s instantly less interesting. Is it too late to cut together a version of The Dictator made entirely of Obama footage, Aladeen at the Wadiya Olympics, and scenes of Cohen frightening bigoted Americans with his terrifying “otherness?” Because that’s the movie I want after seeing all this learning lessons BS. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Ryan Seacrest, Lindsay Lohan are among other public figures who have been punk’d in public. By Kara Warner Kim Kardashian Photo: Tommaso Boddi/ WireImage Not surprisingly, there has been much ado over the flour-bombing of Kim Kardashian Thursday night at the West Hollywood launch of her new fragrance line, True Reflection. Kardashian is, after all, a generator of countless news headlines — sometimes one of the reality star’s generic comments on Twitter is enough to warrant a news item — and the fact that she was attacked with a flour bomb during a red-carpet appearance is certainly newsworthy. Kardashian is not the first celeb to fall victim to a flour bomb, however. The recent incident brings to mind several others that have involved a few of our favorite public figures taking some flour and other seemingly harmless household items to the face. Ryan Seacrest The most recent “bombing” incident involved funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen and Ryan Seacrest , Kardashian’s E! colleague. Cohen made headlines with his heavily publicized appearance at the Oscars in character as Admiral General Aladeen of his upcoming movie “The Dictator”; he then made waves around the world when he greeted Seacrest for an interview by tossing “ashes” (which turned out to be Bisquick) all over the host. Bob Dylan Although the beloved rock icon took home Album of the Year for his Time Out of Mind at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards in 1998, the moment that everybody remembers from that night came during Dylan’s performance of “Love Sick,” when a shirtless man named Michael Portnoy stormed the stage and began . The rocker definitely took notice of the stranger with the words “Soy Bomb” written across his chest, but he barely batted an eye before security came out to remove him. Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Lohan was the unfortunate victim of a “bombing” by animal-rights activists in 2008. She and then-girlfriend Samantha Ronson were outside a Paris nightclub when three activists used flour to express their distaste for Lohan’s fur stole. Lohan has a history with PETA, having been named to their Worst Dressed List in the past. Tom Cruise During one of his many red-carpet appearances in 2005 for “War of the Worlds,” Cruise was surprised by a jokester posing as a journalist who attempted to prank Cruise with a trick microphone that squirted water in the action star’s face. Cruise took the man to task for the incident. “Do you like thinking less of people, is that it?” Cruise asked, preventing the man from fleeing the scene by reaching across the metal barrier and holding his arm. “Don’t run away,” he said. “That’s incredibly rude. I’m here giving you an interview and you do that … it’s incredibly rude.” Various Politicians There are almost too many victims to name at this point, but more than a few politicians have been victims of glitter bombs , acts of protest by activists meant to bring awareness to gay rights. The list of victims includes Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann. Glitter-bombers beware, though: The act carries possible jail time and a hefty fine for those who get caught.
