Directed by Larry Charles (Bruno, Borat, Religulous, Curb Your Enthusiasm), The Dictator stars kosher British Jew Sacha Baron Cohen as the leader of a fictional Middle Eastern country who “risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.”

It was reportedly based on Zabibah and the King, a romance novel believed to have been written by Saddam Hussein. Now, when a movie stars a guy who acted flamboyantly gay on a hunting trip with real-life, gun-toting rednecks in Alabama, uses as its source material a book written by a delusional dictator who was murdered by his people (with our peoples’ help, of course), and was directed by a guy who’s now spent half his career baiting homophobes and religious types, you expect a certain, ground-breakingly ballsy kind of comedy (YOU BROKE MY GROUND WITH YOUR BALLS!). What you get, according to the trailer is…

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It’s weird to be sitting here watching the trailer for Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s first attempt at a “kids” movie (based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret), starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Chloe Moretz, and Ben Kingsley, when less than 24 hours ago I saw Joe Pesci squeeze a guy’s head in a vice until his eyeball popped in Casino (which is on Netflix Instant right now). But as Adam Carolla so often points out, people who make stuff for kids are usually hacks who weren’t good enough to make stuff for adults (Pixar exempted, obviously), so maybe a guy famous for making adult movies is the perfect choice for a kids flick. Wait, don’t misinterpret me when I say “adult movies…”

Anyway, it opens November 23rd, and am I wrong for thinking this looks… really good? The music choice is a little weird, but it has an amazing cast, and talk about eye candy. It’s surprisingly refreshing to see someone do “childlike wonder” without all the super-fast cuts, talking animals, or people dancing to hip hop. And as good as it is at trimming the fat, it still doesn’t skimp on the reaction shots of dogs groaning (1:50). OH F*CK YEAH ANIMALS BEING AMUSED BY HUMAN FOIBLES! I hope there’s more where that came from. Who wants to really high with me this November?

I didn’t post Heidi Montag’s ‘Transformers 3 audition‘ from the other day, because it was kind of boring and the last thing that dough-faced idiot needs is to believe she’s interesting in any way.  We could also discuss the kind of mind it would take to believe shooting a paper target from six feet away is an effective movie audition, but I have neither the time nor the tack hammers.

ANYWAY, here’s Sir Ben Kingsley parodying the aforementioned video for a George Lopez show promo.  I wanted it to be funny, but it’s actually kind of sad.  When Special K shows up, you assume it’s pretty much a slam dunk.  I’d watch Ben Kingsley wash my car (bonus points if he’s wearing a turban and a diaper).  Remember when he re-enacted that Minor Threat video?  That was fantastic.  This, on the other hand, looks like it involved about five seconds of pre-production.

“So… Ben Kingsley is British.  Can we do anything with that?  What do we know about the British?”

“Uh… they’re limp wristed and drink tea?”

“Perfect. Run with that, we’re burning daylight here.”

[via /Film]

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Martin Scorsese is 67 years old, but like this colonist on a Segway and my stepdad masturbating on Chat Roulette, he’s proving that you’re never too old to embrace new trends.  Variety confirms that Scorsese’s next film, an adaptation of the children’s book The Invention Of Hugo Cabret starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Ben Special K Kingsley and set for release in December 2011, will be filmed in 3D.

Based on Brian Selznick’s bestselling children’s book, “Hugo Cabret” is set in 1930s Paris and centers on a 12-year-old orphan who must solve the mystery of a broken robot.

Well sure, why not.  That Scorsese would choose to film it in 3D isn’t surprising in light of recent comments he made that he could imagine anything in 3D, even Precious.

“We see in depth, for the most part. We go to the theater — it’s in depth. Why couldn’t a film like Precious be in 3-D? It should be … It just seems natural that we’d be going in that direction. It’s going to be something to look forward to, but to be used interestingly.” [AP via /film]

I heard they held an initial screening of Precious in 3D, but after an ugly incident in which a confused and hungry Gabourey Sidibe mistakenly tried to steal a bucket of chicken from herself, the rest of the 3D run was canceled.  …Whatever, you’re going to hell.

Prince of Persia has a new trailer out and you can tell it’s a Jerry Bruckheimer movie because it rarely goes five seconds with out something falling down.  “Oh my God it’s collapsing! Save me from this elaborate set piece!”

Other than that, it’s your basic hero story: Jake Gyllenhaal is born a poor orphan, but he grows up to wield the powerful weapon all the bad guys want, because of destiny.  One day he meets a hot chick who stands around explaining the plot to him, and together they must take the ring to the fires of mordor blah blah mouthfart wank motion.

[available in higher res at IGN]