Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles’ The Dictator is indefensible and hilarious, an unruly thing that invites you to laugh at things you feel you shouldn’t. I’ve heard people — even some who like the picture — referring to The Dictator as offensive, and one of the guys sitting behind me at the screening laughed at some jokes and remained awkwardly mute during others. After one of these pauses — the vibrations of his uneasiness were traveling right through my seat back — I heard him say to his pal, “I’m not sure how I feel about this.” But as the end credits rolled he announced joyously, “That was great!” as if he’d endured an enema cleansing that made him feel a whole lot better afterward. Cohen has many gifts as a performer, and with The Dictator he reveals yet another one: He knows how to flush stuff right out of you.
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So there's good news and bad news regarding Scary Movie 5. The bad news is... well, there is a Scary Movie 5. The good news? Anna Faris has reportedly exercised her option and/or good judgment to step away from the ever-deteriorating franchise. And then there's this, which could go either way depending on your taste: The new installment reportedly intends to spoof Black Swan. Like, the whole thing.
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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trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator had Megan Fox and Kardashian jokes, but those pop culture touchstones have been replaced by Anna Faris and terrorism gags in the new, longer trailer.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.
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“If you show a woman’s mammary glands, if it’s done poorly, it instantly takes away from the comedic element of the scene. It’s too jarring. But [my husband] Chris [Pratt] and I were pitching around a character, a Hollywood-mess character on the red carpet at the opening of a movie. She’s talking to these journalists and she’s wasted. One boob is completely out, and she’s talking on and on, like, [Faris slurs] ‘I’m so excited to be here.’ If you held it long enough and kept it going, just the one boob, it would be so funny.” [BlackBook]
Because it's always good to remember that when you're judging famous people on Twitter, they sometimes read it (and weep), Jimmy Kimmel corralled a gaggle of comedians and comic actors to read some of the meanest Tweet-critiques they've received for the camera. I think we can all take a few universal lessons from this video: Namely, that celebrities like Jason Bateman, Presidential candidate Roseanne, and Andy Dick really are like the rest of us little Tweeters -- well okay, maybe not Andy Dick. Also: Will Ferrell reads his @ messages while on the can, too! If that can't bring us together as a Tweeple, what will?
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Fully-certified flop Wanderlust might have sold a few more tickets if it had actually done anything remotely interesting with Jennifer Aniston and the rest of its talented female cast. It’s obviously not new that Hollywood doesn’t quite know what to do with comedic actresses (see also Faris, Anna). But it is a little sad in the wake of Bridesmaids’ commercial success – and its Oscars cameo over the weekend – that the rest of the film industry still. Doesn’t. Get It.
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"Bottom line, and not that this is any of your fucking business weirdos, but my wife and I want to start a family and we ABSOLUTELY CANNOT have an animal that shits all over the house. Sorry. If you are a parent you will understand. And if not, that probably explains why you have such a hard on for cats. Just sayin'." And that, Internet, is why Moneyball star Chris Pratt gave up his 15-year-old cat Bella for adoption on Twitter. The actor ultimately gave Bella to a Twitter user named Meghan who is a "perfectly reasonable, sweet and friendly cat lover." Pratt's wife is What's My Number? star Anna Faris. [ChrisPratt.com]
Chances are you first laid eyes on former Verge designee Ari Graynor as a gum-snapping party girl in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, the breakout role that put the 28-year-old actress on Hollywood's radar back in 2008. Since then, she's continued to steal scenes in films like Youth in Revolt, Whip It, and Holy Rollers, but as she prepares for another big comedic year ahead of her (plus a run on Broadway), Graynor's ready to take her next big leap -- right into leading lady territory for the first time -- in the indie black comedy Lucky.
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A week after reportedly battling fellow funny ladies Kristen Wiig and Gillian Jacobs for the role, Anna Faris is in talks to star in the Larry Charles-directed The Dictator opposite Sacha Baron Cohen and Ben Kingsley. Cohen will play the titular "heroic" dictator, who is replaced by a lookalike and gets lost in America; Faris will play an organic food store owner who comes into his life. Paramount is already set to release the improvised comedy on May 11, 2012. [Deadline]
