Yesterday, we reported that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences may revoke comedic actor Sacha Baron Cohen’s tickets to the Academy Awards on Sunday if he arrives to the awards ceremony dressed as the titular character from his upcoming film, The Dictator.  And because the news that story generated is just about the best promotion the film could ask for—because the trailer certainly didn’t do it many favors—Cohen has now released a video response to the non-controversy, in character as the dictator.

In the video, Cohen fires off a few cute lines, but, much like the trailer to the film, this video clip feels strangely flat and unfunny, coming as it does behind the comedic mastermind that made Bruno.  Something about the schtick-y nature of the character, perhaps, but the entirety of what has been seen of The Dictator thus far just plays as one long, unfunny late-period Mike Myers premise.  Check out the video:

Well, am I wrong?  Is this funny?  Or does it just feel like a desperate attempt to hijack some free press for a film that doesn’t look that great to begin with (just as dressing up as the dictator while attending the Oscars would have done)?  Let us know your feelings in the comments wall below.

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Bruno has been banned in the Ukraine due to its immoral message and images. According to reuters.com, this is not the first Sacha Baron Cohen movie that has been kept away from Ukraine viewers, his first feature film, the equally outrageous film Borat, was also banned in the ex-Soviet state.

A culture ministry commission concluded that the film included:

“Artistically unjustified exhibition of sexual organs and sexual relations, homosexual acts in a blatantly graphic form, obscene language, sadism, anti-social behavior which could damage the moral upbringing of our citizens.”

It seems the United States and the Great Britain do not share the same opinions as the Ukraine, where conservative views on homosexuality still prevail. The movie opened at the top of the box office for both the U.S. and Britain.

Do you think the Ukraine’s action to ban Bruno was the right thing to do? Do you think Sacha Baron Cohen’s characters are immoral?

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Sacha Baron Cohen, best known for playing the heavily-accented, strange reporter from Kazakhstan, Borat, is returning to the big screen with another one of his characters. This time, it’s Bruno, the gay Austrian fashion show presenter. Mr. Baron Cohen has been up to his old candid tricks, such as showing up, as Bruno, at a Proposition 8 rally and at the catwalk during an Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada fashion show in Milan.

According to the Risky Business Blog, the first footage of the film was screened at SXSW. The mockumentary is scheduled to be out on July 10 of this year. A lot of the early hype is saying that Bruno makes Borat look like child’s play; expect something even more obscene and wild than 2 naked men running through a hotel and wrestling in the upcoming film. Sacha Baron Cohen made a brief appearance, albeit on screen in a pre-taped segment, at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, on Sunday night. Speaking in an exaggerated, upper-crust British accent, Baron was shown sitting in front of an editing bay as he welcomed the audience to view three scenes from Bruno.

The South by Southwest Festival is a great place for a person of sprawling interests, which I guess is what they decided to make Bruno’s first outing there. With separate streams of programming for interactive matters, film and, starting Wednesday, a tsunami of music seminars and gigs, you never run out of things to look at or hear.

Now if only would release some footage of Bruno at SXSW we could all enjoy it!

What do you think?

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