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Friday, November 6
We wouldn't call Borat and Bruno full-fledged documentaries, since the title characters were fictional extensions of Sacha Baron Cohen's twisted psyche. Nevertheless, the movies' antics were steeped in reality, creating a kind of pseudo-vérité.
But now, it appears that Cohen has decided to abandon the candid-camera shtick altogether. Variety writes that the 38-year-old British comedian has founded his own production company, Four By Two Films, and will go to work producing a new fictional project scripted by Peter Baynham.
Accidentes will tell the story of an "ambulance-chasing personal injury attorney of Latin descent" (played by Cohen) who helps a poor immigrant with a case against his wealthy employer. Ambulance-chasing, huh? We'll be interested to see what that means.
Cohen struck a deal with Universal for Accidentes and also got Columbia to commit to another starring vehicle. Cohen will script that project, as yet untitled, with Baynham, Anthony Hines, and Dan Mazer, the trio who collaborated with Cohen on Borat and Bruno.
Posted 11/6/2009 by Rich Z
Related: Sacha Baron Cohen | Dan Mazer | Anthony Hines | Peter Baynham | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan | Bruno
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Thursday, July 2
Cinema Blend has posted four new clips from Bruno, starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles (who also directed Borat). Here are a couple of samples to whet your appetite:
Next Showing: Bruno comes out in theaters July 10, 2009
Posted 7/2/2009 by Rich Z
Related: Sacha Baron Cohen | Larry Charles | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan | Bruno
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Thursday, June 4
The first lawsuit is in.Variety reports that on May 22 a woman from Palmdale, CA, sued Sacha Baron Cohen and NBC Universal over a stint at a bingo game two years ago.
Cohen was filming a segment for his upcoming Brüno, due in theaters July 10, when Richelle Olson "struggled" with the film crew. She claims Cohen used obscenities in front of an elderly audience, at which point she tried to take a microphone away from him. She says that Cohen's crew then attacked her, resulting in Olson leaving the event in tears. The lawsuit says she subsequently fell to the floor hitting a concrete slab and is now "seriously injured" and in need of a wheelchair or cane.
We expected something like this sooner or later, after what happened three years ago. As a result of his antics in Borat, Cohen received lawsuits from several of the movie's victims, including a driving instructor, two etiquette teachers, and perhaps most famously, a group of frat boys who made racist and sexist comments on camera in a drunken stupor.
Courts dismissed several of the suits, claiming that contracts were signed relieving the filmmakers from liability. Although Olson signed a similar agreement, her lawsuit claims that the contract contained misrepresentations and that she signed under "duress."
It's unclear whether the episode made it into the movie, but we wouldn't be surprised if we suddenly hear about other lawsuits in the weeks and months following Brüno's release.
Posted 6/4/2009 by Rich Z
Related: Sacha Baron Cohen | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan | Bruno
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Tuesday, June 2
Closing the book on all sorts of speculation, MTV has finally fessed up that the notrorious Brüno-Eminem incident the other night was staged. In the bigger picture though, it's all part of the innovative under-the-radar marketing campaign that Universal has cooked up for its most outrageous product, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal.
The studio has, the Journal reports, skipped most of the trappings -- and expense -- of a normal marketing campaign for Brüno. It's all about putting into practice what it learned from Sasha Baron Cohen's previous project, explains industry analyst Robert Marich:
One of the things about Borat was that it surprised everyone.... It had a much bigger opening than tracking surveys indicated because it had such a viral buzz. The challenge here for Universal is to sustain that with Brüno, which isn't always easy with high-concept movies because they're not so fresh the second time around.
Given the huge amount of gossip swirling around Brüno's latest antics, it seems that the studio may well be on its way to overcoming that hurdle.
Posted 6/2/2009 by Bill
Related: Sacha Baron Cohen | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan | Bruno
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Monday, November 3
Sacha Baron Cohen's alter ego Bruno showed up in California over the weekend to pop in on a rally in support of Proposition 8, which would ban gay marriage in California.
Bruno joined those demonstrating against the measure, dressed unassumingly in a blonde wig and blue sweater. Even so, it wasn't long before the tall Brit was recognized. His team shielded him from fans and eventually took him away in a van.
Baron Cohen is continuing to film segments for his highly anticipated follow-up to Borat, although his popularity is making things a little trickier this time around.
Sorce: Breitbart
Posted 11/3/2008 by reelz
Related: Sacha Baron Cohen | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan | Bruno
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Thursday, June 5
You Don't Mess with the Zohan opens tomorrow, and if you've seen the trailer you were probably reminded of a certain Kazakh reporter's visit to America a couple of years ago. We were, too, and compiled a Zohan vs. Borat Comparison Chart.
Posted 6/5/2008 by Dack
Related: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan | You Don't Mess With the Zohan
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Thursday, December 6
It's been over a year since Borat came out in theaters, and yet the lawsuits just keep coming.
Now Michael Psenicksa, the driving instructor, has decided it's his turn and is bringing suit against Sacha Baron Cohen and the other filmmakers. He is asking for $100,000 in compensatory damages as well as punitive damages for being mislead and his continued emotional distress.
Has anyone actually won any of these Borat suits? Just wondering.
Sourc: MTV.com
Posted 12/6/2007 by reelz
Related: Sacha Baron Cohen | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
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Saturday, October 13
Babysitting? Agoraphobic? Under house arrest? Whatever the reason, if tonight finds you stuck at home, there are plenty of movie options to choose from:
On HBO, Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy blockbuster Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan debuts.
On Cinemax, watch Clive Owen play the anti-hero in Alfonso Cuaron's dystopic Children of Men.
On Pay-Per-View, two new movies make their debuts: Hilary Swank's supernatural thriller The Reaping and Lindsay Lohan's drama Georgia Rule.
Posted 10/13/2007 by reelz
Related: Children of Men | The Reaping | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan | Georgia Rule
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Monday, June 4
The 2007 MTV Movie Awards went off without a hitch last night, as the music network celebrated the edgier side of Hollywood by doling out its irreverent Golden Popcorn honors to the movie industry.
Emcee Sarah Silverman wasn't as dirty as she can sometimes be, but she did make some nice cracks about heiress-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-law Paris Hilton--who was in the audience at the time. Uncomfortable!
The big winners of the night were Johnny Depp with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - it won Best Movie and he won Best Performance - and Sacha Baron Cohen, who won Best Comedic Performance for Borat and Best Kiss (along with Will Ferrell) for Talladega Nights. The two men celebrated their win by rolling around on stage and making out.
Other winners include: Jack Nicholson for Best Villain in The Departed, Jaden Smith for Breakthrough Performance with The Pursuit of Happyness, Gerard Butler for Best Fight in 300, Transformers for Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet, Josh Greenbaum for mtvU Best Filmmaker on Campus with Featured Film: Border Patrol, United 300 for Best Movie Spoof, and Mike Myers for the MTV Generation Award.
Posted 6/4/2007 by reelz
Related: Jack Nicholson | Johnny Depp | Mike Myers | Sacha Baron Cohen | Sarah Silverman | Will Ferrell | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby | The Pursuit of Happyness | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan | The Departed | 300 | Transformers | Jaden Smith