On the same day that Sacha Baron Cohen, in character as General Aladeen, led an elaborate, absurd, and hilarious press conference at the Waldorf Astoria for his new film, The Dictator, a slightly more serious press conference was conducted with the films supporting actors, Sir Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler’s List) and Jason Mantzoukas (Baby Mama, The League). The Dictator, which is now playing everywhere, stars Sacha Baron Cohen as Supreme Leader, Chief Ophthalmologist, and excellent swimmer, General Aladeen, a misogynistic, anti-Semitic dictator of a fictional country in northern Africa called The People’s Republic of Wadiya. Sir Ben Kingsley plays Aladeen’s scheming uncle and Jason Mantzoukas plays Aladeen’s Chief Nuclear Scientist.

Along with other members of the press, I had a chance to sit down with Sir Ben Kingsley and Jason Mantzoukas to discuss The Dictator. The actors discussed the energy of New York City, what it was like working with Sacha Baron Cohen, trying not to break character, the phrase ‘just kidding,’ improvisation, Arab Spring, accents, and beards.

It's Wednesday, May 16th, which means that Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles' The Dictator is opening in theaters from coast to magnificent coast.  That, in and of itself would be cause for celebration, since the movie's a fun mixture of intelligent satire and calculated idiocy.  But humanity can raise its hands to the heavens in thanks that the first teaser trailer for Anchorman 2 is attached to The Dictator, giving our first taste of the Channel 4 Newsteami n years, like the first taste of coffee after a long sleepless night.

Supreme leader, Chief Opthamologist, and excellent swimmer, General Aladeen of the People’s Republic of Wadiya, addressed hundreds of journalists from all over the world recently in New York City. General Aladeen is the latest alter ego of Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Brüno), a comedian known for promoting his films with in-character stunt appearances. In his latest film, The Dictator, which opens Wednesday, May 16th, Cohen plays a misogynistic, anti-Semitic dictator of a fictional country in Northern Africa, called Wadiya.

This Wednesday, Sacha Baron Cohen's latest comedy The Dictator arrives at theaters across the nation, but today, a new extended clip reveals just about four minutes of the movie.  Considering that the film clocks in at a brisk 83 minutes, those four minutes represent a pretty good little patch of The Dictator.

The clip has Baron Cohen as the de-bearded Admiral General Aladeen and the always-welcome Jason Mantzoukas as sidekick Nadal.  Many a trailer and teevee spot has featured the two of them horrifying a couple of tourists on a helicopter flight over Manhattan, but this clip provides the full sequence of Aladeen and Nadal's helicopter adventure.

Synopsis: The heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.

Only the biggest of big would-be blockbusters get super-teasery teaser trailers way ahead of their releases.  We're talking about the Godzillas and Spider-Men and the like.  Movies with marketing budgets greater than the GDP of many industrialized nations and more stars than the damn Milky Way Galaxy.  It's appropriate, then, that the sequel to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, has a teaser before it has a script or release date.  It's kind of a big deal, after all.

Quentin Tarantino is currently shooting his next feature, Django Unchained, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and his Spaghetti Western-inspired tale of slavery, revenge and bounty-hunthing in the Antebellum South is on track for a Christmas Day release.  While we'll all be rejoicing at the sight of a new Tarantino joint, that sight will contain two fewer familiar faces, as both Kurt Russell and Sacha Baron Cohen have both exited the project.

Paramount Pictures has released a new red band trailer for The Dictator, a film that's rated R on account of, "Strong crude and sexual content, brief male nudity, language and some violent images."  Given that description and the fact that this is the latest collaboration between star Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles, you'd expect this The Dictator trailer to be far filthier than it actually is.

Paramount Pictures has let loose just under two minutes of new footage from The Dictator.  The clip is actually the opening of the movie, quickly introducing the entirely-fictitious Republic of Wadiya and its in-no-way benevolent leader, His Excellency Admiral General Aladeen.  After mixing in some real footage of world leaders and situating Wadiya geographically, The Dictator's opening minutes provide a brief biographical view of Aladeen's life, from his already-bearded birth to his 14 Gold Medal triumph at the Wadiyan Games.

Synopsis: The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.