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.

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.

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.

It's pretty much standard operating procedure for oppressive totalitarian rulers to plaster their visages over every available surface.  The promotional campaign for the comedy The Dictator has adopted the style of repressive egomaniacal dicksplashes by relying on portraits of Sacha Baron Cohen as Admiral General His Excellency Aladeen, overlord of the fictitious Middle Eastern nation of Wadiya.  By now, audiences are familiar with the sight of Baron Cohen in his ridiculous beard and sunglasses.

Earlier this week, we learned that it'll be five extra days before The Dictator arrives in theaters, but a taste of the comedy is already online.  The first official clip from the comedy has arrived, and it demonstrates that while star Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles have a made straightforward narrative, they've maintained their commitment to brazenly presenting insulting ideas with a straight face.

There's a new trailer for The Dictator, the latest comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen as an original character.  Previous promotion worked to establish the title character, His Excellency General Admiral Aladeen, as the full-on despotic dicksplash lording over the fictitious Middle Eastern nation of Wadiya, positing him as the comedic equivalent of, say, a Colonel Gaddafi or President al-Assad. 

This trailer, though, offers a good idea of The Dictator's actual plot, so if you're looking to stay spoiler-free, give it and this whole post a wide berth.

Did it strike anyone as slightly ridiculous that yesterday we saw two ten-second previews of the John Carter and The Avengers Super Bowl spots?  Commercials are one thing, but commercials for commercials is a whole different level.  Another movie that will be showing up during the copious commercial breaks of America's favorite sporting event is The Dictator, the new comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles, the guy behind Borat and Bruno.  The comedy has sidestepped showing a ten-second peek and instead just released its first TV spot wholesale online for your viewing pleasure several days before the big game.

The first teaser trailer for The Dictator has arrived online, introducing the title character, a megalomaniacal tyrant ruling over the fictitious Middle Eastern nation of Wadiya.  Sacha Baron Cohen plays that dictator, so yeah, this is a comedy.  The trailer contextualizes Baron Cohen's character as a Muammar Gaddafi-style despot under international pressure using fresh footage, before sliding directly into many an incendiary line guaranteed to cause no small amount of conversation around The Dictator.  The trailer doesn't give any sense of the story beyond the fact that the titular ruler travels to Manhattan, where he encounters John C. Reilly (who shows that the film's satirical focus will include America) and Megan Fox as herself.  Sort of.