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Cannes Photo Call Round-Up: 'Moonrise Kingdom' Hams It Up, Animating 'Madagascar' and 'Rise of the Guardians,' Sacha Baron Cohen Falls Off a Camel (Almost)

Festivals

Photo calls at Cannes give all manner of talent an opportunity to grin, gloat, mug, and pose to promo their upcoming feature. Some are adorable: See "Moonrise Kingdom." Some are pranksters: See Sacha Baron Cohen. His strutting in 2006 in a dayglow green mankini to promote "Borat" outshined this year's camel stunt for "The Dictator." (Below.)

By Maggie Lange
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May 19, 2012 6:30 AM
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Reviews

Sacha Baron Cohen's new comedy "The Dictator" is getting strong initial reviews in England, where it opens first. Hence the floodgates opened on stateside reviews, which are 85% on Rotten Tomatoes so far--that's a whole lot better than "Bruno"'s 67% Tomatometer score. The movie is not tracking great, party because "Bruno" burnt some audiences last time around; strong-word-of-mouth should correct that.

By Anne Thompson
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May 11, 2012 10:41 AM
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Video

Wow, they went there. The war on women is real in the new red band trailer for "The Dictator." Only Sacha Baron Cohen could be this offensively hilarious. Here's our review from CinemaCon.

By Sophia Savage
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May 7, 2012 2:37 PM
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News

To sell his upcoming film "The Dictator" (May 16), Sacha Baron Cohen, as is his wont, is immersing himself in character. Following Cohen's opening promo salvo --his intentional slip-up on Ryan Seacrest on the Oscar red carpet--Paramount now has blasted an official "press release" from the Esteemed Dictatorship of The Republic of Wadiya (below).

By Maggie Lange
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April 18, 2012 4:02 PM
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Awards

The Hollywood Reporter sat down with Academy chief executive Dawn Hudson to discuss critics, the Brett Ratner backstory, and tackle the white-male rap. The interview is available to subscribers only, but THR posted a brief lead-in. MediaBistro did post a juicy quote about what Hudson sees as her biggest challenge: