Actor and entertainer Sacha Baron Cohen is persistent as ever.  The Hollywood Reporter has landed this exclusive.  Cohen would like to attend this Sunday’s Academy Awards in Hollywood as his ‘Dictator’ character.

The actor wants to attend the Academy Awards on Feb. 26 as his character in “The Dictator,” his latest [...]]]>

Actor and entertainer Sacha Baron Cohen is persistent as ever.  The Hollywood Reporter has landed this exclusive.  Cohen would like to attend this Sunday’s Academy Awards in Hollywood as his ‘Dictator’ character.

The actor wants to attend the Academy Awards on Feb. 26 as his character in “The Dictator,” his latest raunchy comedy set for release by Paramount on May 11. The question is whether the Academy will veto Cohen’s attempt to add a touch of crass spectacle to the regal affair.

Sources say Cohen, who was invited to attend the Oscars as part of the cast of best picture nominee “Hugo,” has informed Paramount — the studio behind both “Hugo” and “Dictator” — of his wishes. Paramount and the Academy declined comment, but an AMPAS source says the show’s producers have not been informed of any Cohen plans.

The 40-year-old British actor, who rose to fame as the creator and star of HBO’s Da Ali G Show, has a history of using awards shows and other big events to hype his movies. To help launch his mockumentary “Borat” in 2006, Cohen arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival dressed up as his TV journalist alter ego, riding a wagon pulled by “Kazakhstani peasant women.” At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, he came as gay fashionista Bruno (to promote “Bruno”) and was later suspended over the crowd and lowered atop Eminem, who promptly stormed out (it was later revealed the rapper was in on the joke).

The Oscars would take Cohen’s shtick to a new level, exposing his Dictator character — a sex-crazed Gaddafi-meets-Hussein ruler who fights to stop democracy from coming to his country he so lovingly oppressed— to hundreds of millions of viewers around the world.

But the stunt would potentially distract press attention from the night’s nominees, and executives at rival studios — most of whom are attending — might scoff at the promotional effort.

The Academy is careful to exclude studio-specific film promotion from its annual Oscars telecast (it only recently allowed movie ads to run during commercial breaks), so Cohen’s stunt would likely be limited to the pre-show (it’s unclear whether a similar policy applies there), unless he makes an argument that the Academy can’t prohibit him from wearing what he wants to the show.

As an interesting side-note, Cohen was floated as a possible Oscars host two years ago but was apparently vetoed by Academy leadership due to concerns over his button-pushing comedy.

Considering the Oscars takes itself too seriously, Cohen could inject his brand of humor and some controversy to spice things up.  It would be amusing to see how he could top his Eminem stunt from 2009.  His brand of hype is unique and always delivers a multitude of laughs.  A true comedic genius, Sacha Baron Cohen never breaks character and is guaranteed to be unpredictable.

“The Dictator” will storm into theaters on May 11th, 2012, and stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Megan Fox, Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, John C. Reilly, B.J. Novak, Kevin Corrigan, Aasif Mandvi, Bobby Lee, J.B. Smoove, Jim Piddock, Jason Mantzoukas, Danielle Burgio, Sylwia Wardaszka, and Fred Melamed.  Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Schaffer collaborated on the screenplay, while Larry Charles (“Borat,” “Bruno”) directs.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, IMDb

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Online auction über-haus, eBay, in a nutshell, has really stepped in it this time. By banning the sale of the soundtrack to I Was a Teenage Werebear (Tim Sullivan’s contribution to last year’s cult hit Chillerama), eBay called into question not only its often vague “adult [...]]]>

The "offensive" cover art for the CD

Online auction über-haus, eBay, in a nutshell, has really stepped in it this time. By banning the sale of the soundtrack to I Was a Teenage Werebear (Tim Sullivan’s contribution to last year’s cult hit Chillerama), eBay called into question not only its often vague “adult content” policies, but whether or not, as a corporation, it discriminates against gay people. The move is particularly puzzling, as eBay not only pulled down the listing, but cancelled all existing orders, prior to its being pulled down. In other words, people who willfully and knowingly purchased the CD were denied their purchase because at least one individual in eBay’s Safety & Trust division deemed the work “morally offensive.” Does this indicate homophobia on eBay’s part? The filmmaker  thinks so. And the evidence is on his side.

Perhaps, “banning,” is too strong of a word. The listing was taken down as “miscategorized.” Sullivan can still sell his wares in their forum. However, now he just has to lump them in with pornography. Having seen the (R-rated) film – the work as a whole, and Sullivan’s Werebear in particular, may be raunchy, but horror fans and smut aficionados would both agree that it’s about as “pornographic” as, say, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That is, not at all. In fact, of the four segments that comprise Chillerama, Sullivan’s ode to Frankie and Annette movies by way of Brokeback Mountain is the tamest.

The 'Chillerama' poster

Far be it from me to defend eBay, but my initial reaction to the question of whether or not eBay discriminated against Sullivan because of homophobic knee-jerking was: no – eBay myopically believes that anything sexual is “porno.” From personal experience, a couple years back, having purchased the compendium of Peter Bagge’s Hate comics, Buddy Does Seattle, I attempted to sell my random single issues via eBay. A day after listing them, not only were they taken down, but I was issued a stern warning about my attempt to list “pornography” under false pretenses.

For those who aren’t familiar with the seminal slacker 90’s comic, Hate is a slice of life story about a group of twenty-something friends living in Seattle. Kind of like Friends, but truer to life and, you know, funny. Despite what the title of the collection implies, the “questionable” content amounts to what you’d see in an R-rated movie – a lot of cursing, and a couple panels of nudity. The latter was in the context of comedy scenes, and Bagge’s artistic style leans more toward the cartoony than the realistic.

To make a long story short, after much debate with a Customer Service representative (in the Phillipines), the decision stood. I was attempting to peddle “smut.” And as strange as it is that thousands of R-rated DVD’s, with much more objectionable content, sell on eBay, every day, the bottom line is that, even if I had the money to litigate, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Or so I thought.

From left to right: Joe Lynch, Adam Green, Adam Rifkin, and "smut peddler," Tim Sullivan

However, while it is possible to make a good(ish) argument for cartoon, comedic, un-sexy nudity still being “pornographic,” (puritanical as it may be) the question remains: what is it about the I Was a Teenage Werebear soundtrack that eBay found so offensive? The bone of contention (pun 100% intended), at least on the surface, appears to be the signed 8×10 photo that comes with the disc which apparently shows Werebear star Brent Corrigan and his “engorged genetalia” [alleged quote from eBay] stuffed into tight, red underwear. Not, I reapeat, NOT nude.

Okay, fine. So is the problem that all beefcake shots, even clothed ones, are as suggestive as outright pornography? Hardly. Try typing “David Beckham Underwear”into an eBay search and…

Did you get a “restricted content” warning? Did you have to verify your age?

Then tell me, please: how is it all that different from the picture of Corrigan?

All of this should be a moot argument when you consider, per eBay‘s User Agreement, the minimum age to buy and sell is 18. Further, eBay’s return policy automatically rules in favor of the buyer. So in other words, even if an eBuyer accidentally happened on the Wearbear soundtrack package using a vague keyword search like “horror parody music”; and somehow neglected to look at the picture(s)that accompany 99% of all eBay ads; and for some reason, still ordered it for their impressionable, underage crotch-dumpling, they’d have more than ample opportunity to return the offending material to the sender before it ever sullies the ears and eyes of innocent children. Meanwhile, if your kid — girl or boy — wants to see “Becks” in his $20 underoos, all they have to do is order a back issue of Redbook.

The truth, however, is that whether its out of actual ignorance or turning a blind eye to regulations in the name of profit, there are holes in eBay’s ordering system. First off, like part of the Pirate’s Code from the movies, the minimum age of 18 is more of a guideline than a rule. People as young as 16 (perhaps younger) can get an account, provided they have a bank account they can tie to a credit card, or checking account of some kind, preferably through their adjunct payment service, Paypal. According to at least one source, there is no actual verification process for a user’s age. And plenty of parents grant their kids access to their eBay accounts. Regardless, Tim Sullivan is hardly responsible lackadaisical parenting, or a bug in the system.

How will this work out? It’s hard to say. The main thing right now is that eBay, in the immortal words of Ricky Ricardo, has some serious “’splainin’ to do.”

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Check out this epic CGI extended trailer for  ‘Mass Effect 3′ Take Earth Back video game.

I WANT THIS NOW!!!!

Mass Effect 3 Take Earth Back

Developer: Bioware Release: 3/9/2012 Genre: RPG Platform: X360 Publisher: Bioware Website: http://masseffect.com

Game Synopsis.

In Mass Effect 3, an ancient alien race [...]]]> Louis Love Here…

Check out this epic CGI extended trailer for  ‘Mass Effect 3′ Take Earth Back video game.

I WANT THIS NOW!!!!

Mass Effect 3 Take Earth Back

Developer: Bioware
Release: 3/9/2012
Genre: RPG
Platform: X360
Publisher: Bioware
Website: http://masseffect.com

Game Synopsis.

In Mass Effect 3, an ancient alien race known only as “Reapers”, has launched an all-out invasion of the galaxy, leaving nothing but a trail of destruction in their wake. Earth has been taken, the galaxy is on the verge of total annihilation, and you are the only one who can stop them. The price of failure is extinction. You, as Commander Shepard, must lead the counter assault to take it back. Only you can determine how events will play out, which planets you will save from annihilation and which alliances you will form or abandon as you rally the forces of the galaxy to eliminate the Reaper threat once and for all.

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Piranha 3DD comes to theaters in 2012

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Anticipating more screen time shared between ’80′s action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, “The Tomb” producer Mark Canton commented on how excited he was to add another talented actor to the cast, and that the film was being built into a blockbuster.  Canton revealed on ‘The Matthew Aaron Show’ that actor James Caviezel [...]]]>

Anticipating more screen time shared between ’80′s action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, “The Tomb” producer Mark Canton commented on how excited he was to add another talented actor to the cast, and that the film was being built into a blockbuster.  Canton revealed on ‘The Matthew Aaron Show’ that actor James Caviezel (“The Passion of the Christ”) will play the prison warden who will be the main antagonist in the film.

Here is what Canton had to say:

“It’s a big deal, because I always wanted Sly and Arnold together. “The Expendables” is fantastic, but where they’re really mono y mono, like in “Heat,” or a movie of that quality. We have this great director in Mikael Håfström, and yesterday we signed Jim Caviezel to play the Warden. It’s going to be a great cast. For me, it’s a very big thing to work with those guys together.”

Here is the storyline and roles the two action legends will be playing:

“The Tomb” follows Ray Breslin (Stallone) who is the world’s foremost authority on structural security. He’s analyzed every high security prison and has gained a vast array of survival skills. But all Ray’s ingenuity and knowledge are about to be put to work in the most challenging test he’s ever faced: escaping from the master prison of his own design.

Schwarzenegger, in the role of Church, plays a complex inmate with multiple shades of grey. He’s the guy who fights to keep the prisoners from losing their humanity in their darkest hour as they struggle together to stay alive.

“The Tomb” will begin filming this spring in Louisiana, and is slated for a 2013 release.  The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and James Caviezel.  The script was written by Miles Chapman (“Road House 2″) with a rewrite by Jason Keller (“Machine Gun Preacher,” “Mirror, Mirror.”)  Swedish director Mikael Håfström (“The Rite,” “1408″) is helming the project.

Source: The Matthew Aaron Show, IMDb

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