 I laughed at ‘The Dictator’ more than I’d care to admit. More a stretched out Saturday Night Live sketch or Adam Sandler high concept comedy than anything that star/co-writer Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles have tackled before, this is far from a good movie, but it does manage to be a reasonably entertaining one. Like some of Sandler’s recent outings, there’s very little in the way of quality craftsmanship and the jokes are hardly new ones, but they manage to elicit more chuckles and belly laughs than they should. Now, ‘The Dictator’ once or twice manages to do some interesting things (and end speech satirically comparing democracy to a dictatorship isn’t just funny, but surprisingly biting and right on the money), but most of the time they go for the easy jokes. The hit to miss ratio is pretty good, but the ones that miss, well, they miss pretty badly. Baron Cohen is a fearless performer, and his straight up chutzpah is hard not to admire, but I’m still waiting for him to put it all together. I wasn’t as big a fan of ‘Borat’ as most, though I still found it funny, and ‘Bruno’ was disappointing however you slice it, so this is another mixed bag for the comedian. This time around, it’s a narrative instead of a mockumentary, and honestly, I’m not sure which suits him better as of yet. Personally, I prefer his more subdued work in other films, but that’s just me. On its own terms, ‘The Dictator’ is entertaining, it’s just not especially good. If that’s an odd combination to you, well…you’re not alone there.
Read more on The Dictator (**½)…
 It was only a matter of time before the success of The Avengers and The Hunger Games had an affect on the industry. In a relatively last minute move, Variety is reporting Paramount is pulling G.I. Joe Retaliation from this summer’s movie line up to convert the film into 3D. The movie will now be released on Mar 29, 2013. Paramount was apparently motivated to make the move because focus groups questioned why the film wasn’t in stereo and that the movie would make even more money oversees.
Read more on G.I. Joe: Retalliation being moved to 2013!…
 I’m not a huge fan of filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, but I recognize how talented she is. I’ve just yet to see a project from here that’s the total package yet. Well, according to Collider here she’s going to get another chance at winning me over, and this time it’ll be with a Western starring Natalie Portman. Portman will be producing the film as well, and after the jump I’ll get into why I have issues with Ramsay’s work but am actually rather interested in this next one. Besides, any project Portman attaches herself to has my attention, and this one here is no exception. Read on below for more on Ramsay…
Read more on Natalie Portman to star in a Western for Lynne Ramsay…
AMC has become a great source for television and (along with HBO) is now responsible for some of the finest programs in years. Their award-winning shows include Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Killing, and The Walking Dead, the latter of which has begun filming its third season, which is set to premiere this fall.
Take a look at a behind the scenes video for season 3 after the jump…
Read more on First Look Behind the Scenes of ‘The Walking Dead’ – Season Three…
 I know it sounds odd considering how strongly Kevin Smith has spoken out against film critics of late, but this announcement in a Wired interview (found here) that he’s starting his own movie review show (called ‘Spoilers’) is Smith putting his money where his mouth is. He’s advocated a type of film criticism that doesn’t look to needlessly pick on films and traffic in negativity. Now, once in a while I’m guilty of that very transgression, but as I wrote in an article a few years back on the whole subject, I try to keep a positive outlook and not be mean, and I’m very interested to see how Smith pulls this off. After the jump I’ll share Kev’s missive that he fired off on the impending venture, but for now…count me in!
Read more on Kevin Smith is launching a movie review show…
 After playing beyond her years as the lead of True Grit and earning an Oscar nomination, Hailee Steinfeld will star in a more modern story of a young girl. Deadline is reporting that Steinfeld is in negotiations to star in Why We Broke Up for Fox 2000. The adaptation od Daniel Handler’s book will see Steinfeld play Min, a high school sophomore and cinephile who enjoys hanging out with friends at her favorite coffee shop. She falls hard for Ed, a senior and captain of the basketball team, and gets caught up in their whirlwind romance. The film unfolds a couple of weeks after the break-up, when she dumps a letter and box of seemingly meaningless mementos on his porch.
Read more on Hailee Steinfeld to headline ‘Why We Broke Up’…
 Ladies and gentlemen, Idol devotees near and far, we have made it. We have reached the conclusion of a phenomenal season, littered with talent that seems incomprehensible and performances that will be remembered for decades. The final battle took place, and tonight either Jessica Sanchez or Phillip Phillips will be chosen as the champion of American Idol’s 11th Season. Jessica Sanchez vs. Phillip Phillips: The foregone finale conclusion, and after last night…perhaps the deserving one (did I just admit that?!). I’m not going to pretend all was perfect in Idol world, but at the very least it was far and away the strongest finale since Kris Allen vs. Adam Lambert. It put last year’s heinously boring “country” finale to shame, and because of the steep level of competition we may see the tightest voting since Clay Aiken lost to Ruben Studdard way back in Season Two of Idol by a mere 100,000+ votes. Since it is finale week, my recap will be structured a bit differently. Find out how things went down for me after the jump…
Read more on ‘American Idol’ Recap: The Finale Review…
Hey everybody!! This is the last time we’ll meet to talk about Dancing with the Stars until the next season begins. But for right now we need to discuss the final night of Season 14. William Levy, Katherine Jenkins and Donald Driver danced one last time to earn extra points onto their score. So who is the winner of Dancing with the Stars? Read and find out.
Read more on Dancing with the Stars: The Finale…
Here is the first trailer from Baz Luhrmann’s (Moulin Rouge!) The Great Gatsby, an adaptation of the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel that stars Leonardo DiCaprio (in the titular role), Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, and Joel Edgerton.
Read more on First Trailer for ‘The Great Gatsby’…
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I laughed at ‘The Dictator’ more than I’d care to admit. More a stretched out Saturday Night Live sketch or Adam Sandler high concept comedy than anything that star/co-writer Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles have tackled before, this is far from a good movie, but it does manage to be a reasonably entertaining one. Like some of Sandler’s recent outings, there’s very little in the way of quality craftsmanship and the jokes are hardly new ones, but they manage to elicit more chuckles and belly laughs than they should. Now, ‘The Dictator’ once or twice manages to do some interesting things (and end speech satirically comparing democracy to a dictatorship isn’t just funny, but surprisingly biting and right on the money), but most of the time they go for the easy jokes. The hit to miss ratio is pretty good, but the ones that miss, well, they miss pretty badly. Baron Cohen is a fearless performer, and his straight up chutzpah is hard not to admire, but I’m still waiting for him to put it all together. I wasn’t as big a fan of ‘Borat’ as most, though I still found it funny, and ‘Bruno’ was disappointing however you slice it, so this is another mixed bag for the comedian. This time around, it’s a narrative instead of a mockumentary, and honestly, I’m not sure which suits him better as of yet. Personally, I prefer his more subdued work in other films, but that’s just me. On its own terms, ‘The Dictator’ is entertaining, it’s just not especially good. If that’s an odd combination to you, well…you’re not alone there.
