Bruno Slapped With NC-17 Rating

It's Complicated spotlights MPAA's wacky marijuana rules

(NEWSER) - Insiders say the only reason Meryl Streep’s new romantic comedy It’s Complicated has an R rating is a scene in which she smokes marijuana, and that’s causing a “minor ruckus” in Hollywood. A source close to the hearings tells Robert Ablon of the Los Angeles Times “pot smoking with no bad consequences” was the MPAA’s top official reason for hanging the revenue-reducing rating on the movie. What’s next, Ablon wonders: “This film is rated R for brief alcohol use portrayed in a positive light”? More»

(NEWSER) - Sacha Baron Cohen is box-office gold, but he can’t pull it off again … or can he? Eric Ditzian looks at some possibilities for the Brüno star’s future.

• "A Fourth Wacked-Out Journalist." Some thought Brüno couldn't fly after the exposure Borat brought, but the multiplex says otherwise. "No doubt, Cohen and his mischievous team could make a fourth movie work." (First film Ali G Indahouse didn't make it to US theaters.)

Advocates feel 'deeply mixed' about faux-Austrian reporter

(NEWSER) - Gay groups are torn over the upcoming comedy flick Bruno, worried that it may seem to justify rather than mock homophobia, the New York Times reports. “Some people in our community may like this movie, but many are not going to be OK with it,” says the head of an anti-defamation group. “Sacha Baron Cohen's well-meaning attempt at satire is problematic in many places and outright offensive in others.” More»

Sacha Baron Cohen strikes again

(NEWSER) - Sacha Baron Cohen infiltrated an Alabama military base for a few hours in February as “Bruno”—a gay Austrian fashion journalist—before a savvy cadet spotted the ruse, the AP reports. The footage could appear in Cohen’s upcoming film, Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America For The Purpose Of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable In The Presence Of A Gay Foreigner In A Mesh T-Shirt. More»

Realistic animations get away with violence

(NEWSER) - The G rating has devolved into ambiguity, providing parents little clue of what's in store for their kids, Emily Bazelon writes in Slate. Take The Tale of Despereaux about a bookish mouse's fairy tale rescue of a princess from rats. It was entertaining and age-appropriate as a kids' book, she says, but the too-real animation—full of ominous music, a terrifying cat, and a "torture-obsessed" rat leader—rattled kids (including her 5-year-old son). More»