EU Prohibits 6 Kazakh Airlines From Airspace

It runs during medal ceremony for Kazakhstan woman

(NEWSER) - After Kazakhstan's Maria Dmitrienko won gold at the Arab Shooting Championships, she mounted the podium to hear her national anthem played. Problem was, Kuwaiti officials used the obscene spoof version from the Borat movie, reports the Telegraph . (Sample lyric: "Kazakhstan's prostitutes cleanest in the region.") They swear it was an honest mistake. Dmitrienko was a good sport about it, and officials redid the ceremony with the correct anthem in place. Kazakhstan, of course, demands a full investigation, notes AP . More»

With the goal, oddly, of getting revenge on Borat

(NEWSER) - Seems like everyone loved Sacha Baron Cohen’s fictional Kazakh character Borat … except the actual people of Kazakhstan, whom the Borat movie made into a punchline. Four years after Cohen’s film, Kazakhstan is getting its revenge—via an unauthorized sequel. My Brother, Borat is about an American who is taken on a sure-to-be-flattering tour of Kazakhstan by Borat’s brother, Bilo, Cinema Blend reports. More»

Producer feared Avatar joke would offend James Cameron

(NEWSER) - Sacha Baron Cohen has been scratched from the list of Oscar presenters and insiders say it's because a producer feared a skit by the creator of Borat and Bruno would offend Avatar director James Cameron. Baron Cohen had planned to "blue up" as a female Na’vi for a sketch with Ben Stiller in which he would reveal he was pregnant with Cameron's love child, and attempt a Jerry Springer-style confrontation, a source tells New York. More»

'Tropic Thunder' leads the way

(NEWSER) - The decade had lots of lousy movies, but 11Points rounds up the most disappointing—those that didn't live up to their promise:

• Tropic Thunder (2008): Amazing cast, great premise. Slam dunk, right? Not when "your go-to bit is a retarded joke." Such a lazy waste.
• Bruno (2009): Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat follow-up "didn't expose homophobia—it manufactured homophobia."

(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.)