Sacha Baron Cohen, best known for his MTV comedy series Da Ali G Show, achieved wild success translating his TV characters to the big screen in the 2006 movie Borat. Reception for his 2009 release Bruno, however, was deservedly lukewarm. Both films relied upon anonymity for the enormously talented actor as he put unsuspecting everyday people in the spotlight saying and doing extremely rude and outrageous things. His fame has made it relatively impossible for Cohen to remain incognito, so we are unlikely to see those kinds of performances from him again.

The Dictator, directed by Borat and Bruno filmmaker Larry Charles, plays like an attempt by Cohen to script the kind of insanity he achieved with Borat. His character, General Admiral Haffaz Aladeen, is the born dictator of the fictional African nation of Waadeya (actually depicted in the movie with the current borders of Eritrea), a Red Sea state that appears to be a caricature of Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Threatened with U.N. sanctions and a possible invasion by the U.S., Aladeen and his advisors travel to New York to address the U.N. in person.

Once in NYC, Aladeen is abducted as part of a murder plot from which he escapes, and then must find his way back into the U.N., stop the coup to replace him, and win the affections of his heart's desire. Cohen performs each scene as he would with one of his live characters. The other actors, however, generally fail to react as the jokes fly over their heads to the audience. As people meet Aladeen, they overlook or ignore some of the most offensive things he says as if attributing them to language barrier problems.

Indeed, some very offensive things are said in The Dictator, offensive if you ignore the tongue-in-cheek delivery of this caricature-within-a-caricature. Groups were already protesting the movie last week on these grounds. Cohen genuinely made me laugh several times with jokes that are neither insensitive or racially offensive, and it was these moments that made for an enjoyable experience. The people most offended by this movie will probably be Bush-supporting Republicans, as there is a very strong anti-Republican party message here.

Here's the latest in Austin and Texas film news.

• The Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-in has a new home this summer: Austin Studios, home of Austin Film Society. AFS will work with Blue Starlite on the programming as well. Slackerwood is especially proud because after Elizabeth interviewed Josh Frank about the future of the Blue Starlite, Josh asked her if she could put him in touch with someone from AFS ... and that's how the collaboration started. (via Austin Chronicle)
• The dark comedy Killer Joe, starring Matthew McConaughey, will be released in theaters by LD Entertainment on July 27 with an NC-17 rating, according to Deadline. The William Friedkin-directed movie, based on the play by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner Tracy Letts, is about a tough but quiet killer in Texas who befriends a young man (Emile Hirsch) who wishes his mother to be murdered. It screened at SXSW this year.
• Speaking of Matthew McConaughey, he's in two movies that will screen at Cannes this month: The Paperboy, about a reporter who returns to his hometown to investigate a case involving a death row inmate; and Mud, Jeff Nichols' story of an unlikely friendship between a fugitive and a 14-year-old boy who helps him escape off an island in Mississippi to reunite with the woman he loves. Watch clips from the Nichols-directed film at IndieWire.
• MovieMaker reported that assistant UT RTF professor Andrew Shea's first documentary Portrait of Wally opened May 11 at the Quad Cinema in Manhattan. The documentary explores the history of Egon Schiele's 1912 oil painting of his mistress that was purchased by Jewish art collector Lea Bondi before WWII and was later stolen by a Nazi art dealer.

Steven Soderbergh has been a prolific filmmaker, cranking out a movie every year or two (and sometimes twice a year) since Sex, Lies, and Videotape propelled him to fame in 1989. Always willing to venture into new genres, Soderbergh tried his hand at film noir with his fourth feature, The Underneath.

Released in 1995 and shot in Austin, The Underneath (also known as Underneath) is a remake of Criss Cross, a 1949 thriller based on Don Tracy's 1934 novel of the same title. The story is classic (some would say clichéd) noir, a grim tale of how addiction, lust, jealousy and greed can inspire evil acts, compelling desperate people to take desperate measures.

The film centers on gambling addict Michael Chambers (Peter Gallagher), who returns home to Austin for his mother's wedding. Michael had left town abruptly years earlier to escape his gambling debts, leaving his wife, Rachel (Alison Elliott), to deal with the mess her husband created. Vowing that he's changed his ways, Michael tries to patch up his relationships with his mother and brother, moves in with Mom and takes a job working with his new father-in-law, Ed Dutton (Paul Dooley), as an armored car driver.

One of the best things about living in Austin is getting to attend some of the classic films that screen each summer at the Paramount Theatre. The full Paramount Summer Classic Film Series schedule has just been released, with movies screening at Stateside this year, too.

Here are some from the bunch I find worth noting:

• Pillow Talk (1959), pictured above, helps start the summer series off -- screening with the far more serious To Kill a Mockingbird. Although I've been a fan of classic movies since elementary school, it is only in recent years that my love and admiration for Doris Day has grown. This comedy, featuring Day as an interior designer forced to share a party line with playboy Rock Hudson, is now one of my favorite movies, and I can't wait to see it on the big screen! (9:35 Thurs, 5/24; 7 pm Fri, 5/25)
• An Affair to Remember (1957) -- Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, and pink champagne! If you love Sleepless in Seattle and haven't yet seen this drama (dramedy?) referenced throughout that '90s film, here's your chance. (7 pm Fri, 6/1)
• Hooray for a focus on female filmmakers! Films by Ida Lupino (Outrage), Amy Heckerling (Clueless), Claire Denis (35 Shots of Rum), and more are included in this short series screening Tues-Sun, 6/5-10.
• Ishtar (1987) -- One of the biggest box-office bombs, this road-trip comedy directed by Elaine May gets a bad rap. True, I've only seen it once, and that was years ago, but I enjoyed it. You just might, as well. (7 pm Tues, 6/12; 9 pm Weds, 6/13)

Last week, Vera Mijojlic concluded the 7th annual SEEFest Los Angeles (Southeast European Film Festival), which she created and continues to direct. It is rightly called "the premiere cinematic showcase where films from 15 countries of South-East Europe are presented as an annual thematic snapshot of that turbulent region."

Vera Mijojlic curated Austin Film Society's SEEFest Austin this spring, which includes seven films that have played at different times in SEEFest Los Angeles. Vera will be in Austin tonight (May 15) to present the Romanian film Hello! How Are You? (Alexandru Maftei, 2010) and next Tuesday, May 22, to present the Slovenian film Vesna (Frantisek Cáp, 1953), both at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar.

I visited with Vera in August 2010 in Los Angeles, and recently asked her some questions via email.

Chale Nafus: You were born in Bosnia Herzegovina, which at the time was part of Yugoslavia. Tell us about your family history.

Vera Mijojlic: For as long as anyone can remember, every person in my family, on both sides, was born in Bosnia. They were Serbs, and the ancestral home was a quaint town of Bijeljina in north-eastern Bosnia. In the past 20 years it has turned into an overdeveloped monstrosity which I do not recognize at all.

Two of the cutest little girls I've ever seen on film are Lily and Violet Collins, the daughters of filmmaker (and former Austinite) Steve Collins, who included them in his 2011 feature You Hurt My Feelings. They are unscripted and adorable onscreen. Now you can watch them too, because Oscilloscope Films has just made You Hurt My Feelings available to rent or buy as streaming video on iTunes and Amazon. Read Elizabeth's review from the movie's Austin Film Festival screening last year.

The above photo is from a recent weeklong run of the movie at reRun Theater in Brooklyn (I've been there! It's a very cool place to watch movies). That's Steve Collins next to his daughters, and actors John Merriman and Courtney Davis on the right. Merriman told me this photo is the girls introducing the film and telling the audience to stay around for the Q&A afterward.

My description makes it sound like You Hurt My Feelings is about two little girls, but in fact the focus is on their nanny, John, played by Austin actor Merriman. The film has very little scripted dialogue -- the kids know Merriman well and their scenes with him are generally spontaneous -- and is about the relationship John has with Courtney, played by Davis. (My guess is that the characters are named after the actors to make it easier for the girls.) Courtney leaves John for Macon (Macon Blair), and John's emotional upset is written all over his face, even as he plays with the children.

By Zach Endres

Why did we name the planets after Roman gods?

There's probably a simple explanation, but I have my own theory. Like the Roman gods, the planets are larger-than-life empyrean bodies, and like the Roman gods these planets have an intimate relation with the tiny Earthlings who observe them. We at least subconsciously saw in these celestial bodies the tenants of ancient gods, who held a power too vast to be contained on Earth, yet were somehow able to fiddle with our lives on a day-to-day basis. The planet Jupiter doesn't actually come down from its cosmic Mount Olympus to lay with its lovers, but it does flex its influence in more ways than you'd expect.

For example, when I was a child I purchased a book at one of those book fairs that were set up in our elementary-school library. We always looked forward to these rare occasions for the sole reason that we were let out of class early to explore. The book I found was hefty, its cover bordered by a bland beige, but within that border was a picture that depicted a series of orbs, overlapping slightly and placed in a ring-like manner around a massive ball of fire. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and yes, Pluto, all huddled around Mother Sun in a factually inaccurate but artistically forgivable composition.

After finding this book, I spent many nights gazing at the pictures inside, fantasizing about the wide, star-ridden blackness that hung over my head and all that it contained: the red eye of Jupiter, the receding icy hairline of Mars, the rings of Saturn, the tilt of Uranus ... Although I knew I'd never visit them, I found a means to relate to them via that book as I sprawled in bed with a flashlight. They seemed so far away, but that book brought them closer to me, and they truly became my neighbors. Distant gods found their way into my life, and they weren't so distant anymore.

Just as I found a personal tie to the planets, a handful of experimental filmmakers took those seemingly far-off spheres and connected with them in their own ways. A collection of 12 experimental short films commissioned by Cinemad and Rooftop Films screened under the banner of "Orbit!" at the Fusebox Festival on April 30. If you missed the shorts, many are available to watch online.

I've only seen about 7 minutes of the first episode of the original series of Dark Shadows, so I cannot compare the TV show to Tim Burton's new take on it. I'll admit the only reason I tried watching the show was because an older woman asked me during a training session in 2001 whether I was named after the character in the late '60s supernatural soap. Up to that point in my life, I'd never heard of the show. When I heard this movie was coming out, I told Jette that I had to be the one to review Dark Shadows; how often do you get to watch a character who shares your name on the big screen?

Johnny Depp stars as Barnabas Collins, a powerful Maine businessman cursed by a witch in the late 18th century to be a vampire. For reasons too silly to explain, Barnabas finds himself in 1972 and discovers distant cousins are residing in the family estate. Elizabeth (Collins) Stoddard -- an unflappable Michelle Pfieffer -- is the (divorced? widowed?) family matriarch, living with her 15-year-old daughter Carolyn (Chloe Grace Moretz), brother Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller) and his haunted son David (Gulliver McGrath). Also residing in the house are psychiatrist Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham-Carter with a Tang-colored wig, as seen below), groundskeeper Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley) and the new governess with a secret past, Victoria (Bella Heathcote).

This week offers a curiously blockbuster-free list of new releases, giving film fans a chance to avoid the madding crowds and see less-hyped fare, or maybe even take Mom to an indie movie to celebrate her special day. (She'd probably like that more than flowers.) For example, Richard Linklater's Bernie (my review) expands to include the Arbor and Tinseltown North as well as Violet Crown.

Speaking of Mom, there are few worse maternal role models than Joan Crawford -- and therefore few more appropriate Mother's Day films than Mommie Dearest. As part of the Celluloid Handbag series, the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar is hosting a Mother's Day Mommie Dearest Brunch for you, Mom and anyone else who needs a stern reminder not to use wire hangers. (This being an Alamo event, everyone of course gets a free wire hanger.) Even if your mother drives you crazy sometimes, watching Mommie Dearest will remind you that at least she's not Joan Crawford.

If you missed last week's screening of Luis Buñuel's L'Age d'Or, you actually didn't. (Doesn't that sound suitably surreal?) The screening was rained out and has been rescheduled for Monday, May 14. Refer to last week's Movies This Week or the Austin Film Society site for details.

The Austin Film Society is presenting 2012 ShortCase & Brews, an encore presentation of the AFS Member ShortCase from SXSW 2012 on Thursday, May 17 at Austin Studios. AFS Filmmakers will screen and talk about their short films -- and there will be beer. Co-sponsored by North by Northwest Restaurant and Brewery, the event features complimentary craft beers, and local brewers will be on hand to celebrate American Craft Beer Week. Really now, what better week is there to celebrate?

Movies We've Seen

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel -- This British film is a somewhat predictable story of a group of British retirees who move into an Indian hotel that's definitely exotic, if in all the wrong ways. Although Jette considers it a bad habit to call a film a "pleasant surprise," her review calls the film ... a pleasant surprise: "While some of my general predictions about the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel were indeed pretty accurate, the movie still surprised and delighted me." (Alamo Lamar, Arbor, Violet Crown)

Movie reviewers love surprises. We watch so many movies that it is hard to tolerate the routine and predictable. This is why some of us (okay, I mean myself) have the bad habit of starting too many positive reviews with the phrase "pleasant surprise." We delight in unexpected plot twists and non-standard endings, sometimes to the point where we overrate movies with these qualities.

I was lukewarm about The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel because after I read the press release, I felt it would hold no surprises for me whatsoever. I could predict the whole damn movie, and probably my review as well. A bunch of older British people with drab, unsatisfying lives move to India where they would be shocked and dismayed at first, but gradually would see the beauty of life and the wonders of the universe. Someone would fall in love, someone would find an unexpected friend, someone would have an epiphany. Cliches would abound. Despite what was unquestionably an amazing cast, I would be checking my watch regularly, perhaps even predicting which plot point would happen at what time.

While some of my general predictions about the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel were indeed pretty accurate, the movie still surprised and delighted me. Expected plot points held unexpected twists. I haven't read Deborah Moggach's novel These Foolish Things, which Ol Parker adapted into this film -- I don't know whether the scenes I liked best should be credited to the novel, the screenplay or director John Madden. Perhaps Parker and Madden knew that many of the basic aspects of the story followed well-trodden ground and decided to avoid cliches, or at least spin them around. And naturally I was happy to be correct about the excellent perfomances from a cast of superstar British character actors.