Catching an afternoon screening of Iron Man last weekend, the questionably denigrating representations of Afghani villains bugged me less than the bizarre cultural references in the trailers preceding it -- especially when it came to accents. Three previews in a row contained characters speaking intentionally mangled English, a fact all the more recognizable because all of them were played by well-known actors. You Don't Mess With Zohan showed Adam Sandler as a tough Israeli hair stylist. The Love Guru preview found Mike Myers blabbering on with South Asian inflections. Rounding things out in perhaps the most innocuous case, Cate Blanchett popped up as a Communist baddie in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Are these gross caricatures or fair play?

We've touched on this issue before, but it looks like each month the trend gets a little stronger. There's edgy and there's a line: Borat may or may not send the wrong message, but the character's faux Kazakh accent tells you a lot about the way Americans tend to judge foreigners on the basis of their less-than-perfect English. The specific nature of the satire gives Cohen's performance an underlying purpose -- unlike, say, Love Guru, which seems more like a chance to ignorantly marvel at Myers' ability to turn Indians into a continuous punchline. Recently, a few Hindu groups launched protests against the film. This could mark uncharted terrain for Myers, who did not, as far as I know, get lambasted by any hippies after the first Austin Powers.

Ever since I was assigned one of the Ali G DVDs for review, I've been a pretty big fan of Sacha Cohen's aggressive humor. (Dig the guy's material or not, there's little denying that he's more of a satirist than a stooge.) Annoyingly enough, I always seem to "get in late" where the hot new comedies are concerned, but I also seem to discover the good stuff before too long. (Robot Chicken! Woohoo!) Anyway, I do have some movie-related news to pass along, and it comes in the form of a trailer. A trailer for a film called Borat. A trailer that made me laugh out loud on two separate occasions, which is more than I can say for Date Movie, which runs about 40 times longer than the Borat trailer.

Borat, for those who might not be fluent in Sacha Baron Cohen, is a Khazakstanian news reporter who travels the globe while annoying people and doing ridiculously amusing, but often strangely clever, things. (Frankly I think Borat is funnier than the flagship Ali G character, so this Borat flick was obviously made for me.) Of course, there are some Khazakstanians who don't find Borat all that amusing, which is understandable, but at least their most globally recognizable buffoon is a fictional character and not an elected official. (I'm jealous!)

Directed by Seinfeld / Entourage writer/producer Larry Charles (after Todd Phillips quit the gig), Borat will hit American shores (in November) courtesy of 20th Century Fox, provided the studio doesn't get cold feet and shelve the thing, which is something that seems to happen to ballsy, brazen, or potentially controversial little comedies from time to time. (Did the Ali G movie even PLAY in American theaters? I mean, it's not brilliant, but freakin' Date Movie opened on 3,000 screens!)

Anyway, back to Borat: JoBlo dug it, this guy dug it, and here's the official site, too. Have fun.