The Weinstein Company are masters of modern hype. Back when they were Miramax, they ran successful Oscar campaigns to get “The English Patient” and “Shakespeare in Love” to be named Best Picture. As The Weinstein Company, they’ve wrangled the British production “The King’s Speech” and French production “The Artist” into Best Picture wins.

Earlier this year, the magic Weinstein PR touch bestowed its blessings upon “Bully,” a tiny documentary about the problem of bullying in U.S. schools that opens at Liberty Hall this weekend. There were some “f” words in the movie and the MPAA, being the naughty-word counting squares that they are, gave the film an “R” rating. Thereby, the kids in middle school and high school — the ones that need to see the movie the most — wouldn’t be able to see it.

“South Park” was the first to latch on and poke fun at the argument. In an episode earlier this year, Stan makes an anti-bullying documentary and Kyle asks him “If this video needs to be seen by everyone, why don’t you put it on the Internet for free?” Stan had no answer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7B2DfjQKKQ

As a film critic, I got what seemed like daily updates about the MPAA struggle from Weinstein. Petitions were formed, press releases were sent out, everyone was mobilized, but the pleas fell on deaf ears. The MPAA held strong that there were two or three too many f-bombs in the movie for it not to be “R.” Weinstein released “Bully” unrated to six theaters for two weeks to the tune of $279,000. The hubbub was over, and so was the press cycle.

It was then that director Lee Hirsch and Weinstein decided to cut some of the language to get the PG-13 rating. They got it, and “Bully” was re-released in PG-13 form and greeted with relative indifference after all, grossing only $2.7 million in over a month.

Speaking of publicity stunts, how about that Sacha Baron Cohen? First, he dumps the “ashes of Kim Jong Il” on Ryan Seacrest at the Oscars, then he hits up Jon Stewart and Saturday Night Live in character to promote his newest shock-satire “The Dictator.”

Just this week at Cannes, Baron Cohen as Admiral General Aladeen took a camel on a stroll down the Croisette with two model bodyguards and put together an elaborate hoax for the paparazzi, fighting with a famous Italian model on a private boat and then throwing her “dead body” (wrapped in plastic) overboard.

So, how’s the movie?

Uneven, but pretty damn funny, actually. “The Dictator” contains all the shock humor and cultural skewering you’ve come to expect from him, but wraps it all up in a very different package. Larry Charles is on board again as director, and Baron Cohen relentlessly parodies hypocrisy with another fish-out-of-water character, like Borat and Bruno.

The difference is that this movie is made in the style of the modern American romantic comedy. Does this shift in style mean its more conventional than the reality-based “Borat” and “Bruno”? Or is it more subversive because it follows the romcom format while betraying romantic comedy sensibilities with a vicious mean streak and some sublimely shocking moments?

I think that will depend on how you feel about Baron Cohen’s style of humor before you see The Dictator. Some of the jokes in the movie are designed to make you cringe more than they are to challenge you to think, but I still believe Baron Cohen is a fresh and unique comedic voice and an equal-opportunity offender.

Even though the jokes in The Dictator don’t hit as consistently as his previous films, they hit a lot. For every joke that lands with a thud, there are three howlers right around the corner. If you are wondering, by the way, whether Baron Cohen tops himself in the shock humor vein this time out, I would say that he has. Is there another comedian out there willing to mine jokes from such potential landmines as human rights abuses, global terrorism, and 9/11?

The parody may be a little less focused than his previous movies, and the timing and rhythm of the film is a little off sometimes, but its fast-paced and often laugh-out-loud hilarious. Aladeen’s speech at the end of The Dictator is the funniest, wide-ranging political jab I’ve heard in a long time, and it makes me wish there were more of that–but I’ll settle for an uneven film that’s still full of side-splitting moments.

Oh yeah, and then there’s this: A movie based on a board game where people call out coordinates and say “hit” or “miss” that actually contains a scene where that takes place. Amidst an alien attack, of course.

Wow. That makes me so excited for “Risk,” “Lego: The Movie,” “Monopoly,” “Ouija,” and “Candy Land.” I wish I were joking, but all these titles are currently in various stages of development.

I’ll leave you with some quotes:

“This is pure desperation. Everyone in Hollywood knows how important it is that a film is a brand before it hits theaters. Battleship. This degrades cinema” – James Cameron

“There is no Hollywood any more, there’s just a bunch of banks.” – John Cusack