MPAA News

Afternoon Delight is a 2013 USA comedy drama by Jill Soloway.
With Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple and Josh Radnor.

US: Cut for an MPAA R rating for:

• 2014 DOCURAMA RA Blu-ray at US Amazon released on 18th February 2014
• 2014 DOCURAMA R1 DVD at US Amazon released on 18th February 2014

See  article from  flavorwire.com

Jill Soloway had a film come out this year called Afternoon Delight. The movie stars Kathryn Hahn as Rachel, a stay-at-home mom who meets McKenna, sex worker played by Juno Temple. As you can imagine, the premise gives rise to some racy situations (at least, by old-fogey-MPAA lights, anyway). And when Soloway went through the MPAA ratings process, she told me, she was forced to cut quite a bit from certain scenes. In one case, she had to cut words, or expressions of enjoyment --- oh yeah type-stuff --- from a scene in which Rachel watches McKenna do her job. They wanted it to be less intense, less uncomfortable, Soloway says. And I went crazy trying to get that done. In another, there was a problem with the length--- which was under ten seconds--- of a silhouetted sex scene, which was apparently too much for the MPAA folk.

Soloway Said: Director friends of mine said, 'Let it be NC-17,' what do you care? But she had a contract with a distributor, and the contract said that she had to deliver an R-rated picture, so she ended up making cuts she didn't like.

When asked if she had any opportunity for a back-and-forth with the MPAA, on any of the cuts they asked for on Afternoon Delight, Soloway replied:

Yes. They just said, too sexually intense. Tony and Joan [Hey and Graves] are nice people, I like them. And you know, when I showed the film at Sundance, I also felt like some scenes were too intense, and I cut them down a little myself for the theatrical version before the MPAA even got involved. Which I sort of regret, because this is a political process and in a way if I had started with a more intense version I could have kept in what I wanted in the end, maybe.

The fact is that when I watch the movie now and I experience that scene, something is materially missing. The [MPAA's] cuts ended up making that scene worse in a way that I can feel--- or rather, I miss what I used to feel--- when watching it. The movie is not as good with those cuts.

Promotional Material

A provocative comedy about sex, marriage and finding yourself again, AFTERNOON DELIGHT follows Rachel (Kathryn Hahn, Step Brothers, We re the Millers), a quick-witted, yet tightly-coiled, thirty-something bored with her daily routine of preschool auctions and a lackluster sex life and career that has gone kaput. Looking to spice-up her marriage, Rachel takes her husband Jeff (Josh Radnor, How I Met Your Mother, Liberal Arts) to a strip club and meets McKenna (Juno Temple, Killer Joe, The Dark Knight Rises), a stripper she becomes obsessed with saving. Rachel adopts McKenna as her live-in nanny, wreaking havoc on her friends, family and herself.

Special Features:

Behind-the-Scenes; Audio Commentary with Director and Kathryn Hahn

Nebraska is a 2013 USA drama by Alexander Payne.
With Bruce Dern, Will Forte and June Squibb.

An aging, booze-addled father makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize.

Director Alexander Payne and Paramount Pictures have failed to win an appeal to the MPAA's rating board to have the R rating given to their film Nebraska overturned.

The MPAA said that its Classification and Rating Appeals Board has upheld the R rating given to the movie for some language.

The MPAA have always been reluctant to allow more than the one use of strong language into PG-13 films.

Director Fede Alvarez was interviewed about work on the sequel. During the Interview Alvarez explained that the cut Theatrical Version of his Evil Dead remake is now considered to be his 'Director's Cut'.

Alvarez : It's easy to come up with crazy, violent scenes, the hard part is to get an R rating and not an NC17. It's a crazy game of standing right on the line, on top of the line, juggling the ideas, and not falling on the NC17 line. Because nobody puts an NC17 movie in wide release these days. So basically that's the real challenge, how we managed to be violent, and crazy, and outrageous and keep it inside the R-rating, which is basically timing it right.

Collider: Did you end up having to cut a lot to make that rating?

Alvarez : I think all we did to get the R-rating was basically just cut down the frames, the amount of time we exposed the audience to certain images. Like when Mia was cutting her tongue or Natalie was cutting her arm. There's a lot of graphic violence that instead of showing it for two seconds we have to just show it for one second on the screen. So that's what we lost on the editing floor when we cut it down to an R-rating. That was it basically. There were no scenes that were cut out just for that reason.

Alvarez : Do you have any intention of ever putting those seconds back on the film and releasing a director's cut?

Alvarez : Eventually if they do that. I don't know it's really not up to me. Usually you always see first cut is an extended version, because it's basically everything you shot, and you have that version and then you start cutting stuff out. Just to pick up the pace or sometimes stuff didn't work out the way you wanted it to so you cut it out. Definitely my favorite cut is the one that got put out. That's my favorite version of the film, the one that I put in theaters. That's my directors cut, there's no question about it. The producers that could have come in and said, We're going to cut this a different way . That never happened. Sam saw my cut and said That the version that it's supposed to be. The cut I showed him was the cut I put out there. So what everybody saw in the theaters is the director's cut, and this first DVD is the director's cut.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) maintains a register of film titles for films receiving an MPAA rated theatrical release in the US. Even though film viewers are well used to multiple films with the same title, the MPAA does not allow this for theatrical release.

Now Harvey Weinstein is going into legal battle with the MPAA over the refusal to him to use the title, The Butler , for the upcoming feature directed by Lee Daniels about a White House butler.

The title has already been used by a 1916 short film that has long since been forgotten.

The Weinstein Co. issued a statement saying:

The suggestion that there is a danger of confusion between The Weinstein Co.'s 2013 feature movie and a 1917 [sic] short that has not been shown in theaters, television, DVDs, or in any other way for almost a century makes no sense. The award has no purpose except to restrict competition and is contrary to public policy.

Offsite Article: More to this story than meets the eye

6th July 2013. See  article from  hollywoodreporter.com

Update: Resolution

20th July 2013. See  article from  huffingtonpost.com

The Weinstein Company and Warner Bros.' dispute over The Butler added another wrinkle as the MPAA approved the former's use of the title Lee Daniels' The Butler for the upcoming film.

Nebraska is a 2013 USA drama by Alexander Payne.
With Bruce Dern, Will Forte and June Squibb.

The publicity material reads:

An aging, booze-addled father makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize.

The film was MPAA rated R For some language.

There is a pending appeal to the MPAA against the rating of the film. There are reported to be just a couple of 'fucks' in the dialogue that tip the film into an R rating. Paramount are keen to get a PG-13.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a 2012 USA/New Zealand fantasy adventure by Peter Jackson.
With Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage.

The Extended Version was rated PG-13 For extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, frightening images and fleeting nudity.

Note that the 'fleeting nudity' is new for the extended version. The Theatrical Version was rated PG-13 For extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence and frightening images.

Director Peter Jackson previously confirmed that the extended edition will be released and will feature 20 to 25 additional minutes. This leads up to a final running time of roughly 189 or 194 minutes for the first film.

Apparently when Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg submitted This Is the End to the ratings board of the Motion Picture Association of America, the co-directors expected to get an adults only NC-17 rating.

In addition to scores of profanities and liberal drug use, This Is the End includes several sex scenes, including one between a demonic beast and a human, and a well endowed satanic creature.

Rogen and Goldberg seemingly loaded the film with a few sexually explicit frames that they felt certain would shock the movie ratings panel and result in an NC-17 mark. The plan was to then trim a little from the superfluously graphic shots, resubmit a slightly cleaner version to the MPAA and then get the R rating they always wanted.

But even with the additional material, This Is the End got an R rating for crude and sexual content throughout, brief graphic nudity, pervasive language, drug use and some violence.

Goldberg noted:

They let us get away with a bunch of erections. As long as it's a demon, you can have an erection.

Frank Henenlotter recalls:

When we brought Frankenhooker to the MPAA the head of the board at the time called up our company and the guy said to the secretary, Congratulations, you're the first film rated S. And she said S? For sex? And they said No, S for Shit. And this is the ratings board!

...

When we premiered Bad Biology [2008] in London I had dinner the night before with a bunch of people and one was a member of the BBFC. I said to him, 'I'd love to know your opinion after the film, unofficially of course.' I said, 'How much trouble are we in?' And he said, 'Oh Frank, you're not in any trouble at all, this is hilarious and harmless.' Then he said, 'But if this was 20 years ago we would have had you arrested.'

...Read the full interview

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has announced presentation changes to its movie rating system.

The new system, rolled out as the Check the Box campaign, will include prominent descriptions explaining why a movie received its rating. Films that might previously have been stamped PG-13 with a sentence beneath the rating will now feature those same descriptions in large type next to the ratings code.

The White House has called on the movie industry help parents monitor violence in media since the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

CEO Chris Dodd announced the industry's plan at the annual movie-theater convention CinemaCon and spoke generally about the need to help parents: so they can make the best choices about what movies are right for their children to watch.

MPAA spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield spoke about the change in presenting rating descriptions eg, An intense scene of war violence, some images of carnage, brief strong violence. She said: We're changing the way they're presented so that they're easier to read.

The MPAA now requires that:

• a public service announcement is to be shown before movies,
• posters in theaters across the country will adopt the new ratings description format
• green band trailer screens will clarify that the trailer is approved for the audience viewing the main feature.

Nutters had hoped Dodd might use his keynote address to signal to the industry that the MPAA would begin assigning R ratings to a wider spectrum of violent movies, but this was not to be.

Evil Dead director Fede Alvarez spoke of his experience of film censorship at the MPAA:

The MPAA is actually a bizarre thing. You don't have to try to understand it.

We didn't butcher any scene or anything. We just had to trim. We took out frames here, You know, when she cut her tongue, we were showing a lot. You see the tongue, you get to see the tongue moving. Probably there was a version where we showed more frames. We've cut about 20 frames here, that kind of stuff, where you take that out and you get your R rating.

They were very nice to us. They were very nice to us because they were saying it was supernatural horror, which means it's not real, like the other is real. It's kind of a fantasy universe, so that makes it more friendly. Don't ask me.

...Read the full article

Evil Dead is a 2013 USA horror by Fede Alvarez.
With Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas.

UK: Passed 18 without BBFC cuts for strong bloody violence, gory horror and very strong language for:

• UK 2013 cinema release

The director Fede Alvarez has revealed that his remake of Evil Dead received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA when it was first submitted for consideration. The director noted that they indeed made some cuts to secure an R-rating, but I imagine we'll get to see the full unrated cut when the film hits Blu-ray and DVD.

The Director of Breaking Dawn Part 2 , Bill Condon, has been hyping the DVD/Blu-ray release on March 2.

He ludicrously claims that a sex scene between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart 'is so hot' that it had be to censored for the children's PG-13 rating. He says via a press release and in a making of DVD extra:

We had one shot that the MPAA complained about where there's a closeup of Rob kissing [Kristen's] shoulder. They thought they saw nudity, but there wasn't any, but they have filthy minds, clearly... We had to keep showing it to them until they were sure they weren't seeing anything naughty.

As Twilight series devotees know, there was a lot of ground to cover in adapting Breaking Dawn to the screen. Between the wedding, the honeymoon, the birth, and everything in between, naturally there were things that didn't make it into our final cut. But I wanted to make sure that for all the Twihards out there, there was a chance to see some of these cut scenes.

Reports say MPAA chairman Chris Dodd has warned against efforts to regulate violence in films and instead suggested that the film industry will work with the White House on voluntary steps to help parents decide what movies and TV shows are appropriate for children.

Campaigners and state lawmakers have been suggesting that the marketing of violent movies and videogames should be restricted.

Asked whether Hollywood there is too much violence in videogames and movies, Dodd said the industries give people enough choices across the spectrum, but warns that if you start to get into the business of trying to regulate content, that is a very slippery slope. Dodd said that the focus should be on giving people the information they need to make their choice of what to watch, adding that we are working to provide whatever support and assistance we can to the White House.

Dodd said more attention should be paid to mental health, noting that is the space where we really need attention.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is a 2012 USA action sci-fi by John Hyams.
With Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Scott Adkins.

UK: The Unrated/NC-17 Version was passed 18 uncut for strong sex and bloody violence for:

• UK 2013 Studiocanal RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon released on 11th February 2013
• UK 2013 Studiocanal R2 DVD at UK Amazon released on 11th February 2013

See  review from  blogs.indiewire.com : "Combines Art House Intentions & Strong Action In A Franchise Return To Form"

Censorship History

There is also a cut US release.

See pictorial cuts details from movie-censorship.com . The Theatrical Version suffered 33s of cuts mainly due to bloody shootings in a brothel being toned down by reducing blood an injury.

See  interview with director John Hyams from  collider.com :

Hyams : Yeah, there is an NC-17 cut. The one that's On-Demand and in theaters is R. When they fight in the sporting goods store and he nails him with a bat, what did you see?

Collider : I think we see his face cave in a little bit. But the thing I remember most is the reaction shot of the girlfriend where she's looking at the main character and thinking, Oh... this guy might be less safe than anyone else around me.

Hyams : Right. So, you might have seen the R cut.

Collider : What's in the NC-17 version there?

Hyams : In the NC-17 version, at least in that scene in particular -- and that's just one moment -- you literally like half of his face fly off.

Collider : Yeah, I mostly remember the girl. But I figured you would have gotten the NC-17 for the scene where there's the naked guy who gets shot and stabbed a bunch of times.

Hyams : Yeah, somehow the guy's naked frontal didn't bother them. We had to take out one... that scene in the brothel, there were a bunch of cuts to that. I would say that there were cuts made to every action scene in the movie. Some of them not so drastic, most of them not so drastic. Just little bits here and there, maybe not lingering on something for so long. what [the MPAA] had said to me was that, outside of a few very specific images we had to get rid of, it was mostly just about the accumulation of the violence.

Collider : Yeah. It's grueling at a point. But it's never grueling in a way that made me want to stop watching. I wanted to find out what happened next. But it was an endurance test on some level.

Hyams : Right, right. So the NC-17 version might be a slightly greater endurance test. But it plays pretty much the same. We showed the NC-17 version at Fantastic-Fest. But the Blu-Ray will be the unrated version.

Promotional Material

Action movie legends John-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren are back in full force, with world-renowned British martial arts star Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2) in the most violent and thrilling Universal Soldier sequel yet.

Forced into hiding, a rogue troop of UniSols have formed an underground militia of deadly warriors. Lead by the merciless Andrew Scott (Lundgren) and Luc Deveraux (Van Damme), their plan is to rage a war of total destruction. Only one man can stop them. Hell bent on revenge for the death of his family, John (Adkins) is on a mission to hunt down and kill all UniSols, unless they find him first.

Features:

- Trailer
- Interviews with Jean Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Scott Adkins 

The director Fede Alvarez has revealed that his remake of Evil Dead received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA when it was first submitted for consideration.

The director noted that they indeed made some cuts to secure an R-rating, but I imagine we'll get to see the full unrated cut when the film hits Blu-ray and DVD.

Evil Dead opens on April 12th.

[Note an NC-17 rating is the same as the UK 18 rating. An R Rating would be something like a 17A in the UK].

On the eve of the entertainment industry's White House meeting to discuss gun violence in films and video games, Motion Picture Association of America president Chris Dodd told The Hollywood Reporter that his industry will consider voluntary guidelines but will vehemently oppose any government restrictions on content.

Dodd and spokesmen from various sectors of the entertainment industry will meet with Vice President Joe Biden, who has been charged by President Barack Obama with recommending legislation to curb gun violence.

Dodd said:

We want to explore what we can do to provide parents and others with the information for them to make choices on what they want to see and what they want their children to see. That's a legitimate space for us to be in. It's all voluntary. What we don't want to get involved with is content regulation. We're vehemently opposed to that. We have a free and open society that celebrates the First Amendment.