Tag: MPAA

MPAA Appoints Senator Christopher J. Dodd as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) today announced it has named former U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd as its new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Senator Dodd, who completed five terms in the United States Senate in January, will assume his new role on March 17th (St. Patrick’s Day). 

“Chris has served our country as a highly respected and accomplished Senator for over 30 years, and we are truly fortunate that he will bring his stature and talent to support the creative efforts of our filmmakers and the many people who work in our industry, here and around the world,” commented Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairman & CEO Jim Gianopulos. He added, “We’re also grateful to Bob Pisano, who has done an excellent job of leading the MPA during this transition period.”

Senator Dodd, a Democrat, represented Connecticut in the U.S. Senate from 1981 to 2011, where he was Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and the author of the historic Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Dodd also served as Acting-Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee during the 2009 consideration of the Health Care Reform Act. He also was a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has been widely respected as an effective lawmaker able to successfully reach across party lines.

“I am truly excited about representing the interests of one of the most creative and productive industries in America, not only in Washington but around the world,” said Senator Dodd. “The major motion picture studios consistently produce and distribute the most sought after and enjoyable entertainment on earth. Protecting this great American export will be my highest priority.”

“In several important ways, taking this step represents a continuation of my work in the Senate, from advancing the interests of children and families and creating and safeguarding American jobs to the protection of intellectual property and the expansion of international trade,” said Senator Dodd.

“It is also an honor to follow in the footsteps of Jack Valenti and Dan Glickman, both of whom I worked with on many occasions over the years. I look forward to working with the studios, the Association staff and all who work in our industry on the major issues facing it during this time of economic and technological challenge and global growth.”

“We conducted a thorough search to identify the very best individual to lead the MPAA,” said Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Lynton. “We’re convinced we have found that person in Chris Dodd. He is uniquely qualified to represent and protect our industry globally.”

“Chris Dodd not only has the political instincts and experience, but he’s the right person to lead the film industry through its toughest challenges regarding content protection and piracy on a domestic and global scale,” said Barry Meyer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Warner Bros.

Alan Braverman, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel at the Walt Disney Company and MPAA Search Committee Member added, “This is a critical time for the motion picture industry and we couldn’t be more pleased that Chris Dodd is leading our team. His vast experience in consensus-building and innovative approaches to resolving complex issues make him the ideal choice to lead this organization.”

Born in Willimantic, Connecticut, Senator Dodd attended Providence College, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic, and then received his law degree from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law in 1972. He served in the Connecticut National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserves and practiced law in Connecticut before being elected to Congress in 1974. He also served as the General Chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the re-election campaign of President William J. Clinton in 1995-1996. Senator Dodd and his wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, have two daughters, Grace and Christina.

Source: MPAA.org

New Images for an R-Rated ‘Bruno’

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Word came down yesterday from Universal’s PR department (via Twitter, no less) that Sacha Baron Cohen’s new comedy, ‘Bruno,’ had been granted its R rating for “Pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language.” This news comes a few weeks after the news that the MPAA had slapped the film with an NC-17.

There is no word yet on how much or what was cut out of the film in order to attain the R rating.   However, Coming Soon.net was treated to some new stills from the film.   In addition to the one above, we have three more.

Check ’em out:

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bruno2

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‘Bruno’ comes out on July 10th.

Source: Coming Soon

‘Year One’ Cut Down to PG13

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Yeah, that’s right. Â  ‘Year One’ was rated R for about a minute and a half until director Harold Ramis and producer Judd Apatow made the appropriate cuts to appease the MPAA. Â  All in all, I’d say this is a good thing. Â  It’s not like the film was going to feel like an R-rated comedy in the least anyway. Â  They may as well go for the bank and make it a little more kid-friendly.

On Tuesday, the MPAA upheld the R rating the film initally got, despite personal appeals by Apatow and Ramis. Â  At first, it seemed like the filmmakers were going to roll with the R, but, today, word came down that they had made the cuts suggested by the ratings board.

‘Year One’ comes out on June 19th.

Source THR

Despite Apatow’s Personal Appeal, MPAA Hits ‘Year One’ With an R

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Evidently, Judd Apatow doesn’t have the Spielberg clout when it comes to schmoozing the MPAA on his ratings. Â  Word came down last week that ‘Year One,’ the Apatow-produced, Harold Ramis-directed, caveman comedy starring Jack Black and Michael Cera had acquired an R-rating from the MPAA. Â  This happens more often than you think, but the MPAA generally acquiesces after an appeal or after some minor cuts to the film.

Apatow and Ramis both personally appeared before the MPAA this week to argue against the R-rating.   However, the MPAA stood their ground, and Apatow and Ramis are accepting it.   ‘Year One’ will be released as a R-rated film, the rating being for  “some sexual content and language.”

Now, this is a good thing, and it’s a bad thing if you read between the lines. Â  It’s good that an R-rated comedy is coming out. Â  We’ve had a lot of those over the past couple of years, but filmmakers shouldn’t fear the age-appropriate nature of some of their films. Â  Apatow knows this all too well. Â  His R-rated comedies are making him a ment. Â  So, it’s okay that ‘Year One’ has this rating. Â  It more than likely won’t make any less money than it would have despite.

What isn’t so great about this is the fact that they were clearly trying to get a PG-13 rating attached to the film. Â  That tells me that ‘Year One’ wasn’t a film “going for the R,” it just happened to have enough bad elements to it that made the MPAA think that’s what it deserved.

I guess we’ll see for sure when ‘Year One’ comes out on June 19th.

Source: THR

‘Half-Blood Prince’ Gets a PG-rating

The MPAA releases their batch of film ratings weekly, and there was an interesting surprise in this weeks group. Â  They have given ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ a PG-rating. Â  Now, granted, the first three ‘Harry Potter’ films were rated PG, but, then, the next two went up to a PG-13. Â  Because of their darker nature, the MPAA felt that ‘Goblet of Fire’ and ‘Order of the Phoenix’ were not appropriate for children of all ages.

This is unusual since most franchises that go up in the ratings tend not to come back down. Â  Usually, a sequel to a film will be PG-13 when the first one or the first couple were R, but it’s hardly ever been an up and then back down affair as we have here. Â  It will be even stranger, because, having read the novels, I cannot imagine ‘Deathly Hallows’ getting a PG.

I can’t imagine Warner Bros. was pushing for a PG-rating due to box office. Â  Four of the last five ‘Harry Potter’ films have grossed over $250 million domestic, and the one, odd man out, ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ made $249.5. Â  On a side note, it does suck that the best film of the series also made the least amount of money.

What do you think? Â  Was Warner Bros. pushing the film to get a PG-rating? Â  Did it just work out that way? Â  Will the ‘Deathly Hallows’ take the franchise back up into the PG-13 territory? Â  Let us know by commenting below!

Source: Film Ratings

MPAA Arrests 461 Movie Pirates!

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced Monday the arrest of 461 alleged movie pirates – 56 caught using a camcorder in a theater – during a three-month period ending in July. [via Wired]

The announcement, which also said 1,000 optical disc burners were seized, could not be independently verified in what the MPAA is calling “Operation Takedown” – a law enforcement effort conducted jointly with local authorities and MPAA investigators.

The operation included the countries of China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Korea.

The MPAA said cinema workers in Thailand were now using night-vision goggles to crack down on piracy. It said Hollywood’s lobbying arm also “conducted training for cinema staff to identify camcorders and prepped enforcement officers with basic knowledge of copyright law and to identify pirated products all around Asia.”

Among the highlights, according to the MPAA: more than 4 million pirated discs seized in China, 182 burners seized in Malaysia, 39 camcorder “interdictions” in the Philippines, 548 burners seized in Taiwan, 110 people arrested in Thailand and more than 530,000 infringing files removed from the internet in Korea.

I believe ‘Dark Knight’ is one of many movies floating around on the net for the viewing pleasure.

IF YOU MESS WITH THE MPAA…..

YOU ARE GOING TO PRISON SUCKA!

‘Zack and Miri’ to get official rating today …

Today is the day that Kevin Smith will be taking ‘Zack and Miri’ to the MPAA to appeal his twice rated ‘NC-17’. Now it seems the ‘X’ on the advertising logo seems pretty accurate.

Smith is obligated by contract to make the cuts to get it to an ‘R’ rating so if the MPAA sticks to their guns about the certain scenes that are bothering them, then he will have to cut them out. Rest assured we will get to see them on DVD, so all wont be lost if this is the case. I just wish people could accept the fact that some movies are meant to be NC-17, and to cut them down to make it an R rating just changes the movie. Cutting a couple of scenes out doesn’t change the fact that kids should not be seeing this movie. I am calling a bullshit on the MPAA.

Kevin Smith Having Trouble with MPAA Board

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Michelle:

One of our top 10 movies for this fall is already under attack. It appears that the always fickle MPAA wants to give Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri the deadly NC-17 rating instead of an R. Smith’s  already had to take down the Internet only trailer.

Seth Rogen recently  spoke to MTV about the problem.

“The MPAA is gunning for us, I think, it’s a really filthy movie. I hear they are having some problems getting an R rating from an NC-17 rating, which is never good.†

“A guy f—ing a donkey, (in Clerks 2) they ain’t got no problem with,† he continued. “But a man and a woman having sex they seem to have real issues with, for some weird reason. It’s insane. It’s completely insane.†

“They [fight against] sex stuff. Isn’t that weird? It’s really crazy to me that ‘Hostel’ is fine, with people gouging their eyes out and sh– like that,† Rogen shrugged. “But you can’t show two people having sex — that’s too much.†

Not unexpected because  of the title and the director, but Rogen makes a good point. While sex seems to be  verboten with the MPAA,  hardcore violence tends to get a free pass.  We’ll see what  cuts Smith  has to make to  satisfy the rating overlords.

Ram Man Says:

It’s Friday , it’s sunny outside and all my reviews are done..I’m a pretty happy guy. UNTIL! I read that the MPAA is debating on giving Zack & Miri Make a Porno the kiss of death in the movie industry..the NC-17.   I picture an assisted living center in (sorry Michelle) Connecticut somewhere with a group of grey hairs sitting around a bingo table deciding what rating to give what movie! This is probably retribution from Kevin putting a clip out on the Internet (they said was a trailer) without the all mighty MPAA approval and rating. I’m sure the title has some part in it also. I am equally as sure that they disregarded Kevin’s apology for the trailer mix-up and they haven’t even seen  the film.

The old always attack the visionary. We tried to lock up rock artists for singing, Columbus was a screwball for saying the earth was round. And now we are going to kneecap one of the finest filmmakers to come along the last 20 years because he dresses different, he puts bad words in his movies, people are have sex on film….NOOOOOOOOOO (MPAA ..people do have sex, that’s how most of us got here!) . I don’t get it. I would invite anyone with the MPAA who is up for the challenge to sit down with me and explain to me how Zack and Miri rates a NC-17 when we have seen the following the last 2 years:

Sex and the City (2008):Numerous sex scenes and male frontal nudity..R rating
Eastern Promises (2007): naked teen prostitutes, Viggo Mortensen fighting with all his “members” R rating
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008): Jason Segel is a nudist in three separate scenes. R rating

This doesn’t even take into account all the blood flowing. Saw1-5, Hostel 1&2, Halloween, Devils Rejects, House of a thousand corpses. I guess its OK to cut someones boobs off but lets not show them being fondled on the screen!

I don’t like to get the soap box out, but today, i feel the need..the need for  movie-geeks to unite and stand up to these crotchety old bitties. If we are stuck with an NC-17, you must get everyone you know and drag them kicking (not screaming… use a rag in the mouth it will disturb the other movie goers) to the theater opening weekend and get a big number to show these so call moral-measuring society the are full of s–t!

Ram Man has spoken!

Scott:

I say they just keep the damn NC-17 warning, the only one that will care is Roger Ebert and his opinions don’t matter anyway!