Video of the Day 2: Carl's, Jr Breast Implant Commercial
1/18/2007 4:30:00 PM
So, uh, is the Brett Morgen who directed this cheeky Carl's, Jr. ad (their Idiocracy slogan: "Fuck you, I'm eating!") the same Brett Morgen who directed Chicago 10, the opening night film of this year's Sundance Film Festival? I have no idea. But I like the commercial, so why the hell not.
Permalink : http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e8611#8611 |
Controversy of the Week: Anti-Bollywood Racism on Celebrity Big Brother
1/18/2007 3:00:00 PM
Britain’s Celebrity Big Brother show started making news from the very beginning, by getting the likes of cult director Ken Russell to participate in the show, but in the past week it has become a cultural flashpoint in the UK thanks to allegations of racism.
It all went down when some of her Brother housemates began regularly pointing nasty remarks towards contestant Shilpa Shetty, a Bollywood actress. They’ve mocked her voice and ethnicity, joking about her hands being dirty and complaining about her cooking. (“No wonder I keep getting the shits,” one of them said.) There have also been calls for her to spend “a day in the slums.” You can view some of the remarks in question here:
Tens of thousands of complaint letters have filed in, and the furor is growing, with high-profile sponsors bailing from the show, even as Channel 4 says it will continue to air the program. (Indeed, viewership is skyrocketing thanks to the controversy.) India isn’t too happy about it either.
Even the British government has gotten involved, with the nation’s culture secretary damning the notion of “racism being presented as entetainment."
Shetty, for her part, now says she doesn’t feel the attacks on her were racially motivated, although she does feel they were “socially and culturally motivated.”
This whole thing will likely get much worse before it gets any better.
Permalink : http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e8607#8607 |
Kirby Dick & Co. Fire Back at "Cosmetic" MPAA Changes
1/18/2007 2:00:00 PM
I'm not in the habit of posting entire press releases, but this one just hit my Inbox, and I figured it was a good one to copy and paste. This relates to the big news yesterday that the MPAA was changing its ways with regards to the movie rating and appeals process. Some have speculated -- probably correctly -- that Kirby Dick's This Film Is Not yet Rated put some pressure on the MPAA to make these changes. Now, Dick and his producer have hit back at the MPAA, saying these changes "all cosmetic except for one." Interesting stuff. Here's the full release:
 |
MPAA REFORMS DON’T SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF A BROKEN SYSTEM
This Film Is Not Yet Rated Filmmakers, Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt, Weigh in on the MPAA’s Ratings Reforms
Los Angeles, CA (January 18, 2007) - Director Kirby Dick and Producer Eddie Schmidt are pleased that their IFC documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated has put pressure on the MPAA to make changes needed for nearly 40 years. Unfortunately, they find that the MPAA’s changes, as announced yesterday, are all cosmetic except for one – that in the appeals process, filmmakers can refer to scenes from other films.
“The MPAA’s reforms simply address the public’s perceptions of the system, rather than affecting real change in the system itself,” says “Rated” director Kirby Dick. “All the basic problems of the ratings system remain: its secrecy and lack of accountability; its bias toward independent and gay filmmakers; its excessively harsh rating of films with adult sexuality.”
Dick also notes the unprofessional nature of the board and its lack of adequate written standards; and finally, the fact that the NC-17 rating will continue to play a significant role in the censorship of films made and exhibited in this country. At the root of the problem is the built in conflict of interest between the profit motive of the MPAA studios and the MPAA’s responsibility to filmmakers and the public to fairly and effectively oversee the ratings system.
Outlined below are a list of the specific MPAA changes and responses to them from Dick and Schmidt:
MPAA: Most members of the ratings board will remain anonymous, although CARA will describe the demographic make-up of the board, which is composed of parents. The names of the three senior raters have always been public; now, they will be posted online.
RESPONSE: It will still be a secret ratings board because “most” of the raters will still be secret. Anonymity still = unaccountability. The MPAA says its rating system is for the public. If it’s for the public, it should be public, and the entire rating process and all the raters should be known to the public. Also, it is untrue that the senior raters were ever known to the public – until This Film Is Not Yet Rated, they were known only to members of the film industry.
MPAA: For the first time, CARA will post the ratings rules on the MPAA Web site, describing the standards for each rating. The ratings and appeal processes also will be described in detail, along with a link to paperwork needed to submit a film for a rating.
RESPONSE: CARA has never given enough information to parents and has consistently resisted giving out any more. Even the current descriptors such “some horror violence” came about only through intense pressure and criticism – and those are still useless to parents. Meaningful details? We’ll believe it when we see it.
MPAA: A filmmaker who appeals a rating can reference similar scenes in other movies, although the appeals board still will focus heavily on context.
RESPONSE: We are pleased they have finally removed this absurd restriction. However, there are quite a few other excessive restrictions that unfairly limit filmmaker appeals, such as a 2/3’s majority vote to overturn and not allowing an attorney of the filmmakers’ choice to be present.
MPAA: CARA will formalize its rule that a member of the ratings board doesn't stay on the board after his or her children are grown.
RESPONSE: Joan Graves has stated that the senior raters’ positions are permanent. These three senior raters, and chairwoman Graves, all have adult children. Are Joan Graves and the senior raters all going to step down, or will the MPAA continue to allow its most powerful raters to violate its rules?
MPAA: CARA also will formalize its educational training system for raters.
RESPONSE: According to former raters interviewed in our film, there is no educational training. And since the MPAA has consistently avoided “expert” opinions from child psychologists, etc, who will train them and to what standards and sensitivity?
MPAA: When the CARA rules are implemented later this year, the MPAA and NATO will designate additional members to the appeals board who don't come from the MPAA or NATO fold. (Indie filmmakers might be one possibility.)
RESPONSE: Most appeals board members will still be from the major exhibitors and studios. With a 2/3 vote to overturn the rating, it is unlikely that a few “additional” members will be enough to level the playing field for independent and foreign filmmakers. There is still a huge built-in conflict of interest in this process. Also, apparently they still plan to keep the names of the appeals board members secret, which means that the only people who know these names will be people within the studio film industry.
MPAA: NATO and MPAA will occasionally be able to designate additional observers from different backgrounds to the appeals board.
RESPONSE: The MPAA has been shamed into opening their doors in response to quiet arrangements revealed in our film that allowed Catholic and Protestant religious representatives into the appeals process. *Adding MORE religious representatives *wouldn’t necessarily solve this problem. What are they doing there in the first place? The MPAA needs to give full disclosure as to the nature of these “observers,” their role in the proceedings, and the process by which other observers will be selected.
“With the MPAA continuing to conduct its business in private, yet pretending to operate in the public good, they are still doing a disservice to parents and filmgoers, never mind filmmakers themselves. We’re grateful that they’re listening, but they should be trying much harder,” concluded director Kirby Dick.
Permalink : http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e8604#8604 |
Video of the Day 1: Wedding Night, by Carlos Cuaron
1/18/2007 1:00:00 PM
Since Children of Men director Alfonso Cuaron has been in the news recently, check out this 2000 short made by his brother (and frequent collaborator) Carlos Cuaron.
Permalink : http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e8585#8585 |
Insert Clever Variation on the Words “Sun” and “Dance” Here
1/18/2007 12:01:00 PM
We here at ScreenGrab will have our own badass Sundance coverage up soon, but for the time being, let these worthy third-party interlopers provide your fix…
- The Reeler has a gut-buster of a Sundance package, featuring interviews with NYC filmmakers, a focus on NYC buyers, a look at Adrienne Shelley’s Waitress, and a profile of official Sundance kingmaker John Sloss.
- There’s no real need to link to anything specific at IndieWire. These dudes pretty much turn their entire site over to Sundance coverage once the festival starts.
- Jeremy Kay of The Guardian is worried that the new blisters on his feet will impede his enjoyment of Sundance this year. TMI, I know, but c’mon, it’s a blog…
- USA Today highlights six intriguing characters to watch at Sundance.
- The LA Times takes a look at skateboarder-turned-filmmaker Steve Berra’s The Good Life.
Permalink : http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e8599#8599 |
Quote of the Day: GQ Writer Gets Raging Bullied
1/18/2007 11:00:00 AM
"He gestures that the recorders should be paused; then his manner changes markedly and I am under attack. He tells me that he is finding my questioning creepy, that I am making him feel very uncomfortable, that he doesn’t need to be doing this, that I won’t let up when he has answered something, that I am obviously aware that I am annoying him but continue nonetheless, that he finds something rather tabloid in my approach, and that he doubts my motives."
- Like watching a slow-motion train wreck, it is hard to deny the captivating intensity of this GQ profile/"interview" with the notoriously difficult Robert De Niro.
(Hat tip: The Reeler)
Permalink : http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e8597#8597 |
Morning Deal Report: Tropic Stiller, Love Wants McGregor, and the Best Movie Titles of 2007
1/18/2007 10:00:00 AM
- Ben Stiller will star in and direct Tropic Thunder, a comedy he’s been thinking about ever since working on Steven Spielberg’s 1987 epic Empire of the Sun. “The script Stiller wrote with Etan Cohen (”Madagascar 2 “) and Justin Theroux, is about the making of a big-budget war movie where everything that can go wrong does, and where the actors end up becoming the commandos they are playing.”
- Courtney Love thinks Ewan McGregor would be the perfect choice to play Kurt Cobain. Run Ewan, run!
- The Los Angeles Times lists its contenders for the best movie title of 2007. We like Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.
- Another fascinating retrospective screening at the Berlin Film Festival: A rediscovered, restored color version of Hamlet made in 1920/21, “featuring silent film diva Asta Nielsen as the cross-dressing prince of Denmark.”
- More gambling flicks: Pierce Brosnan will turn the Leonard Wise novel The Big Biazarro, set in the high-stakes world of international gambling, into a starring vehicle for himself, to play “an elusive veteran card player who mentors a headstrong but talented protégé.” The film will be written and directed by Glitter and Gridlock’d director Vondie Curtis-Hall.
- Topher Grace will star in a time-travel-related sci fi film called Source Code for Universal.
Permalink : http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e8593#8593 |
“The Frequent Delivery of Crazy Shit” – This Week in Vern
1/17/2007 3:00:00 PM
 |
”The first story really stays dedicated to the frequent delivery of crazy shit. A female graffiti artist is kidnapped by Danny Trejo, dragged to some kind of candle-lit occult lair, tied up and forcibly tattooed using a crow feather. She has a positive attitude about the whole experience though because when it's all done she looks at her new skeleton hand tattoo and says, ‘Damn, that's tight.’
“Little does she realize that she now possesses deadly graffiti powers. When she crosses out someone's tag with her curdled-blood-like red spraypaint, that person will die in some horrible accident. For example, a guy's belt buckle is stuck when he's trying to sexually assault somebody, and while trying to pry it open he bumps the gun tucked in his waistband and shoots his own dick off. Later, one of his friends is pouring one on the curb for him, slips in the puddle he creates and impales his head on the 40 oz. bottle, creating a spectacular geyser of blood and malt liquor. (Don't worry, they give the victims each different ethnic backgrounds so it won't seem racist.) This is good stuff, this is exactly what I want to see when I visit a Hood of Horror.”
- The great Outlaw Vern reviews Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror.
Permalink : http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e8583#8583 |
Video of the Day 2: Patriotic Movies vs. Gay Commie Movies, via Fox News
1/17/2007 2:00:00 PM
Despite their already-stratospheric levels of idiocy, the folks at Fox News never cease to amaze. Here is one of the funnier bits I've seen, in which the Fox & Friends crew try to wrap their brains around a segment on -- what else? -- "Hollywood vs. America." Ignore the lame music and revel in the blank-faced ineptitude.
(Hat tip: Jeff Wells.)
Permalink : http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e8586#8586 |
The Divergent Fates of Hollywood Musclemen
1/17/2007 1:00:00 PM
- After Arnold Schwarzenegger’s positively Satanic pronunciation of “Babel” at Monday’s Golden Globes, I guess now’s as good a time as any to link to this bit of insanity, which asks, very seriously, “Is he the anti-Christ?”
- The Rock has joined the cast of the Steve Carrell-starring Get Smart.
- Steven Seagal is touring the UK with his blues band.
Permalink : http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e8582#8582 |
