The Motion Picture Association of America does a few other things too, but its most visible impact on movie-going is its ratings system. G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17, you gotta have a rating for your movie if you want most theater chains to show it, and the MPAA's secretive clan of breast-counters and violence-ignorers decides which label its gets.
An overwhelming majority of films get the rating they deserve -- or, at the very least, a rating that's consistent with how the MPAA has rated other films with similar content. But some MPAA decisions are baffling, illogical, or just plain outrageous. Here are the ones that perplexed us the most this year. The Worst MPAA Ratings of 2008
1. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (rated PG for "epic battle action and violence"). The MPAA says, "The ratings are intended to provide parents with advance information so they can decide for themselves which films are appropriate for viewing by their own children." It's all about parents looking out for their kids. So how in the name of C.S. Lewis did this film -- rife with stabbing, throat-slitting, decapitating, and large-scale slaughter, much of it perpetrated by teenage characters -- get a PG? Does the fact that most of the violence is bloodless (and therefore not realistic) somehow make it family-friendly? Had there been even one sexual reference, it would have gotten a PG-13. Thank goodness Disney only packed the film with killing instead!
Best known as the writer of The Usual Suspects, Christopher McQuarrie has an impressive number of films on his resume (including his criminally overlooked directorial debut, The Way of the Gun), but Valkyrie -- opening nationwide this week -- saw him also serve as a producer alongside director Bryan Singer and star Tom Cruise. A thriller about the 1944 plot inside the German military to try and assassinate Adolph Hitler, Valkyrie turns one of history's nightmares into a taut modern thriller -- a tricky balancing act that the film pulls off: "What we tried to do was to always maintain the focus that this was a movie about an event, that this was a movie about the events of July 20th (1944), and remain focused on that. We weren't making a bio-pic, we weren't making a film about the Holocaust -- all of those things were happening ... (but) this movie is about this incredible event that happened. ... And at the same time, maintaining a sense of responsibility."
McQuarrie spoke with Cinematical from New York about working alongside the German government, how producing a mega-million war film was like "drinking from a firehose," forgoing German accents, his possible future take on superheroic franchise The Champions and much more. You can listen to the podcast here at Cinematical by clicking below:
You can also download the interview in full right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.
Yikes -- Warner Bros. obviously landed on Santa's naughty list this year. The New York Times reports that the judge has ruled in favor of Fox Studios. Sayeth the Honorable Judge Feess "Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the Watchmen motion picture."
This comes as quite a surprise since last we heard, the judge didn't have enough information to make a ruling, and was moving the trial to January 20th. Judge Feess indicated he would make a more detailed ruling soon.
Warner Bros. has declined to comment, and as of now, has not backed off the film's planned release date of March 6. I can hear you all crying (and I hope it's in your very best Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer voice) "There goes Watchmen, and there goes Christmas!" But it's highly doubtful Watchmen will lose its release date. There's no need to panic. Feess advised Fox and Warner Bros to look towards a settlement or appeal. "The parties may wish to turn their efforts from preparing for trial to negotiating a resolution of this dispute or positioning the case for review." So, expect a major payoff from Warner Bros. (and maybe those rumored Batman television show rights) to Fox in order that we'll still be at that March 6th show. And you thought a lump of coal was bad.
I watched "Happy-Go-Lucky" again last night, this time with the wife and daughters. My few reservations about the movie remain but I was taken more than ever with Eddie Marsan's terrific performance as the sour, teeth-gnashing driving instructor Scott -- the yin to Poppy's yang, the dark cloud in her silver lining. I still think the character betrays the limitations of director Mike Leigh's approach to moviemaking (he builds the script up from extended improvisational work with the actors). Scott is such a compendium of foul beliefs and conspiratorial paranoias that I never quite bought him as a person: He really is a product of an actor's workshop. Yet on this viewing, Marsan papered over the cracks of my disbelief, especially when he pops his cork toward the end and showers Poppy (Sally Hawkins) with a torrent of invective that proves how little he actually understands her. The expression on Scott's face is that of a little boy who can no longer hold in his sorrow at a world that doesn't play fair. He thinks he's raging when he's really keening.
The daughters picked this up, by the way, and bandied it about (Eliza: "He's such a creep." Natalie: "No, he isn't. He's a sad little man."). Other aspects of "Happy-Go-Lucky" came in for post-screening chatter as well, such as the subplot about the bully in Poppy's class and her encounter with the homeless man. It's a surprisingly rich movie for young adolescents if you don't mind a little British gutter-talk and one discreet prelude to a shag. I think Leigh had posed a new one for the girls: Is it possible to be truly happy in this world? And does that have something to do with being (and doing) good? You have to like the movies that take a while to sink in.
Finally, happy holidays to all this blog's constant readers. I'm off and won't be posting for a couple of weeks, part of which will be spent on a cruiseship with my wife's extended family. I have never been on a cruise before, and since my only knowledge of the experience comes from the stateroom scene in "A Night at the Opera" and reading the late David Foster Wallace's brilliant essay "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" (linked here under its original Harper's title, "Shipping Out" -- this is essential reading, folks), I am properly terrified. In any event, the best of the season to you and yours. Here's to an interesting 2009.
I have the sneaking suspicion that Seth Rogen'sThe Green Hornet remake may go the way of its failed predecessors. Over the weekend, Monika reported that Stephen Chow was no longer directing the film -- now comes the news that Chow may not remain as Kato, either.
Chow told the AP that he had abandoned directing the film in order to make a superhero comedy starring Jack Black. "If I direct The Green Hornet, the superhero comedy will have to be delayed for two years," Chow said. "The timing might not be right for a superhero comedy in two years. And I want to make a movie based on an original idea."
Presumably, directing Black might also interfere with his Kato-playing duties -- something Chow confirms by saying that continuing in the role depends on his schedule. If you're a conspiracy theorist, you can speculate away about whether Chow's really passionate about Black and original superhero comedy, or whether it's those vague "creative differences" reported earlier.
Judging from the comments, Rogen's Hornet isn't too popular anyway. I was unsure about the comedic angle the project was taking, but Chow's casting was something to hang your hopes on, particularly if they reined in his slapstick style. But maybe that's precisely what the "differences" are. Maybe they just need to quit forcing this one, and let the Hornet sit for the unforeseeable future?
If you live in or around the New York City area, you're no doubt well aware of the Lillo Brancato Jr. murder trial. Brancato Jr., who's most known for his six-episode stint on The Sopranos and for starring in Robert De Niro's A Bronx Tale as Calogero (or 'C'), was on trial for murdering an off-duty police officer after breaking into a house to obtain drugs with a friend. The friend, Steven Armento, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison earlier this month. Brancato Jr. claimed he did not shoot the officer, but only broke a window in the house because he was suffering intense heroin withdrawal. The house, according to Brancato Jr., belonged to a Vietnam veteran who gave the men permission to come over from time to time to get drugs.
But when no one answered the door that night, the two men -- itching for that next high -- decided to break in. That's when Daniel Enchautegui, a neighbor, came to check things out. Upon finding the two men breaking in, Armento shot Enchautegui, who returned fire hitting both Brancato Jr. and Armento several times. Apparently a jury found that Brancato Jr. had nothing to do with the murder and acquitted him of those charges, but did find him guilty of attempted burglary -- a charge that could send him to prison for up to 15 years (he's already served three).
The director of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Summer of '42" is dead at 83, after a long battle with heart disease. The Times obit touches on the basics, and if you haven't seen "Mockingbird," you need to right now: the 1962 film stands as the high point of the earnest, socially conscious drama purveyed by Mulligan and the rest of the generation that came out of 50s television ready to take on the world.
Yet Mulligan never made the transition to film with as much ease as peers like Sidney Lumet or his one-time producing partner Alan J. Pakula. He had the misfortune to arrive just as American cinema was overtaken by the age of sensation, and that just wasn't Mulligan's strength: Sensitivity and stolid, character-driven honesty were. See his debut film, 1957's "Fear Strikes Out," for an example of 50s issue-drama at its most harrowing -- Anthony Perkins plays Jimmy Piersall, a Boston Red Sox player having a nervous breakdown on and off the field -- or look to his last movie, 1991's "The Man in the Moon" for an example of Mulligan's elegant, subtly resonant way with a story. That film, by the way, introduced an actress named Reese Witherspoon; Mulligan was especially good with younger characters and players. He'll be missed, even if the culture has long since gone crashing noisily past him.
What is it we love so much about big-screen strippers, aside from the obvious? Is it the eyes that reveal a trapped soul? The bruises that reveal a wounded heart? The solitary dances that reveal a lonely spirit? Obviously the stripper makes for a very complex character on screen as she (and he) has appeared in countless films over the years, spanning several different genres. The latest stripper to hit the stage comes in the form of actress Marisa Tomei, who may just nab an Oscar nod for her performance in The Wrestler (in limited release this weekend). And in the past couple of years, we've watched a number of different strippers do their thing -- from the fantastic ensemble cast of Abel Ferrara's Go Go Tales to the somewhat fascinating ensemble cast of Zombie Strippers, our thirst for people who take their clothes off for money has not gone away; it's just become a little more absurd.
Inspired by EW's recent piece on Stars Who Played Strippers, we'd like to know who your favorites are -- and why, exactly, you think the stripper is such a popular character in film. To help you, we've pieced together a gallery full of some of the most popular big-screen strippers. (Note: Bachelor Party's Nick the D*ck was Weinberg's choice -- but, c'mon, watch this clip and tell me he doesn't belong here.)
Apologies to any regular blog followers for this week's radio silence -- it's crunch time, and Wes and I have been busy making our Top 10 lists and writing reviews for all those Big Important movies opening Xmas Day. But I'll be in this space at 1 p.m. today to answer such questions as "Are those real construction staples in Mickey Rourke's back in 'The Wrestler'?" and "Is 'the plot of 'Seven Pounds' as clinically insane as it appears to be?"
Many of the expected suspects have surfaced in the Screen Actors Guild nominations today, which have been announced about three weeks earlier than usual. All the leads in "Doubt" -- Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams -- are nominees, including Viola Davis, who, as you've probably heard, has one scene. John Patrick Shanley's film adaptation of his play was also nominated for best ensemble, along with the casts of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Milk," "Slumdog Millionaire," and "Frost/Nixon."
The SAG awards are usually an accurate forecast of how most of the acting nominations will go next month when the Oscar nominees are announced. Now some suspense: What will become of those omitted by SAG (critics favorite Sally Hawkins in "Happy-Go-Lucky; Leonardo DiCaprio, whose "Revolutionary Road" co-star Kate Winslet is a nominee)? And will medium long-shots like SAG nominees Richard Jenkins, Melissa Leo, and Taraji P. Henson be Oscar nominees next January, too? And if "Slumdog Millionaire" wins, is there any stage in Los Angeles big enough to hold all of Mumbai?
More important: What's up with the actors strike? Is the right time for the lower echelons of the guild to be out of work? Stay tuned.
Here is a list of all the nominees:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
RICHARD JENKINS / Walter Vale - "THE VISITOR" (Overture Films)
FRANK LANGELLA / Richard Nixon - "FROST/NIXON" (Universal Pictures)
SEAN PENN / Harvey Milk - "MILK" (Focus Features)
BRAD PITT / Benjamin Button - "THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON" (Paramount Pictures)
MICKEY ROURKE / Randy - "THE WRESTLER" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
ANNE HATHAWAY / Kym - "RACHEL GETTING MARRIED" (Sony Pictures Classics)
ANGELINA JOLIE / Christine Collins - "CHANGELING" (Universal Pictures)
MELISSA LEO / Ray Eddy - "FROZEN RIVER" (Sony Pictures Classics)
MERYL STREEP / Sister Aloysius Beauvier - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
KATE WINSLET / April Wheeler - "REVOLUTIONARY ROAD" (Paramount Vantage)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
JOSH BROLIN / Dan White - "MILK" (Focus Features)
ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. / Kirk Lazarus - "TROPIC THUNDER" (Paramount Pictures)
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN / Father Brendan Flynn - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
HEATH LEDGER / Joker - "THE DARK KNIGHT" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
DEV PATEL / Older Jamal - "SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
AMY ADAMS / Sister James - "DOUBT" (Miramax Flms)
PENÉLOPE CRUZ / Maria Elena - "VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA" (The Weinstein Company)
VIOLA DAVIS / Mrs. Miller - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
TARAJI P. HENSON / Queenie - "THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON" (Paramount Pictures)
KATE WINSLET / Hanna Schmitz - "THE READER" (The Weinstein Company)
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
DOUBT (Miramax)
FROST/NIXON (Universal Pictures)
MILK (Focus Features)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (Paramount Pictures)
PRIMETIME TELEVISION
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
RALPH FIENNES / Bernard Lafferty - "BERNARD AND DORIS" (HBO)
PAUL GIAMATTI / John Adams - "JOHN ADAMS" (HBO)
KEVIN SPACEY / Ron Klain - "RECOUNT" (HBO)
KIEFER SUTHERLAND / Jack Bauer - "24: REDEMPTION" (FOX)
TOM WILKINSON / Benjamin Franklin - "JOHN ADAMS" (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
LAURA DERN / Katherine Harris - "RECOUNT" (HBO)
LAURA LINNEY / Abigail Adams - "JOHN ADAMS" (HBO)
SHIRLEY MacLAINE / Coco Chanel - "COCO CHANEL" (Lifetime)
PHYLICIA RASHAD / Lena Younger - "A RAISIN IN THE SUN" (ABC)
SUSAN SARANDON / Doris Duke - "BERNARD AND DORIS" (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
MICHAEL C. HALL / Dexter Morgan - "DEXTER" (Showtime)
JON HAMM / Don Draper - "MAD MEN" (AMC)
HUGH LAURIE / Gregory House - "HOUSE" (FOX)
WILLIAM SHATNER / Denny Crane - "BOSTON LEGAL" (ABC)
JAMES SPADER / Alan Shore - "BOSTON LEGAL" (ABC)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
SALLY FIELD / Nora Walker - "BROTHERS & SISTERS" (ABC)
MARISKA HARGITAY / Det. Olivia Benson - "LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT" (NBC)
HOLLY HUNTER / Grace Hanadarko - "SAVING GRACE" (TNT)
ELISABETH MOSS / Peggy Olson - "MAD MEN" (AMC)
KYRA SEDGWICK / Dep. Chief Brenda Johnson - "THE CLOSER" (TNT)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ALEC BALDWIN / Jack Donaghy - "30 ROCK" (NBC)
STEVE CARELL / Michael Scott - "THE OFFICE" (NBC)
DAVID DUCHOVNY / Hank Moody - "CALIFORNICATION" (Showtime)
JEREMY PIVEN / Ari Gold - "ENTOURAGE" (HBO)
TONY SHALHOUB / Adrian Monk - "MONK" (USA)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
CHRISTINA APPLEGATE / Samantha Newly - "SAMANTHA WHO?" (ABC)
AMERICA FERRERA / Betty Suarez - "UGLY BETTY" (ABC)
TINA FEY / Liz Lemon - "30 ROCK" (NBC)
MARY-LOUISE PARKER / Nancy Botwin - "WEEDS" (Showtime)
TRACEY ULLMAN / Various Characters - "TRACEY ULLMAN?S STATE OF THE UNION" (Showtime)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
BOSTON LEGAL (ABC)
DEXTER (Showtime)
HOUSE (Fox)
MAD MEN (AMC)
THE CLOSER (TNT)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
30 ROCK (NBC)
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
ENTOURAGE (HBO)
THE OFFICE (NBC)
WEEDS (Showtime)
SAG HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
THE DARK KNIGHT (Warner Bros. Pictures)
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY (Universal Pictures)
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (Paramount Pictures)
IRON MAN (Paramount Pictures)
WANTED (Universal Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (NBC)
HEROES (NBC)
PRISON BREAK (FOX)
THE UNIT (CBS)
THE CLOSER (TNT)
LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Screen Actors Guild Awards 45th Annual Life Achievement Award
James Earl Jones
Yikes -- Warner Bros. obviously landed on Santa's naughty list this year. 
I have the sneaking suspicion that 
If you live in or around the New York City area, you're no doubt well aware of the 
