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Ofcom's top TV programmes of 2022...

Ofcom reveals its top 10 most complained about programmes


Link Here23rd December 2022
Adam Baxter, Ofcom Director of Standards and Audience Protection writes:

Over the year, we received 36,543 complaints about over 9,500 issues, and completed 74 broadcast standards investigations. We found in 66 of these cases that our rules had been broken. We also completed 45 fairness and privacy investigations during the year, of which six complaints were upheld. These figures show the weight we place on freedom of expression, and that we only step in when it's really needed.

Importantly, this number doesn't include complaints about programmes on the BBC. These are handled by the BBC in the first instance. In the summer, we told the BBC that we expect it to improve how it handles complaints from viewers and listeners. And we were pleased to see it recently announce that it would be changing its processes to make it easier for people to complain.

2022's list of most complained about programmes is, once again, dominated by reality TV -- in particular ITV's Love Island and I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! Given the large viewing figures, and the headlines and conversations created by these shows -- both online and offline -- it is not surprising to see them topping our chart.

Top ten complaints:
  • Love Island, ITV2, 17 July - complaints related to alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour by some contestants in the villa.
  • I'm a Celebrity.... Get me out of here!, ITV, 6-27 November - viewers objected to the inclusion of Matt Hancock in the series.
  • Friday Night Live, Channel 4, 21 October - complaints related to a performance by Jordan Gray.
  • Love Island, ITV2, 19 July - complaints related to alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour by some contestants in the villa.
  • Good Morning Britain, ITV, 15 February - complaints related to comments made by Richard Madeley about death threats made to Keir Starmer.
  • Jeremy Vine, Channel 5, 24 January - viewers complained about a health consultant's inaccurate statement about numbers of unvaccinated people in hospital with Covid-19.
  • Love Island, ITV2, 18 July - complaints related to alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour by some contestants in the villa.
  • I'm a Celebrity.... Get me out of here!, ITV, 13 November - viewers objected to bullying behaviour against Matt Hancock.
  • FIFA World Cup Final 2022: Argentina v France, ITV, 18 December - complaints related to politicised comments from Gary Neville.
  • Sky News, Sky News, 10 September - a Justice for Chris Kaba walk was reported as people on their way to pay tribute to the late Queen. Ofcom is investigating whether this breached our rules on due accuracy.

 

 

Shopping: High Plains Drifter...

1973 USA western by Clint Eastwood, once cut by the BBFC, just released on US 4K Blu-ray


Link Here23rd December 2022

High Plains Drifter is a 1973 USA western by Clint Eastwood.
With Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom and Marianna Hill. Melon Farmers linkYouTube icon BBFC link 2020 IMDb

Cut by the BBFC for 1973 X rated cinema release but uncut on 18 rated home video. Uncut and MPAA R rated in the US.
US: Uncut and MPAA R rated for:
  • 2022 KL Studio Classics R0 4K Blu-ray at US Amazon #ad released on 22nd November 2022

Promotional Material

THEY'D NEVER FORGET THE DAY HE DRIFTED INTO TOWN! From Clint Eastwood, the acclaimed director/star of The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino and The Mule, comes this western masterpiece and homage to his "The Man with No Name" legend. Eastwood portrays a mysterious stranger who emerges out of the heat waves of the desert and rides into the guilt-ridden town of Lago. After committing three murders in the first 20 minutes, The Stranger is hired by the town's citizens to protect them from the three vengeful gunmen about to be released from jail. Eastwood's second film as a director is a tribute to his three spaghetti western classics with the great Sergio Leone, and features a strong supporting cast that includes Verna Bloom (Medium Cool), Marianna Hill (The Baby), Mitchell Ryan (The Hunting Party), Jack Ging (Play Misty for Me), Geoffrey Lewis (Every Which Way but Loose), Anthony James (In the Heat of the Night), John Hillerman (Blazing Saddles), John Quade (Breakheart Pass) and Billy Curtis (The Terror of Tiny Town). Beautifully shot in CinemaScope by Bruce Surtees (Dirty Harry) with a great screenplay by Ernest Tidyman (The French Connection) and a memorable score by Dee Barton (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot).

Special Features:

DISC 1 (4KUHD):
-Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master -- From a 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative
-NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
-Audio Commentary by Filmmaker Alex Cox
-5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio
-Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
-Optional English Subtitles

DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
-Brand New HD Master -- From a 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative
-NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
-Audio Commentary by Filmmaker Alex Cox
-LADY VENGEANCE: Interview with Actress Marianna Hill
-HELL TO PAY: Interview with Actor Mitchell Ryan
-THE BARBER OF LAGO: Interview with Actor William O'Connell
-A MAN NAMED EASTWOOD: Vintage Promo in HD
-TRAILERS FROM HELL Episodes with Josh Olson & Edgar Wright
-Poster and Image Gallery
-TV & Radio Spot
-2 Theatrical Trailers
-5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio
-Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
-Optional English Subtitles

 

 

Interstate Obscenity Definition Act...

A moralist US senator introduces a bill to redefine obscenity in the US and get porn banned


Link Here19th December 2022
US Senator Mike Lee has proposed a bill that, if passed, would redefine what obscenity means nationwide, which could effectively decimate the porn industry. The Utah Republican filed the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA) based on the Communications Act of 1934, and stated in the IODA that obscenity is not protected speech under the First Amendment and is prohibited from interstate or foreign transmission under U.S. law.

Lee's bill seeks to reinstate the obscenity rules that were established in the Communications Act of 1934. These rules include removing content that appeals to the prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion, depicts, describes, or represents actual or simulated sexual acts with the objective intent to arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual desires of a person, and, --  lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value, the IODA says.

The Free Speech Coalition tweeted its concern for the First Amendment, arguing the bill is a renewed attempt by conservatives to censor free speech and sexual expression. The director of public affairs with the Free Speech Coalition, Mike Stabile, told VICE News:

This bill, among our members, has gotten a huge amount of attention. Our members understand this for what it is: It's a threat to their business, to their livelihood. It's a threat to their community.

Obscenity in the US is currently defined under a Supreme Court test for obscenity: the 'Miller Test.' The Miller Test was introduced in 1973 and is named after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Miller v. California case that year. In that case, a California publisher and author Melvin Miller were prosecuted for publishing what was ruled as containing obscene material. Miller had mailed five unsolicited brochures to his mother and a restaurant manager revealing explicit images and photos of men and women engaged in sexual activities.

Following the court's decision, then-Chief Justice Warren Burger outlined guidelines for jurors to follow when presented with obscenity cases including whether the average person applying contemporary community standards would find the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

 

 

Shopping: Vampire Circus...

1972 UK horror by Robert Young, cut by the BBFC in 1972, just released on UK Blu-ray.


Link Here19th December 2022

Vampire Circus is a 1972 UK horror by Robert Young.
With Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters and Anthony Higgins. Melon Farmers linkYouTube icon BBFC link 2020 IMDb

Cut by the BBFC for 1972 cinema release and subsequent UK releases. The film was cut in the US for an MPAA PG rating but the best available version has been released MPAA Unrated.
UK: The cut cinema version was previously passed 15 for:
  • 2022 Strawberry Media 50th Anniversary (RB) Blu-ray at UK Amazon #ad released on 21st November 2022

Cuts status

This is the best available version with the material cut by the BBFC assumed to be lost. UK censor Stephen Murphy requested many cuts to the film in 1972 though Hammer succeeded in shortening his original demands. The BBFC edits finally made were to:

  • the whipping scene toned down
  • a dagger in the face deleted from the opening scene
  • the forest attack by the panther
  • footage of the mutilated remains of the family.
Thanks to Tim:

Some confusion exists because a list of proposed huge BBFC cuts list was in circulation. Wayne Kinsey's Elstree Studios book explained that this list was the examiners' first strike and most of these proposed cuts, which removed whole scenes and probably added up to about 5m, were never made following an appeal to Stephen Murphy who had proposed less drastic cuts at an advanced screening before his more censorious examiners had seen the film. The cuts generally aren't noticeable apart from the scene in which Lynn Frederick finds the dead bodies in the woods when a few shots have clearly been reduced or reduced to a flash.

Promotional Material

Out of the entire Hammer canon "Vampire Circus" has got to be one of the strangest things they ever did and it's coming to Blu-Ray for the first time in the UK to celebrate its 50th Anniversary!

It is an offbeat, highly surreal number with oodles of blood and gore thrown in. A Transylvanian village is sealed off from the outside world due to an outbreak of the plague. Anyone who tries to get in or out is shot dead by the police. Nevertheless a travelling circus somehow breaks through the lines, and boy, are all its bloodless-looking performers a wee bit strange!

There is a gypsy male who seems to be able to turn himself into a panther, and a pair of very creepy acrobatic twins, who seem impervious to pain and can transform themselves into birds. All of it is presided over by Adrienne Corri, who makes a suitably vampy Ring-Mistress.

Added to all this the village itself is living under a curse imposed on them by an aristocrat they killed several years before for being a vampire, all of which is related in the violent and blood-splattered opening sequence to the film. A Creepy Hammer horror with bite!

SPECIAL FEATURES

  • 12 PAGE BOOKLET INCLUDING A NEW ESSAY by The Evolution Of Horror's Mike Muncer
  • REVERSIBLE SLEEVE ARTWORK
  • 'THE BLOODIEST SHOW ON EARTH' documentary featuring interviews from renowned director Joe Dante and actor Dave Prowse
  • VISITING THE HOUSE OF HAMMER - an insight into Britain's legendary horror magazine
  • GALLERY OF GROTESQUES - A brief history of Circus Horrors
  • VAMPIRE CIRUCS interactive comic book
  • STILLS GALLERY



 

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