Movie News

Fisting; it's not for everyone. Certainly not for many Filipino moviegoers who apparently took offense with an independent film that used the word as its title.

Director Whammy Alcazaren's film originally titled Fisting now only goes by its much less graphic subtitle Never Tear Us Apart after festival organizer Cinema One Originals requested a title change.

The film makers responded by a stop in social media accounts made for the movie and take down other promotional materials with the former title.

According to a statement on Facebook, Alcazaren was willing to change the title on grounds of pragmatism:

We are doing these necessary steps so that we can continue the dialogue we wanted to have with the audience through our film, the statement reads.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), the agency that rates films, has also flagged the film's producers for its title . Apparently, the film's producers did not submit the publicity materials for review. The MTRCB also noted in a memorandum that all publicity materials for films must be suitable for a general audience.

Never Tear Us Apart is a family drama about an aging spy who discovers that his wife was impregnated by a monster called The Shadow.

Fox has announced that it will cut Deadpool 2 for a PG-13 re-release on December 21, 2018.

Ryan Reynolds confirmed the news on Instagram with an image that appears to be from newly-shot footage of Deadpool retelling the events of Deadpool 2 as a bedtime story to a grown-up Fred Savage, Princess Bride-style, as a framing device:

One has to think that the editors will be hard at work trying tone down the rather caustic humour of Deadpool.

The Green Inferno (aka Cannibal Holocaust 2) is a 1988 Italy action crime horror by Antonio Climati.
Starring Marco Merlo, Fabrizio Merlo and May Deseligny.

UK: Passed 15 uncut for strong violence, injury detail with previous BBFC cuts waived for:

• 2018 88 Films Limited [16:9] video

The BBFC has just waived its cuts to the Italian horror, The Green Inferno. It was previously released in the UK titled Cannibal Holocaust 2 with a 15 rating after BBFC cuts for animal cruelty. The previous 12s cut from 2002 was to remove the sight of a monkey hit with a blow dart.

Summary Notes

A man named Pete gets a phone call from his friend, Jemma, who says she has evidence that a professor missing in the Amazon is still alive. Pete hires two men, Mark and Fred, to steal a plane and fly down to the jungle to meet with her. Once there, they meet with Jemma and head into the jungle. The group gets the help of a young native girl to take them to the legendary Imas tribe, the tribe in which the professor was said to be with. However, during their search for the Imas, they run into gold hunters, who are intent on killing the tribe and stealing their treasure. Now racing against the treasure seekers to reach the Imas, they also uncover another scandal in the jungle and try to shut them both down to save the local natives.

Religious communities in the US have tried several times to introduce technology that sanitises movies, skipping over sex, violence or strong language. Such censorship is totally voluntary and is not inflicted on others, so perhaps at first thought it should not causes any issues. However Hollywood has taken a strong stance against this form of movie vandalism. Presumably Hollywood doesn't appreciate the effects on word of mouth advertising. They wouldn't really appreciate people bad mouthing films that may have been rendered incomprehensible by the cutting of key scenes.

So now the influential religious community have come up with new law proposal to legalise move sanitisation.

Moralists of the Parents Television Council has provided a statement outlining the thinking behind the Family Movie Act Clarification Act of 2018 (HR 6816), which was introduced by Representative Mia Love, a Utah Republican on September 13th. PTC President Tim Winter said:

It is ironic that legislation first passed in the 21st century needs to be brought into the 21st century, but that is exactly what the Family Movie Act Clarification Act will do. This bill is a long-overdue update to the Family Movie Act of 2005 and would give parents the digital ability to plug their kids' ears and cover their kids' eyes to harmful and explicit streaming content, just as the 2005 Act allows them to do via a DVD. We applaud Congresswoman Mia Love for recognizing the need for the law to catch up with technology in order to better serve parents.

Based on stories I've heard from inside the beltway, Love and the bill's cosponsors deserve combat valor medals for weathering an intense, scorched-earth effort by Hollywood lobbyists working to prevent even the introduction of this bill, let alone its consideration.

But why would Hollywood studios object to legislation that would allow their films to make more money? They have claimed that digital filtering is akin to piracy, but there is no piracy taking place. Parents are only skipping past the objectionable content of movies they've purchased and are watching in the comfort of their own homes. The studios raised the same arguments over a dozen years ago when the Family Movie Act of 2005 was being considered. Those arguments were hollow then, and they are hollow now. The only plausible reason why anyone in Hollywood would be opposed to this measure is that some sort of agenda would be obviated by the consumer.

Make no mistake: this is a win-win for Hollywood and for parents. Families would be able to protect their children from harmful content in movies they stream; and Hollywood immediately increases its revenue capacity by broadening the marketplace for its products. Any publicly-traded studio that opposes either the spirit or the letter of this legislation is acting against its own fiduciary interests and, therefore, violating its corporate duty to shareholders.

We call on congressional leadership, both in the House and in the Senate, to deliver a Christmas present to parents and families, and pass H.R. 6816 before the end of this year.

Rafiki is a 2018 Kenya / South Africa drama by Wanuri Kahiu.
Starring Patricia Amira, Muthoni Gathecha and Jimmy Gathu.

Banned by the Kenya Film Classification Board in April 2018. The KFCB claimed the film seeks to legitimize lesbian romance.

Rafiki, which means friend in Swahili,  is adapted from the 2007 Caine Prize-winning short story, Jambula Tree, by Ugandan writer Monica Arac Nyeko. It follows two close friends, Kena and Ziki, who eventually fall in love despite their families being on opposing sides of the political divide.

Wanuri Kahiu, the director of the banned film Rafiki is Suing Kenya's film censors to unblock the way for the film to qualify as contender for the Oscars. The suit demands that the local ban be lifted in time for her to submit the film to be considered for an Oscar. It's also pushing to change the law that has been used to ban popular films like The Wolf of Wall Street.

For Rafiki to be eligible for a Best Foreign Language award, it needs to be shown in Kenya before September 30, The Hollywood Reporter adds . If the selection committee is given permission to screen the film to submit it to the Academy, Rafiki could be the first Kenyan film to be nominated in that category

Wanuri Kahiu's Rafiki has received its due praise on the film festival circuit since her film was selected to make its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year-- making it the first Kenyan feature film to do so. However, the Kenya Film Classification Board banned the film, claiming that it seeks to legitimize lesbian romance.

Update: Make love not war, court organises a 7 day truce

22nd September 2018. See article from bbc.com

A Kenyan judge has lifted a ban on a film about a lesbian relationship - for a week. Judge Wilfrida Okwany decided to allow the screening of the film for seven days so that it could be submitted for the Oscars.

In order to be submitted to the Academy Awards, the film must have been publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days at a commercial motion picture venue.

In her ruling on Friday, Ms Okwany gave permission for the film to be shown to willing adults. She said she was not convinced that Kenya is such a weak society that its moral foundation will be shaken by seeing such a film.

But the head of the Kenya Film Classification Board, Ezekiel Mutua, was unhappy about the decision, claiming homosexuality is not our way of life.

The film's director Wanuri Kahiu, who appealed against the ban, was overjoyed with the latest decision.

The film's Twitter account announced that it will hold screenings in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi

Update: Popular

24th September 2018. See article

Rafiki, temporarily reprieved from being banned showed on Sunday to a cheering full house audience in Nairobi. The cinema showed on an additional screen after more than 450 people arrived.

Nairobi residents will be able to watch Rafiki during daytime-only screenings at the Prestige Cinema in the capital for a week

Manmarziyaan is a 2018 India romance by Anurag Kashyap.
Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Vicky Kaushal and Tapsee Pannu.

The film is a love story set in Punjab where Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, and Vicky Kaushal will be seen in prominent roles.

The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DGMC) is staging a protest on Sunday against this week's movie release, Manmarziyaan (Husband Material) , demanding a nationwide ban on the film.

The committee claims that the filml has a few anti-Sikh scenes which have the potential to hurt the sentiments of the community.

DSGMC president Manjeet Singh GK said:

I believe that this movie should not be screened till makers remove the objectionable scenes from the movie.

Since ages we have been demanding that the censor board should recruit a representative of the Sikh community in their team but they haven't.

We will not tolerate this at any cost and will strongly protest against this movie.

The Delhi police have stepped up the security outside the movie theatre to prevent violence.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, Manmarziyan, has not been cleared by the Central Board of Film Censors for release in Pakistan. According to CBFC Chairman Danyal Gilani, all board members found the content inappropriate and agreed that the film violated its censorship code.

However, the film was given an adults only 'A' Certificate by the Censor Boards of Sindh and Punjab.

Manmarziyan released in India, USA and Australia on September 14, after a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8.

Update: The producers decide to cut the film for national reease

See  article from devdiscourse.com

A court in the city of Jammu ordered 4 cuts in the film on grounds of 'hurting religious sentiment'. However the producers had already decided to cut 3 scenes on the same grounds for national release.

The producers submitted the version to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The three deleted scenes are:

• a 29-second smoking sequence of Abhishek,
• a minute long scene featuring Taapsee Pannu and Abhishek entering a gurudwara and
• an 11-second scene where Taapsee is shown smoking.

The film cuts will be applied to all prints in circulation in India within the next couple of days.

The Nun is a 2018 USA horror mystery thriller by Corin Hardy.
Starring Taissa Farmiga, Bonnie Aarons and Charlotte Hope.

Summary Notes

When a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Together they uncover the order's unholy secret. Risking not only their lives but their faith and their very souls, they confront a malevolent force in the form of the same demonic nun that first terrorized audiences in 'The Conjuring 2,' as the abbey becomes a horrific battleground between the living and the damned.

Lebanon's film censors have banned the new horror movie, The Nun, from a cinema release. The censors claimed that the film was offensive to the Christian faith.

The Warner Bros production was awaiting a screening licence from the General Security's censorship committee ahead of an expected release on 6 September. However last Wednesday, the Catholic committee watched the movie and asked the General Security to ban it in Lebanon for religious reasons.

It is unclear which scenes caused 'the offence', but some believe the ban may stem from the victimisation of nuns in the film.

According to the constitution, multi-religious Lebanon can impose censorship on local and international productions for a number of reasons. These include banning films for stirring religious and political sensitivities as well as those with sexually explicit content.