MPAA News

The US film censorship system has a notable large gap between the PG-13 rating and the R rating which would called a 17A in UK terms. There is clearly a need for a rating around the 15 level.

A New York cinema has made the news this week by overriding the MPAA rating for a couple of films that would occupy this 15 rated middle ground. Film ratings are voluntary in the US, so they are legally allowed to do this.

IFC Center, a major independent cinema has decided to defy the MPAA's R ratings for the documentary on Ed Snowden by Laura Poitras, Citizenfour , and for Richard Linklater's film Boyhood . The cinema announced the decision on notices as follows:

While the MPAA has assigned BOYHOOD a rating of R, recommending that no one under 17 be admitted without a parent or guardian, IFC Center feels that the film is appropriate viewing for mature adolescents. Accordingly, the theater will admit high school age patrons at its discretion.

For comparison the BBFC rated both films 15 as follows:

• Boyhood. Passed 15 uncut for strong language, sex references, drug use for:
• Citizenfour. Passed 15 uncut for strong language for:

BBFC advised category cuts were made for UK cinema and home video releases of Paul WS Anderson's Pompeii .

The BBFC commented at the time of the cinema release:

This work was originally seen for advice. The company was advised that the film was likely to receive a 15 certificate but that their preferred 12A classification could be achieved by making some changes.

The company was advised:

• to reduce stronger moments of violence where there was a dwelling on particular acts and
• to reduce the emphasis on blood on bladed weapons.

When the film was formally submitted, changes had been made which addressed these concerns. Consequently, the film was passed 12A.

Now Movie-Censorship.com reveals that the BBFC advised category cuts were adopted for US PG-13 rated release and also for FSK 12 rated release in Germany. Presumably the BBFC cuts therefore apply worldwide.

BBFC advised category cuts similarly found there way into the worldwide Theatrical Version of Brett Ratner's Hercules . But at least in this case there was an Extended Version released on US Blu-ray which restored the cuts. The Extended Version is MPAA Unrated in the US but has not been released in the UK.

Boyhood is a 2014 USA drama by Richard Linklater.
Starring Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke.

US : Rated R (17A) for language including sexual references, and For teen drug and alcohol use.

UK : Rated 15 uncut for strong language, sex references, drug use

The USA lacks a rating for mid teens. There is a PG-13 rating for young teens but the next step is an R rating which is in UK terms a 17A rating. So movies that are 15 rated in the UK have to be overrated with a 17 rating in the US. It is often cited as a criticism of the US system that something as trivial as a couple of 'fucks' tips a movie from a 13 rating to a 17 rating. One such example is Richard Linklater's Boyhood.

Richard Linklater's Boyhood was given an R-rating, despite the fact that it quite realistically charts the growth of a contemporary suburban child up until his college years. Naturally, the MPAA wants to protect any kid who might actually watch something that, critics say, accurately depicts their own lives. But distributor IFC Films isn't having it.

In response to the R-rating, IFC tweeted about Boyhood , which is playing at the IFC Center in New York, as well as five other locations:

Though the MPAA has rated BOYHOOD R, we feel the film is appropriate for mature adolescents & will be admitting teenagers at our discretion. --- IFC Center (@IFCCenter) July 11, 2014

The indie film from director Richard Linklater follows a young boy named Mason, who makes it through a rocky childhood with an alcoholic father (Ethan Hawke) and, eventually, a single mother (Patricia Arquette) as he attempts to define his identity over the course of twelve years. Boyhood carries an R-rating attached to crude language, including sexual references, and teen drug and alcohol usage. There are several implications of spousal abuse as well as domestic unrest, which are no doubt intense for the viewer. Which is sort of the point: it's almost as if the MPAA is penalizing Linklater's movie for being honest.

The Expendables 3 is a 2014 USA action adventure thriller by Patrick Hughes.
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Jet Li.

Barney and his team, known as "The Expendables", come into conflict with ruthless arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks, the Expendables' co-founder, who is determined to destroy the team.

US: Cut for an MPAA PG-13 for violence including intense sustained gun battles and fight scenes, and for language.

Collider reports:

Collider.com learned from sources that the film just squeaked by the MPAA with a PG-13 rating, and they had to make trims to get there after the first pass was given an R.

Knowing the first cut was rated R, probably means an unrated version of The Expendables 3 will be released on Blu-ray.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a 2013 USA comedy fantasy adventure by Ben Stiller.
With Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig and Adam Scott.

A day-dreamer escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker are threatened, he takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

The BBFC advised cuts for a PG rated cinema release in 2013. Now movie-censorship.com is reporting that this version cut on advice of the BBFC has now been released in Germany and the US (and probably worldwide)

UK: Passed PG for infrequent moderate violence, mild language and sex references after BBFC advised cuts for category for:

• 2014 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
• 2014 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
• 2013 cinema release

The BBFC commented:

This work was originally seen for advice. The company was advised that the film was likely to receive a 12A rating but that their preferred PG rating could be achieved by making limited changes, including:

• to remove sight of naked female pin-up pictures and

• to reduce violent threat in a fight scene.

When an edited version of the film was submitted for formal classification, these scenes had been addressed and the film was consequently rated PG.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has banned the latest teaser poster for Terry Gilliam's The Zero Theorem .

The reason for the censorship is a fully exposed backside, although it's not exactly prominently highlighted in the design.

Gilliam took to his Facebook page to comment on the ban:

Zero Theorem off to a good start in the US thanks to the Motion Picture Association of America's censors. They have banned our teaser poster because of a bare butt. Your thoughts, please.

Kevin Costner has persuaded the CARA appeals board to down rate his upcoming drama Black and White f rom R to PG-13.

The film is now rated PG-13 for brief strong language, thematic material involving drug use and drinking, and for a fight, the MPAA's Classification and Rating Administration announced.

Written and directed by Mike Binder, the independent film stars Costner as a widowed grandfather who becomes embroiled in a custody battle over his biracial granddaughter, whom he has raised since birth, when the girl's paternal grandmother (Octavia Spencer) surfaces. Costner is also producing the film.

Film Rating Advisors Inc (FRA) is a consulting company backed by former MPAA raters, that has just launched this month to work with filmmakers to get the MPAA ratings they desire.

FRA co-founders Howard Fridkin and Barry Freeman offer their combined 23 years of MPAA experience, which includes the rating of more than 15,000 films. By viewing a film prior to its MPAA screening, FRA is able to assess any potential ratings issues in detail, then work closely with the filmmaker to trim the scenes to prevent more substantial edits that might occur from an unexpected rating. Fridkin said:

Often, filmmakers are completely surprised by the MPAA and their opinion on what constitutes suitable material for a particular age group. The need to reshoot can be cost prohibitive, while these suggested edits can detract from the director's vision. However, Barry and I, having been longtime raters, are able to catch these 'issues' early on. We can prevent the need for heavy-handed editing as a result of what the filmmaker perceives as a mis-rated film.

Black and White is a 2014 USA drama by Mike Binder.
Starring Kevin Costner, Gillian Jacobs and Jennifer Ehle.

The movie was rated R by the MPAA for brief strong language. But the producers were not impressed and are intending to appeal to the C.A.R.A. Appeals board, presumably wanting a PG-13.

The Raid 2 is a 2014 Indonesia action crime thriller by Gareth Evans.
With Iko Uwais, Julie Estelle and Yayan Ruhian.

Following in the footsteps of the popular original, The Raid , the sequel has also suffered brief cuts for a US R rating from the MPAA.

Director Gareth Evans tweeted the news:

For folks in the US, The Raid 2 has just been rated R. And in all honesty the few cuts we made are so minimal. We are literally talking frames - and not too many of them. I'm fucking happy.

Update: Director's Cut set for German release

3rd March 2013. From movie-censorship.com

Movie-Censorship is reporting that Germany is set to release the uncut version rather than a US R rated version. Hopefully the same will apply to other European releases.

Troma's War is a 1998 US action adventure by Michael Herz & Lloyd Kaufman.
With Carolyn Beauchamp, Sean Bowen and Rick Washburn.

It was massively cut in the US to achieve an R rated theatrical release. This version was released on VHS in the UK without further cuts. However the BBFC cut the Director's Cut for 1992 cinema release. The Director's Cut is available uncut on US DVD.

Lloyd Kaufman was not impressed with the massive MPAA cuts. He explains:

Troma's War is a very underrated movie, and it got totally fucked by the MPAA . Richard Heffner , who just made a noise like a frog and was president of the MPAA, told Michael Herz over the phone that our movie stunk. The MPAA is not supposed to do that, and they disemboweled our movie. They took out punches and jokes and things that were perfectly acceptable in movies like Die Hard . I think Heffner's words were "No fuckin good, or something. It was very unpleasant.

Our violence is, as you know, cartoon violence. That movie followed The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke 'Em High , so we had built up some steam. But the only way we could get into movie theaters in 1986 was with an R rating. And the film was cut down to something like a G-rated movie. I'm very bitter about it; I hope Dr. Heffner burns in hell, quite frankly. And I don't like to speak ill of the dead, but the nerve, the arrogance, the hubris of his comments!

Read the full article

When director Paul Verhoeven submitted his cut to the MPAA for certification, they weren't at all ready to pass it with the R rating he and Orion Pictures wanted. Scenes such as the melting of Paul McCrane's character, Emil, in a vat of toxic waste, and the gunning down of an OCP board member by the ED-209 enforcement droid, required pruning to push it down from an X.

Verhoeven resubmitted it repeatedly with fragments shorn off here and there -- somewhere between 12 and 17 times -- until it was finally passed as R. He maintains that the cuts actually rendered the film's violence more disturbing than the over-the-top kind in his original edit, which was restored in its gruesome entirety for an unrated home entertainment reissue.

...Read the full article

Draft Day is a 2014 USA sport drama by Ivan Reitman.
With Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner and Tom Welling.

Draft Day , the upcoming football flick directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Kevin Coster, was initially given an R rating for brief strong language by the MPAA, but rather than trimming the film or accepting the R, Reitman and Lionsgate successfully appealed the rating.

The film, about a general manager (Costner) who trades for the No. 1 pick and has the onerous task of saving football in his city, now bears a PG-13 rating for brief strong language and sexual references.

Lionsgate and the MPAA declined to provide details on the appeal. Draft Day will open April 11.