MPAA News

Where to Invade Next is a 2015 USA documentary by Michael Moore.
Starring Krista Kiuru, Michael Moore and Tim Walker.

To learn what the USA can gain from other nations, Michael Moore playfully "invades" them to see what they have to offer.

Michael Moore is non to impressed by the MPAA R rating given to his latest documentary. Moore spoke of the R rating to Variety:

Moore listed the parts of the film that prompted the MPAA's ruling. The violence in the picture includes footage of law enforcement officers beating Eric Garner, a Staten Island man whose death last year helped spark a wider debate about police brutality.

The drug use is related to a section in the film on Portugal's decision to decriminalize narcotics -- a move that some suggest has led to a reduction in substance abuse.

The language stems from the use of 'fuck' by Icelandic citizens protesting the 2009 collapse of their banks.

And the nudity is a fleeting image of a naked man. That's from a vignette that shows how some Europeans are able to enjoy three weeks at a spa to treat stress thanks to government-backed healthcare.

Moore said he will not edit the film, and has appealed to have the rating lowered to a PG-13.

I had the opportunity to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition during the special Fathom Events screening that was held nationwide last night, and while I can honestly say that I enjoyed the experience, it also left me scratching my head.

With a running time of 164 minutes, the movie is 20 minutes longer than its theatrical predecessor, and as you might have guessed considering the original cut is 75% war scene, much of the additional footage is battle-related. This includes dwarves charging into battles against orcs, wargs, and various other kinds of monsters with all kinds of weapons, including a ram-driven sled featuring scythe-covered wheels and a crank-operated arrow launcher.

As enemies are taken down, small splashes of black blood occasionally appear, and I'll admit that some of the deaths do rank on the gnarly scale, but the idea that it actually crosses any kind of line from PG-13 to R is entirely ridiculous. The change truly suggests that the line between ratings is so thin that it might as well not even bother existing, and paints a perfect picture of the entire methodology's arbitrary nature.

...Read the full article from cinemablend.com

The Young & Prodigious T.S. Spivet is a 2013 France / Canada family adventure drama by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
Starring Helena Bonham Carter, Robert Maillet and Judy Davis.

A presumably cut version was rated PG for thematic elements, language and some reckless behavior.

Thanks to Pooch who comments about the cuts to the UK 12/12A rated release

Towards the end of the film, the titular character does a TV interview, whilst being manipulated by the lady who runs the Smithsonian Institute. In the original film, after the interview spectacularly fails, she calls Spivet You motherfucker , albeit at a distance, and from behind her, so you can't see her face/mouth!

In the UK version, motherfucker has been dubbed quite well by the same actress, or at least someone who sounds very similar, with the immortal You melon-farmer!

If it weren't for this, and two uses of the word fuck , which were all completely unnecessary and totally jarring, this would have been a PG-rated film, ideal for youngsters and families.

So it certainly sure that the film has been cut for a US PG rating, maybe even adopting the UK version.

Summary Notes

A 10-year-old cartographer secretly leaves his family's ranch in Montana where he lives with his cowboy father and scientist mother and travels across the country on board a freight train to receive an award at the Smithsonian Institute.

Manglehorn is a 2014 USA drama by David Gordon Green.
Starring Al Pacino, Holly Hunter and Chris Messina.

A strange and lonely man tries to come to terms with a past crime that cost him the love of his life.

Originally rated R for some sexual material. The studio appealed to the CARA appeals board, and without cuts being required, the rating was reduced to PG-13 for some sexual content and language, and for accident and surgery images.

The MPAA R rating is by definition suitable for at least older children, so unsurprisingly, there are severe restrictions on the depiction of sex. The Hollywood Reporter has been trying to define some of those restrictions.

The R rating can have about 3 or 4 seconds of a scene where it is implied that sex is taking place, and even then the participants must be mostly clothed. The Hollywood Reports writes:

The difference between an R rating and an NC-17 often hinges on the amount of in-and-out action, according to those familiar with the ratings process. Three or four seconds you can get away with, says one source. Linger on it for 30 or 40 seconds, and you're in NC-17 territory. And if a couple is completely naked, forget about it (think of all those half-clad lovers you've seen on the big screen).

And as for oral sex, it's all about how long the scene lasts and how completely the implied action is obscured, Harvey Weinstein successfully appealed the NC-17 given to Blue Valentine because of a scene in which Ryan Gosling's character performs oral sex on Michelle Williams'. A very vocal Gosling accused the MPAA of misogyny, saying there are countless R-rated movies in which a male character receives oral sex.

Nudity is also largely verboten. Showing genitalia full-on (his or hers) almost guarantees an NC-17, unless it's a fleeting glimpse, as with Sharon Stone's crotch shot in Basic Instinct or Ben Affleck's shower-entry scene in Gone Girl . Female breasts are R-friendly, of course, one recent example being Oscar-nominated Reese Witherspoon in Wild .

Sex within a monogamous relationship is much preferred by the moralist censors. casual sex acts are judged more harshly by the MPAA, according to insiders who have been through the process. In other words, the ratings board looks more kindly on a sex scene when the characters are in a marriage or serious relationship. (Same-sex interactions also get more scrutiny than heterosexual encounters.)