The Reel Blog

Ang Lee has cut approximately 30 minutes from his Venice Film Festival winner Lust, Caution in order for it to play on Chinese screens.

China, which has no rating system requires all films to be suitable for all audiences or it will not be screened. According to Variety, the film may also be trimmed for Hong Kong audiences, which has a rating system, and a rough equivalent to the R rating:

(T)he III classification is the territory's only one with mandatory effect. It gives theater box offices the power to check IDs, requires that promotional materials are screened by the censors and that videos are sold in sealed plastic wrapping.

However, government censors may still insist upon cuts in order for a film to qualify for that rating.

No such rating option exists in the Chinese mainland, where either everyone gets to see a movie, from toddler to teen to pensioner, or no one does. Ang Lee's last pic "Brokeback Mountain" was banned in mainland China for its homosexual content.

The lack of a film classification system means the only tools at the censor's disposal are cutting entire scenes or simply banning a movie, both drastic steps when one considers that script approval was granted before a movie goes into production.

China's main movie watchdog, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television refuses to introduce the rating system as it believes that if a movie is unsuitable for children, then it's unsuitable for adults too.

"Authorities told me that there was no film rating system on the mainland so they let me cut it. Children are able to watch it on the mainland," Lee said.

So what's the problem with an NC-17 rating? The film maker need not cut a frame from his or her film, it may be shown in any theater without legal restriction, media will advertise it. The only restriction is that children under s 17 may not attend.

Critics say that the NC-17 inhibits the commercial prospects of a film and that many theaters will not play a film so rated. But the NC-17 merely reflects the nature of the content and theaters and audiences judge their interest in seeing or screening films on that basis every day. Would a movie theater in say, Provo, Utah, book the film with the same content and an R rating? Would a sizable audience go see it?

Thanks to Ang Lee and James Schamus at Focus, we'll get the opportunity to see how a film intended for adults and not children - and honestly labelled as such - performs in the market. Let's hope American audiences, theaters and media respond as forthrightly.

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You'll no doubt remember the case of Jhannet Sejas, the young woman arrested for recording a portion of Transformers at Regal's Ballston Common multiplex in Arlington, Va. She entered a guilty plea. After one year, if she remains out of trouble, her record will be expunged. Threat Level at Wired Blogs has the story.

The many dire warnings of heavy-handed enforcement and young ruined lives for a "minor offence" that made their way through the blogosphere have proved, in this case, rather hysterical.

The issue here comes down to whether or not theaters have the right to prevent illegal recording of movies in their theaters. Clearly they do, and they will continue to do their jobs. It is the job of the police and prosecutors to exercise their discretion in whether to arrest and if and how to prosecute. That's what happened in this case.

With the recently reported use of a cell phone to illegally record The Simpsons Movie opening night in Australia, it becomes ever more unreasonable to expect theater employees to discriminate among what type of device is being used to record off the screen. Me, from Threat Level:

"One of the dilemmas that employees face is trying to decide who is copying for distribution and who's taking just a quick screenshot, which isn't as harmful but is against the law in most jurisdictions," Corcoran said in an interview.

In a statement, he added: "We hope that this case reinforces our efforts to educate the public that  unauthorized recording, whether a clip or the whole film, in movie theaters is against the law."

Recording technology is only going to get better - smaller, clearer, easier to use - and movie thieves are going to get better at disguising their tools. If someone is using a recording device in a theater, they will be stopped. The police will be called.

Leave your cameras at home. Enjoy the movie. Why else would you be there?               

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(Originally posted August 2nd, 2007 @ 10:01 am.)

A 19-year-old woman was arrested for recording part of Transformers at Regal's Ballston Common 12 in Arlington, VA July 17. The Washington Post has the story:

Sejas was enjoying the movie so much that she decided to film a short clip of the sci-fi adventure's climax to get her little brother hyped to go see it.

Minutes later, two Arlington County police officers were pointing their flashlights at the young couple in the darkened theater and ordering them out. They confiscated the digital camera as evidence and charged Sejas, a Marymount University sophomore and Annandale resident, with a crime: illegally recording a motion picture.

"I was terrified," said Sejas, her voice breaking. "I was crying. I've never been in trouble before." She said the assistant manager of the theater saw her holding up the Canon Power Shot and reported it to the general manager, who called police.

Sejas said she had no intention of selling the 20-second film clip. She just wanted to show it to her 13-year-old brother, who had said he wanted to see the movie. She was shocked when the officers showed up.

Illegal camcording of movies in theaters is big business. According to a 2005 LEK study, pirated movies cost the movie industry $18.2 billion worldwide; U.S. movie theatres alone lost over $600 million. In response, the movie and movie theater industries have pushed for Federal and state laws making camcording in theaters a crime. In this case, the first under Virginia's statute, the theater management chose to press charges.

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Disney announced yesterday it's banning smoking in Disney-branded films. According to the Hollywood Reporter:

"The Walt Disney Co. shares your concern regarding deaths due to cigarette smoking," Iger wrote to (Congressman Ed) Markey. "We discourage depictions of cigarette smoking in Disney, Touchstone and Miramax films. In particular, we expect that depictions of cigarette smoking in future Disney-branded films will be nonexistent."

Disney films are aimed at the family audience. Miramax and Touchstone tend to make more adult-oriented fare.

The move was welcomed by Markey, who has been a leading anti-smoking force in Congress.

"Disney's decision to take a stand against smoking is groundbreaking, and I commend CEO Bob Iger for this important commitment," Markey said. "Now it's time for other media companies to similarly kick the habit and follow Disney's lead."

Smoking in the movies is one of several areas in which the entertainment industry has been under pressure from Washington. Lawmakers and regulators are also pressing for them to promote healthier foods and cut down on violence and foul language.

According to the American Lung Assn., cigarette smoking has been identified as the most important source of preventable morbidity and premature mortality worldwide. Smoking-related diseases claim an estimated 438,000 American lives each year, and about 90% of smokers begin smoking before age 21.

Universal adopted a policy in April that drops smoking from "youth-rated" films and will add health warnings to films that do include smoking.

Universal president and CEO Ron Meyer said the studio is committed to reducing the health risk connected with smoking.

"We hope that our decreased portrayals of smoking and smoking paraphernalia in youth-oriented movies will help reduce the incidence of smoking among young people," he said. "If smoking is included in a youth-rated film released by Universal, we will include a health warning in our distribution channels. We feel it is important to use our influence to help stem a serious health problem in the U.S. and around the world. We believe it's possible to do that while respecting filmmakers' creative choices, and we are committed to partnering with them in this effort."

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KCRW's The Business, hosted by Claude Brodesser-Akner, takes an in-depth look at the ways and means of movie theft on its July 16 broadcast.  The show goes out on the streets of downtown L.A. to purchase illegally camcorded DVDs of Spider-man 3, Knocked Up (it turns out to be Charlotte's Web) and Ratatouille while they were still in movie theatres, and talks with a pirate DVD seller and finds out she takes in approximately $700 a day in illicit sales.

Guests:

Pierce O'Donnell: Founder of O'Donnell & Associates

Henry Cline: Veteran camera operator

Mike Robinson: Director of Anti-Piracy Operations for the MPAA

Patrick Corcoran: Director of Media and Research for the National Association of Theatre Owners

Rick Ishitani: Detective with the LAPD's Anti-Piracy Unit

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Die Hard was living free on the internet - unthinkingly posted on an independent film upload site - according to Variety's Anne Thompson. Iklipz discovered the posting, removed it and alerted the film's distributor.

New York gave its municipal anti-camcording law its first workout Monday night at a screening of Transformers when NYPD caught an alleged in-theater camcorder pirate in a sting operation. According to the New York Daily News,

About 30 minutes before the 8p.m. showing, theater employees received a call from the NYPD saying they were plotting a sting at the theater, a known haven for bootleggers, police said.

"The movie companies ... knew it was coming from our theater," said manager Justin Hill, 23. "We were taking heat for it because we weren't catching anyone."

Seven plainclothes cops corralled Diallo - who has a history of illegally recording films - moments after the screening ended, police said.

The AP notes police 'arrested Diallo, 48, after an officer seated behind him in the theater saw him raise his right arm after the film began, court papers said. During a search shortly after the movie ended, police found a video recorder "strapped underneath his right arm via a body harness," and a video player and remote control in his jacket pockets, the papers added.'

Movie theaters across the country have recently received new anti-camcording posters - shipped, ironically enough, with prints of Transformers.

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Entertainment Weekly posts a provocative dissection of the movie rating system from its June 22 edition online.

Writer Mark Harris, prompted by the extreme and sexualized violence of Hostel II receiving an R rating, puts his finger firmly on some of the weaknesses of the rating system as it now exists:

The hypocrisies of the ratings system are familiar: Indies have it harder than studio films, naked men are naughtier than naked women, and almost any sex is worse than almost all violence. But the problem runs deeper. The MPAA has never decided whether its job is guidance or rule making. As a result, four ratings - G, PG, PG-13, and R - are merely advisory: The raters tell parents what's in a movie and let them decide whether to take their kids. But the fifth rating - NC-17 - carries the force of law: It's the only stage at which raters decide their judgment should overrule yours. It's a sharp distinction, and Hostel II's R rating proves that they're manifestly incompetent to make it.

NATO has repeatedly called for the proper rating of films - particularly films that merit an NC-17. At ShoWest in March, NATO president John Fithian stated

Speaking of the NC-17 rating, we call again for efforts to revitalize that important category through the release of significant movies under the NC-17 rating. Contrary to often-repeated myths, most theatre companies will play NC-17 movies that are appropriate for their markets, and most newspapers will run advertisements for the pictures. NC-17 movies on average make $3.9 million, while unrated films on average make $1.8 million. Serious filmmakers need to take NC-17 seriously. Everyone in the industry should resist any temptation to treat NC-17 as a negative judgment, rather than an integral part of the rating system that contemplates entertainment for both children and adults.

This approach is simple, but it is not easy. NATO General Counsel Kendrick Macdowell's column in Boxoffice magazine's May issue makes the point:

We do not pretend that simply saying "NC-17 is not a negative" can suddenly alter entrenched public perceptions. But we know that better educating the public begins with more precise communication. We also know that the vast majority of exhibitors will play NC-17 movies, if otherwise appropriate in content to their communities, and that virtually no exhibitor has a categorical policy against playing NC-17 movies. The same holds true for the vast majority of newspapers and their policies about ads for NC-17 movies.

We further do not pretend that there is no consequence whatever from an NC-17 rating. Yes, there is a consequence. Per above, patrons under 18 need not apply. But if I might paraphrase a Supreme Court ruling on the limitations of government regulation of free expression, we rue the day that all entertainment is reduced to the level of what is suitable for children.

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Spanish cinemas have gone on strike.

For a day, anyway. Variety reports on plans for a Monday closure of Spanish movie theaters to protest the government's new draft film law. The somewhat hard-pressed exhibition sector is upset that some long-standing concerns are either being ignored or implemented in ways they see as detrimental to the health of the industry:

Spanish exhibitors are riled at being ignored in the new draft law, which makes no mention of many of their demands: tougher anti-piracy measures, a reduction in U.S. major studios rentals in Spain, and the creation of legally enforceable six month windows between a film's theatrical bow and its release on other platforms.

The film bill, which is expected to be fast-tracked through parliament, does maintain an exhibition screen quota, which forces most hard tops to dedicate one of every four screenings to Spanish or non-Spanish European films.

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