MOVIE RATING THREAD 2011

[Wolfe]

Wolfe, prep me in advance -- how annoyed am I going to be by Ben Foster?

He actually has it turned down considerably in this one. I thought he was good.

[Tom K.]

Oh, Harvey.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/01/kings-speech-may-be-recut-for-lower-rating-gets-new-ad-campaign-following-oscar-nominations.html

[Steve B]

Because the kids are dying to see this?  Huh?

In three weeks, Weinstein Co. is planning to expand the movie to more than 3,000 theaters –- unusually wide for a small, low-budget picture -– and launch an ad campaign around Valentine’s Day.

It’s far from obvious given that there’s no romantic tension in the movie. But Weinstein said a campaign timed for the Feb. 14th holiday will encourage people to “see it with the person who inspired you and changed your life.”

Has he gone insane?

[Ian Larsen]

Because the kids are dying to see this?  Huh?

Has he gone insane?

I guess he's the same old crazy Harv who figured what everyone wants at Easter is a 195 minute B-Movie spoof and that Labor Day or Thanksgiving or whenever the hell it was is just the right time for a raucous low-budget porn comedy.

[Donnacha]

The King's Speech's R-rating is not keeping people away. The audience for the film are older audiences anyway. Children don't want to see the film. As for the idea that a lower rating would allow families to see the film, the R rating already allows that. Parents can bring their kids to see it if they feel like it.

At least I got to see the film before it was edited (further, anyway), unlike The Ghost Writer. I need to pick up that Canadian release.

[Steve B]

whenever the hell it was is just the right time for a raucous low-budget porn comedy.

Halloween

[sean]

Why would you be annoyed by Ben Foster?

Because of his annoying acting.

[Taitdog]

Back in the day, didn't they recut "Saturday Night Fever" to a PG rating to capitalize on its popularity?  I seem to remember this being done with a few other movies too.

[Steve Lilley]

Mel Gibson recut THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST to tone it down so he could rerelease it.

[Ian Larsen]

For a long long time I thought SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER was a family-friendly PG movie.  MASH had a few cuts too. 

I suppose this KING'S SPEECH approach, rather than being an attempt to bring families in, could in some ways be from a fear that an R-Rating might supposedly stigmatise it in the eyes of thin-skinned fuddy duddies who think it won't be for them because of its foul language.  I've kind of painted these people as imaginary here, but I do remember a couple sitting in front of me at AMERICAN BEAUTY who tutted and hmmd every time someone swore, and even following an utterence of 'asshole' by commenting, "There's a lot of that, isn't there."

[Hayner]

3000 screens and a big ad campaign?

Every minute, Kevin's plans with Red State seem like a better plan. 

[Ian Larsen]

[THE KING'S SPEECH]
[BLUE VALENTINE] 
[BLACK SWAN] New!
[127 HOURS]
NEDS New!

[Movies in brackets came out this year in the UK]

 --------------------------------

NEDS is Peter Mullan's latest directing job, and it's mostly really great.  It's a bright kid gets into gang violence story, and the first 90 minutes are terrific, but the last 30 go off the rails a lot. Not in a corny way, just really sloppy.  It has the most indecipherable Scottish dialogue I've ever heard in an movie, too, which is fun to try and follow.

I don't really know how to rate BLACK SWAN yet.  I was really excited about it, but as soon as I'd heard someone mention [spoiler]Cronenberg[/spoiler] I pretty much knew exactly what I was in for.  I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped, but I'm sure it's a grower - there are probably lots of surprises to be had on future viewings.

[nate.3.0]

NO STRINGS ATTACHED
_______

Only gets better from here on out, right?

It wasn't bad. There were somethings that I found very distracting (Cary Elwes's beard being a big one. Actually... his character completely, which I feel like must have been validated in an earlier scene that didn't make the cut, because it truly made no sense. Also, there's a birthday scene with Nasim Pedrad standing in the foreground and I kept focusing on her, but she has no lines and is essentially just an extra, who happens to get a screen credit. Again... I'm thinking a deleted scene. Possibly where her and Cary Elwes get coffee or something). 

All in all, it was a pretty standard rom com.  Kevin Kline was great, I thought, but everyone else just seemed to be playing the type of characters you find in every movie like this.  I actually started to enjoy it better when I forgot that Ivan Reitman directed this...

[Amusing Pseudonym]

Green Hornet
Your Highness
Crazy, Stupid, Love
A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas
The Dilemma
Take Me Home Tonight
Bad Teacher
Hall Pass
Sucker Punch
The Beaver

I won't bother asking if Hall Pass is any good, but what do you think are Jason Sudeikis' chances of getting good press / more work from it?

[ExpendablesFan]

I won't bother asking if Hall Pass is any good, but what do you think are Jason Sudeikis' chances of getting good press / more work from it?

I really have no idea about good press. But I think he's already getting work. He's got another comedy coming out this summer with Bateman and Charlie Day.