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BOP Daily NewsDecember 12, 2005The spirit of BOP News lives on in
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| Well, it appears America's favorite game, “Let's Blame Anybody But Ourselves” is spreading round the world. Or maybe it’s just to film industry folk who work with Hollywood. Either way, director Lasse Hallström has found an intriguing manner for expressing his displeasure with the MPAA for giving an R rating to his upcoming film, Casanova. Apparently, Lasse thinks this is quite an unfair rating for a movie that tells the story of one of the world’s most legendary lovers. And who does Hallström find responsible for this turn of affairs? The subject matter? A scene in the film where Casanova apparently receives fellatio from a minor crouched under a banquet table? Nope; Lasse goes right to the source and blames...Bill Clinton and Janet Jackson. In a show of pretzel logic that would leave Steely Dan breathless, Lasse Hallström proclaims that the MPAA has become too restrictive since Monicagate and Janet’s “wardrobe malfunction”, and this has prevented “harmless films” from getting more favorable ratings. As proof of this sudden crack-down, Hallström offers up his Oscar-nominated Cider House Rules, a film he says he was able to get a PG-13 by doing some judicious editing. Lasse doesn’t let the fact that Cider House Rules was released in 1999, well after the Clinton/Lewinsky debacle and while Bill Clinton was still president undercut his argument. Apparently, the fact that America is still and probably always will be that same Puritanical society that first settled on these shores when it comes to sex is news to Lasse. We’re not sure what he’s up in arms about; it’s not like the teenage boys towards whom studios target their blockbusters were going to be lining up for this art-house limited release about a legendary 18th-century lover, but if Lasse wants some more folks to blame, may we suggest the Governator? Cause nobody’s ever held him to account for Jingle All the Way. |
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And Casanova costar Sienna Miller is joining her boss in taking the MPAA to task for giving Casanova an R rating. Miller does us all a favor and doesn’t try and affix imaginary blame to some outside event for the rating; she just finds the attitude towards sex in this country to be appalling. Her tack, one that has been expressed by many a homegrown critic, is that films showing incredible amounts of violence get more lenient ratings than those that contain nudity or depictions of adult sexual relations (although the scene in contention from Casanova, obliquely displayed or not, does cross a line). Miller offers evidence that such violence is more disturbing for the kinder than sex by relating how she took a nine-year-old to see War of the Worlds and she had to take him out of the theatre because “he was terrified”. We don’t blame the kid; we haven't been that terrified by a movie since we saw Gigli. |
| Scientists are always telling us we can learn a lot from our animal brethren, but even they have yet to suggest that we take lessons in how they move and incorporate them into our lives. But that’s exactly what Charlize Theron apparently did in preparation for her role as Aeon Flux in the recent movie of the same name. According to the stunt coordinator on that film, Charlie Croughwell, Theron studied the motor skills of geckos in order to perform some sequences where she’s running on all fours, with her belly only a few inches off the ground. Theron was quoted as saying, “I’m from Africa. I know all about geckos.” Given the bomb that Aeon Flux turned out to be, we're guessing she decided to base her acting in the film on geckos, too. |
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Film legend Clint Eastwood is reaching the point in his career when the body-of-work honors start piling up. Eastwood is set to pick up two such honors in January: a Lifetime Achievement Award from the DGA, and a Milestone Award from the Producers Guild. Both awards will focus on Eastwood’s accomplishments behind the camera, where he has helmed many films that not only were box-office forces, but that garnered many awards themselves. Eastwood has even been credited with getting a few films made that might otherwise never have seen celluloid, as his involvement guaranteed the money men at least some return on their investments. We here at BOP News join in congratulating Mr Eastwood, and we think he surely must be asking himself if he feels lucky. Well, do you, Clint? Do you? |
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