tagged w/ Banned Movies
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If you're looking forward to seeing Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in director Kevin Smith's new R-rated comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" this weekend and you live in Salt Lake City, you might be out of luck. Utah Jazz and Megaplex Theaters owner Larry Miller has refused to book the film. The chain's spokesman Cal Gunderson expressed concerns about the film with The New York Post, citing the film's "graphic nudity and graphic sex" and that it was "too close to an NC-17."
The company's standards seem a little odd considering that the chain had no problems screening ultra-violent fare like "Saw V," which features beheadings and explicit self-mutilation. When asked why Megaplex Theaters did not object to the gory horror sequel, Gunderson had no comment.
Furthermore, the company's decision might make sense if "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" were in fact pornographic. Instead, Kevin Smith's surprisingly tame and sentimental movie has a few flashes of nudity, a handful of love scenes played mostly for laughs, and a whole lot of foul language. In fact, the film's raunchiness level is comparable to that of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", "Knocked Up" and "Sex Drive," all of which screened at Megaplex theaters.
I think the point about Saw V being allowed to play while this is banned is a perfect example of the bizarre, contradictory, and ass-backwards attitude the movie industry, the MPAA, and the discriminating parent has concerning inappropriate content. To say that it's ok/more-profitable to show Saw V, an extremely violent and gratuitous movie (not saying it's bad, just that it's more obviously inappropriate for certain audiences), and say that it's bad to show a comedic film with a very silly take on a traditionally explicit film genre, by no standards that I'm aware of, makes any sense whatsoever.If you're looking forward to seeing Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in director... more
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