The cinemas in New York and Los Angeles won’t show NC-17 films. The ones that will would also show them unrated. It’s possible they’re using the adult rating as a selling point.
On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 8:15 PM Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: > I have to concur with Tom that this makes little to no sense. > > I know that they have cinemas in New York and Los Angeles, so could it be > that they need MPAA certificates to get into even just those theatres? In > the UK, a few Netflix films get short cinema runs in some of the arthouse > chains (and I always wonder if Netflix gives incentives to those chains to > play the films). But even then, the titles that get these releases are the > awards hopefuls that Netflix usually saves up for later in the year. Those > films do need certification in the UK under the BBFC, which these days > tends to be more concerned with violence and sexual violence than more than > anything. I think only film clubs, not open to the paying public can show > unrated films. > > There was a good documentary a few years ago called This Film Is Not Yet > Rated which tore apart the US movie ratings scheme and noted the inequities > between hetero and homosexual deptictions resulting in different ratings. > > [Just before I hit send I saw Tom's reply...] Snap! > > On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 10:58 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> A while back, filmmaker and occasional pot smoker Kevin Smith penned an >> essay about the MPAA that a quick Google search did not unearth, but I >> recall him explaining the process including the appeals for several of his >> films. >> >> On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 3:52 PM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I find this story the way it’s reported to be confounding. Here’s what I >>> understand about movie ratings: >>> >>> Originally each state had a censorship board and each film had to be >>> submitted to each one and then cuts would have to be made in order for the >>> film to be distributed to theaters. As Hollywood grew to the point that >>> they couldn’t continue the system they set up a national production code >>> and an office in Hollywood to enforce it. The production code process lost >>> its teeth in the early sixties with lots of foreign films and independent >>> films coming into the market. The successor they came up with was the >>> ratings system. A filmmaker submits their script to the MPAA office, is >>> told the rating, and what they would have to change if they want a >>> different rating. >>> >>> Mature films got an X rating. With court decisions striking down >>> obscenity statutes, mainstream theaters started showing hardcore porn >>> movies with the X rating. Major theater chains decided not to show any X >>> rated movies, even serious adult themed ones. Same with newspapers and the >>> ads they’d accept. So the MPAA came up with NC-17 which was supposed to >>> differentiate from porn but it got caught up in the same embargo. >>> >>> In practical terms if a studio submits a script and is told it will get >>> an NC-17 rating they ask what changes they need to make to get an R rating >>> for distribution. >>> >>> Netflix doesn’t need to submit a film for a rating in order to stream it >>> and if wide theater distribution meant anything to them they’d make the >>> changes to get it to an R. And art houses will gladly accept unrated movies. >>> >>> What confounds me is why Netflix bothered to submit the script for a >>> rating in the first place. >>> >>> On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 3:29 PM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> "Blonde," the Netflix adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' novelization of >>>> the life of Marilyn Monroe starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn, has picked up >>>> the scarlet "adults only" rating from the MPA, the first film made for a >>>> streamer with that rating: >>>> >>>> >>>> https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/netflix-marilyn-monroe-blonde-nc17-1235118236/ >>>> >>>> The possibility of a limited run in theaters may not be much of a >>>> problem in this case, since the major theater chains don't touch NC-17 >>>> films with a fork lift and won't book Netflix films, while the mostly >>>> independent arthouse circuit will. Besides, the big audience will be when >>>> it hits The Service. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/72fc934b-fc67-4429-9a52-eb3b72d42b10n%40googlegroups.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/72fc934b-fc67-4429-9a52-eb3b72d42b10n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiHDzDLYK%3DVtBLfGiyaNCvxxf_1z3PUu0Ea5-bwWZncuHg%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiHDzDLYK%3DVtBLfGiyaNCvxxf_1z3PUu0Ea5-bwWZncuHg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> Kevin M. 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