Movie News

Wes Craven was an American film director, writer, producer, and actor known for his work on horror films, particularly slasher films. He was best known for creating the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise featuring the Freddy Krueger character, directing the first installment and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, and co-writing A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors with Bruce Wagner.

Craven also directed all four films in the Scream series, and co-created the Ghostface character. Some of his other films include The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left, Red Eye and My Soul to Take.

He died of brain cancer aged 76.

Filmography with links to details of those films that suffered at the hands of censors.

1972	The Last House on the Left
1977	The Hills Have Eyes
1981	Deadly Blessing
1982	Swamp Thing
1984	A Nightmare on Elm Street
1985	The Hills Have Eyes Part II
1986	Deadly Friend
1988	The Serpent and the Rainbow
1989	Shocker
1991	The People Under the Stairs
1994	Wes Craven's New Nightmare
1995	Vampire in Brooklyn
1996	Scream
1997	Scream 2
1999	Music of the Heart
2000	Scream 3
2005
	Cursed
2005	Red Eye
2010	My Soul to Take
2011	Scream 4

Phantom is a 2015 India action thriller by Kabir Khan.
Starring Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif and Rajesh Tailang.

Phantom is a political thriller that unfolds across various countries around the world. The plot revolves around protagonist Daniyal, whose journey to seek justice takes him from India to Europe, America and the volatile Middle East. However, he finds out that in a mission like this, there is always a price to pay, in this case, a very personal price.

The Indian movie, Phantom was set to be released on August 28 both in Pakistan and India, but its screening is now banned in Pakistani cinemas as the result of a case in the Lahore High Court. It follows the pattern of Pakistanis not being impressed by being depicted as the bad guys.

In this case, a lawyer representing a suspected bad guy wanted by the U.S., brought the case over being depicted as a terrorist who is the target of an assassination in the film. The internationally designated terrorist who was the brains behind the 26/11 attacks felt that this movie would somehow mislead the residents of Pakistan.

In the UK, the BBFC has just passed the film 15 uncut for strong violence.

Update: Aid group calls for the censorship of Phantom because they think people believe what they see at the movies

29th August 2015. See article from bbc.co.uk

Aid group Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) says it is taking legal action over a Bollywood film, claiming it could endanger its staff in conflict zones.

MSF says the film Phantom depicts an aid worker for a confusingly similar fictitious organisation using a weapon. The film does not mention MSF by name.

The group claims the film could harm its work in places where its access depends on a reputation for neutrality. A statement released by MSF said the organisation became aware of its association with Phantom after one of its actors said

Their character in the film worked for MSF. The same character was also shown holding a gun in the film's trailer, something an MSF staff member would never do.

David Cooke, the director of the BBFC told the New Statesman that the film was classified 18 thanks mainly to its eight sex scenes, use of cocaine, LSD and marijuana, and what Cooke calls the glamorisation of drug use in the film. He added that the age gap between Minnie and Monroe, and the fact that Minnie is underage, would also have affected the decision.

He also said that the film very clearly fits into the 18 classification and wasn't a borderline case.

...Read the full article

i Pixels is a 2015 USA action comedy by Chris Columbus.
Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Michelle Monaghan.

When aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, they attack the Earth in the form of the video games.

According to some of the emails leaked from Sony, the studio heavily edited the movie Pixels to ensure it didn't fall foul of the ever-present Chinese censors.

Reuters is reporting that the original script for the movie, which made frequent references to China, was sanitized after executives felt it could hinder its global box office appeal.

For example, one scene, which featured pixelated aliens blasting a hole into the Great Wall of China, was decided to be too inflammatory for Chinese censors. Li Chow, chief representative of Sony Pictures in China, explained that although the film featured other landmarks being destroyed, it was simply better to lose the scene.

The original script also apparently contained references to a Communist Conspiracy brother hacking an email server. As you can expect, this was also stripped in an attempt to pass the movie for the Chinese market. In fact, by the end of the cull, there were no references to the authoritarian nation left in the script.

Initially, it seemed Sony execs toyed with the idea of releasing both a Chinese and international version of Pixels. Ultimately they decided this would likely backfire.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a 2015 USA drama by Marielle Heller.
Starring Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård and Kristen Wiig.

A teen artist living in 1970s San Francisco enters into an affair with her mother's boyfriend.

The BBFC commented further in its BBFC Insight:

Strong sex scenes include mechanical thrusting, breast and buttock nudity, and implied oral sex. One scene includes brief sight of a pencil drawing of a young woman with a penis in her mouth.

Other issues include several moments of drug use, including cocaine use, the taking of LSD, and the smoking of marijuana. The film also contains strong verbal sex references and over forty uses of strong language ('fuck'). Some still pictures and short animated sequences include the sight of penises, both erect and flaccid.

The filmmakers have expressed disappointment after British film censors gave it an 18 certificate rather than a 15. Producers have been battling against an 18 certificate, arguing that it is exploring female sexuality in an open and honest way, and that other films featuring underage sex, Kidulthood, Fish Tank and The Reader, were all awarded 15 certificates. Wahida Begum of Vertigo Releasing said:

We are massively disappointed.

The film explores female sexuality with boldness and honesty in an unexploitative manner. In an age where young women are still continually being sexualised and objectified we feel The Diary of a Teenage Girl sends a very positive, reassuring message to young girls about female sexuality and body image.

It is a shame that audience will not be able legally see a film that was made by women for women of all ages.

The film is due to be released in the UK, with the 18 certificate, on 7 August.

The film is R rated in the US which would be called a 17A rating in the UK. The film is 15 rated in Australia (MA15+).

The Green Inferno is a 2013 USA horror thriller by Eli Roth.
Starring Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy and Aaron Burns.

A group of student activists travels to the Amazon to save the rain forest and soon discover that they are not alone, and that no good deed goes unpunished.

The US group Amazon Watch is petitioning people to boycott Eli Roth's The Green Inferno (which seems to be already being boycotted by distributors). The group writes in a petition:

Films like this have always portrayed negative stereotypes against indigenous people as brute savages. These films have psychological effect as indigenous people have been through colonial trauma assimilating to white culture being taught self hate. Westerners are unfortunately ignorant about Amazonian indigenous cultures and depicting them in such a violent story dehumanizes their peoples and couldn't be farther from reality. Shame on you.

...

It's a shame, we should be creating stories than accurately depict indigenous way of life which is holistic, sustainable, spiritual and harmonious with our earth and brothers and sisters. If you want to save the Amazon and stop China from buying leases to drill oil, make a story depicting the corporate shills for the murderers that they really are. You don't have to create racist, offensive, inaccurate crap to get people to care about the most biodiverse place on the earth.

An interesting episode in a new shorter 10 minute format. The presenters suggested that the shorter podcasts may now appear more often.

Directed by Sergio Corbucci, Django (1967) is an Italian spaghetti western. The film was refused a classification until 1993, when it was rated 18. Today Django (1967) is rated 15 for moderate, bloody violence.

Listen to BBFC Head of Education Lucy Brett delve into the classification history of the film. You can read more about the film, including an Examiner report, in our From The Archive case study .

Further voluntary regulation of online content began in October, when the BBFC in partnership with the BPI, Vevo and You Tube, and UK record companies Sony Music UK, Universal Music UK and Warner Music UK, launched a pilot to classify online music videos by UK artists signed to the three major labels. The pilot brings the same content standards to online music videos as that envisaged by an amendment to the Video Recordings Act, in force from 1 October 2014, requiring the classification of previously exempt music videos, and other educational, sport or religious videos, on DVD and Blu-ray. Any video featuring content at the 12, 15 or 18 level must be submitted to the BBFC for classification. BBFC Director David Cooke said:

As in 2013, the most fast-moving developments in our work have been in the non-statutory, self-regulatory area. Our work to protect children from potentially harmful media content online increased significantly and our partnership with the mobile industry to regulate, on a voluntary basis, internet and commercial content delivered via the mobile networks of EE, O2, Three and Vodafone also received praise from the Government, child protection groups and others, including the Open Rights Group. In 2014 we considered appeals in relation to 42 websites available via mobile networks, dealing with issues as diverse as assisted dying, racism, abortion, and hunting. Details of all of these cases are published on our website.

In addition to a growth in voluntary regulation, the BBFC classified more than 950 films for cinema release in 2014, making the level of theatrical submissions on a par with the 1960s.

In 2013 the BBFC Classification Guidelines review consulted more than 10,000 members of the British public about film classification and found that 75% understand that a film rated 12A is generally suitable for children aged 12 and over, but a younger child may see the film if accompanied by an adult. Because up to a quarter of those surveyed were unsure as to the meaning of the 12A rating, from July to September 2014 an advertisement to help increase awareness of what the 12A cinema rating means was broadcast in cinemas across the UK. The advertisement reminds parents to check the BBFCinsight for every 12A film before they take a child under 12 to see it.

As part of our wider education work, in 2014 the BBFC spoke to more than 12,000 teenagers, younger children and adults about its work to protect children and empower consumers. Many BBFC education sessions take place in partnership with film festivals, libraries and cinema chains. Our biggest collaboration of 2014 was with the Into Film Festival where we introduced 22 screenings at 17 cinema locations across the UK.

Magic Mike XXL is a 2015 USA comedy music drama by Gregory Jacobs.
Starring Amber Heard, Channing Tatum and Elizabeth Banks.

The continuing story of male stripper, Magic Mike.

There's no kissing, no BDSM, no violence, only lots of male stripping. But the Magic Mike sequel, scheduled to open in India on July 3, is unlikely to arrive.

Pahlaj Nihalani, the loony chairperson of the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC), along with members of the Examining Committee, watched Magic Mike XXL. At the end of the screening, they announced in no uncertain terms, that the comedy-drama could not be per mitted to release in India because of all the sexual energy on display.

Tthe producers then had a second screening for an eight-member Revising Committee. Five of them were ready to clear the film with half-a-dozen cuts, the remaining three rejected it. A spokesman explained:

Since there is a difference of opinion, Warner Bros. will have to go to the appeal Tribunal or not release the film in India.

A Warner Bros. Pictures India spokesperson told Mirror:

The film stands postponed. Once cleared we will definitely release it in India.

Love is a 2015 France / Belgium drama by Gaspar Noé.
Starring Gaspar Noé, Aomi Muyock and Klara Kristin.

A sexual melodrama about a boy and a girl and another girl. It's a love story, which celebrates sex in a joyous way.

Gaspar Noé's new film Love has been given a 16 rating in France, despite a government 'recommendation' that it should receive an 18 rating.

The 3D drama, which features explicit sexual scenes, was originally rated 16, but the French culture minister Fleur Pellerin made the unusual move of interfering. Pellerin requested that there be a second review, given the sexual nature of the film. But despite this, the certificate remained the same.

The French directors' guild also stood by Noé and criticised Pellerin. The group said in a statement:

We have nothing to gain from being in the game of conservatism and puritanism. The 'moralisation' of works, the intimate friend of censorship, is a dangerous game. The filmmakers of ARP remain convinced that poetry, sexual as it is, [from] filmmaker Gaspar Noé, will remain a better educational source than that of porn debauchery permanently available on the internet.

Note that the 16 certificate in France is used for films towards the strong end of violence, and for those featuring softcore or else non pornographic real sex. The French 18 rating is reserved for hardcore pornography. UK 18 rated films not on the stronger end of the sex or violence spectrums are often 12 rated in France.