The release of this past weekend’s fourth entry in the Final Destination series not only thrilled gore-loving audiences with body parts exploding in their faces, but also once again brought up the curious categorization of none other than the MPAA, who rightfully graced the film with an R-rating for “strong violent/gruesome accidents, language and a scene of sexuality.” The accidents part was especially interesting given their rating of The Knowing earlier this year, wherein some far less cartoonish, but equally as horrific accident scenes garnered the film a more family-friendly PG-13 for “disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language.” Sensing as good a time as any to take some time to delve deeper into the MPAA rabbit hole, All Movie has decided to republish Jeremy Wheeler and Perry Seibert’s analysis of the group’s uneven work over the last few years. Read on to find out how the MPAA has described the work of directors as diverse as Tim Burton, David Cronenberg, and action-meister Jan de Bont.
As industry watchers continue to debate whether or not Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight will surpass Titanic’s 600 million dollar domestic box office total, it is important to keep in mind that the Titanic number is from 1997. Had it been released in 2008, James Cameron’s epic would gross over 900 million dollars. So while you can argue that Batman and Joker will never be the cultural phenomenon that Jack and Rose were, there is another factoid about The Dark Knight’s financial success that might be even more historic. Box Office Mojo has a list of all time box office champions and adjusts their totals for inflation. Dark Knight will surpass Blazing Saddles on that list this week, making it the second biggest money maker in the history of Warner Brothers. Only The Exorcist, which took in 232 million in 1973 - a total that in today’s dollars equates to 782 million, surpasses Nolan’s movie.
Film buffs curious to catch a long-lost part of cinema history can finally do so thanks to the arduous efforts of film preservationist Eric Spiegelman, whom after learning of a never-before-seen propaganda film executive produced by the late John Ford personally rescued the reels of the Rio Grande director’s “Vietnam! Vietnam!” from the National Archives. Spiegelman’s story regarding the efforts that he and his cousin made in restoring the film are pretty fascinating, and while the “Vietnam! Vietnam!” was apparently deemed “obsolete and embarrassing” the moment it was finished it’s still interesting to have this unique record of a crucial point in history.
Check out the embedded video for the full-length film, and hear the story of it’s restoration in Spiegelman’s own words here.
On the heels of news that former Faith No More front-man Mike Patton will be the voice of the new Bionic Commando, the press notes for Warner Brothers’ upcoming horror film I Am Legend reveal that the versatile singer has also lent his vocal chords to director Francis Lawrence’s eagerly-anticipated adaptation of the influential novella by author Richard Matheson. In the film, Patton provides the unearthly cries of the abhorrent former humans transformed into flesh eating ghouls by a highly contagious virus.
Having recently attended a sneak preview of the eagerly anticipated frightener without even realizing that one of my favorite vocalists was involved, this viewer can attest that the sounds these creatures emit are enough to have even the most steely-nerved viewer squirming in their seat.
Curious as to what we thought about the rest of the film?
Just drop by the All Movie blog on December 14th for the full review.
Until then, be sure to run out to your local bookstore and grab two copies of Matheson’s original novella – one for yourself and the other to hand off for the holidays. It’s a quick and thrilling read, and there’s still plenty of time to blast through it before the big screen version hits theaters this Friday.
You may not know this, but there is an alternate world of cinema out there starring none other than America’s favorite pretty boy talent, Brad Pitt, which appears nowhere on his filmography, nor does he rack up frequent flyer miles for that illustrious Oscar with any of these credits. It is a world that saw the Pittster fly to the Moon, travel time and be adored by millions of hippie harpies as an arena rock god. This is a world that could have been, if only the star had sealed the deal on that last audition – or even worse, lived up to his obligations and seen a production through to fruition.
With the recent announcement of Pitt’s jumping ship on Kevin MacDonald’s ensemble drama State of Play, All Movie takes a gander at the superstar’s bumpy track record of ditched projects and near-missed considerations. Is this a tale of super psyche run wild or a simple case of finicky palette dating back decades? While only his mother may know the real answer, at least we can have fun debating what could have been if Brad and Hollywood had just shaken on it and made movie history.
The release of this past weekend’s fourth entry in the Final Destination series not only thrilled gore-loving audiences with body parts exploding in their faces, but also once again brought up the curious categorization of none other than the MPAA, who rightfully graced the film with an R-rating for “strong violent/gruesome accidents, language and a scene of sexuality.” The accidents part was especially interesting given their rating of The Knowing earlier this year, wherein some far less cartoonish, but equally as horrific accident scenes garnered the film a more family-friendly PG-13 for “disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language.” Sensing as good a time as any to take some time to delve deeper into the MPAA rabbit hole, All Movie has decided to republish Jeremy Wheeler and Perry Seibert’s analysis of the group’s uneven work over the last few years. Read on to find out how the MPAA has described the work of directors as diverse as Tim Burton, David Cronenberg, and action-meister Jan de Bont.
As industry watchers continue to debate whether or not 
You may not know this, but there is an alternate world of cinema out there starring none other than America’s favorite pretty boy talent, 
