5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

Another good article from Cracked. And in case any of you never read their website they usually do quite a bit of articles about movies. Plus they have some of the funniest humor.

I'll post one of the 5 reasons that I found the most intriguing. If you want to read them all just follow the link at the bottom of the thread.

#2. Gaming the Ratings System

http://i.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/ar.../43917.jpg?v=1

The Complaint:

"Screw Black Swan -- have you seen Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream? Of course you haven't, it got buried by the MPAA, which slapped it with an NC-17 rating. That's despite the fact that I've seen way worse in bigger movies than a little double-ended dildo action."

The Problem:

Quick, when's the last time you saw a trailer for a movie rated NC-17 on TV? Have you ever seen one showing at the multiplex? We'll save you the trouble of trying to remember beyond last week and tell you that you probably haven't. Television networks refuse to promote NC-17 films, and most large theater chains won't show them. You also can't find them in most rental stores.

http://i.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/ar.../43906.jpg?v=1

NC-17 is the bogeyman of Hollywood, long considered commercial death because, to date, none of the NC-17 films released has made more than $20 million at the box office. Ever. Take Showgirls off the top of the list, and you won't find one that made more than $12 million. For reference, Battlefield Earth made $30 million.

http://i.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/ar.../43907.jpg?v=1

So you've got a guaranteed box office assassination card. What do you do with it? Apparently, the answer is to slap it on your competitors, the independent film industry. You see, the MPAA (the film studio lobbyist group) controls the ratings board and also pays their salaries. So when a film comes along with some edgy content, a big studio can shove it through while an independent film gets hosed.

For Example ...

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone got to see both sides of the process when their independently made film Orgazmo was given an NC-17 for lewd jokes and brief nudity in the form of breasts and asses (which doomed it to obscurity until Parker and Stone became household names), while South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut received an R for some pretty explicit cartoon sex and violence. The film even included a real picture of an erect penis disguised as a sex toy.

Not to mention gratuitous usage of Brian Boitano.


http://i.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/ar.../43908.jpg?v=1



When asked why they thought they got a more lenient rating for South Park, Parker said, "The reason we got the NC-17 on Orgazmo was that it was released by October Films, which had no clout, and we didn't have the money to re-edit the film and continue to resubmit it. [On South Park] we got an R because Paramount was behind it, but the independent filmmaker gets screwed."

http://www.cracked.com/article_19012...vies-suck.html

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

I have not read the other four reasons. but ratings is not why movies suck. Orgasmo was a crappy little movie and getting an R rating would not have made it any better.

Orgasmo with an R would still not have been a hit.

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

I agree Orgasmo blew Ron Jermey over and over.:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDqxuGlxbWc
NSFW

Apparently you can watch This Film Is Not Yet Rated on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIncrMYRUJ0&feature=fvwk

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

Ratings have nothing to do with anything except release. So many movies suck because the audience demands s**t art

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

I would argue that the rating does hold a bit of influence over the quality of the film. Not a lot, but maybe a smidgen.

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

I think if someone doesn't want their movie to be NC-17 and apparently buried, then maybe they should tone it down a bit. It's not like the majority of sex scenes and raunchy language are neccessary. Great movies were made for years without all that.

You forget that the only reason movies are rated NC-17 is because of a fascist regime called the MPAA, ergo a film that just happens to require the explicit should not have to tune it down just because a crop of baby boomers can't get their mom's breasts and ideology out of their mouths.

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493459/

Watch this and get back to me about why art should be censored

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

The rating system doesn't censor movies. If studios and producers decide they want to cut scenes to get a less restrictive rating that is a marketing decision. Whether or not the rating system is fair and consistent is a different issue.

A terrible one at that, if you ask me. Clearly, an experienced director that gets an acceptable rating, should never have their work edited to achieve a more mainstream rating (I'm lookin at you Weinsteins).

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

Will's dead on. The word "censorship" is a serious word and shouldn't be tossed around so casually. When the entity that owns a film decides to cut it for marketing reasons, that's not censorship. I know the word has come to mean that most of the time; hell, it's probably even got such a definition listed in some dictionaries by this point. But it's a serious dilution of a word which used to refer to real censorship: that is, legal restriction by the government.

These days, "censorship" seems to be anyone suggesting any sort of designation or restriction should be placed on any kind of art, ever.

By all means, rail against the MPAA's methods. Rail against their confusing criteria and opaque process. But I don't see any sense in railing against the mere existence of a body which classifies films. And yes, I've seen This Film Is Not Yet Rated. It makes the case for MPAA reform, not the abolition of the entire concept.

IMO, eveyone needs to forget about censorship and art in this instance, that's a non-starter as what we're talking about here are financial products that, in order to make (or at the very least recoup their expenses) can be/are instructed to tailor their product to be given publically recognised certificate by a unilaterally agreed upon body. The MPAA. Now, if that needs to be changed or gotten rid of, that's another argument.

Many times I've noticed a favorite movie on TV, and they've chopped it up so badly to remove "offensive" stuff that the movie didn't make any sense!
It's a joke really, you can turn on the news and see much sicker and way more horrible stuff than in most movies....

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

Haha. This thread is cool.

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

yeah this one's nice

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

Five more to go.

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

Very interesting link with the 5 reasons :).

I only don't know how ratings can tell if a movie sucks or not.

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

Many of today's young actors/actresses aren't unionized, and therefore haven't had a real chance to hone their craft, nor are they very well paid, either. Also, much of today's talent is corporate-owned and very tinny-sounding, so all that, too, has a good bit to do with why so many movies today are so horrible. Also, Hollywood has clearly run out of creative ideas.

Re: 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
 

lets hope Hollywood recognise more directors and writers like Christopher Nolan & Duncan Jones.