Movie News

Rocketman is a 2019 UK / USA musical music biography by Dexter Fletcher.
Starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Taron Egerton and Richard Madden.

A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John's breakthrough years.

The film-makers behind the Elton John musical fantasy Rocketman have clashed with a Hollywood studio over a naked sex romp featuring Taron Egerton and Richard Madden.

Paramount Pictures have demanded that Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher and producer Matthew Vaughn cut a 40-second scene that shows Egerton, who plays the singer and Madden, cast as his one-time lover and manager John Reid, writhing on a bed. Fully exposed white derrieres are on display, but the nude escapade is tastefully done.

Nonetheless, Paramount are forcing the director to cut the scene so it will have an American PG 13 rating, maybe with an eye on repeating the success of the similarly sanitised gay sex in the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody .

Monty Python's Life of Brian is a 1979 UK comedy by Terry Jones.
Starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Michael Palin.

Passed AA uncut by the BBFC for 1979 cinema release. Some local authorities overruled the BBFC rating and banned the cinema release in their areas. Passed 15 uncut for home video. Later the BBFC rating was reduced to 12A for 2019 cinema release.

Uncut and MPAA R rated in the US. Banned from 1979 cinema release in Ireland, Singapore and Norway.

See further details at Melon Farmers Film Cuts: Monty Python's Life of Brian

		UK: Passed 12A uncut for infrequent strong language, moderate sex references, nudity, comic violence ( 93:42s ) :
2019 cinema release

Summary Notes

The story of Brian of Nazareth, born on the same day as Jesus of Nazareth, who takes a different path in life that leads to the same conclusion. Brian joins a political resistance movement aiming to get the Romans out of Judea. Brian scores a victory of sorts when he manages to paint political slogans on an entire wall in the city of Jerusalem. The movement is not very effective but somehow Brian becomes a prophet and gathers his own following. His fate is sealed however and he lives a very short life.

#MeToo is a 2019 India crime thriller by Harsh Warrdhan (as Harshvardhan) and Harsh Warrdhan.
Starring Ritika Singh, Manish Jhanjholia and Gyan Prakash.

Recently out on bail and on his way to a hideout, Richie coerces his elder brother, Yash and Mama (Mother's brother) to kidnap a girl. Sakshi, on her way to college, is snatched from a bus stop in the broad daylight. This is a story of one of the 34,768 girls kidnapped every year in India.

Indian film censors from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) have demanded that a film titled #MeToo must change that title before being certified for cinema screening.

Directed by Harsh Warrdhan, #MeToo is 110-minute indie film about a young woman being kidnapped and sexually assaulted in a moving car. Starring National Award-winning actor Ritika Singh, it was shot in Haryana for over a month. The film's makers reportedly applied for a CBFC certificate in October last year. The film was rejected by the CBFC's first tier censors and then by the Revising Committee, the second tier.

Now that the film hasn't been cleared by the CBFC, Warrdhan and the movie's producers have filed a petition against the CBFC at the Delhi High Court on March 6. Shilpi Jain, the lawyer who is representing the filmmakers said:

In the petition we are arguing that the cuts/modifications that have been ordered by CBFC are serious encroachment of the right to speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution of India. Board has missed the central theme of the film. Film deals with a highly sensitive issue and any tampering with respect to the scenes can cripple the narrative.

We had applied for an Adult certificate considering the film has strong language. Even then, the certificate didn't come through.

Be prepared for a Zombie invasion as Saturday nights in March on Horror Channel give rise to Season of the Dead, a collection of modern zombie movies.

Highlights include the channel premieres of critically-acclaimed Maggie , a heart-breaking take on the Zombie genre starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Joe Dante's Burying The Ex , a radical blend of classic horror and screwball zomedy.

There are also welcome returns for post-apocalyptic zombie actioner Extinction , directed by Inside helmer Miguel Angel Vivas, Matthias Hoene's ultra-splatter comedy horror Cockneys Vs Zombies , starring Michelle Ryan and John Erick Dowdle's [REC]-inspired Quarantine .

Unplanned is a 2019 USA drama by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon.
Starring Ashley Bratcher, Brooks Ryan and Robia Scott.

As one of the youngest Planned Parenthood clinic directors in the nation, Abby Johnson was involved in upwards of 22,000 abortions and counseled countless women on their reproductive choices. Her passion surrounding a woman's right to choose led her to become a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, fighting to enact legislation for the cause she so deeply believed in. Until the day she saw something that changed everything.

One of Hollywood's biggest faith-based film studios has found itself in an unlikely battle with the movie industry's ratings board.

Pure Flix , the Christian-aimed studio, was recently informed that next month's anti-abortion drama Unplanned would receive an R rating for some disturbing/bloody images , the first in the studio's history. That could make it a tough sell for the company's traditional family-friendly audience.

The MPAA R rating means that theatres will not allow anyone under 17, unless they're accompanied by a parent or guardian). The film received the rating due to a series of graphic abortion scenes.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the MPAA contends the R rating for Unplanned wasn't political, and was instead assigned because of some disturbing/bloody images. Pure Flix, which doesn't plan on appealing the decision, was clearly frustrated by the rating, as they were expecting a more on-brand PG-13. Pure Flix executive Ken Rather told the Reporter:

A 15-year old girl can get an abortion without her parent's permission but she can't see this movie without adult supervision?

Berlin, I Love You is a 2019 Germany romance by Dianna Agron, Peter Chelsom...
Starring Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren and Luke Wilson.

Latest installment of the Cities of Love series (Paris, je t'aime / New York, I Love You / Rio, Eu Te Amo), this collective feature-film is made of ten stories of romance set in the German capital.

A contribution by the Chinese artist, film-maker and activist Ai Weiwei to a film called Berlin, I Love You , was cut by the producers on concern it could create difficulties for them with the Chinese authorities.

The film is part of a series known as Cities of Love created by Emmanuel Benbihy. The Berlin movie features 11 directors and stars  Keira Knightley and Helen Mirren. Ai directed his contribution, which focussed on his relationship with his son while in detention in China in 2015. It was included in the marketing teaser but did not make it into the finished film.

It was infuriating to find our involvement had been erased, Ai said in a statement on Deutsche Welle television. The reason we were given for the episode's removal was that my political status had made it difficult for the production team to secure further funding.

Ai said another reason was that the organisers of the Berlin Film Festival told the producers of Berlin, I Love You that the artist's contribution would make it impossible to screen the film at this year's edition of the festival, which ended on 17 February.

AI said the fact that the next film in the Cities of Love series centres on Shanghai also played a role in the producers' decision to scrap his contribution to Berlin, I Love You. He added:

The situation has got worse. China has become much more powerful and globally plays a major role in politics and economics. At the same time, China starts promoting its soft power. The effect is clearly being felt in the entertainment industry, he adds.