A Texas bound (as in tied down) Father Geek here with the latest from our AICN offices downunder, and yes, Censorship has once again reared its ugly head in the land of rabbit-proof fences, the Kiwi, Kangeroo, and Sheep...
More on this, sadly, below...
I'm a war President!
AICN-DOWNUNDER
I'm a war President!
AICN-DOWNUNDER
Wow. I was expecting the issue to come back again, but not so soon. Yes, kiddies, it's censorship. With the Liberal Party returned for yet another term in office, with their newfound majority in the Senate, with Church formed party Family First picking up seats in the their first year... well, the odds are against those of us who prefer our forests existing and films uncensored.
NINE SONGS is a film by Michael Winterbottom. It's about the relationship between a guy and a girl, told in between the live music they see. The film contains Franz Ferdinand, the Dandy Warhols, and a lot of explicit sex.
Accent Films, who has the rights to the Australian distribution, is yet to submit it to the Office of Film and Literature Classification for a rating, but our good friends the Australian Family Association have already begun their campaign to have the film banned.
Now, I'm not going to completely demonise the group here. Its position is that unsimulated sex belongs in pornographic theatres, not in the mainstream or arthouse. The AFA believes that the X certificate was created for films or videos containing unsimulated sex, and it goes well beyond what should be permitted in an R rating.
It's a valid position.
The position of AICN-Downunder is that films like NINE SONGS and IRREVERSIBLE are not pornography. They are not designed to be titillating and they are not made to get you off. AICN-Downunder's position is that there is an obvious line between pornography and art, even if unsimulated sex appears in both.
The rumblings on the AFA website can be found here: http://family.org.au/AFA_Quotes/9_Songs_film.htm
Most of the emails I got on the censorship subject were from people who wanted to contribute. Who wanted to make some sort of difference, especially given that lots of letter writing is what gets many of these films banned (it's more complicated than that, but I'm trying to be rousing and inspiring).
So here's what you do. You write about why you feel you have a right to see NINE SONGS. Write about why you feel that, as an adult, you should be given the choice to see it, or not depending on your own free will. Be polite. Be brief. Don't attack the AFA or the OFLC. The best thing you can be is reasonable.
Emails to the Office of Film and Literature Classification can be sent to this address: oflcswitch@oflc.gov.au
NEWS
* Last week, right after the AICN-D column went up (the one in which I speculated on whether or not Nicole Kidman would star in EUCALYPTUS), Moviehole broke the news that Geoffrey Rush had pulled out of the Russell Crowe starrer. Apparently schedule conflicts between EUCALYPTUS and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2 & 3 meant Rush was forced to adhere to Hollywood idiom number seven: never piss off Jerry Bruckheimer. Possible replacements for Rush include Zombie Chips Rafferty, Kangaroo Jack, and the Thunderdome.
* RIVER QUEEN, the New Zealand feature that has already suffered injuries and delays, now has to look for a new director after Vincent Ward was fired by the film's insurer. No word on who will take over (the producers are adamant that the production will continue), but this is a big blow to Ward, who is the only person in the world aside from Latauro who enjoyed WHAT DREAMS MAY COME.
* In recent years, a group of rogue scientists decided to clone Nicole Kidman to use her stem cells. The clone was, however, rescued by Mel Gibson who suggested she go into the film industry. Luckily, no one seems to have cottoned onto the fact that she's almost always in two places at once, so her secret remains secure (and, dear reader, only you and my mother read this column so if you keep your mouth shut, it still won't get out). Cutting to the chase: Kidman Clone to be heard in DreamWorks claymation FLUSHED AWAY, alongside Hugh Jackman.
* Every now and then, there's a project which brings together the best aspects of Ain't It Cool News: my column and the website itself. Yes, Australia and Austin, Texas have been brought together by both the bodily fluids Harry and I email back and forth, but also the indie film CRAVING HEATHERS. I've reported on this flick a few times, and the more I've heard the more I want to see it. Well, a second trailer has gone up on the website hosted by featured actress, Australia's Sarah Monahan, for the Austin-shot flick. It's a damn sight better than the first, so put that broadband to good use and take a look: http://www.sarahmonahan.com/CravingHeathers/Index.htm
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
AUSTRALIAN FILM INSTITUTE AWARDS
The AFI awards were handed out last night in Melbourne. It was a pretty lackluster year for local films, and many of the nominations seemed to have been given to anyone who showed up. So what happens when one internationally-lauded film goes up against well-intentioned but ultimately unengaging efforts?
The winners are (and I use the plural loosely):
- Best Film - SOMERSAULT (Anthony Anderson)
- Best Direction - SOMERSAULT (Cate Shortland)
- Best Editing - SOMERSAULT (Scott Gray)
- Best Cinematography - SOMERSAULT (Robert Humphreys ACS)
- Best Sound - SOMERSAULT (Mark Blackwell, Peter Smith, Sam Petty)
- Best Score - SOMERSAULT ("Decoder Ring")
- Best Production Design - SOMERSAULT (Emily Seresin)
- Best Actress - SOMERSAULT (Abbie Cornish)
- Best Actor - SOMERSAULT (Sam Worthington)
- Best Supporting Actress - SOMERSAULT (Lynette Curran)
- Best Supporting Actor - SOMERSAULT (Erik Thomson)
At very least, you can be sure that I'll never find myself wondering how to spell "Somersault" ever again. Phew.
AUSTRALIAN WRITERS GUILD AWARDS
The AWGIES went out this year to Sue Smith for her work as script editor, Stella Kinsella (best unproduced script, VERIS), Simmone Howell (best short, PITY 24), Dennis K. Smith (best documentary, TROUBLED MINDS - THE LITHIUM REVOLUTION), and to Cate Shortland (best feature film, SOMERSAULT).
BOX OFFICE
It's a fairly sad state of affairs (you should see six-to-ten), but not all of it sucks. Or at least, NOTEBOOK and COLLATERAL are tolerable, even if I didn't enjoy them. Looking forward to ANCHORMAN, though.
Annnd the BO winners are...
- 1. SHALL WE DANCE?
- 2. COLLATERAL
- 3. RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE
- 4. THE NOTEBOOK
- 5. ANCHORMAN
RELEASED THIS WEEK
Distributors try to affect the outcome of the US Presidential election and only find out later that Australia doesn't actually vote, a New Zealand drama packs everything except the kitchen sink, a second political documentary hits the screens (see, Lat can be satirical as well), the spiritual sequel to HOME ALONE comes out (pun intended, in case you plebs aren't subtle enough), and a film almost certain to get banned in China gets the big-screen treatment.
Here's what's new...
- GOING UPRIVER: THE LONG WAR OF JOHN KERRY
- IN MY FATHER'S DEN
- THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE
- SAVED!
- TIBET: THE CRY OF THE SNOW LION
NEXT WEEK
- Ben Affleck to attempt career revival by starring in revenge film MURPHY'S LAW as rogue cop Blaine Law
- Jon Peters buys rights to remake Scott Rudin's upcoming BLOB remake
- "I Love Lucy" to be made into a feature film starring Queen Latifah as Lucy, Bernie Mac as Ricky, Cedric the Entertainer as Fred, and Vivica A. Fox as Ethel
