Nc 17

The last time Fox Searchlight released an NC-17 rated movie, the world was a different place — but whether it's changed enough could dramatically affect the performance of the company's "Shame," a controversial drama about sexual obsession opening in limited release Friday. The art film subsidiary of 20th Century Fox released Bernardo Bertolucci's sexually explicit "The Dreamers" in 2004, when Fox Searchlight faced several marketing obstacles, including several newspapers that wouldn't advertise an NC-17 rated film.

An energy businessman is donating a record $35 million to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History to build a new dinosaur hall on the National Mall, the museum complex announced Thursday. The donation by David H. Koch, the executive vice president of Koch Industries Inc. of Wichita, Kan., is the single largest gift in the museum's 102-year history. Koch, an engineer trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a billionaire who lives in New York City.

In response to Jo Granch of Huntington Beach (Calendar Letters, Jan. 5): Why do you think the American public is being fooled by the NC-17 rating? The ones being fooled are those who are so naive and poorly informed about what is actually occuring with the ratings system, and the parents who neglect it. When the Motion Picture Assn. of America started the ratings system in 1968, the X rating was never registered through copyright laws. Because of this error on their part, producers of true hard-core pornography exploited the X rating with XX, XXX and Super X ratings on their films.

No shame in opening Despite its restrictive NC-17 rating, "Shame" had a solid debut at the box office this weekend. The drama, which stars Michael Fassbender as a sex addict, grossed $361,181, according to an estimate from distributor Fox Searchlight. Its per-theater average of $36,118 is the third-highest for an NC-17 film in limited debut, behind Pedro Almodovar's "Bad Education" and Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution. " "NC-17 films always create a challenge, but the late shows were very strong," said Sheila DeLoach, the studio's executive vice president.

As you may know, the Motion Picture Assn. of America recently (adopted the new NC-17 rating for adult films). . . . Don't be fooled. It is still an X-rated film. It just has a new and misleading rating. By removing the stigma of the X rating, Hollywood is hoping that our local theaters and video stores will begin to book and rent pornographic movies, and unless we fight back, they will win. According to a USA Today survey, (17 of 22) 11- to 16-year-olds who tried to get in to see an R-rated movie without being accompanied by an adult got in. These same children will also be able to get into an NC-17 movie.

I have always believed that the NC-17 rating can be a viable aspect of the movie-making and movie-watching experience ("Missing at the Movies: a Rating That's Just for Adult Viewers," by Mark Caro, June 22). But that can only happen if it is embraced by the filmmakers and the audience. In this respect, Hollywood blew its chance at making NC-17 work. Not because of the NC-17 films it did release, but because of the films it didn't release. If "Henry & June" and "Showgirls" are the major releases we have to judge NC-17 by, we might just as well let it die. A few years ago, Hollywood had the chance to provide audiences two mainstream films with NC-17 material and ignored the opportunity.

The protests against the much-needed NC-17 rating are naive. Luckily, for some time film distributors had been able to easily overcome the "no X-rated-film-advertising/censorship" problem: Simply release a film with no rating at all. Hence there is absolutely no difference between the NC-17 rated "Henry & June" and numerous unrated films over the years. JIM and PATTY DEE San Luis Obispo

"Bad Education" has been slapped with an NC-17 rating. The Pedro Almodovar film features Gael Garcia Bernal ("The Motorcycle Diaries") and Fele Martinez as men who fell in love as Catholic schoolboys but were driven apart by an abusive, jealous priest. Sony Pictures Classics appealed the NC-17 rating to the Motion Picture Assn. of America, but the decision was upheld, MPAA spokeswoman Phuong Yokitis said Wednesday. The reason: "explicit sexual content," she said.

No shame in opening Despite its restrictive NC-17 rating, "Shame" had a solid debut at the box office this weekend. The drama, which stars Michael Fassbender as a sex addict, grossed $361,181, according to an estimate from distributor Fox Searchlight. Its per-theater average of $36,118 is the third-highest for an NC-17 film in limited debut, behind Pedro Almodovar's "Bad Education" and Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution. " "NC-17 films always create a challenge, but the late shows were very strong," said Sheila DeLoach, the studio's executive vice president.

'Shame' MPAA rating: NC-17 for some explicit sexual content Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes Playing: At ArcLight Cinemas, Hollywood; the Landmark, West Los Angeles

The last time Fox Searchlight released an NC-17 rated movie, the world was a different place — but whether it's changed enough could dramatically affect the performance of the company's "Shame," a controversial drama about sexual obsession opening in limited release Friday. The art film subsidiary of 20th Century Fox released Bernardo Bertolucci's sexually explicit "The Dreamers" in 2004, when Fox Searchlight faced several marketing obstacles, including several newspapers that wouldn't advertise an NC-17 rated film.

The 10 th annual Big Bear Renaissance Faire the next two weekends includes an NC-17 stage for the more bawdy performances. Info and tickets, (800) 424-4232 or online .... The scenic Truckee River is finally open to rafting , one of Lake Tahoe's great summer traditions. Until last week, downstream flows had been too high.… Halloween promotion alert: Spa & Salon Vdara in Las Vegas is offering pumpkin facials so “skin emerges gently restored by fall's favorite super-fruit”.… Thai Airways Royal Orchid lounge in Bangkok is the best airport lounge in the world , Executive Travel magazine says.… A 12-hour mountain biking event in Jackson Hole Aug. 27 will combine technical downhill riding skill with all-day endurance.

After several weeks of noisy protest by Harvey Weinstein, the Motion Picture Assn. of America on Wednesday eased up on its rating for his studio's film "Blue Valentine," changing the Ryan Gosling- Michelle Williams romantic drama from NC-17 to an R. The Weinstein Co., which refused to cut an oral sex-scene that apparently triggered the NC-17 rating, won on appeal. Instead of bearing an NC-17 rating for "a scene of explicit sexual content," the film has been given an R for "strong graphic sexual content, language and a beating.

Applying a rating to a movie is not a scientific process, which helps explain why decisions by the Motion Picture Assn. of America sometimes seem arbitrary. A recent spat between Weinstein Co. and the association over the assessment of an upcoming film makes the association's inconsistencies all the more apparent. The company is upset because its film "Blue Valentine" was designated NC-17 by the MPAA's Classification and Rating Administration. Such a harsh assessment (which bars admission by children under 17)

One new movie generating Oscar buzz shows a woman engaged in a steamy sex act with another woman in a scene that lasts just over a minute without any nudity. Another new movie also piquing the attention of Academy Awards voters shows a man performing an identical act on a woman in a scene that lasts just over a minute without any nudity. Filmgoers who watch both movies, especially those oral sex scenes, would be hard-pressed to describe how one is more explicit than the other. Yet the first movie, "Black Swan," a supernatural drama from Fox Searchlight that opened this weekend, was given an R rating by the Motion Picture Assn.

Filmmaker Kevin Smith has won an appeal to gain an R rating for his comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," which previously had received an NC-17 adults-only designation. Elizabeth Kaltman, spokeswoman for the Motion Picture Assn. of America, said Tuesday the rating was revised after the MPAA's appeals board viewed the movie. The NC-17 rating would have prohibited anyone younger than 17 from seeing the movie. With an R rating, those under 17 can see it in the company of an adult. "Zack and Miri," due out Oct. 31 from the Weinstein Co., stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as roommates who try to make a homemade porn flick to dig themselves out of debt.

BEFORE his movie career really took off, Martin Lawrence performed stand-up comedy that rubbed audiences the raw way. His first concert film, "You So Crazy," was so raunchy that it was rated NC-17. But with his latest projects, he's deleted his expletives -- well, at least most of them. And he's even joined the Mickey Mouse Club.