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Topic: Appropriate trailers

Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 11-03-2000 01:50 PM

I can just see it now. The attached trailer on Bagger Vance has a naked male butt shot in it. The studios claim they don't want theaters to program "inappropriate" trailers on non-R rated movies, yet they will ATTACH something like this that is required in the booking contract for theaters to play. On top of all this, the MPAA gave the trailer a "green band" rating, basically stating that if the trailer was a movie, it would've gotten a "G" rating.

How many complaints does everyone think this one will stir up?

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Sean M. Grimes
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 247
From: Lunenburg, MA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 11-03-2000 04:33 PM

Actually my company had us remove the trailer. Booking contract or no. We also were instructed to remove the Requim for a Dream trailer off of Dr. T and the Woman also. But talk about weird programming - With little vamps we were required to program un-breakable? Come on now

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 11-03-2000 07:02 PM

I just loved the PG-13 "Little Nicky" being attached to Little Vampires. Talk about freaking stupid.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 11-03-2000 11:06 PM

Interesting, apparently some of the conservative types around here were outraged by the blurred 1/2 second shot of the male butt in the trailer...as we were ordered to remove it.

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Steven Gorsky
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Frederick, MD, USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 11-04-2000 03:48 AM

My theatre chain has the policy of R movie trailers on R movies only, if they were attached (like "Everlasting Piece" to "Bagger Vance" and "Men of Honor" to "Bedazzled") then they are replaced with another trailer.

"Unbreakable" was attached to "Remember the Titans", I thought that was a strange choice.

Steven Gorsky

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Paul Rich
Film Handler

Posts: 56
From: Murfreesboro, TN, 37128
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 11-04-2000 07:46 AM

We can only have PG or below trailers on PG films, which made it interesting for Remember the Titans. I think the trailers we put in front of it were: The Little Vampire, The Grinch, The Emperor's New Groove, Rugrats in Paris, etc. pretty much all the kid movies.

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 11-04-2000 12:37 PM

I didn't worry too much about the trailers on "Little Vampire" because the real conservative types wouldn't let their kids see a movie about vampires anyway.

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Gracia L. Babbidge
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 709
From: Bowdoin, Maine
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 11-04-2000 01:16 PM

So far, no one has bitched at me to removed the 'Everlasting Piece' trailer from 'Bagger Vance'

But then again, maybe the conservative types around here don't freak out over seeing a butt cheek on screen for a mere moment...

We shall see.

~GLB

------------------
In some cultures, what I do is considered normal.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 11-04-2000 02:16 PM

I understand the MPAA is revamping their rating scales. I certainly hope they take into account rating trailers with the way things have been going lately. Perhaps we need green, yellow and red bands.

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 11-04-2000 03:08 PM

Our policy is-
only G on G
only PG on PG
only PG-13 on PG-13 UNLESS there is specific approval from the home office. They give this approval in the weekly trailer placement requests.
anything on R EXCEPT red-bands, which can never be played without written home office appoval.

THe loophole? There is no way to know what a movie is rated when the trailer comes out. Very rarely the trailer will say "This film has been rated blah blah by the motion picture association of america." But I see very few of those. So, in the end the 'rules' are completely pointless, and it is still my judgement, just like it was before.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-04-2000 03:52 PM

I tend to take into account the subject matter/intended audience of the feature film, and try to match the trailers that way. I won't usually put an R trailer on a PG-13 film, but if that's the audience the feature is going to draw, then I'll make an exception.

I see in I.M.E. that Universal is putting "The Mummy 2" on with Grinch. Oh that's great...a horror movie trailer in the Christmas season.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-04-2000 06:08 PM

Brad (et al.) -- does anyone know the history behind trailer ratings? I've often wondered why there are only green (G-rated) and red (R-rated...is there an NC17 rating for trailers?) varieties. Why isn't there a PG or PG13 trailer rating? It seems like there should be, especially with many of the trailers that are currently in circulation as well as the (stupid, IMHO) reluctance of many chains to play red-band trailers, even with R- or NC17-rated pictures.

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Jesse Skeen
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1517
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 11-05-2000 02:48 PM

Also, while any green band trailers SHOULD be showable on G-rated movies, a lot of them really push the limits- like the "Urban Legends" trailer had the bus driver say "Urban legend, my ass!" but a radio commercial I heard for this movie had that last word cut off so I guess it wasn't acceptable there. The trailers for "Lucky Numbers" included a note from Paramount saying please do not show them on any G-rated films because the movie was rated R, even though the trailers were green band. There at least needs to be a distinction from what could be shown on a PG-13 movie but not a G-rated one.
When "Hook" came out the theater I worked at the time had the preview for "Alien 3" on, which scarred some children for life

They got rid of it after a week because of complaints.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-06-2000 03:26 AM

The worst trailer I ever saw (I believe it was for "Absolute Power") had Clint Eastwood saying "I don't give a rat's ass about Jesus Christ." In a GREEN BAND trailer! I always wondered how that one got through.

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Aaron Sisemore
Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day!

Posts: 3061
From: Rockwall TX USA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 11-06-2000 03:52 AM

>>The worst trailer I ever saw (I believe it was for "Absolute Power") had Clint Eastwood saying "I don't give a rat's ass about Jesus Christ." In a GREEN BAND trailer! I always wondered how that one got through.<<

That was 'True Crime'... I agree, When I heard that I said to myself, " Uh-Oh, here comes the complaints!" but to my knowledge nobody did... There was another version of the True Crime trailer that had the 'rats ass' scene deleted, I would guess that enough people bitched to Warners to have a different version made...

Another bad call in the attachments department was the trailer for 'The Watcher' attached to 'Bring It On' or 'Mirror Has Two Faces' attached to 'Fly Away Home'

Aaron

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