From their birth in the 1890s with the earliest narrative shorts, through the full-length features of the1920s, silent movies have captured the American imagination. These artifacts of a fledgling industry continue to engage viewers 80 years after the release of "The Jazz Singer," starring Al Jolson, the first full-length feature film to incorporate synchronized dialogue and thereby herald the age of the "talkies."
No one is forced to submit a film to the Board for rating, but the vast majority of producers/distributors opt to do so. Any producer/distributor who wants no part of any rating system is free to go to the market without any rating, or with any description or symbol they choose, as long as it is not confusingly similar to the G, PG, PG-13, R, and, NC-17. The rating symbols are federally registered certification marks of the MPAA and may not be self-applied.
The Board views each film. Each member estimates what most parents would consider to be that film and appropriate rating. After group discussion, the Board votes on the rating. Each member completes a rating form spelling out his or her reason for the rating. The rating is then decided by majority vote.
There are many factors considered by the ratings board when assigning ratings to a movie including sex, violence, nudity, language, adult topics and drug use. The ratings board watches the film and as a parent would and determines in the end which rating the movie should have in accordance with the depiction of these elements in the content of the movie.
As for all the trumped up controversy, a sort of revisiting of O'Reilly's war against Christmas mania, substituting movies instead, well, it's obvious that conservatives don't have much respect for the American people or the resiliency of the human spirit. There's not a person of independent movie going age that can't distinguish crap from cinema brilliance without the right-wing distinguishing the difference for them. It's got to be their basic disrespect and doubt, their distrust of the American spirit itself.
Going back to 1952, the only leap day releases were a few animated shorts. Leap day 1924 has a couple entries, though it's hard to be certain they actually opened on that day. With some of the more obscure older films, people submitting information to IMDb often just guess at the exact month and day of release. And movies in those days didn't necessarily open on Fridays, either, so there could be some valid Feb. 29 releases from other leap years in the 1920s and '30s.
Nationwide scientific polls, conducted each year by the Opinion Research Corporation of Princeton, New Jersey, have consistently given the rating program high marks by parents throughout the land. The latest poll results show that 78% of parents with children under 13 found the ratings to be "very useful" to "fairly useful" in helping them make decisions about what movies their children see. The ratings board will continue to strive to rate movies in a way that they as parents would approve of when making choices about films suitable for their families.
A producer/distributor who for any reason is displeased with a rating can appeal the decision to the Rating Appeals Board, which sits as the final arbiter of ratings. The Appeals Board comprises 14 to 18 members who serve terms of varying length. They are men and women from the industry organizations that govern the rating system.
The Appeals Board gathers to view the film and hear the appeal. After the screening, the producer/distributor whose film is being appealed explains why he or she believes the rating was wrongly decided. The chairman of the Rating Board states the reason for the film and rating. The producer/distributor has an opportunity for rebuttal.
After Appeals Board members question the two opposing representatives, they are excused from the room. The Board discusses the appeal and then takes a secret ballot. It requires a two-thirds vote of those present to overturn a Rating Board decision. By this method of appeal, decisions of the Rating Board can be examined and any rating deemed a mistake set right. The decision of the Appeals Board is final and cannot be appealed.
If the DVDs themselves aren't special enough, the packaging is. A cardboard slipsleeve cover removes to reveal a book-like cardboard case. Open this and see two flaps that describe the bonus features on Disc 2. Open these flaps and you will see the two discs themselves, decorated elegantly with images of the trio of friends. The first disc has a picture of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) looking out at you with Hogwarts and the first years in the boats behind him. Disc 2 features Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint.) All are dressed in their formal Hogwarts robes for these photos. Behind the discs there is a wonderful collection of film photos, all soaked in that eerie blue. Also in this space there is an index of the 35 scenes in the film that you can jump to.
But the audience seemed to be reacting to a different movie. They were so noisy the dialogue was inaudible; they talked until the screen gave promise of bloody ghastliness. Then the chatter subsided to rise again in noisy approval of the gory scenes. "Somebody's going to get it," he sang out gleefully. They'd gotten what they came for: they hadn't been cheated. But nobody seemed to care what the movie was about or be interested in the logic of the plot--the reasons for the gore.
Alien opened "big," Alan Ladd, Jr., president of the pictures division of Twentieth CenturyFox, was regarded as a demigod; it's the same way that Fred Silverman was a demigod. It has nothing to do with quality, only with the numbers. Ladd and his team weren't admired for the small pictures they took chances on and the artists they stuck by.) The media now echo the kind of thinking that goes on in Hollywood, and spread it wide. Movie critics on TV discuss the relative grosses of the new releases; the grosses at this point relative to previous hits; which pictures win pass the others in a few weeks. It's like the Olympics — which will be the winners?
The movie itself is presented in a nice, wide 2:35:1 aspect ratio. The colors are deep and rich, the special effects amazing as ever. It still carries the film, which appears here as good as or better than it did during its theatrical run. Please note that a separate fullscreen version, with a 1:33:1 standard aspect ratio, is also available, but this review is of the widescreen transfer only.
