andPOP » harvey weinstein

MPAA Turns over NC17 Rating on ‘Blue Valentine’

Lauren Treihaft — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 14:36:46 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Every film blog on the web is talking about the MPAA and their decision to turn the NC17 rating of Blue Valentine into an R.

Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Company fought long an hard against the NC17 rating in an appeal battle. The film was supposedly deemed NC17 for sexually graphic content. However, the content is not explicit but the MPAA was offended.

The MPAA is Hollywood’s best kept secret. The members of the rating board are hidden from society. The rating system is extremely problematic because it nearly promotes censorship.

It was strange to see that Blue Valentine has originally been rated NC17. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams as a married couple. The film tracks their marriage by crosscutting between time periods. The trailer for the film is so tame compared to the other extremely violent ones that play before and after it. It’s hard not to wonder what the MPAA uses as criteria for their rating system.

At least Blue Valentine will be properly released in theaters with an R rating. The MPAA finally did something right this time.

Roman Polanski Complicated Arrest Could Lead to Release

Emma Renda — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:14:26 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

After 32 years on the run from the American government, Academy Award-winning film director Roman Polanski, 76, could finally see a resolution to his outstanding charges. He was finally detained in Switzerland where border officials acted on an American arrest warrant from 1977, but that move could lead to Polanski’s release.

In the seventies, Polanski pleaded guilty to charges for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor (Samantha Geimer, 13.) After he fled the country, American investigators have been passively keeping tabs on him, waiting for their chance to pounce.

Polanski fled to France before he was formally sentenced and has been on the lam ever since. His capture now could lead to extradition to the U.S. but now that the American, French and Swiss governments involved, the whole process could be fuddled. Polanski could be released entirely, or his time served prior to the initial court case will translate to his sentence.

Either way, resolution will hopefully be reached in the exhausted case. There was a public outcry in response tPolanski’s arrest, as film stars across the globe called for his release, according to Perez Hilton. Incidentally, his biggest supporter is Harvey Weinstein.

“We’re calling on every film-maker we can to help fix this terrible situation,” said Weinstein.

A petition has also been launched, and signed by Monica Belucci (The Matrix Reloaded, Passion of the Christ) and Fanny Ardant (Paris, Je T’aime). Even French president Nikolas Sarkozy is said to be paying attention to the case, and Samantha Geimer, the defendant, is calling for the case to be dropped as well.

Polanski, director of The Pianist, Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby, was at the centre of another high profile court case forty years ago when his wife, actress Sharon Tate, was brutally murdered by Charles Manson’s followers when she was eight months pregnant. Polanski’s mother was killed in Auschwitz during the Second World War, and he narrowly escaped the Jewish ghetto in Krakow.

Anne Hathaway To Play Judy Garland

Eva Lam — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:40:26 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Anne Hathaway is set to channel Judy Garland in both a film and a stage production about the Hollywood icon.

Producer Harvey Weinstein announced Monday he has tapped the Oscar-nominated actress to star in the two projects, which will be based on the 2000 biography “Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland.”

“I have worked with Anne on projects in the past and have known her for many years,” Weinstein told WENN. “She will be a true class act in this challenging role.

“Gerald Clarke’s biography is a fascinating and comprehensive look at Garland’s life and is particularly outstanding because of its exclusive details from her own writings,” he added.

Garland got her start in vaudeville as a child but shot to fame with her starring role in 1939′s “Wizard of Oz,” later receiving Oscar nominations for “A Star is Born” and “Judgment at Nuremberg.” She was also a renowned concert performer, winning multiple Grammys in 1962 for “Judy at Cargenie Hall.”

The star battled personal problems throughout her life, including drug addiction and four failed marriages. She died of an accidental drug overdose in 1969 at the age of 47.

The 26-year-old Hathaway showed off her song-and-dance abilities at last month’s Oscars during an opening skit with host Hugh Jackman. She was also a best actress nominee this year for her role as a recovering drug addict in “Rachel Getting Married.”

Her previous movie credits include “The Princess Diaries” and “The Devil Wears Prada.”

‘Project Runway’ Jumping Ship?

andPOP Staff — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:41:06 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

NBC doesn’t want to let go of ‘Project Runway.’ The company is going to court in an attempt to block the show from moving to Lifetime.

The network accused the Weinstein Company, which owns ‘Project Runway’, of “violating its rights by making the deal with Lifetime,” the New York Times reports.

According to NBC, they were promised the opportunity to match any offers made for the program. They claim that Harvey Weinstein, the chief executive of the Weinstein Company, made the deal with Lifetime in February and continued to make fake negotiations for two more months.

The Weinstein Company’s lawyer, David Boies, stated that “We believe that this lawsuit is without merit. While good for the market for lawyers, it is always unfortunate when parties try to win in court what they have lost in the marketplace.”

‘Project Runway’ is supposed to debut on Lifetime in November.