Brokeback Mountain Part 2!

 

Larry Miller's theaters reject 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno'
Chain says film is too sexual; it allows movies with graphic violence

Megaplex Theaters will not screen the comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" when it opens nationwide Friday - once again opening the Utah theater chain to charges of hypocrisy for barring movies with strong sexuality but allowing films with graphic violence.

The movie, which stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as roommates who decide to make a sex film to pay off debts, received an R rating after director Kevin Smith successfully appealed an NC-17 ruling.
But Megaplex general manager Cal Gunderson told The New York Post, "we feel it's very close to an NC-17 with its graphic nudity and graphic sex."

The Megaplex circuit - operating 70 screens at five theaters in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Lehi, Sandy and South Jordan - is the only chain that has turned down the movie. "They're kind of a lone wolf on this one," said Steve Bunnell, chairman of domestic distribution for The Weinstein Co.

Advance response from exhibitors and audiences has been positive, Bunnell said. "People are really responding to the romantic-comedy part of the film," he said, comparing "Zack and Miri" to such hits as "Knocked Up" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," films that have played at Megaplex theaters.

"Zack and Miri" will play in about 2,800 theaters nationwide, Bunnell said. In Utah, the movie will screen at theaters owned by the Cinemark and Carmike chains, and at the not-for-profit Broadway Centre Cinemas in downtown Salt Lake City.

"It's definitely a crossover title, something normally that would not be on our radar if it wasn't for Kevin Smith," said Tori Baker, director of the Salt Lake Film Society, which operates the Broadway. Baker cited director Smith's history as an independent filmmaker, going back to his 1995 debut "Clerks" premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.

"Zack and Miri" features images of full-frontal nudity, male and female, but never together and never in a sexual act. Similar content can be found in movies that have played at Megaplex theaters. In April, the chain booked the comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which showed star Jason Segel naked. Earlier this month, the chain opened another comedy, "Sex Drive," filled with sexual dialogue and bare skin.

The ban on "Zack and Miri" also comes a week after the horror movie "Saw V" opened nationwide, including at four Megaplex theaters. Among the grisly images in "Saw V" are a woman decapitated by blades in a collar and a man forced to crush his hands to escape being cut in half by a pendulum.

When asked by The New York Post about the apparent double standard of screening the violence of "Saw V" but not the sexuality of "Zack and Miri," Gunderson replied, "No comment." (By deadline, Gunderson had not responded to calls from The Salt Lake Tribune seeking comment.)

The uproar over "Zack and Miri" is reminiscent of Megaplex owner Larry H. Miller's decision in January 2006 to pull "Brokeback Mountain," the Western drama starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as gay sheep herders.

* I wasn't to excited for this flick BUT after another BONEHEADED move by the powers that be here in Utah I will try and see this opening weekend to make sure it hits #1. Maybe someone should have banned good ol' Larry from wearing that Jazz throwback uni a few years ago that was clearly 3 sizes too small. There isn't enough eye bleach in the world after looking at those nutters.

Peace, DAG!