Weinsteins fight censorship with 'Our Idiot Brother' trailer
Posted Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 3:39 PM Central
Last updated Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 3:42 PM Central
by John Couture
There's a classic line that I love in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back when Jay is talking to Brodie about the upcoming Bluntman & Chronic movie being made by Miramax.
Jay: Miramax? I thought they only did classy pictures, like "The Piano" and "The Crying Game."
Brodie: Yeah, but then they made "She's All That" and it went downhill from there.
I always chuckle at that line because it's true (sort of) in that Miramax and now The Weinstein Company are both known for the ability to deliver serious, Academy Award caliber movies, but they've always seemingly found time to buck that stereotype.
This weekend's Weinstein release Our Idiot Brother is a perfect example of the normally stoic company releasing a movie that might be a different from their normal offerings. While it might earn a MTV Movie Award in some crazy category, I wouldn't hold your breath for that call from the Academy.
That's not to say that Our Idiot Brother is somehow flawed or beneath The Weinstein Company label, no in fact, it's a film that I'm looking forward to seeing. I mean it stars Paul Rudd as the Idiot Brother, what could be better?
What is surprising I suppose is that the outspoken Harvey Weinstein, who is known for championing his movies during awards season, is getting some work in during the off-season. In response to ABC's decision not to air the TV spot for Our Idiot Brother, The Weinstein Company released a new red band trailer for the film in an effort to condemn censorship.
Harvey had this to say. "We'd like to dedicate our new red band trailer for Our Idiot Brother to censorship everywhere. Enjoy!!"
The new trailer is being hosted exclusively by moviefone, but you can see an embedded version below.
First though, check out the 30 second TV spot that caused ABC's censors to get into an uproar.
I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure what there is to object over. While it's certainly not a movie intended for general audiences, I don't think the content is so outlandish as to require a ban from the network. If anything, the content makes it pretty easy to understand that this movie is for a more mature audience.
The red band trailer is below and as you can imagine, it's got some racy footage and language that might not be suitable for work or younger audiences. Again though, for a red band trailer, I found the content a bit tame in comparison to other red band trailers out there.
While sure, the timing is mighty convenient and will only serve to increase the awareness of the movie on opening weekend, the message is still worth repeating. With the MPAA and all the redundant checks and balances already in place, do we really need more censorship on the part of the TV networks?
It's not like The Weinstein Company bought up an advertising block during it's Saturday morning cartoon schedule.