matt stone Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Before they introduced the world to Eric Cartman and friends, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were hired by Universal to create a "training video" geared toward boosting team moral after Seagram's company bought the studio back in 1995. However, at the time, no one knew who Parker and Stone were, let alone the fact that they were complete maniacs. What followed was a hilarious (and, as far as Universal was concerned, unusable) training video starring folks like Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, James Cameron, Michael J. Fox, Demi Moore and Angela Lansbury, among others.

If you're one of those people looking for a few laughs on a crummy Monday afternoon, then this is sure to do the trick ... if only to watch Speilberg act as a tour guide traveling through the Jaws attraction. Enjoy! (Note: Due to foul language, this video is potentially NSFW.)

[via The Movie Blog]

According to the MPAA website, "One of the highest accolades to be conferred on the rating system is that from its birth in 1968 to this day, there has never been even the slightest jot of evidence that the rating system has deliberately fudged a decision or bowed to pressure." If that statement's patent absurdity wasn't already obvious to any follower of non-mainstream film, This Film Is Not Yet Rated proves it, with a celluloid middle-finger salute to the MPAA and the Leave it to Beaver-style fantasy image it sells to the public.

Despite proudly proclaiming that its board of directors includes "the Chairmen and Presidents of the six major producers and distributors of motion picture and television programs in the United States", the MPAA nevertheless insist with a sort of dreamy sanguinity on the film ratings board's -- made up of parents, we are repeatedly told, whose only interests are in protecting children and families -- absolute neutrality and invulnerability to outside influence. With that sort of material to work with, mocking the MPAA is like shooting fish in a barrel for a filmmaker as witty and skilled as director Kirby Dick. And mock he does: Via a multi-pronged attack featuring interviews with directors, detective work and side-by-side comparison of levels of obscenity, Dick creates an often-hilarious documentary that is both cutting and compelling; it's so engaging that even filmgoers who wouldn't dream of setting foot in an arthouse cinema will eat it up.

I've never been a huge fan of South Park -- the show is just too much for me (I'm a delicate flower, you know), as was the movie. And, because of my acrimonious relationship with the show for which they're best known, I also have never been particularly impressed by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, even when they're wearing lovely frocks. That all changed, however, when I saw This Film Is Not Yet Rated (a review will go up next week), in which Stone briefly appears. It was really the first time I'd seen him not on for the cameras and the public, and he struck me as both perceptive and intelligent, qualities I hadn't previous known he had. (I realize all of you knew this long ago, but it was news to me.) All of which is a long-winded way of saying that, because of my new perspective, I actually found myself excited this morning when I read that Parker and Stone are going to make two new movies for Paramount.

The films -- My All-American and Giant Monsters Attack Japan! -- are both from the scripts of others (though both Parker and Stone will be involved in future drafts), and will mark the first time Parker has directed a movie that he didn't also write; Stone will produce the films. My All-American is described as "a high-school comedy," while Giant Monsters Attack Japan! -- the plot of which is pretty clear from the title -- "will combine live-action with the 'rubber suit' techniques made popular in Asian imports like Godzilla." Sweet.

Variety reports that the duo is eying a 2007 start date (during the South Park hiatus) though it's not clear which film will be made first for My All-American.

A couple days ago, I posted about the supposed controversy around the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet" being pulled by parent company Viacom, ostensibly in response to Tom Cruise threatening to pull ads for Mission: Impossible: 3 if the episode was aired. Daily Variety reported yesterday that an anonymous Cruise spokesman denied the allegations, but an interesting statement from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone  - signed "Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu" - seems to indicate otherwise. Parker and Stone were reportedly told not to discuss the reasons behind the episode being pulled, but did anyone really expect those boys to stay muzzled for long? I think not.

Now the heavies are getting into the game. Jim Emerson, writing on the Scanners blog on Roger Ebert's website, wrote earlier this week about the brouhaha around Isaac Hayes' abrupt departure from South Park, and yesterday posted another lengthy piece about the issue of Scientology and the First Amendment. Now even Andrew Sullivan is getting on the bandwagon, urging his readers to demand the airing of "Trapped in the Closet" and, while they're at it, to boycott Mission: Impossible: 3. Rolling Stone has a really good in-depth article on Scientology in general, as well - one of the few pieces with which the Scientology bigwigs actually cooperated. It's long, but an engrossing read.

It'll be interesting to see on which horn of this little dilemma the folks at Viacom will choose to impale themselves. Piss off mega-movie-star and high-level Scientologist Cruise and run the episode again, to prove to everyone they weren't lying out their asses when they claimed they only pulled the episode in order to run episodes featuring Hayes, in a farewell tribute? Or piss off their viewers, South Park fans, Parker and Stone, and defenders of the First Amendment in general by keeping the episode, well, in the closet?

Hollywood, Interrupted reports that sources inside Paramount and South Park studios say  the scheduled repeat of one of my fave South Park episodes, "Trapped in the Closet" - the one that satirizes Scientology and has R. Kelly singing to  Tom Cruise to "come out of the closet" - was pulled due to Cruise threatening parent company Viacom. Cruise reportedly threatened to pull advertising for his upcoming film, Mission: Impossible: 3 if the South Park episode was aired. 

In their long history with Comedy Central, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have never been censored, not even for their infamous "Bloody Mary episode", but Cruise throws his weight around and suddenly the boys have their mouths duct-taped? Following the news that Scientologist Isaac Hayes, who voiced The Chef on the show, quit because he was offended by the Scientology spoof, this story, if it proves to be true, doesn't really serve to make Hollywood Scientologists look like good sports, eh?