middle east Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Arab Countries Won't Get to Mess with 'Zohan'
Filed under: Comedy », Distribution », Politics »
Adam Sandler's most recent not-very-funny comedy, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, has earned about 100 million U.S. dollars since its release in June. It's not going to be pulling in any Egyptian gineih, Lebanese lira, or U.A.E. dirhams, though, because the censors in those countries have banned the film from local cinemas. I'm tempted to say that for the first time ever I'm jealous of Middle Eastern moviegoers, but that would be a shallow joke. Besides, no matter how lousy a movie is, it's nice to at least have the option of watching it. Film censorship is common in Arab countries. What's noteworthy here is that the film in question is about Israeli/Palestinian relations, a subject that's probably of some considerable interest to many people in that region. Sandler's character, a former Israeli spy, moves to New York and gets a job at a hair salon run by a Lebanese-American woman -- but people in Lebanon won't be able to see the film. I guess the movie's final message of looking past our differences and learning to get along with each other was deemed too offensive.
Well, OK, as noted in Variety, anything with a lot of sexual content, political messages, or religion bashing is liable not to make it past the censors in the Arab world, and Zohan has plenty of all three. The film's Middle East distributor, Circuit-Empire, is still showing the film to the other Arab countries' censorship boards, but they don't expect it to fare any better than it did in Egypt, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. Sorry, Middle East! You'll have to view images of Sandler's comically oversized package by some other means!
Da Vinci Code Banned
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Exhibition », Politics »
Based on the latest reports from the Middle East, it appears that no one in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt will legally be able to see The Da Vinci Code when it explodes all over the world this weekend. The censorship, however, has nothing to do with the conservative, Islamic values that those of us in the West tend to associated with that region of the world. Instead, the opposition has come from Christians who, like many Americans and Europeans who share their faith, are troubled by the film's suggestion that Jesus was married and fathered a child (among other things) -- the difference there is that banning is an option, and it's being exercised.In other parts of the Middle East, though, the film has either been approved for release (albeit after several examinations), or is still being reviewed. It will be exhibited in its original form in the United Arab Emirates, while audiences in Bahrain, Oman and Qatar are awaiting the findings of censorship boards (who better hurry the hell up with that decision, if they want to ride the joyous Da Vinci Code train with the rest of us suckers).
Syriana Censored, Brokeback Denied
Filed under: Drama », Romance », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Distribution », Newsstand », Politics »
Somewhat surprisingly, Syriana is playing in the United Arab Emirates right now, and it's
(mostly) intact. About two minutes of footage have been removed from Stephen Gaghan's epic tale of oil and corruption at the request of
government authorities; among other things, those two minutes include "scenes showing mistreatment of Asian
workers in the Gulf;" "a brief shot showing the late Saudi King Fahd in a photograph:" "a comment
made by Matt Damon's character linking the business interests of the Bin Laden's family to the holy city of
Mecca." The film was more carefully reviewed than most that are showed in the UAE, and was actually examined by
two different government bodies before the final cuts were made.In other censorship news, a foolishly idealistic distributor in the Middle East has scrapped plans to show Brokeback Mountain there (what with homosexuality being both illegal and morally condemned in many Middle Eastern nations). According to a representative of Italia films, when they asked various governments in the region for their feelings about releasing the movie, the consensus response was "they would rather not deal with it." Gee, that's a shock.
Morgan Freeman is Duke Ellington
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Casting », Deals », New Line », Newsstand »
A few years ago, a film student named Jeremy Donner stumbled upon information
about a US government-sponsored tour that Duke Ellington took to the Middle East - including Iraq - in 1963. What made
an already interesting story even more fascinating, however, was the recently-unearthed revelation that the CIA
apparently had spies in the band while it toured, thus using Ellington's popularity to gain access to parts of the
world not usually open to Americans. Donner tracked down a State Department official who was with the Ellington band on
that tour, and put together a pitch centered on whether or not Ellington knew about the spooks. (A pitch that New Line,
not being fools, recently bought.)The studio plans to turn the pitch into a movie called The Jazz Ambassadors, which will have a screenplay by Donner himself. Antoine Fuqua (who, in the lingering aftermath of King Arthur, really could use a hit) is in talks to direct, and Morgan Freeman will both produce and play Ellington in the film.
The story sounds great, as does the presence of Freeman - it'll be interesting to see, though, how the state of the world affects our reactions to this movie when it finally comes out. Three years from now, say, it's impossible to know how we'll view Iraq, American spies, or even the Middle East in general.
Ridley Scott Penetrates the Middle East
Filed under: Action », Documentary », Thrillers », Deals », Paramount », Warner Brothers », Newsstand »
Given the success of Syriana and the ubiquity of the Middle East in
the news, it's no surprise that big studios have recently acquired a pair of projects set in that region. Oddly, Ridley
Scott's fingerprints (as well as those of novelist David Ignatius) are all over both of them. The first - described
by Variety as "a high priority for [Paramount]" - is The Invisible World, which Scott will
direct. The film is based on a treatment by Ignatius which grew into Dana
Stevens' screenplay and may prove to be a bit touchy, given that its story revolves around the kidnapping of a
female journalist in Iraq. The second project is in Warner Brothers' hands, and is at a much earlier stage of development. The studio has acquired the rights to Penetration, a novel by Ignatius about "a CIA operative's attempt to track a high-ranking terrorist in Jordan." The hope at Warners is that Scott will direct the film, once a screenplay is completed.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
