Why I use the Canadian rating system

It's pretty simple really, it's because it suits my taste in movies. See, I rarely, if ever watch films with much sexual content in them, hence most of the negative content revolves around violence and bad language. I found out sometime ago... about when I was twelve that the American rating system was not the only one. In fact, just about every country has one. Some are even run by the local government, like Australia's. Anyway, each country's rating systems has its own biases, and this can be helpful if you want to get the most well rounded review of content without having to look at a detailed review site online. 

As one might guess, while the American rating system is more lenient towards violence, the Canadian system is extremely pacifistic, but tolerant of sexuality. Because of my movie choices, it helps for me to look at the Canadian rating system due to their extreme criticalness towards violent content. In fact, after looking through all my movies, I only own 4 which warrented the 18A Canadian rating: "Tropic Thunder," "Sweeney Todd," "Fight Club," and "Saving Private Ryan."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_picture_rating_system

According to violent content, here is a rough equivalency chart of American vs Canadian ratings:

American Canadian

G G

Mild PG (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) G

Hard PG  (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) PG

Mild PG-13 (Spiderman) PG

Hard PG-13 (Mission Impossible III) 14A

Mild R (The Matrix) 14A

Hard R (Sweeney Todd) 18A

So next time your not sure if an R rated movie is going to be super violent or not, check the Canadian rating. If it has an orange 18A emblazoned on the back, you might want to think twice.

Till Next time!

Scott

Upcoming releases

A question about the picture on the top of the page prompted this. Here are some of the upcoming media releases that I am very excited about:

-Australia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(2008_film)

http://www.australiamovie.com/

-Star Trek

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_2009

http://www.startrekmovie.com/

-"When the World Comes Down"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_The_World_Comes_Down

http://www.allamericanrejects.com/

I'll post reviews as they come out.

Scott

I've been tagged and I'm not tagging anyone else...

... but I'll still state 6 random facts about myself. These are some of the true or false questions I posted on Facebook the other day.... with the answers of course!

1) My best friend in high school, a fellow named Reed Webb and son of famous reporter Lee Webb from the 700 Club, looks EXACTLY like Tyson Ritter; the lead singer of All American Rejects. He denies it, but that doesn't make it any less true. What is stranger yet is that he is the one who introduced me to ALLR.

2) "Hot N Cold" is one of my all time favorite songs. Um....... don't ask. It's just a fun song, I have no other comments.

3) I am what is known as a claustraphilic, which is the exact opposite of being claustrophobic. I like disappearing under beds, into closets and caves and all sorts of dark, small, cozy places.

4) I am extremely OCD about locking doors. Some nights I'll even check the locks three times. I have no idea why I do this. Perhaps it is my obsession with keeping the ones I love same. (Something for another time.)

5) I have been a punk rocker since the fifth grade. I have always loved, loved, loved punk rock. I grew up on Dogwood, MxPx and old school Linkin Park. It's in my blood, it will not leave.

6) One of my all time favorite phrases in the English language (to the chagrin of many of my friends and relations) is "Bull S***!" And as such I believe that it should be used sparingly. There are so many ways to apply it, but it can lose its forcefulness if used in all of them. You won't hear it from me very often, but when you do, you had better listen up!

Hmmmm....  half of those were about music. I guess that's pretty descriptive.

Anyway, until next time,

Scott

I'm going to start listening to Christmas music...

... TRY AND STOP ME!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Pseudonym

I think you're playing games

I think you're eluding fame

You're hiding

You're biding

Your time

I think that you wrote that

Don't lie

I know

How?

Guess

Look deep down inside

You knew it all along

You knew I'd see right through

But you hid anyway

You'd toyed with my head

Pretend I was dead

But you saw me

And I saw through

Look up

Face your fears

I won't hurt you

I'll keep you safe

I think we're falling

I think we're falling

Into something new

Into the deep wide blue

But you're hiding

You're biding

Your time

Review of "Quantum of Solace"

Three words: not quite filling. Don't get me wrong, it's not like it was a bad movie... just one of those films you go to with certain expectations and then leave with them significantly lowered. Here's the deal:

Quantum starts off exactly where Casino Royale left off; with Bond on the run and Mr. White in tow. The long and short of it is that he loses White and then goes around the world chasing him to get to his boss and then that guys boss and then that guys boss......... you get the picture. So the bulk of the film follows Bond killing lots of people and disobeying lots of M's orders with precious little humor to brake the tension. It looks like Marc Foster borrowed more from the Bourne and Mission Impossible films than from the Bond cannon for this outing.

Overall there is significantly less sex and bad language in Quantum than in other Bond films. We briefly see Bond kiss a girl's back in bed. Other than that there is some talk of characters sleeping with other characters, and then of course there are the opening Bond credits. But hey, that's Bond for you. As for cursing: I think I heard the s word once and damn and hell only a handful of times. Really restrained for an action flick if you ask me.

The violence, on the other hand, is anything but. The only thing that makes it less intense than the Dark Knight is that most of of violence in this film happens in day light. But that doesn't make it any less visceral. People are shot, thrown off buildings, brutally beaten, blown up, etc. One of the more disturbing scenes features the aftermath of a minor character who has apparently been tortured, stripped of clothing, killed and covered with crude oil..... all in order to get to Bond. Yeah, the baddies in this one are REALLY bad!

One of the better scenes features Bond spying on a few of the main bad guys who are all watching an opera. A rather large scale battle ensues.... all to the background music of the opera. Pretty cool.

So we begin to see the rise of a cold and calculated Bond. He is becoming the famous secret agent that we knew all along, but now we know WHY he is the way he is. Perhaps we will be a bit more sympathetic. But sadly, this film doesn't do NEARLY as good a job as the pervious Bond film did. Marc Foster and Daniel Craig just lack chemistry. There is no Johnny Depp/Tim Burton or Stephen Spielberg/Harrison Ford thing going on here...... something which a Bond film could desperately use. I'm big fans of both of them, but they just don't cut it here. 

If you are a follower of the actor, or the director, or just want a good action flick... by all means, watch Quantum of Solace. But I would warn Bond fans to stay away.... if you disliked Casino Royale, you'll hate this one. And if you DID like Casino Royale, you still might not like Quantum. It's kind of like an Amp energy drink, enjoyable and fun while it lasts, but leaves you wanting something more fulfilling, and a little bit depressed.

2 1/2 out of 5

Scott

007

My review of "Quantum of Solace" will be up late tonight. (Emphasis on late).