Took my mother to see There Will Be Blood tonight at a Regal Cinema. During the 'Regal First Look' segment they had a preview for some new film from the guy behind 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up.

I was quite shocked to witness three minutes that consisted of a couple sex scenes, full frontal male nudity, a joke about ass play, and a crude gag that resulted in a joke about a pearl necklace.

I know some people will say, "It was an R rated movie, it's fair game." I really disagree. TWBB was Rated R for very minor language and two brief violent scenes. I know parents who took their kids to it, because the content was rather mild. I think showing crude sex jokes in front of a film that has no such content is quite tasteless.

Anyone see this crap from Regal yet? I honestly think if they have to show explicit previews, the content needs to match the content of the film. I'd imagine some people would be upset going to see a raunchy sex comedy and getting a brutally gory preview beforehand.

Seriously?

Like I mean seriously?

Regal has been doing this for years.

They have three-to-four "First Look" spots going at a single time.

One devoted specifically to G and PG rated movies.

One or two devoted specifically to PG and PG-13 rated movies.

One devoted specifically for R, NC-17, and unrated movies.

I think your argument is bullshit. If you don't know the content of the film prior to going in, you damn well know what it's rated.

I, myself, who loved There Will Be Blood and I am looking forward to Forgetting Sarah Marshall. And this is coming from someone who had parents that took me to raunchy sex comedies theatrically when I was 13.

What your proposing is almost censorship and questions the validity of filmgoers as you feel that the specific audience going to see There Will Be Blood won't enjoy any other genre, especially a comedy with adult material.

Why can't a theater promote a red-band trailer theatrically with what is an R rated movie?

In a nutshell, the film in question has an R rating for a specific reason and nobody under the age of 17 is admitted unless they have an adult with them.

And the horror trailer before a sex comedy? Cut me a fucking break. That would be gold to a majority of the people on this board, myself included (hell -- it may be one of the reasons why I enjoy Club Dread).

Damn right, Matthew.

The "pearl necklace" gag is in the green band trailer for this film too.

full frontal male nudity? Thankfully must have seen a different red band for it, don't think I've seen penis in a red band trailer before.

And yeah, the pearl necklace gag isn't explicit at all and was by far the funniest gag in the ads (and that joke airs on regular tv ads).

I get what you're saying, though, as if you go to an R-rated movie thats rated R for violence and language you may not want to see explicit sex before it starts and/or vise versa. Complaining would probably get them pulled completely before they'd start taking the time to sort the trailers like that, though. And that would suck (though I've never seen a red band trailer in theaters before, including Regals).

The funniest combo to me in recent times was them showing the Sex in the City trailer before The Golden Compass.

Well considering the several gruesome deaths in There Will Be Blood, I'd say you should not be so surprised.

And no full frontal in a preview, get serious.

I've never seen a single one of these "First Look" trailers at the Regal theater here. I guess it isn't surprising, though, considering ours is one of the worst theaters in the country.

After There Will Be Blood, did the parents take the kids bowling?

Probably took him bowling and got him a milkshake too.

Only so they could distract him long enough to abandon him.

hmmm... I should frequent Regal more often ...

I think this response is "bullshit" and totally agree with the original poster.

Studios post why a movie is rated "R' for a reason. It's to warn people what to expect. As you yourself said - "...the film in question has an R rating for a specific reason..." If parents choose to let their kids, for instance, see an R-rated movie because of these reasons and a much more explicit trailer is shown in advance, it robs parents of the ability to determine what is appropriate for their kids to see.

Disagree. Rated 'R' is rated 'R'. If you bring your kids to a rated 'R' movie, it's on you.

If you're scared that a 'bad' preview might come up, well...take your kids to PG13 movies or wait until that flick hits DVD.

= J

While I think it's a bit silly for an adult to get up in arms over seeing a penis, I have to agree with the OP on this. If you go to Regal Cinema's website and click on a movie, it takes you to a page that includes the reason for that movie's rating. So when I click on Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show, it says there's going to be 'pervasive language and some sex-related humor'. If a parent reads that and decides to take their 14-year-kid to see the movie, they shouldn't have to worry about seeing, say, the rape scene from The Hills Have Eyes.

The whole purpose of the ratings explanations is to allow people to make informed decisions about what they or their kids are going to see. If the explanations are posted by a theater, they shouldn't circumvent their purpose.

If the red-band trailers bother the OP so much, go ahead and mark some seats as occupied (put a jacket or sweater, something to show the seats are occupado) simply make the kids wait outside until after the trailers are done, and then let them back in when the main feature starts. Problem solved. Don't expect the world to cater to your own world view, take control of the situation, don't sit back and get offended when things don't happen your way.

Rated R is rated R. No theater is going to make a big distinction and only show Rated R trailers for similarly rated R flicks with the same category of rated R material (like films with mainly graphic language and violence, vs. films with graphic sexual content, both types of films are rated R). Rated R encompasses all sorts of stuff (the F-bomb used for fornication purposes, graphic depictions of sexual situations, higher nudity levels, graphic violence shown (not simply implied), graphic depiction of drug use, etc.). Be a parent and don't take your young kids to Rated R movies because you did't want to pay for a babysitter to watch over them if you wanted to go out and see a Rated R film.

I can't imagine them showing that in First Look preview. They always seemed more tame than actual trailers.

Exactly.

I've seen this "first look" and there is NO full fronal. He opens his towel, but its shown from the waist up, then he is shown sitting nude on the couch, with his legs hiding his penis. Sorry man, you can't add stuff to make it sound worse to make your point.

I bet the OP is making things worse than they seem. I've only seen full frontal in two movies last year (Eastern Promises and Walk Hard) and I would highly, highly doubt that they would show actual cock during the previews.

Segel is bare assed when he's looking away and crying. The outrageous sex is with a bikini clad Kristen Bell in a number of positions that covers both their genitals.

I've seen worse on FX. Meh.

This reminds me of the family that sat down to watch American Beauty. Looked like Mom, Grandma and 3 kids under 12. They got into the first 4 minutes and promptly left after Spacey is shown jerking off in the shower. "Hello, it's rated R!"

Someone left during a showing of Romero's Diary of the Dead immediately after the scene where:



That's like me leaving during Step Up 2 because there's a lot of dancing.

Here is the red band trailer. No full-frontal, except in the OPs mind.

lol @ taking kids to TWBB.

Actually, in a couple of months, that might not be too funny. I think they are aiming for Sex in the City to be a PG-13. I remember when seeing The Golden Compass there was a preview for Semi-Pro

I really don't find it offensive considering the movie beforehand. Yes, if you were going to see The Spiderwick Chronicles and you see the spot for Forgetting Sarah Marshall than that would be quite a different story but not when the movie is There Will Be Blood. It's rated R and it only makes sense to include R rated trailer on an R rated movie.

Side note: Really looking forward to Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It's Marshall (How I Met Your Mother) and Veronica Mars in the same movie, it's gotta be good.

I knew he was making that up.