additional info

It´s said Margo Stilley is from the Bible-Belt.

Margo Stilley’s Secrets

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Looks interesting!

Any idea where the DVD (uncut, explicit version) can be purchased from?

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I went to see it the weekend after my first post with my SO. Lots of couples were there, but if the film is supposedly "mainstream", I have to say that the audience certainly wasn't mainstream!

Odeon also made the decision to show it on Panton Street. For those who don't know, it's an exit from the Square next to 'All Bar One'. It's only a 10 second walk, but means that the billboards are not visible from the main drag. The other film showing on Panton Street was the American film "Kinsey".

I praise the film maker and Odeon for showing it, but I wouldn’t say a film is mainstream until it appears at one of the 4 flagship cinemas on Leicester Square.

Ciao

(My longest post on ADT, woohoo!)

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:)

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At lot of movies are hyped, and claims are made that they are the raunchiest or most explicit ever. But I think STEMCELL's pics show that its wasn't just hype, there wasn't just nudity, but close-ups and cumshots etc.

I won't buy it on DVD, but I am glad I saw it on the big screen.

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And about Ebert, this is the guy who hated to see Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet !

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...

...

...(yeah, I know it's a null entry because they just don't have the info on hand, but it made me chuckle...)

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I'm not an indie rock guy, but it had a nice feel. The thought of an actress with mainstream ambitions having real sex on camera with an actor for the sake of cinema was a strange turn-on.

Funny thing is, I thought Margo Stilley was great when she was having sex, but terrible at portraying her character!

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But, really nuanced portrait of intimacy. Almost French.

It really does bring back memories of having that sort of affair that's almost over before it's begun. Argh. I'm heartsick all over again.

And porn-wise, the actress is skinny enough, and the guy has a big cock, so it works on that level, but the interesting thing is how s-l-l-l-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-w-w-w-w the sex is. Really brings it all back to genuine eroticism, and makes most of the regular porn stuff look like, well, porn.

If you have any interest in those 17-page threads that always wind up locked by a mod, with at least one member banned forever and someone in tears, go rent it immediately. It's very illuminating.

I'm going back to cry on my pillow, now ... *sigh*

Edited by - skronker on 1/26/2006 1:32:50 AM

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Comstock Films:Real Life, Real People, Real Sex

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But check it out, you especially I'd be interested to know what you think.

The movie got TRASHED quite a bit. I think critics missed the point.

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The structural and financial challenges of trying to put "real" sex inside a "real" movie are huge. My own approach is built around the recognition that my work will probably never be seen in a theater or available at Blockbuster. Try to make a "film" inside these boundaries is limitting to say the least, so it's not surprising that critics missed the point.

But I do hope that the attention that Winterbottom's 9 Songs got, and perhaps even my own, opens up a little space for a more adult approach to sex on film. Things can change if people do the work needed to make things change.

Comstock Films:Real Life, Real People, Real Sex

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Gonzo was founded, sort of, on that general tangent, but that mostly seems lost now. "9 Songs" brings it all back home for me. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking thing.

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And +1 to the gonzo observation. Gonzo was porn's last best hope, and it's let us (me) down terribly. When any idiot can pick up a camera, a lot of idiots will do just that; with predictable results.

I'll make a point of seeing 9 Songs so we can discus further.

Comstock Films:Real Life, Real People, Real Sex

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You just know that some of Kieran O'Brien's reruns will be conveniently placed around it. I know this guy is unknown in the US. Ok, he's not a big movie actor, hardly Jude Law or Sean Connery for example. I guess he's mainstream in a domestic market, soaps/dramas.

But just imagine...say that fit bird in E.R. or one of em in Desperate Housewives, is doing their normal thang in their normal slot primetime, then a couple of hours later getting porked

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They wrote a letter (sent via post) on two sides of A4 giving their reasons. At least they seem to have taken the time to answer my questions properly... even if it isn`t what we want to hear.

I have typed the letter up, and present it for you viewing pleasure below. I particularly like the bit that says 9 Songs differs "in terms of its style and actors":

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21 Dec 2005

Dear xxxxxxxx,

I am replying to your email of 8 November 2005.

You query the broadcast of 9 Songs on Sky Box Office, a pay-per-view channel. You asked “given that this film is being broadcast before 9pm and that it contains clear images of real sex, I would like to know whether Ofcom consider that the recent changes to the Sky PIN system now provide children with the level of protection required to enable the broadcast of explicit sex (as found in movies such as this). I would also be interested to know whether content equivalent in explicitness to that found in this film is now allowed on Adult subscription channels, as these are protected by the same PIN system.”

The introduction of the mandatory PIN by Sky was taken into account by the Ofcom Board in its recent consideration of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code (“The Code”). The published Code and accompanying statement were drafted in the knowledge of the existence of the mandatory PIN system. The rules published in the Code on 25 May 2005 sill apply.

You are clearly aware that the Ofcom Broadcasting Code prohibits the broadcast of BBFC R18 rated films or their equivalent (Rule 1.25). That remains the case.

The Code does allow films to be shown that have received an 18-rating from the British Board of Film Classification (“BBFC”). In this case, 9 Songs was given an 18-rating in 2004 with no cuts required.

Rule 1.23 of the Code permits the showing of 18-rated films at any time of day on a pay per view service (such as Sky Box Office) provided there is a mandatory PIN protection system (or equivalent) and other protections in place (including a clear billing system and information as to content).

Turning to the content of the film, 9 Songs does contain explicit sex scenes. However, it is not the same as the 18-rated sex films (permitted under Rule 1.24), in terms of its style and actors. There is a narrative based on the recollections of a young scientist, who charts his affair with an American student through its highs and lows. Therefore this can be transmitted before 22:00 and in accordance with the conditions laid out in Rule 1.23.

You also asked “If Adult subscription channels are still restricted from showing content as explicit and real as this, and given that a child would take the material in “9 Songs” out of context if inadvertently exposed to it, why is this film permissible on the same PIN system as early as 8pm when Adult subscription channels cannot show equivalent content, and these start at 11pm at night long after the majority of children will be asleep in bed?”

I would like to point you to the guidance we issued in September regarding Rule 1.24:

“In judging what material is adult sex material and therefore is subject to this rule broadcasters should be guided by the definitions used by the BBFC when referring to 18-rated films and “sex-works at 18”. The BBFC states that films may fall out of the 18-rated category because the material contains “the more explicit images of sexual activity – unless they can be exceptionally justified by context and the work is not a ‘sex work’ as defined….”. The BBFC also then defines a sex-work as “works…whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation”. The Broadcasting Code makes a similar differentiation. The context of material that contains ‘sexual scenes’ in a BBFC 18-rated film is qualitatively different from the context of material that contains ‘sexual scenes’ in “adult-sex material”.”

It would be disproportionate to prohibit the broadcast of this 18-rated movie on a pay per view channel on the grounds that it contains explicit sexual scenes when it is not an R18, not an 18-rated sex film and complies with the BBFC classification system.

I hope my reply has helped you understand how the Code operates with regard to this material.

Yours sincerely

Senior Standards Manager.
Ofcom

Source

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Edited by - robbie on 8/10/2006 9:08:51 AM

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http://www.comstockfilms.com/blog/tony/2006/05/07/winterbottoms-nine-songs/:

Peggy and I watched 9 Songs last night, and whatever it is or isn’t as a movie, let me start off by saying 9 Songs is the most credible and craftsmenly cinematic depiction of sex I’ve yet to see. It was lovely and illuminating to see sex depicted by a filmmaker, and it left me envious and inspired.

It’s not a perfect movie by any stretch. The production, while rich compared to a Comstock film, is as paper thin as its characters. There’s barely a plot, and what little plot there is is not very interesting. In fact, at the risk of sounding like I think too much of myself, 9 Songs is confined by very much the same things that impose limits on what I can aspire to with my work.

There’s precious little precedence for how to show people having sex in a movie. You can pick up a clue here and there from porn, but it’s mostly a lesson in what not to do. Creatively, Winterbottom is in terra incognita.

More limiting, there isn’t much of a market for explicit films. By making the decision to show sex, Winterbottom caps the potential returns on 9 Songs from the start, and thereby restricts himself to what can be done on a tiny budget. (Reported as USD $160,000 with deferrals.)

This is the reality of making a sex film, and as a result, neither 9 Songs, nor our own “hardcore love stories” are really full-blown productions. They’re more like etudes, concise cinematic studies of what sex looks like on film, and how sex can be rendered and contextualized within the limits of the business and the medium, and how that can be shaped into a satisfying experience for our respective audiences.

To my mind this differs from both Bertolucci’s The Dreamers, a fully realized film that includes a lot of nudity and implied sex, and a typical porn film which is simply for-hire sexual encounters recorded on video tape. The Dreamers or porn are what they are, and invite judgment by that alone.

By contrast, 9 Songs and our own work invite the viewer to appraise the films not only by what ends up on the screen (still the most important aspect), but also as musings on filmmaking and for our (earnest) intentions. The hope is that by capturing the audience’s sympathy, the rough patches in the production might get the benefit of the doubt. It’s not an uncommon gambit for the low-budget filmmaker, and sometimes works.

Of course etudes can be wonderful in their own right. I don’t know if there’s a classical guitarist that hasn’t recorded Fernando Sor’s lovely Etude #5, and you don’t have to be a guitar student, or even a devotee of classical music to enjoy it.

But an etude isn’t a symphony, or even a concerto. For the enthusiast, an interesting, but unlovely etude can be just as charming as Sor’s #5. An unlovely symphony, as interesting as it might be, is grueling for all but the most devoted audience to sit through (and often for the musicians to play as well!)

I didn’t particularly enjoy 9 Songs, at least not in the same way or with the same depth that I enjoy a movie like Cinema Paradiso. I felt like a barely knew the characters, let alone liking them, so beyond how pretty they looked (which was very nice), I didn’t really care about seeing them have sex. But I did think 9 Songs was an interesting and worthwhile etude; far, far more ambitious than anything I’ve had the nerve to attempt. I expect to learn a lot from it on repeated viewings, and wish it wasn’t singular in the cinematic landscape.

That wish calls to mind something that film critic Richard Corliss wrote while praising Mike Nichols’ Closer, and lamenting the demise of the very adult cinema of the late 60s and early 70s, and wishing more of today’s filmmakers would tackle the subject of sex in a truly adult manner. Said Corliss:

“It’s terrific that a part-time moviemaker [Nichols] has directed so many films that cogently explore the language of sex. But it does suggest that the rest of Hollywood isn’t really trying. Seeing “Closer,” teetering from empathy to exasperation with each of its characters as one would with a real lover, a moviegoer has to wonder: Why can’t there be a dozen, a hundred films like this? Where’s the good and bad sex in movies? Why can’t directors locate where we live, how we love and lie to each other, and get closer to it?”

If the rest of Hollywood isn’t trying, perhaps it’s because there’s no money for the doing and little praise for trying. Indeed 9 Songs must be evidence of some sort of minor sexual pathology in Winterbottom’s psychy. Why would an accomplished filmmaker subject himself to the trials of trying to make a movie on a low six figure budget, with the likely reward being the sort of snarky condescension that Winterbottom’s received for giving it a go?

I wish there were a dozen, a hundred more movies like 9 Songs. Not because Winterbottom seems to be getting closer to where I live or how I love, but because with Nine Songs Winterbottom is exploring the questions about sex and cinema that interest me, only with the benefit of more money and more talent. Will there be a 9 More Songs Mr. Winterbottom? Please?

Edited by - TonyC on 5/7/2006 6:00:11 PM

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[an old man dies, a little girl lives. fair trade.]

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[an old man dies, a little girl lives. fair trade.]

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Also, Margo has [invalid URL removed]converted to Judaism

Funny old world.

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[invalid URL removed]PR For The New Core

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As for "9 songs", I saw it and really enjoyed it. There are some other great bands in there, too. Franz Ferdinand. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Super Furry Animals (God bless the Welsh.) The Dandy Warhols (God bless Zia McCabe.)

Actually, like others in this thread, I enjoy these type of movies that push the limit of adult situations in "normal" features. I LOVED "The Dreamers." I'm looking forward to "Shortbus" and also (not to kiss your ass, Mr. Metcalf) "All About Anna."

Brian

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Franz Ferdinand? love 'em. Not quite in a league with the Dolls, but a great, great band.

[invalid URL removed]PR For The New Core

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Great tits! Eva Green's in the new bond film Casino Royal. Good on her.

Looking forward to Shortbus...

Edited by - robbie on 9/13/2006 6:27:09 AM

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Molon Labe...Oh! And! FREE THE WEED!!!

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Spoilers ahead.................
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I'm glad there wasn't a lot drama when she decided to go back to America, although I felt his pain intensely. Did she say why she was leaving, or did I miss something? I need to watch it again...

click for screenshots of 9 Songs

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I liked the way the film looked very much.I didn't find the characters particularly engaging but did enjoy watching them fuck. The explicitness of the film felt natural to me, shots linger where a lover's gaze might, there's a good deal of kissing and pleasure filled faces and there's a certain familiarity as DB says, of the rush of sexual attraction.

Edited by - Loraine on 11/17/2006 6:52:45 AM

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DB rolls on Shabbas

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I might do a short one just to get it in the database, where it will sink like a sub, torpedoed by "Suck It Bitch! 8" "Ass Squirtshakes 12" and "Cumfart In Her Mouth 17".

Someone wanted to know about the cunnilingus, but it's not really that kind of movie. It isn't like porn, and the camera doesn't linger too long on sexual organs or acts, per se. While it doesn't shy away from that, it spends more time showing him rubbing oil on her body and her facial expressions while she fantasizes, for example, as well as doing ordinary things like bickering, reading, talking, going to concerts, etc.

I loved her masturbation scene. Kieran hears some buzzing from the bedroom, and stands there watching her while she's oblivious and intent on coming, which she does.

It's not really necessary for me to like the people, but I felt they liked each other very much. It's so erotic just to see a man smile like Kieran does. While far from perfect, I'll take it, and hope for more.

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And I was left dissapointed yet that another "real sex art film" was mostly about the space between people than about how sex can (sometimes) obliterate that space in the most wonderful way.

Comstock Films:Real Life, Real People, Real Sex

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I spend zero time thinking about people I don't connect with. She did just up and leave, but she was young and self-centered. I've done the same thing, it didn't mean I didn't care for or connect with the person.

A few more screenshots of Kieran and Margo :-)

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Edited by - lilacwine on 11/25/2006 5:44:18 PM

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