Spitball Army

–  This Film Is Not Yet Rated  (2006)
Director Kirby Dick makes a fascinating half-movie as he shadows a private investigator in her attempts to infiltrate the MPAA. The other half of the film (let’s call it the “Julie” part) is a diatribe against the Jack Valenti-instituted film rating system, and all that is cherished and hated about the dreaded stamp of NC-17. Not that there’s much to disagree with in the film’s stance, and the majority of the interviewees wax eloquent on the topic. But half of a film’s worth of seemingly self-righteous nattering on the subject gets wearisome. I felt much the same way about the documentary Before the Music Dies, which spent the entire film blathering on sanctimoniously about corporate control of the music industry. I suppose it boils down to “being entertained” versus “being talked at” – if you can’t make up your mind, choose this film, and you’ll get both.

The first moments of the film are in the clip below, culminating with the film’s opening credits, which themselves climax in a hilarious introduction of the Director’s name at 2:40.