Foreign Perspectives

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Frontiers was due to get an NC-17 rating for its “extreme sadistic gore and violence”. Rather than make cuts to the film to get an R rating, the producers decided instead to run without a rating which means that it’s been limited to a one week theatre release just prior to hitting the DVD shelves.

Does Frontiers deserve that extra bit of publicity?

Going by the trailer, it seems a little over the top to me which usually has the effect of dulling the effect of even very extreme violence but then trailers are usually a pretty poor way of judging films even when they do select typical scenes and when you’re aiming for a particular type of publicity for a film you don’t always select truly typical scenes of course. The short cinema release will intensify the attraction of course as films, and particularly scary ones, are never quite the same on the small screen.

If you’re looking for a scary movie, this is probably the best one to aim for at the moment but be prepared for queues as there’s a major league publicity campaign for this one aimed at maximising the take from that one week run. Bear in mind too that it’s only in “selected” cinemas so you might have to travel a bit if you want to catch it.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Although you might think that it would be difficult to get a famous name to speak for you at some event in fact it’s usually fairly easy as a considerable number of them are signed up with various talent agencies.

The range of those potentially available to you is staggering these days. Obviously you’ll need to pay serious cash for the really big names in the after dinner speakers market but there are hoards of less famous speakers who are equally great speakers in their fields and you may find that some of the ”lesser” speakers specialise in just the type of topics that you’re looking for anyway so it’s very much worthwhile to leaf through the listings.

If you are looking through for an affordable after dinner speaker for your event, unless your budget is substantial, you’ll find it useful to be creative in your selection and to consider a range of speakers who might be suitable. Many of these speakers are extremely flexible in what they can speak about for you so, for example, if you were to choose a famous climber you don’t need to assume that he’ll just speak about climbing as he will almost certainly be able to relate his experiences of climbing to the event which you’d like him to speak at.

Perhaps the extreme of flexibility is the likes of Rory Bremner who can weigh in with a range of voices in addition to a range of topics.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Let’s face it, if you’re going to a special event, the only way to go is in a stretch limo.

They’re not cheap, but then pure luxury never is and these are very definitely in the pure luxury arena. That photo is the inside of a Hummer: a very highly customized Hummer that’ll certainly not be seeing a battlefield any time soon.

How much is “not cheap”? Well, the Hummers come in at $2500 for ten hours but you can rent for just three hours for a wedding for $650 and get picked up from JFK for only $350 if you want to make a big impression at your hotel. Of course, it’s not just New York that’s served and New Jersey limousine service is also available.

Popularity: 34% [?]