Trivia 33 film shot down due to violence
 

"Brotherhood of the Wolf" may be a good murder mystery, but it's no mystery why it's not family-friendly enough for Trivia 33 organizers.

Citing "gratuitous violence and a ton of nudity," Jim Oliva, the lead organizer of the 33rd an-nual World's Largest Trivia Contest, pulled the French film Thursday from its slot as the Tri-via Movie for the an-nual contest. He substituted the French comedy "Amelie."
The movie is scheduled for showings April 12 and 13 at Rogers Campus Theater, 1601 Sixth Ave. The doors open at 11:15 p.m. for midnight showings, and admission is $3. It's the opening event for the contest, a fund-raiser for WWSP-FM, the campus radio station at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The 54-hour trivia contest begins at 6 p.m. April 19.

Oliva defended the change as the right thing to do for the audience the movie will draw. While Oliva blames no one in particular for the situation, he was unhappy with Miramax's Pictures' suggestion of "Brotherhood of the Wolf" for a family-oriented contest.

"All Miramax hears is that (WWSP) is a college radio station," he said.
To the studio, that means a young adult audience that likely wouldn't be offended by the movie's violence and sexual content, but Trivia players, whose average age is 35, would consider it inappropriate. The movie already had been promoted on the Trivia 33 Web site.
The annual midnight shows are a big part of Trivia. One of the first Trivia movie shows included a series of Three Stooges shorts; in recent years, "Swingers," "Georgia," "Wrestling Ernest Hemingway," "Bridget Jones' Diary" and "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" were featured.
While many contest players considered those shows lame, they were more enjoyable than "Brotherhood of the Wolf" and contained more fodder for contest questions, said John Eckendorf, Trivia co-organizer.

According to the Web site Upcomingmovies.com, "Brotherhood of the Wolf" is based upon the 18th-century legend of a mysterious beast that left a trail of mutilated victims and spread terror among peasants in southeastern France.
Oliva said that people who have seen it claim its first half-hour is more violent than the first half-hour of "Saving Private Ryan." That World War II epic is considered to accurately portray the violence and horror of war.

"A horror movie might not be a bad thing," he said. "A subtitled horror movie kind of cuts close to the line. But with all the gratuitous violence and nudity, plus little or no trivia value, I had to pull it."
"Brotherhood of the Wolf" has an 'R' rating for graphic violence, gore, sexuality and nudity, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. That means anyone under 17 must be accompanied by an adult to see the movie in the theater.

"Amelie" is the story of a young girl who tries to help those around her by helping them find love. It was the official French entry in the foreign-language film category in the 2O02 Oscars. It also carries an 'R' rating for sexual content, and it also has English subtitles. The official English language Web site is http:amelie-themovie.com.

"It's a very, very good movie, very high ratings," Oliva said.