In Russia, Movie Bans You!

I was under the impression films weren't banned anymore. That kind of shit is barbaric. Plenty of filmmakers I despise and subject matters I won't waste my time over. But it's my right to do so. If the folks don't want to see your good or crappy production, it should be their call to make. Besides telling them "YOU CAN’T SEE THIS," only makes matters worse. Brings more attention than the offending banners want. But what does my idiot ass know?

The Chinese censored one of the crucial A-plots in Cloud Atlas (the doomed love story between Ben Whishaw and James D'Arcy) and the Aussies outright banned The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence).

Apparently Russia has banned the thriller A Lonely Place for Dying starring James Cromwell (also serving as a producer) and Michael Wincott. The official plot synopsis doesn't scream controversial:

"It is 1972. An abandoned Mexican prison sits alone in the dusty Chihuahua desert. KGB mole Nikolai Dzerzhinsky waits for his contact from the Washington Post. Dzerzhinsky holds explosive evidence against the CIA; information he will trade for asylum in the United States. Special Agent Robert Harper must obtain this evidence and kill Dzerzhinsky or risk the end of his CIA career. As the two men hunt each other they discover that the sins from their past destined them for this deadly confrontation."

I guess the Russians are thin-skinned to criticism? History has shown that isn't exactly breaking news. But I thought we were past that nonsense. Come on, Russia, release the damn movie. You're really gonna shit a lung over what sounds like direct-to-video material?