Sin City sequel poster with Eva Green deemed too risqué by US censor

A poster for the upcoming Sin City sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, has been banned by the Motion Picture Association of America for depicting its star, Eva Green, in a state of relative undress.

Green appears in the poster wearing a revealing thin gown – to use the powerfully erotic words of the censor board, the poster was banned "for nudity — curve of under breast and dark nipple/areola circle visible through sheer gown."

It's a fittingly controversial image for a film whose first instalment became notorious for its ultraviolence. That film starred Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba and Clive Owen in an ensemble cast shot in eerie monochrome to mimic the style of the comic book by Frank Miller that it was adapted from. Miller also co-directed it, and his gloomy Dark Knight comic inspired the current generation of Batman movies.

The sequel is based on the second of the books in Miller's series, and continues some of the stories from the first. One of the film's four vignettes follows Jessica Alba's onetime stripper Nancy Callaghan, while another tracks Mickey Rourke's hulking Marv. The title story features Green in a dangerous love triangle, while in a brand new story written for the film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a gambler who tries to take down a sworn enemy. The rest of the cast includes Josh Brolin, Rosario Dawson and Ray Liotta.

The film is again co-directed by Miller with Robert Rodriguez, who shot it in 3D. He told Entertainment Weekly that "there's something about the way Sin City works that I thought would lend itself very well to 3D because the images are so stripped down and abstract … you almost can see it better in 3D. It'll be really cool."

As with the first film, the visual style is an ultra-stylised postmodern imagining of noir crime fiction, with luminous blacks and whites flecked by flashes of colour – and lots of rain-slicked leather. It's released on August 22 in the US, and August 29 in the UK.

Sara Cox takes on rapper Pitbull: He ‘makes my soul weep with the way he sings about women’

Sara Cox, the former BBC Radio 1 DJ, has criticised the station for playing music with sexist lyrics by rapper Pitbull.

The presenter, who now works on BBC Radio 2, said she felt upset by the station playing songs by the best-selling artist, whose lyrics have faced accusations of misogyny and objectifying women.

Cox told the Radio Times: “Someone like Pitbull on Radio 1 makes my soul weep with the way he sings about women. I just couldn’t bear playing that.”

She spoke of her love of the music on both Radio 1 and Radio 2 but added: “There will always be the odd song that isn’t for me.”

Pitbull, whose real name is Armando Perez, burst onto the music scene in 2009 with the hit song “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)” from his fourth album Rebelution. He has sold well over five million albums, with number one hits in more than 15 countries.

For all his commercial success, the depiction of women in some of his songs, as well as the accompanying music videos, has prompted controversy.

One post on Pitbull’s own website by the mother of a 14-year-old listener claimed that his lyrics “harm girls”. The writer said that after being directed to the songs by her daughter, “I was shocked at how misogynistic they are… Some of the lyrics make women seem like nothing more than an object for the gratification of men.”

The anonymous writer, who wrote under the name “Nothappy”, said the lyrics were “profiting from putting women down”. She added: “My daughter has to live in a world where you are sending these powerful and hurtful messages about girls and women, so quit hypersexualizing them. Your music is a real disappointment.”

Pitbull’s song “Timber”, which reached number one last year, includes the lyrics: “I have ‘em like Miley Cyrus, clothes off/twerking in their bras and thongs… face down, booty up.” He also sings: “She say she won’t, but I bet she will.” Other songs include the lines “I like that when you fight back” and “Shake that shit bitch/And be off in the club with a hard-ass dick.”

His video for the song “I’m a Freak” with Enrique Iglesias has also been criticised for its objectification of women.

Sara Cox first appeared on Radio 1 in 1999 and presented the breakfast show the following year. She now presents a regular Saturday night show on Radio 2.

The BBC said in a statement: “Each track is considered for the playlist based on its musical merit and whether it is right for our young audience, with decisions made on a case-by-case basis.” A spokeswoman added that Pitbull was not currently on the Radio 1 Playlist.

The issue of misogyny in pop music became a hotly debated topic last year following the release of “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, which was dubbed the most controversial song of the decade.

Anger among feminists centred on whether the lyrics could be interpreted as legitimising rape – while the video showed three fully clothed male singers surrounded by scantily clad female models. 

Annie Lennox later last year attacked the sexual imagery of music videos saying many were “pornographic” and calling them “overtly sexualised”.