Xixax Film Forum

Film Discussion => Digital Streams & Criterion Dreams => Topic started by: modage on November 18, 2003, 02:13:21 PM

Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: modage on November 18, 2003, 02:13:21 PM
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okay, i would like to talk about something.  and that something is the "UNRATED DVD" and its misuse with the titles above.  now how much footage was really so harsh that charlies angels 2 is now unrated?  seriously, the fucking thing was only PG-13 in the first place!  you're telling me there is so much ultraviolent footage they HAD to put back in they couldnt get an R rating?  cause i find that hard to believe.  its just some fucking marketing gimmick and i think it sucks.  and the first three movies, which now seem like showtime pornos thanks to the tasteless 'unrated' versions which i doubt the director was just dying to show the extra footage so much as they wanted to make a 'perverts edition' to actually make some people see the thing on dvd, since no one cared in the theatres.  i dunno, anybody have anything to add?
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: SoNowThen on November 18, 2003, 02:20:20 PM
Yeah, this is fucking stupid. Now I will be looking for the directors cut of the new Bertolucci movie, 'cause it's gonna get mangled for its US release. That, I believe is different.

In these cases, the only ones I have seen for comparison are the Road Trip theatre version and the dvd. What a useless waste of time, and a totally unfunny overextension of what was otherwise a cute scene. Definitely a waste of time, and it really fucking grinds the movie to a ahalt now. I wish they had just made a regular version of the dvd.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: coffeebeetle on November 18, 2003, 02:23:21 PM
Ummm, call me a pervert, but I was greatly dissapointed when I accidentally bought the rated version of Y Tu Mama Tambien...I'm sorry, but that woman was hot and the first sex scene between what's his name and her is fucking HILARIOUS.  I hope you all know what I'm talking about.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: modage on November 18, 2003, 02:26:30 PM
that is a different issue.  that movie was released by the director not rated when it went to theatres in his country as well as here in america.  the R rated version is like the CENSORED FOR BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO version.  same with SPUN, and same with REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.  this is not what i'm talking about though.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: coffeebeetle on November 18, 2003, 02:31:52 PM
Okay.... :?
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Banky on November 18, 2003, 02:39:15 PM
its just a marketing ploy but when it is used correctly i thikn there is nothing wrong with a movie being unrated.  FUCK CHARLIES ANGELS .  Leave it to them to put out and Unrated dvd hahah what a joke.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Finn on November 18, 2003, 02:44:13 PM
Swimming Pool will be coming out with an unrated version on DVD
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Weak2ndAct on November 18, 2003, 02:51:35 PM
The Charlie's Angels 2 version is lame, but I generally don't mind unrated versions b/c well, the MPAA sucks balls.  They're always demanding (yet never 'officially' doing so) cuts in the most strange places.  Most stupifying: you can show someone being tortured, shot in the head, face, disembowled, etc., but if some dude's package makes it in the shot... NC-17!!!!
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Raikus on November 18, 2003, 02:52:23 PM
Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't "Unrated" material merely constitute scenes that were not submitted to the MPAA?

Doesn't an unrated version (like in the case of 'Full Throttle') just mean McG was too lazy to turn in the cut scenes?
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: coffeebeetle on November 18, 2003, 02:57:53 PM
Was an unrated version of this ever released?

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Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: RegularKarate on November 18, 2003, 04:06:01 PM
Quote from: RaikusMaybe I'm wrong, but doesn't "Unrated" material merely constitute scenes that were not submitted to the MPAA?

Doesn't an unrated version (like in the case of 'Full Throttle') just mean McG was too lazy to turn in the cut scenes?

Yes, I believe you're right.

Just means they recut it (no matter how insignificantly) and didn't submit that cut to the MPAA.

Notice on the back of most DVDs, it says "special features have not been rated".
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Fernando on November 18, 2003, 05:04:29 PM
Quote from: SoNowThen
In these cases, the only ones I have seen for comparison are the Road Trip theatre version and the dvd. What a useless waste of time, and a totally unfunny overextension of what was otherwise a cute scene. Definitely a waste of time, and it really fucking grinds the movie to a ahalt now. I wish they had just made a regular version of the dvd.

:shock:  Wait, let me get this straight, you're telling us that you went to the theater to see Road trip and then rented or bought the dvd?
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Alethia on November 18, 2003, 07:56:58 PM
why not?  that movie is fuckin funny
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: aclockworkjj on November 18, 2003, 08:40:30 PM
Quote from: coffeebeetleWas an unrated version of this (Henry and June) ever released?
if there is i haven't seen it, and I am a huge fan of this as well as Kaufman.

I don't see why there would be an unrrated version though.  It was the first film to recieve the NC-17 rating.  ANd I believe it recieved that cause phil kaufman refused to cut any of it.  I mean, if he was going to cut stuff...wouldn't it be to achieve a R rating?
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: SoNowThen on November 18, 2003, 09:04:02 PM
Quote from: Fernando
Quote from: SoNowThen
In these cases, the only ones I have seen for comparison are the Road Trip theatre version and the dvd. What a useless waste of time, and a totally unfunny overextension of what was otherwise a cute scene. Definitely a waste of time, and it really fucking grinds the movie to a ahalt now. I wish they had just made a regular version of the dvd.

:shock:  Wait, let me get this straight, you're telling us that you went to the theater to see Road trip and then rented or bought the dvd?

Hehehe, yep. One of the very few demographic-friendly movies I truly enjoyed in the last few years. Of course, Ivan Reitman was invloved, and he had a hand in most of the comedy stuff I loved in the 80's, so....

plus I think Tom Green is a genius.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on November 18, 2003, 09:37:04 PM
What's out of the Requiem For A Dream's Non-Director Cut?  I only bought the Director's cut because what's the point of losing key imagery?  I had actually blind bought it, and figured I'd go for the gusto.

Boy did I score a big one.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Alethia on November 18, 2003, 10:17:25 PM
http://www.xixax.com/viewtopic.php?p=24618&highlight=#24618
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Alethia on November 18, 2003, 10:30:59 PM
that wasn't really warranted, but i saw a semi-opportunity and figured id take it
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Recce on November 19, 2003, 04:23:32 PM
LOL, wasn't 'In the Cut' released in theatres a few weeks ago? Guess it sucked.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: tpfkabi on November 19, 2003, 08:02:20 PM
did anyone see Killing Me Softly? is it pretty much like a B sex movie thriller starring Heaher G
Title: Re: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: aclockworkjj on November 24, 2003, 12:12:40 PM
Quote from: themodernage02killing me softly
jeez, this thread made me rent this.  has to be probably the worst movie i have seen in a long time.  not even heather graham could save this.  the cheesiest in all areas.  honestly, i don't even know how this piece of crap got made.
Title: Re: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Weak2ndAct on November 24, 2003, 01:28:41 PM
Quote from: aclockworkjj
Quote from: themodernage02killing me softly
honestly, i don't even know how this piece of crap got made.
Heather Graham naked, and plenty of sex scenes maybe?
Title: Re: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: modage on November 24, 2003, 01:37:08 PM
Quote from: aclockworkjj
Quote from: themodernage02killing me softly
jeez, this thread made me rent this.  has to be probably the worst movie i have seen in a long time.  not even heather graham could save this.  the cheesiest in all areas.  honestly, i don't even know how this piece of crap got made.

oh god.... i set out to do good, but it somehow turned to evil....  :shock:
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: freakerdude on November 24, 2003, 01:57:49 PM
We all know what's happening with the release of these so called unrated versions......it's opening another devil's portal to porn! Well, at least they want us to think we might get a sneak peek.

Speaking of Heather G., I love that full frontal in BN. Thank the tech wiz's for the DVD frame by frame slow mo with repeat markers.
Title: Re: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: aclockworkjj on November 24, 2003, 06:54:22 PM
Quote from: Weak2ndActHeather Graham naked
oh...don't get me wrong, that part was nice...but no boogie nights.

this movie was seriously fuckin' crap...it was so bad, i am almost pissed I sat through it and didn't just watch the sex scenes.  my advice, the new dvd release.."the jj cut", where i cut out the 79 min. of garbage and just show the extended versions of the sex scenes.  but replace joe fiennes, cause he is sorta lame...get this, he plays a philisophical mountain climber, with a mysterious past...shit, I can't even get into it.  it was seriously that stupid, complete with a great incest twist too....
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: freakerdude on November 24, 2003, 11:02:33 PM
I am currently addicted to it......Boogie Nights that is.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: modage on February 01, 2004, 05:01:47 PM
Title: Wild Things: Unrated Edition!
Released: 20th April 2004
SRP: $19.95

Further Details
Those good chaps at DVDDebate.com have posted the artwork for the unrated edition of Wild Things which stars Denise Richards, Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon and Kevin Bacon. The disc will be available to own from the 20th April this year and should set you back somewhere in the region of $19.95. I'm afraid that full disc specs are still not available for this once, although we can now reveal that the disc will include around seven minutes of unseen footage.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: SoNowThen on February 02, 2004, 09:23:04 AM
...hopefully 7 extra minutes of naked Denise Richards.



Hey, btw, did anyone else think Bill Murray was much better in this than in LIT? Oh, just me? Oh well, I do...
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: ShanghaiOrange on February 02, 2004, 11:52:54 AM
Bill Murray is better than himself in any movie he does.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: SoNowThen on February 02, 2004, 11:59:33 AM
Quote from: ShanghaiOrangeBill Murray is better than himself in any movie he does.

:-D  I can't argue with that logic.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Ravi on February 06, 2004, 11:57:39 PM
The DVD that cinephiles and Cinephile have been waiting for:

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Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Recce on February 07, 2004, 09:21:28 AM
This is jsut getting ridiculous. And the sad part is, there must be people out there who actually buy it cause of all that 'uncut' stuff, otherwise, they would stop releasing dvds with it. What a sad, sad world we live in.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Myxo on April 09, 2004, 05:05:33 AM
Alright. I got redirected, but it seems this topic isn't what I'm looking for afterall.

Oh well..

I was looking for people who wanna discuss what EXACTLY has been cut/added to these new "Unrated" films, or a forum thread like it.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Pubrick on April 09, 2004, 06:32:53 AM
u can ask that question here.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: MacGuffin on May 31, 2005, 03:38:54 PM
DVDs that put it on (and take it all off)
Unrated versions of films, often pumped up with racy outtakes, heat up the market and outsell the theatrical release versions. Source: Los Angeles Times

Two DVD versions of "Team America: World Police" hit the shelves May 17. One was R-rated. The other was unrated — and for good reason. It contains, among other things, 50 seconds of new footage of a sex scene best described as Larry Flynt meets the Kama Sutra. Performed by two acrobatically inclined puppet protagonists with scatological fetishes, it's setting the town abuzz.

Often racier or more violent than their big-screen counterparts, unrated DVDs usually outperform the less-explicit version. Pouring new life into a movie franchise, they're a valuable marketing tool — particularly effective with the 18-to-34-year-old demographic, the heaviest home video users.

While studios belonging to the Motion Picture Assn. of America are prohibited from releasing unrated movies to theaters, home video lets the consumers choose. Film aficionados generally opt to see the director's vision, and a curious public often wants to see what was snipped.

"With the exception of the word 'free,' 'unrated' is one of the most enticing words in retail," said Thomas Lesinski, president of Paramount Pictures Worldwide Home Entertainment, which released the unrated "Team America," an anti-terrorism satire from "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. "It suggests something clandestine or taboo."

According to data compiled by Santa Ana-based Home Media Research, unrated versions of DVDs account for 80% to 90% of a title's sales when both versions come out simultaneously. Others say the figure is closer to 65% — still a windfall.

Not every movie is a contender, however. Teen comedies and thrillers such as "Blade: Trinity" are made to order, while animation, family fare and most PG-13 movies are not. A loyal following is crucial: fans who want more of what they liked the first time around.

Unrated merchandise dates to the late 1990s. But only in the last 18 months has the concept taken off. Part of the problem was limited distribution. Though Best Buy, Tower Video and Amazon.com came aboard fast, Wal-Mart, a family-oriented video behemoth, wouldn't carry DreamWorks' unrated "Old School" when it came out in 2003.

"Retailers at first were skeptical and that kept the numbers down," said Matt Lasorsa, executive vice president of marketing for New Line Home Entertainment. Now, after reviewing the material in advance, "most of them will stock it. Having an unrated DVD in the mix leads titles to 'over-perform' … total sales go up 20% to 80%, depending on the title."

The unrated version of "American Pie" (1999) is considered one of the genre's earliest successes. It was a breakthrough for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of the company, helping to boost sales to over 1 million units — rare in an age when rentals were still dominant.

Releasing an unrated "American Pie" was an afterthought, he recalled. But now it's part of the game plan.

"We sit down with the filmmaker in the script phase, figuring out if we can shoot additional scenes that won't make the cut. One of those shot for the unrated version of "American Wedding" — the third in the "American Pie" franchise — "was so great they actually put it in the movie."

The trick, studio executives said, is to differentiate unrated DVDs enough from the original to boost sales but not so much that it alienates the fan base.

New Line's unrated "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" contains more gratuitous breast shots and suggestive party scenes, Lasorsa said — a direction clearly communicated on the package. The movie's stars are superimposed on a naked female torso whose breasts are shielded by an "extreme unrated" sign. The unrated-version box of New Line's "Blade: Trinity" shows the trio of vampire fighters with weapons drawn — to suggest more vivid violence.

Sony's "In the Cut," an erotic thriller, serves up footage of oral sex and revealing shots of the male lead, Mark Ruffalo. All this is done in collaboration with the director and the approval of the actors, according to Tracey Garvin, Sony's Home Entertainment's vice president of marketing, studio and acquisitions.

"The consumer gets more, an experience they didn't have in the theaters," she said. "And from our perspective and the retailers, it's another product to serve up."

Even the squeaky-clean Walt Disney Co. has thrown its hat in the ring. While its Touchstone division has never released an unrated DVD, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released "Badder Santa" last year. Containing new footage — a hot tub scene and a striptease — it's an unrated version of "Bad Santa," a comedy starring Billy Bob Thornton that was distributed by Disney's Miramax subsidiary.

Jack Valenti, former head of the MPAA and interim supervisor of the group that awards ratings to big-screen releases, said he has no problem with unrated material — as long as the packaging is honest. "All we want to do is be transparent with the public, letting them know what's in the film," he said.

Studios, as a result, rely on self-regulation — and take that mandate seriously.

Paramount's Lesinski said the decision to include a raunchier sex scene in "Team America" triggered internal discussion. In the end, they decided to go for it. "The characters are puppets," the executive observed, "and it's only make-believe."

DreamWorks SKG, for its part, released unrated DVDs of movies such as "Road Trip" (with an extended shower scene), "Old School" (with additional footage of Will Ferrell streaking down Main Street and a class in fellatio), and "Anchorman" (with beefed-up fraternity humor and slang) only after submitting the material to in-house lawyers and a staff ratings-board liaison. The company said it tries to adhere to the original parameters that elicited the big-screen rating.

"If the unrated version of 'Anchorman' had been submitted, it would have again met the PG-13 guidelines," said Kelly Sooter, head of domestic home entertainment for the company.

Unrated merchandise, analysts say, will remain a powerful — if intermittent — part of the Hollywood landscape.

"People — young males, especially — want to choose what they see, they don't want censors in their lives," said Judith McCourt, head of research for Home Media Research. "It's a great way to extend the life of a movie because brand recognition stimulates awareness and differentiation encourages sales."
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Brazoliange on May 31, 2005, 07:20:43 PM
Quote from: Bankyits just a marketing ploy but when it is used correctly i thikn there is nothing wrong with a movie being unrated.  FUCK CHARLIES ANGELS .  Leave it to them to put out and Unrated dvd hahah what a joke.

I wasn't disappointed with the unrated cut of Dreamers (though I haven't seen the non-), I think that if Bertolucci thought the material added to the overall quality then it belonged in.

Companies like Troma release almost everything unrated, because Lloyd Kaufman refuses to cut most things down for the MPAA... why should he change his movie for a board that won't be watching his movies in the first place?
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: I Don't Believe in Beatles on May 31, 2005, 08:40:48 PM
There's an unrated cut of The Dreamers? I've only run across NC-17 and R-rated versions.

Anyway, I don't think the NC-17 version of that was a marketing ploy.  I think it was actually just the uncut film.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Brazoliange on May 31, 2005, 08:43:58 PM
Quote from: GingerThere's an unrated cut of The Dreamers? I've only run across NC-17 and R-rated versions.

Anyway, I don't think the NC-17 version of that was a marketing ploy.  I think it was actually just the uncut film.

err, yeah, NC-17 was what I meant I'm just not thinking much today.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Ravi on May 31, 2005, 10:25:15 PM
Whenever I am at a store that sells used DVDs, I normally see a lot of copies of Taking Lives unrated, which probably means a lot of people bought it hoping for a lot of Angelina Jolie nudity, but were disappointed in it.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ on May 31, 2005, 11:05:54 PM
This unrated crap gives me mixed feelings.  

It either is cool that the director gets more control, and gets more scenes in, if they may be controversial, but not as easily acceptable in theaters, but for the most part, I know it's not the case.  It's usually to push more fucks, tits and dirty jokes, but overall to get the movie sold.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: grand theft sparrow on June 02, 2005, 11:45:38 AM
Quote from: Fuck.This unrated crap gives me mixed feelings.  

It either is cool that the director gets more control, and gets more scenes in, if they may be controversial, but not as easily acceptable in theaters, but for the most part, I know it's not the case.  It's usually to push more fucks, tits and dirty jokes, but overall to get the movie sold.

And it works every time.  But this all brings up another question: before the studios realized it was a cash cow, they were trimming down films that initially got an NC-17 rating for an R-rated theatrical release.  So if the average 13 year old, who can't get into the R-rated Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle in the theatres but can buy the unrated DVD or see it on cable, then who the hell is the MPAA protecting?
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: socketlevel on June 02, 2005, 01:26:09 PM
Quote from: MacGuffin"We sit down with the filmmaker in the script phase, figuring out if we can shoot additional scenes that won't make the cut. One of those shot for the unrated version of "American Wedding" — the third in the "American Pie" franchise — "was so great they actually put it in the movie."

The trick, studio executives said, is to differentiate unrated DVDs enough from the original to boost sales but not so much that it alienates the fan base.

this qoute makes me hate everything about the world.

-sl-
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Pwaybloe on June 02, 2005, 04:40:21 PM
Really?  That's the one thing that you picked to hate the world?
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Ravi on July 08, 2005, 02:04:25 PM
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-goldstein5jul05,0,4441517.htmlstory?coll=cl-calendar

No longer a scarlet letter
By Patrick Goldstein, Times Staff Writer


R-rated comedies, often box-office busts, are making a comeback, thanks to big DVD sales. When New Line had its first research screening of "Wedding Crashers" in Pasadena last fall, the studio knew it had a potential hit on its hands. The madcap romantic comedy, which stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as a pair of lovable rogues who get their kicks from partying at stranger's weddings, got a resoundingly enthusiastic reception from a theater full of young moviegoers.

One of the studio's only concerns about the film, which arrives July 15, was its rating. The film's director, David Dobkin, was contractually obligated to deliver a PG-13 movie, largely because R-rated comedies today rarely perform as well as PG-13 films. But when the audience filled out a research survey after the screening, most of the scenes they checked off as their favorites — including one featuring a furtive sexual act performed under the table at a formal family dinner — clearly put the movie into R-rated territory.

According to Dobkin, when members of an audience focus group were asked what rating they thought the movie should have, it was not a hung jury. "Twenty out of 20 people said they wanted the film to be rated R," Dobkin recalls. "After that, New Line never raised the issue again. The scenes people liked the best were the R-rated ones."

New Line's decision to release a potential summer comedy blockbuster with an R rating has raised eyebrows at rival studios — and with good reason. In recent years, thanks to political and demographic pressures, the R rating has been in a precipitous decline. Since 1999, when R-rated movies made up 41% of all box office, the R-rated business has dropped 30%, while PG and PG-13 films have risen considerably. The drop in R-rated movies has been especially dramatic since Hollywood chieftains were hauled before Congress in September 2000 following the release of a scathing Federal Trade Commission report accusing entertainment companies of cynically marketing R-rated movies to children.

This being Hollywood, the decision to pull back is rooted more in marketing concerns than in moral ones. Even though Congress has moved on to more pressing issues, like trying to pass bills against flag burning, many of the studios' self-imposed marketing restrictions remain, notably that R-rated movies can't be advertised on TV before 9 p.m. "Wedding Crashers," for example, was able to advertise on "The MTV Movie Awards" only in a segment of the show that aired after 9.

The numbers speak for themselves. According to data compiled by Exhibitor Relations Co., since the 2000 congressional hearings, 15 comedies have made more than $115 million at the box office. Only one, "American Pie 2," had an R rating. 2004 was an especially miserable year for R-rated comedies. "Eurotrip," "The Girl Next Door," "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" and "Team America: World Police" were all box-office disappointments, with only "Team America" making more than $20 million in its theatrical release.

Studio marketers say the R rating puts them at a clear disadvantage. Many exhibitors are reluctant to play trailers for an R-rated movie in front of a PG-13 film. Even worse, R-rated humor is verboten in TV commercials, so it's impossible to show a film's raunchiest scenes on TV. Despite these restrictions, the R-rated comedy is beginning to make a comeback. "Wedding Crashers" will be followed in August by "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo," with Rob Schneider, and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," starring Steve Carell. More R-rated comedies are due early next year.

The reasons for this mini-comeback are simple. In recent years, the real action in the movie business has shifted from theatrical box-office to DVD sales, which now make up more than 60% of studio revenues. One of the hottest profit centers is a new genre devoted to raunchy "unrated" DVD versions of R-rated films. As The Times' Elaine Dutka reported recently, the unrated versions of such R-rated comedies as "Bad Santa," "Harold & Kumar" and the "American Pie" series accounted for nearly 90% of their video sales.

This trend speaks volumes about the tendency in America to say one thing but do another. People claim they want wholesome family entertainment, but the big money on the Internet and in pay TV comes from pornography. In the rare instances when a studio puts out a feel-good valentine, like "Because of Winn-Dixie" or "My Dog Skip," the movie dies on the vine. For all the talk of our country's obsession with moral values, nothing succeeds with the American people like the salacious promise of a little extra nudity or hanky-panky in their DVD packages.

No subtlety is required — in fact, the video stores are lined with DVDs with the cheesy-cake look of a "Girls Gone Wild" assemblage. When New Line released its unrated "Harold & Kumar" DVD earlier this year, the package showed the film's stars superimposed on a naked female body, the woman's breasts coyly obscured by an "extreme unrated" sign. 20th Century Fox's unrated version of "The Girl Next Door" has Elisha Cuthbert, who plays a porn star in the film, seemingly naked, her torso covered by brown paper wrap. Disney's unrated version of "Bad Santa," which come with a racy hot tub scene that didn't make the original film, is called "Badder Santa," as if it were a porn knockoff made in someone's living room in Chatsworth.

This unlikely boom in raunchy videos has been made possible by the fact that the Motion Picture Assn. of America, which rigorously regulates the ratings of theatrical films (and, just as important, their trailers and TV spots), has taken a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil approach to the video marketplace. Former MPAA chief Jack Valenti, who still oversees the ratings board, told Dutka that as long as the packaging is honest, he has no problem with unrated movies. Apparently the same goes with Wal-Mart, which has long refused to carry hip-hop CDs with parental advisory warnings but now happily stocks unrated DVDs, at least as long as they are assured by studios that the videos would be rated R if they had received a rating.

It's quite a flimflam. The retailers display unrated videos, saying that they've been told they would be rated R if they'd actually gone through a ratings process. But the video packages project an entirely different message. "The Girl Next Door," for example, is adorned with the come-on: "What they couldn't show in the theatres!"

As you might suspect, this boom in unrated videos is quietly playing a role in the studios' renewed interest in R-rated comedies. Whatever a studio loses in theatrical business could easily be made up for on the home-video end. As Universal Studios Home Entertainment chief Craig Kornblau told me, when his studio was debating whether to greenlight "40-Year-Old Virgin," "I was jumping up and down, going on about how well it could perform. I'm telling our theatrical [production executives], 'Whatever your box-office results are, we'll outperform it on our end.' "

In fact, all of those R-rated comedies that underperformed at the box-office last year were big hits in their DVD release. Kornblau says the "American Pie" DVDs, largely on the strength of sales from unrated videos, are the biggest-selling home-video franchise in the studio's history. "American Wedding," the third installment in the series, had a 20-minute "bachelor party sequence" that was scripted specifically for the unrated DVD. It's a no-brainer to imagine that, as this becomes standard practice at every studio, R-rated films will enjoy a renaissance. As Kornblau puts it: "It's really hard to have an unrated [version of a] PG-13 film. In home video, it's a huge marketing advantage to have an R-rated movie."

It's always possible that some moralist like James Dobson may someday try to put the kibosh on this new pot of gold, shocked by the presence of a naked girl in a shower or a puppet sex scene (one of the additions to the unrated "Team America" DVD). But the studios now have a great card to play. In order to get Congress to stiffen penalties against piracy, they agreed to legislation that allows businesses to market family-friendly censorship devices like ClearPlay, which allow skittish parents to edit sex, violence or bad language out of their DVDs. Having embraced ClearPlay, studios can spiritedly defend this new generation of unrated videos, saying that if some parents have the right to defang saucy movies, why can't others enjoy a little extra sex or violence in an unrated version?

In the long run, thanks to the arrival of an assortment of new technology, most of these ratings issues will probably lose most of their relevance. The studios have already quietly found ways to disseminate R-rated marketing material across the Internet. Soon kids will be watching hi-def movie trailers on their 3G cellphones. It won't be long before they'll be seeing the movies themselves on some kind of hand-held video device. Unless the studios feel heat from Washington, most of these areas will remain outside the enforcement capabilities of the MPAA's ratings board.

Despite New Line's jitters about marketing "Wedding Crashers," you can bet the studio will make its money back selling an unrated DVD of the movie. In America, if something is forbidden fruit, you'll always find plenty of people eager to take a bite out of the apple.

The Big Picture appears Tuesdays in Calendar. Comments can be e-mailed to patrick.goldstein@latimes.com.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: MacGuffin on October 03, 2005, 03:20:36 PM
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Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: Myxo on October 03, 2005, 03:26:53 PM
What in the hell could possibly make Dumb & Dumber 'Unrated'? Seriously..
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: grand theft sparrow on October 03, 2005, 06:15:37 PM
Quote from: MyxoWhat in the hell could possibly make Dumb & Dumber 'Unrated'? Seriously..

A 10-minute blowjob scene at the end.  

They cut it down from the version that was screened at Cannes.
Title: Unrated Edition: With Footage Too Sexy For Theatres!
Post by: matt35mm on October 03, 2005, 07:07:34 PM
Well, any cut that wasn't rated by the MPAA is unrated.  It doesn't really mean that it would be rated NC-17 or even R if it were rated.  It's a marketing gimmick.

HOWEVER, I'm quite pleased that they're finally coming out with a DVD of it that I can buy!  Buying the previously released version was... not an option, with it's total lack of special features... it was obvious that they would eventually re-release it.  I've just been waiting for this edition.