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The trend toward ''unrated'' DVD versions of films — like those of R-rated Wedding Crashers and The 40 Year-Old Virgin and PG-13s like The Dukes of Hazzard and Dark Water — is officially out of hand. ''Unrated'' typically translates to ''padded with a few new scenes.'' Sometimes it's clear these additional clips would've upped the film's rating (see: the topless shots in Dukes). Sometimes it's not (Steve Carell fantasizing about a weather girl in the already bawdy Virgin). In most cases, it's pure filler that's also, confoundingly, the centerpiece of marketing campaigns that have reached infomercial- level silliness. The unrated gimmick also exposes a loophole in the already loopy MPAA ratings system: Why should underage kids rush to theaters when there's the possibility they can get more skin on DVD? If you want to rescue lost moments from the original King Kong, have at it. Just retire the rest of these bait-and-switch routines.


Posted Jan 06, 2006 | Published in issue #858 Jan 06, 2006 | Order Article Reprints