Uncle Scoopy's Fun House

Tuesday

Merry XMas

The Cooler

2003, 1080 Blu-Ray

From the mailbox:

The Cooler is finally coming out on Blu-ray! And it will feature the unrated cut previously only seen on cable. There was some controversy at the time because the MPAA insisted Maria Bello's close-up full frontal shot be cut, but not the distant full frontal in the same scene.

In the documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated, Bello talked about how she fought with the MPAA in order to show her pubic hair, as though forgetting her pubic hair was still in the R-rated theatrical release, just not as prominently.

The MPAA’s initial NC17 rating was more likely due to context rather than content. In the full frontal close-up, William H Macy’s face was very close to Bello’s nethers. In the R-rated theatrical cut, which appears to be a completely different take, Macy is not as far down her body, although it is still obvious what's going on.

There is also this weird little jump cut towards the end of the scene where they are both pounding on the headboard and just before Macy falls back on the bed. I only recently noticed it, and I’m not sure about the reason for it. Was the director going for some artsy effect or did Macy’s balls try and make an appearance? Who knows? Maybe the picture fell off the wall!

Anyway, I'm glad the uncut scene was included in the Blu-ray release; I haven't seen it on TV in years.

Maria Bello

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