Shame, a candid and powerful look at sexual addiction from director Steve McQueen (no, another Steve McQueen) is out in limited release tomorrow, and as we reported last month, it’s going out with the NC-17 rating—no children under 17 admitted, under any circumstances. The rating, many have surmised, is due to the film’s copious male nudity, and that’s how the American ratings system works: all the naked ladies you want, but the erect male member= automatic NC-17.

The rating was initiated by the MPAA back in 1990, and was intended to be an alternative to the porn-stained (if you’ll pardon the pun) X rating; NC-17 movies, like Henry & June (the inaugural film to carry the rating), Bad Lieutenant, The Dreamers, and Lust, Caution would be for adults, by adults. But it quickly became the kiss of death for filmmakers and distributors. Just as with the X rating before it, newspapers and television outlets wouldn’t carry ads for NC-17 films, while larger theatrical chains and home video outlets refused to carry them. Smaller films would take the mark or (as Kids and Happiness did) go out unrated, while the editing process for big releases became something of a con game: if a film was rated NC-17, the distributor would make the trims necessary for an R-rating, enjoy the publicity, and then restore the cut material for the inevitable “unrated” DVD release (frequently carried by the very chains that refused to stock NC-17 films). By the late 1990s, studios wouldn’t even bother with the first step, cranking out unrated versions of raunchy comedies and adult thrillers as a standard step in their home video release plans.

While the politics of who gets an R and who doesn’t are shady at best (check out the terrific documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated), we can’t help but wonder about what would have happened if the NC-17 could have been what its creators wanted it to be. Fox Searchlight’s decision to release Shame with the scarlet letters/numbers has prompted another round of “will the NC-17 finally become respectable?” questions (answer: dubious), but what if that question weren’t necessary, because the NC-17 had never been stigmatized? Had that been the case, we might have seen the uncut movies we’ve assembled after the jump. Read More »

Editor’s note: Welcome to Dear Costume Department, a new bi-weekly feature brought to you by our fashion-minded friends from Of a Kind, a curated shopping site of limited-edition goods by emerging designers. With each installment, they’ll bring you a head-to-toe look inspired by a buzzed-about pop culture personality — complete with info on where to grab the pieces for your own closet. Enjoy!

The last time we saw Ethan Hunt, it was 2006. That year, Tom Cruise was the most powerful actor in Hollywood according to the now defunct Premiere magazine, and just weeks before Mission: Impossible III hit theaters, Suri was born. Five years, and a mere handful of film roles later, well, let’s just say Cruise could use all the help he can get, and wardrobe is always a good place to start. Read More »

Margin Call, a fact-based thriller concerning the beginning of the financial crisis, opens tomorrow with a stellar ensemble cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Simon Baker, and Mary McDonnell. (And Demi Moore. Hey, can’t win ‘em all.) Throw in last month’s Contagion (featuring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, Bryan Cranston, Marion Cotillard, and Elliott Gould) and December’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (with Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, and Mark Strong), and this is starting to look like the Season of the Ensemble. In celebration of these smart, adult movies flush with Oscar winners and fine character performers, we’ve assembled some of our favorite big-cast ensemble movies after the jump — check it out, and throw in your own in the comments.

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And now for what has to be one of the craziest casting stories that we’ve ever read: According to a report from Variety, famed filmmaker Werner Herzog will join Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, and Richard Jenkins in the cast of One Shot, Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie’s forthcoming film adaptation of Lee Child’s 2005 novel of the same name. For his first major onscreen role, Herzog will be playing “The Zec,” a maimed ex-prisoner of war who’s described as “ageless and shadowy figure,” and presumably the mastermind behind the conspiracy that Cruise’s ex-Army cop, Jack Reacher, is investigating. Suddenly we think that this project, which is set to begin filming in Pittsburgh this month, sounds a lot more interesting. How about you? [via Slashfilm]

Headline writing is an art akin to haiku: you have very little space to stylishly convey your meaning while also piquing readers’ interest. Pair that challenge with the time constraints of a 24-hour news cycle, and the result is quite a few headlines with unintentional — and often humorous — double meanings. Design You Trust points us to F*ck Yeah Headlines, a Tumblr that reinterprets these titles with hilarious illustrations. See a science story transform Freddie Mercury into a sea creature, learn Kim Jong-Il’s “bikini secrets,” and enjoy a Jennifer Aniston-fronted human centipede in a selection of our favorites from the blog after the jump.

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When Brooklyn-born Anne Hathaway was cast in the very British female leading role of Lone Sherfig’s adaptation of the bestselling novel One Day, howls of objection were heard on both sides of the Atlantic. How dare they cast a Yank as Emma Morley? Then again, similar cries were sounded when Renee Zellweger was cast as Bridget Jones, and she ended up being, um, spot on (Brits say that, right?). But when One Day’s trailer hit a couple of months back, skepticism returned; Hathaway’s a good actress, but (to most ears, anyway) that is not a terribly good British accent. That said, the Bad Accent Hall of Fame is a very crowded place, and hers is nowhere near the top. Join us after the jump for our list of the ten spottiest dialects in cinema history, and feel free to add your own (and there are plenty more) in the comments.

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Quentin Tarantino, that great rescuer of acting careers, strikes again. This time, he’s in talks to bring back Kevin Costner, the man who melted hearts 20 years ago in Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves, and The Bodyguard before the embarrassment of Waterworld drove him into semi-obscurity. Beginning in the late ’90s, he was reduced to appearing in small films, buying minor-league baseball teams and casinos, and touring as part of the country band Kevin Costner and Modern West. So, it seems appropriate that Tarantino is going after the actor for a Western, Django Unchained. But, should Costner sign on, he won’t be taking his traditional, golden-boy hero role; his potential character, Ace Woody is described as a “sadistic trainer of the male fighting slaves who entertain the white patrons of Candyland as well as the female slaves who are forced to be prostitutes.” Intriguing!

The news of Costner’s possible Tarantino-facilitated revival got us thinking about some of the best — and worst — actor comebacks on TV and film. We rank them from wonderful to awful after the jump.

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Welcome to “Trailer Park,” our regular Friday feature where we collect the week’s new trailers all in one place and do a little “judging a book by its cover,” ranking them from worst to best and taking our best guess at what they may be hiding. This week, we’ve got eight new trailers, from filmmakers as distinguished as Brad Bird and Steven Spielberg to, um, the guy who did the Resident Evil movies. Check ‘em out after the jump.

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Editor’s note: Every Monday morning our internet-savvy friends over at BuzzFeed will bring you up to speed with a post filled with links to some of their favorite items on the web that you might have missed over the weekend. Enjoy!

Unfortunately, the week starts off with some sad news from the music world. Famed saxophonist Clarence “The Big Man” Clemons, passed away on Saturday at the age of 69 after suffering a massive stroke. As Greg Mitchell fondly writes over on The Huffington Post, “It’s hard to imagine him silent, both musically and verbally. He could really talk, in both ways.”

The news was much happier on the political front in New York, with Republican Roy McDonald coming out in support of gay marriage. The state senator told reporters: You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing.” Kudos.

And now for something completely shocking: the first photo of Tom Cruise playing Stacee Jaxx on the set Rock of Ages. As the headline over on the AV Club reads, this is a Photoshop contest waiting to happen.

Less surprising was a video that surfaced of a super-sedated looking Amy Winehouse taken at a performance in Belgrade. We’re not sure it was really “the worst concert in the history of Belgrade,” but we are certain that the woman looks like she needs some more rehab.

Finally, we’ll leave you with this delicious, viral gem: Fried Kool-Aid. Have a great week guys!

We recently learned that Bethenny Frankel, of Real Housewives and resultant spin-off fame, has teamed up with Ellen DeGeneres to start working on a pilot for her very own talk show. Though available details are few, Frankel told the Hollywood Reporter, “I want to be on TV in a format where I can have a longer conversation with my fans rather than 140 characters on Twitter.” Now, we’re not too sure what we think of this — does the world really need more Bethenny Frankel? Since we’ve yet to try the Skinnygirl margarita, we’re not at liberty to say. But we can think of several celebs whose talk shows we would watch without a doubt, especially if they turn out the fantasy talk shows we imagine for them. And don’t worry — we’re not about to suggest James Franco. That kid does enough. Click through to see our list of ten celebrities that should definitely have their own talk shows, and to check out our predictions as to what those gab fests might look like. And of course, let us know who else you’re dying to see in a maroon armchair in the comments!

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