A KILLER RATING FOR KILLER JOE?

The MPAA’s ratings appeals board has upheld the NC-17 rating meted out to William Friedkin’s Killer Joe, starring Matthew McConaughey and Gina Gershon. The board cited “graphic aberrant content” including violence and sexuality. Reviews of the film mention scenes in which Gershon appears nude below the waist. (Somewhat ironically, Gershon disclosed on Wednesday that she has written a soon-to-be-published book about the time she lost her cat titled How I Found My Pussy and Lost My Mind.) Killer Joe was screened at the Venice, Toronto, and South by Southwest film festivals and received wildly mixed reviews (although most praised McConaughey’s performance in the title role as a corrupt cop).