Rambling About "Blue Valentine"

God, I feel like I've been waiting forever for this film. And technically, I have. When I heard about this film back in 2008, I was already pumped. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in a movie together? I'M THERE. It premiered earlier this year all the way back in January at Sundance. It was then picked up by The Weinstein Company only for them to give it the worst possible release date for an impatient fan like me i.e. Dec. 31st.

But hey, you know, whatever. Of course this didn't stop critics and film industry insiders from getting a peek at the film. So there were a couple of articles, tweets, and basic word-of-mouth about how great the film was especially the tour-de-force performances from the two leads. Drove me absolutely insane. Fast forward to October and the craptacular MPAA gave the film an NC-17 rating supposedly for an intense sex scene between the two married characters.

The blogosphere was collectively outraged especially those who had already seen the film unable to figure out what the hell the MPAA was thinking or which scene(s) could've possibly merited that harsh rating. Both actors spoke out against the seemingly sexist decision. Of course, in a twist of fate, this controversy probably gave the film some free publicity as it trudged along its last-day-of-2010 release date. They even released a poster playing up the sexy.

Today, however, there was some good news for fans, actors, and filmmakers alike, as the MPAA overruled their initial NC-17 rating after an appeals process that forced Harvey Weinstein to make a direct plea. The film will now carry the more appropriate R-rating enabling it to be shown in a lot more places. This should also boost the award chances for Gosling and Williams as they should be.

With all of that out of the way, I'm still waiting to see the damn thing. So while it may be 17 days until Christmas, it's 23 days until Blue Valentine and I need it in my life more.