Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Blue Valentine

This is topic Blue Valentine in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 01-11-2011, 12:58 AM:

****

This is a pretty heavy duty drama about having a marriage fall apart and not reading the writing on the wall when a relationship is over.

Outstanding performance by Michelle Williams. It is up there with one of the best performances of the year. I thought she was excellent in Wendy and Lucy and she is even better in Blue Valentine. I am not sure if this movie qualifies for this years Oscars. Ryan Gosling is also outstanding.

The movie feels very real and goes in and out of present and flashbacks. It looked like the director used 16mm for the flashback scenes and Digital for the present scenes, it was effective.

Overall a very good movie about real life. This movie plays very well to females who will make up the bulk of the audience. Females are going to relate to the Michelle Williams character.

As for the NC-17 rating. I am really not sure why it go it. There are two major sex scenes, one is similar to the Wrestler sex scene between Rourke/Tomei and the other is the similar to the Kunis/Portman implied scene in Black Swan. An R rating would of been appropriate. Plus younger females/males should see the scene with the needle in the abortion clinic.

The only flaw of this film was in the credits. While the film ends on a sombre note, the credits are mixed with images and the use of music that do not reflect this sombre feeling. Also, "A Love Story" on the poster does not reflect this film.

Presentation:
DLP ***
Sound **

Posted by Cassandra Palko (Member # 5362) on 01-11-2011, 01:26 AM:

The rating was appealed and they got it dropped to R in early December of 2010.

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 01-11-2011, 01:36 AM:

Thanks Cassandra, I did not know that.

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 01-11-2011, 07:00 AM:

It received the orginal rating because the MPAA thought that some scenes were to emotional. Thats the truth to, came from the director after the orginal rating came out.

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 01-13-2011, 12:14 AM:

Some of primary cast are claiming the NC17 was caused by the oral sex scene. web page

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 01-17-2011, 10:27 AM:

even the oral sex scene in 'Black Swan' was pretty explicit why the MPAA got all bothered by 'Blue Valentine's scene is just as graphic in my opinion

as for the film itself, I didn't think I'd enjoyed it that much, but was very very surprised. The cinematography and music were also top notch.

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 01-23-2011, 11:27 AM:

I actually thought the oral sex scene in Blue Valentine was quite tame compared to Black Swan, I didn't see what all the fuss was about. The movie was ok, but a little too long.

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 01-23-2011, 02:53 PM:

Mike-thats why I thought too. The sex scene was nothing.

Posted by Jason Whyte (Member # 1433) on 01-23-2011, 03:11 PM:

The movie is rated 14a in British Columbia, not so sure about other provinces.

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 01-23-2011, 03:22 PM:

18A in Ontario. The equivalent of R in the US

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 01-29-2011, 06:07 PM:

CINEMA: 13th Avenue Warren, Wichita, KS
AUDITORIUM: 1
PRESENTATION: 35mm/Dolby Digital/THX
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None [Cool]

RATING: Two and one half stars (out of four)

The woman to the left of me have their feet up on the rail in front of them (we're in the first row behind the handicap row). One of them has her shoes off. Stay classy, bitches.

THE PLOT: An anti-romantic comedy. Wackiness ensues.

Romantic comedies start out with a cute quirky relationship and end with a happily ever after. This is the third film in recent memory that actually shows us there's no such thing as a happily ever after.

Much like "Revolutionary Road" and "500 Days of Summer", the story of the start of the relationship and the end are interwoven. This one almost feels like documentary footage. Well shot, decently put together, but I don't think it's nearly as creative as the other two were.

Oh...and there aren't any valentines, much less blue ones, and it isn't portrayed on Valentine's day, so it's totally false advertising.