Blue Valentine

[SeattleUte]

Blue Valentine is a terribly sad film, almost perfectly executed, about what happens when two people marry too young, for all the wrong reasons, they are not equally in love, and they lack personal resources required to address the coming life challenges, including parenting ones. It isn't an original or ambitious premise, but as I said, it's almost perfectly executed, and the young actors are terrific.

This film supports a suspicion of mine that women are more turned on by fighters and hunters than nurturers and lovers.

[Art Vandelay]

I like Heineken! You like Heineken?
Well, I've never really had a Heineken before.
You never had a Heineken before?
My dad drinks Bud.
King of beers.


What kind of beer do you like?
Heineken.
Heineken? *%^&$& Pabst Blue Ribbon!

[Commando]

I met Isabella Rosselinni @ Sundance this year on a movie she did about animals that was pretty great. A far cry from getting choked out fetish style by the paperboy.

[SeattleUte]

I like Heineken! You like Heineken?
Well, I've never really had a Heineken before.
You never had a Heineken before?
My dad drinks Bud.
King of beers.


What kind of beer do you like?
Heineken.
Heineken? *%^&$& Pabst Blue Ribbon!

You missed the whole point of the film. He was descended to alcoholism and chain smoking because his wife's lost love or affection for him drove him to it. He was a very artistic and sensitive guy, amazingly witty and charming for a HS dropout in rural Louisiana or Mississippi. The set pieces with him and the daughter are what is truly memorable and extraordinary about this fillm. He was a fantastic father.

[filsdepac]

My fiancee and I have been wanting to see this for awhile now, but I'm afraid it'll be too depressing and a downer as we prepare for marriage. Should I avoid it til I have her locked in with a kid?

[TripletDaddy]

You missed the whole point of the film. He was descended to alcoholism and chain smoking because his wife's lost love or affection for him drove him to it. He was a very artistic and sensitive guy, amazingly witty and charming for a HS dropout in rural Louisiana or Mississippi. The set pieces with him and the daughter are what is truly memorable and extraordinary about this fillm. He was a fantastic father.

I doubt he has seen the film. He is referencing David Lynch's "Blue Velvet," which you should see if you are at all a fan of Lynch's brand of surrealism.

I want to know why an upstanding guy like ArtVandelay is watching movies like Blue Velvet? I just found out last week that LA Ute went to see R-rated Kings Speech. My head is spinning.

[SeattleUte]

My fiancee and I have been wanting to see this for awhile now, but I'm afraid it'll be too depressing and a downer as we prepare for marriage. Should I avoid it til I have her locked in with a kid?

I think you two should see it. It might save you some heartache.

[SeattleUte]

I doubt he has seen the film. He is referencing David Lynch's "Blue Velvet," which you should see if you are at all a fan of Lynch's brand of surrealism.

I want to know why an upstanding guy like ArtVandelay is watching movies like Blue Velvet? I just found out last week that LA Ute went to see R-rated Kings Speech. My head is spinning.

I like Lynch and of course have seen Blue Velvet. The best Lynch in my opinion is Wild at Heart.

[Art Vandelay]

I want to know why an upstanding guy like ArtVandelay is watching movies like Blue Velvet? I just found out last week that LA Ute went to see R-rated Kings Speech. My head is spinning.

My movie viewing in the late 80's was quite a bit different than it is now (last week I did catch half of Fast and Furious 4 or 5 at my hotel, until Mark Grace rescued me for dinner). I'm still a little traumatized by Mr. Booth, quite Frankly. BV wasn't quite the brain bender that Mulloholland Drive was, but still very nice work by the curious Mr. Lynch.

[MarkGrace]

I saw this movie when it came out and what a horrible cliche. Madly in love couple falls out of love under the pressures of "real life?" Yeah, I've seen indie dramas before. Spouse lambasts other spouse because of unrealized potential? Sigh. Paternity confusion? Groan...welcome to the Montel Williams show. Underage girl gets knocked up by school jock? Ugh. Doctor makes pass at nurse that complicates relationship? Have the t-shirt, it says "insert name of corny medical drama here."

Spoiler for Blue Valentine:

But seriously, I liked Blue Valentine and thought it had an emtional realism that was painful and raw to watch. The scenes of them falling in love juxtaposed against those of them falling out of love was just really tough to take at times.

I really loved the scene in the hotel. You kept wishing Cianfrance would back up on the screen shots and give you a little space. You never once saw how big that room really was and the whole thing felt so claustophobic. But of course that was the whole point of that scene, and as the viewer you really got to feel the suffocating nature of their relationship.

Also really enjoyed the mild ambiguity of the ending. Going into it, I was positive I knew the thing would end with them in total separation. That last scene in the kitchen along with the movie not telling you exactly what happened left open some possibilities there. The optimist in me says perhaps they just took some space and got back together. The pessimist in me says they were past the point of no return. But at a minimum it left with a glimmer of hope, however slight.

Note on Gosling. I really like the guy and would put him up there among my favorite actors. He's in one of my favorite under-appreciated movies ever (Stay) and I loved him in Half Nelson. I really liked him here, but does anyone else feel like he's sometimes just too intense? The dude has the intensity dialed up to an 11 at almost all times. Even during the funny scenes here or moments of brief levity the guy is still just intense.

Note on the aging. They were what, five or six years into their relationship? That's what I was guessing based on the age of the daughter. But outside of Michelle Williams, other key characters like Gosling and Bill Ralston looked like they'd aged about 10-12 years over that time. I get that they were trying to place an aesthetic distinction between the past and present, but the distance of it all kept throwing me off a bit.

[MarkGrace]

My movie viewing in the late 80's was quite a bit different than it is now (last week I did catch half of Fast and Furious 4 or 5 at my hotel, until Mark Grace rescued me for dinner). I'm still a little traumatized by Mr. Booth, quite Frankly. BV wasn't quite the brain bender that Mulloholland Drive was, but still very nice work by the curious Mr. Lynch.

Hey, no need to apologize. We already know you watched The Wire, so you've seen about all there is to see out there. Not like you're going to catch anything more risque in a Lynch film.

[MarkGrace]

Question about the much ballyhooed sex scene. What did the MPAA see in there that had them fighting for an NC-17 rating? Seriously, I saw comparable sex scenes in at least three other films this year, and the average Cronenberg sex scene is far more brutal than that was.

[SeattleUte]

I saw this movie when it came out and what a horrible cliche. Madly in love couple falls out of love under the pressures of "real life?" Yeah, I've seen indie dramas before. Spouse lambasts other spouse because of unrealized potential? Sigh. Paternity confusion? Groan...welcome to the Montel Williams show. Underage girl gets knocked up by school jock? Ugh.
Doctor makes pass at nurse that complicates relationship? Have the t-shirt, it says "insert name of corny medical drama here."

Spoiler for Blue Valentine:

But seriously, I liked Blue Valentine and thought it had an emtional realism that was painful and raw to watch. The scenes of them falling in love juxtaposed against those of them falling out of love was just really tough to take at times.

I really loved the scene in the hotel. You kept wishing Cianfrance would back up on the screen shots and give you a little space. You never once saw how big that room really was and the whole thing felt so claustophobic. But of course that was the whole point of that scene, and as the viewer you really got to feel the suffocating nature of their relationship.

Also really enjoyed the mild ambiguity of the ending. Going into it, I was positive I knew the thing would end with them in total separation. That last scene in the kitchen along with the movie not telling you exactly what happened left open some possibilities there. The optimist in me says perhaps they just took some space and got back together. The pessimist in me says they were past the point of no return. But at a minimum it left with a glimmer of hope, however slight.

Note on Gosling. I really like the guy and would put him up there among my favorite actors. He's in one of my favorite under-appreciated movies ever (Stay) and I loved him in Half Nelson. I really liked him here, but does anyone else feel like he's sometimes just too intense? The dude has the intensity dialed up to an 11 at almost all times. Even during the funny scenes here or moments of brief levity the guy is still just intense.

Note on the aging. They were what, five or six years into their relationship? That's what I was guessing based on the age of the daughter. But outside of Michelle Williams, other key characters like Gosling and Bill Ralston looked like they'd aged about 10-12 years over that time. I get that they were trying to place an aesthetic distinction between the past and present, but the distance of it all kept throwing me off a bit.

Art is not about the what but the how. How sad you still don't know that.

I said the premise was not ambitious or original. But at least it was well executed, and, as I said, the parts with the dad and daughter are especially excellent.

Would you like to see some reviews praising this film? In fact, Anthony Lane's New Yorker review is borderline bizarre for seeming that he was actually weeping while writing the piece. (I think he too misses what the film is about; you'll notice he purports to summarize the premise in the opening paragraph. But this is not surprising for a resident of tony Manhattan writing for the New Yorker. Filsdepac has convinced me that this film should be required for any LDS kids contemplating marriage.)

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/film/blue_valentine_cianfrance

[MarkGrace]

Oh yeah, one other tidbit. That scene where Gosling climbs the fence on the Brooklyn bridge, I read that he did that shit unscripted. The director told them to play it like he was "trying to get a secret out of her," and to do anything it took to get there. So after a minute of arguing and what not, Gosling starts going up the fence and everyone filming freaks out. They got a good shot out of it, though.

[MarkGrace]

Art is not about the what but the how. How sad you still don't know that.

That was the joke. Did you miss your morning coffee?