On the heels of the news that Peter Weir’s “The Way Back” will indeed be making an awards-season run, we get our first peek at Weir’s film. The trailer is a little too frantic for my taste; it doesn’t let us revel in the obviously grand, sweeping settings (also apologies for the low quality, there doesn’t seem to be anything high-res out there yet, but I will certainly re-post it when one appears). But still, it would appear to confirm that “The Way Back” is a big, bold, old-school, David Lean-style historical epic. Bring it on.
In other news, Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine” has gotten slapped with an NC-17 rating by the MPAA, a fairly severe blow to its awards-season chances. An explicit scene where Ryan Gosling brings Michelle Williams to orgasm with oral sex would appear to be the culprit. Now The Weinstein Company has to decide whether to cut the scene, or try to push on despite the fact that the film’s release will now be even more limited, and no film with such a restrictive rating has won an Oscar since the X-rated “Midnight Cowboy.”
By the way, “Salt” got a PG-13 rating this summer despite an apparently pretty graphic waterboarding scene. And of course there was always “Casino Royale” sneaking in a PG-13 despite that excruciating testicle-pummeling scene. Apparently torture is perfectly suitable viewing for children, but God forbid anyone under 17 see a woman having an orgasm.
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Wow. I really didn’t like that trailer editor, but it looks bold and beautiful, though with bad accents.
And sad times on “Blue Valentine.” But I guess it’ll be the first time I’ll see a NC-17 movie! Don’t I feel grown up.