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Harvey Weinstein on the ‘Blue Valentine’ controversy: Can’t we all just get along?

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When all is said and done, we have a feeling that ‘Blue Valentine’ will end up with the R-rating that it’s been seeking. But getting there will require some negotiations with the Motion Picture Assn. of America over a controversial scene featuring the characters of Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in a hotel-room sexual situation.

The trade group wants the scene cut or it will slap the film with an NC-17. Executives at distributor the Weinstein Co., citing the importance of the scene to the film’s narrative, have said privately they won’t do it, although how much of that is a bid for negotiating leverage is impossible to say. [Update: 12:23 pm: A spokeswoman for The Weinstein Company says that, as expected, an appeal will be filed within the next few days.]

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A few minutes ago Harvey Weinstein showed that he is, as ever, interesting in playing the PR game when he sent out a thank-you-to-our-friends statement. He also showed in that same statement that he’s willing to play ball with the MPAA, offering a bit of praise for an organization and, in so doing, implying that he still believes the group will come around, possibly with some accommodations on his part.

The statement:

‘We want to express our deepest gratitude to our colleagues in the industry and in the media for their recent outpouring of support for Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine after the film surprisingly received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. We are taking every possible step to contest the MPAA’s decision. We respect the work of the MPAA and we hope, after having a chance to sit down with them, they will see that our appeal is reasonable, and the film, which is an honest and personal portrait of a relationship, would be significantly harmed by such a rating.’

-- Steven Zeitchik

twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

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The MPAA’s mystifying call on ‘Blue Valentine’

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