The following podcast contains explicit language.

I'm Stephen Metcath, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest.

Congratulations, Your Marriage is Probably Doomed Edition.

It's Wednesday, January 5, 2011.

On today's program, Blue Valentine, the new indie movie with Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

The Year in Movies with our own Dana Stevens, both co-host of the Culture Gab Fest and Slate's movie critic and Google Ngrams and something called Culture Omex.

What a hideous neologism that is. Will it remake the humanities?

Joining me today, our Slate's deputy editor, Julia Turner. Hello, Julia. Hi, Steve. And our film critic, Dana Stevens, hey, Dana. Hey, Steve. Happy New Year. I can't help noticing something about both of you, which is that neither one of you mentioned my new glasses. Wait, I have new glasses, too. Well, I had new glasses first. No.

We saw each other at the same time.

Your new glasses are lovely.

Wait, is this the Narcissism, Narcissism edition, remix?

No, you don't.

I have new glasses.

But it's more unlikely for me to have gone out and bought new glasses than for you.

So I think there was a larger burden on you to mention my world. Granted. Okay. Steve, your new glasses are lovely? I love your new glasses. Are those new glasses? Yeah. I love them. They're lovely. Thank you so much. I'm so glad you noticed. Yeah. Blue Valentine, Dana, as always, I didn't read your review coming into the Culture Gap Fest. I have less than no idea what you made of this movie. I'm dying to know. What do you think of Blue Valentine's? I wonder what you think. Can you just take a quick, do your guess, your pre-guest? Do you think I loved it, hated it somewhere in between? I think you had to respect the performances, which are astonishing. If you didn't, you're fired, clean out your desk.

I suspect that you had some reservations about the script.

Well, actually, you're somewhat wrong.

You're half wrong.

I love the performances, and I loved the script, and I loved the movie, with a couple

reservations that had more to do with technical aspects like the music.

But it was on my 10 Best List of the Year.

It's one of my favorite movies of the year.

...