All the ingredients seemed to be in place: a stellar talent at the helm (John Turturro), a hell of a cast (James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Steve Buscemi, Mandy Moore, Christopher Walken, Aida Turturro, Kate Winslet, Mary-Louise Parker, Amy Sedaris, Eddie Izzard), and a marketable concept (an adult movie musical featuring pop songs by Elvis, Cyndi Lauper, Dusty Springfield, Janis Joplin, James Brown and more). But almost two years after its first screening at the Venice Film Festival, Romance and Cigarettes has not seen a stateside release.

Due to studios changing hands and questions about who has the rights to what, R&C has not had a distributor. Turturro has decided to turn this situation around his own damn self, and finance the film's release out of pocket.

And thank god for that. I'll soon receive release from the two year blueballs this movie has given me.