John Turturro's third film as director, Romance and Cigarettes, got canned by its distributor and suffered some of the worst reviews around this year (even from some of my favorite outlets, like The Onion AV Club), as well as a handful of the best. Count me in the "best" category; I loved it and was lucky enough to interview Turturro about it, an experience that really cemented my admiration for him and his work. I'm not sure what other critics disliked about it so much, though I could see it being a movie you either love or hate. A blue-collar musical, it follows James Gandolfini through a torrid affair with Kate Winslet, and an estrangement from his wife (Susan Sarandon) and his daughters (Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker and Aida Turturro). It's sweet, sad, hilarious and dirty — a great date movie, if your date has a good sense of humor.

Turturro has distribution rights to Romance and Cigarettes until January 17th, at which point Sony will ignominiously dump it to DVD and run for the hills. It's done really well given its limited distribution, but in this last push — well, I can't speak for my Screengrab colleagues, but at least a portion of Screengrab encourages you to see this lovely film before it leaves the screen. Here's a clip (illustrating Turturro's juxtaposition of bawdy humor and fantasy) I hand-picked to whet your appetites. (Right-click to save.) Hit the jump for a list of theaters opening Romance and Cigarettes in the coming weeks; it's also currently playing at a number of others, including, for New Yorkers, the Quad on 13th St.

CALIFORNIA
12/21/2007 Encino, CA Town Center Five
12/21/2007 Irvine, CA University Town Center 6
12/21/2007 Los Angeles, CA Landmark Theater
12/21/2007 Los Angeles, CA Sunset 5
12/21/2007 Pasadena, CA Playhouse 7
12/21/2007 Pasadena, CA One Colorado
12/21/2007 Sacramento, CA Crest Theatre

COLORADO
12/7/2007 Denver, CO Chez Artiste

FLORIDA
1/4/2008 Sarasota, FL Burns Court
1/11/2008 Gainesville, FL Hippodrome Cinema

GEORGIA
12/7/2007 Atlanta, GA Midtown Art Cinema

ILLINOIS
12/7/2007 Chicago, IL Music Box Theatre
12/7/2007 Wilmette, IL Wilmette Theatre
12/7/2007 Highland Park, IL Landmark's Renaissance Place Cinema

KANSAS
1/11/2008 Kansas City, KS Tivoli Manor Square

MAINE
1/4/2008 Waterville, ME Rail Road Square Cinema
1/11/2008 Portland, ME The Movies on Exchange Street

MASSACHUSETTS
12/14/2007 Northampton, MA Pleasant Street Theater

MARYLAND
12/21/2007 Baltimore, MD Charles Theater

MICHIGAN
12/14/2007 Detroit, MI Main Art Theatre

MISSOURI
12/14/2007 St. Louis, MO Plaza Frontenac Cinema

MINNESOTA
12/7/2007 Minneapolis, MN Edina Cinema

NEBRASKA
1/4/2008 Lincoln, NB Ross Media Arts Center

NEW JERSEY
12/7/2007 Washington Township, NJ Washington Township Cinema

NEW YORK
12/7/2007 Albany, NY Spectrum 8

OHIO
1/4/2008 Cleveland, OH Shaker Square

OREGON
12/14/2007 Portland, OR Cinema 21

PENNSYLVANIA
1/4/2008 Pittsburgh, PA Regent Square

RHODE ISLAND
12/7/2007 Providence, RI Avon Cinema

TEXAS
12/7/2007 Houston, TX Angelika Film Center

UTAH
1/4/2008 Salt Lake City, UT Broadway Centre

WASHINGTON
12/14/2007 Seattle, WA Varsity Theatre

WISCONSIN
12/14/2007 Madison, WI Sundance Cinema