Brokeback Mountain

[matt35mm]

AMAZING.
http://www.youtube.com/w/Brokeback%20to%20the%20future?v=KgK0IoMKWZc&eurl=

Wow, that was great, but not perfect like The Shining trailer. But goddamn, so smart.

True, not as well edited as The Shining trailer, but at least it's not treading the same ground.  This was smart in another way, making fun of how bad the Brokeback Mountain trailer was.  So we can say that they're both great at what they do.

I'm glad it was smart enough to approach it differently, making fun of a specific actual trailer.  If this were just like all the other trailer re-cuts, it wouldn't be half as good.

[pete]

whoa, weird, that was from chocolate cake city, an emerson comedy troupe founded by this kid Rob I knew.  The troupe was never that funny and we used to make fun of Rob in class, though Rob was a nice guy and took everything in.
Now they're internet celebrities...

[bonanzataz]

that's awesome, i know those guys.

[MacGuffin]

'Brokeback' a Hit in Montana

Contradicting predictions by commentators that Brokeback Mountain would not attract ticket buyers in red-state strongholds like Montana, the film has actually performed strongly in many of those areas, distributor Focus Features has maintained. (Fox News commentator John Gibson remarked: "I think most people do not want to go into a darkened room with a tub of popcorn and munch away watching two guys get it on." His colleague Bill O'Reilly has opined that the film has received critical praise because the media "want to mainstream homosexual conduct." And he predicted, "They're not going to go see the gay cowboys in Montana.") However, the online magazine Salon today (Thursday) quoted the manager of the Wilma Theater in Missoula as saying that the film grossed $33,006 in its first four weekends there -- "one of our best starts for a movie we've ever had." In the conservative town of Kalispell, the film opened last Friday with $3,656. In the town of Whitefish, it took in $2,312 and beat out the three top national draws, including the No. 1 film, Big Momma's House 2. Salon indicated that the film is also a hit in Great Falls, Bozeman, and Helena, where it also opened at No. 1. Meanwhile, L.A. Weekly entertainment columnist Nikki Finke has observed that Brokeback Mountain could be passed over at the Oscar ceremonies. "That's because this year's dirty little secret is the anecdotal evidence pouring in to me about hetero members being unwilling to screen Brokeback Mountain. For a community that takes pride in progressive values, it's shameful that Hollywood's homophobia may be on a par with Pat Robertson's," Finke wrote.

[The Perineum Falcon]

That's wonderful. 

[Gold Trumpet]

I'll simply say this for now: Best American Film of 2005.

A review is to follow, but the portrait of Americana, the seclusion, the largeness of life around a love story. A magnificent film that draws one to identify with the characters even if the obvious facts are different. (Only film better this year so far for me is Downfall)

[modage]

(Only film better this last year so far for me is Downfall)

are we still talking about 2005? 

[Pozer]

I'll simply say this for now: Best American Film of 2005.
(Only film better this year so far for me is Downfall)

And that's his top ten list right there folks - ooooh snap!

[Split Infinitive]

I'll simply say this for now: Best American Film of 2005.

A review is to follow, but the portrait of Americana, the seclusion, the largeness of life around a love story. A magnificent film that draws one to identify with the characters even if the obvious facts are different. (Only film better this year so far for me is Downfall)

Looking forward to your expanded thoughts.  I still haven't polished my review.  Are you going to post your Telos article on the film or do separate thoughts for xixax and the student mag?

[Split Infinitive]

Finally finished up some thoughts on Brokeback Mountain.  Hope ya'll find them semi-interesting...

It took "Brokeback Mountain" a long time to find its way to my hometown. Since it was first released, Ang Lee's "gay cowboy movie" has become the odds-on Oscar favorite, meriting as much attention for its meticulous construction and sweeping scope as it has for its content. In what seemed to be an effort to diffuse controversy before the vast majority of the public even saw it, many critics seemed to de-emphasize the fact that this is a gay love story in favor of stressing the universal applications of longing and unrequited love. This strikes me as a backhanded compliment. "Brokeback Mountain" is an unmitigated breakthrough for gay cinema into the mainstream and should be celebrated as such. That's not to say that straight audiences won't find it accessible, moving and brimming with universal relevance. On the contrary. But central to this film is the fact that it is about two men and their long-suffering relationship and the fears and prejudice that prevent it from fully flowering.

On the one hand, I don't want to contribute to the marginalization of the gay community by insisting that "Brokeback Mountain" belongs to gay cinema; on the other hand, what good is the film if the homosexuality of the protagonists is made incidental by the critical reception? The film is about love, yes. It is also about identity in the American landscape and the isolation that comes with being outside the comforting embrace of the mainstream.

Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) meet in the summer of 1963 as hired hands for a sheep magnate in Wyoming (played by Randy Quaid). Over the summer on Brokeback Mountain, as they share meals and shepherding duties, they fall in love. When the summer is over and the return to their routine lives, their forged connection remains unbroken. Ennis marries his longtime sweetheart, Alma (Michelle Williams), doing odd jobs wherever he can find work. Jack marries the daughter of a wealthy farm equipment salesman (Anne Hathaway) and gives up his rodeo dreams. The solace they take from scraping by on the outskirts of society is to escape from it altogether on "fishing trips," during which they drink, smoke, make love and talk of how things used to be, should be and, sadly, can never be.

Both men struggle with the yearning for each other in different ways. Jack is more willing to accept who he is; he's as lonely as Ennis but unwilling to be a loner. Jack seeks solace in the arms of other men while maintaining a stable, if icy, marriage. Ennis lashes out, sometimes violently, getting divorced from his wife and estranged from his youngest daughter. Yet Alma Jr. (Kate Mara) keeps in touch with her father and their relationship is tender, if distant, a redemption that Ennis is almost too hurt to accept.

Ennis retreats into the persona of the cowboy. When we first meet him, he's the spitting image of the Marlboro man, hat tucked low over his eyes, cigarette dangling from his lips, elbows crooked at his sides as he leans, waiting, against a trailer. After that summer on Brokeback Mountain, Ennis uses the "cowboy" as a shield; he's not a father, not a homosexual, not a husband. He uses his job as an excuse. Only at the end does he begin some semblance of integration, lowering his shield and reaching out towards himself through those he loves, be they alive or dead. Ledger's performance is masculine and vulnerable in the necessary psychological aspects and fully cultured, fermenting to slow-burn perfection over the course of two hours on screen.

"Brokeback Mountain" gives lost dreams and silent pining the shape and distance of a specific place and time long ago but just over the mythical next horizon. By making this a cowboy movie, Lee inserts an too-long unspoken reality into the manufactured legend of the American west just as its grandeur seemed in danger of dying out. The elegiac tone (established by breathtaking cinematography by Rodrigo Prieta and composer Gustavo Santaolalla) contrasts with the fiery passion of the amour of Ennis and Jack and the optimism that the success of the film (both artistically, critically and commercially) brings to our future. If there is a place for the gay cowboy in the American mythos, we can hope that there will be an acceptance of the gay community in mainstream society; not a place manufactured by political correctness and or minimal standards of "tolerance," but a genuine acceptance that will make the film's haunting image of two bloodstained shirts hanging inside a closet door as triumphant as it is poignant.

[godardian]

In response to this beautiful review, I can only say:

Finally finished up some thoughts on Brokeback Mountain.  Hope ya'll find them semi-interesting...

It took "Brokeback Mountain" a long time to find its way to my hometown. Since it was first released, Ang Lee's "gay cowboy movie" has become the odds-on Oscar favorite, meriting as much attention for its meticulous construction and sweeping scope as it has for its content. In what seemed to be an effort to diffuse controversy before the vast majority of the public even saw it, many critics seemed to de-emphasize the fact that this is a gay love story in favor of stressing the universal applications of longing and unrequited love. This strikes me as a backhanded compliment. "Brokeback Mountain" is an unmitigated breakthrough for gay cinema into the mainstream and should be celebrated as such. That's not to say that straight audiences won't find it accessible, moving and brimming with universal relevance. On the contrary. But central to this film is the fact that it is about two men and their long-suffering relationship and the fears and prejudice that prevent it from fully flowering.

On the one hand, I don't want to contribute to the marginalization of the gay community by insisting that "Brokeback Mountain" belongs to gay cinema; on the other hand, what good is the film if the homosexuality of the protagonists is made incidental by the critical reception? The film is about love, yes. It is also about identity in the American landscape and the isolation that comes with being outside the comforting embrace of the mainstream.

Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) meet in the summer of 1963 as hired hands for a sheep magnate in Wyoming (played by Randy Quaid). Over the summer on Brokeback Mountain, as they share meals and shepherding duties, they fall in love. When the summer is over and the return to their routine lives, their forged connection remains unbroken. Ennis marries his longtime sweetheart, Alma (Michelle Williams), doing odd jobs wherever he can find work. Jack marries the daughter of a wealthy farm equipment salesman (Anne Hathaway) and gives up his rodeo dreams. The solace they take from scraping by on the outskirts of society is to escape from it altogether on "fishing trips," during which they drink, smoke, make love and talk of how things used to be, should be and, sadly, can never be.

Both men struggle with the yearning for each other in different ways. Jack is more willing to accept who he is; he's as lonely as Ennis but unwilling to be a loner. Jack seeks solace in the arms of other men while maintaining a stable, if icy, marriage. Ennis lashes out, sometimes violently, getting divorced from his wife and estranged from his youngest daughter. Yet Alma Jr. (Kate Mara) keeps in touch with her father and their relationship is tender, if distant, a redemption that Ennis is almost too hurt to accept.

Ennis retreats into the persona of the cowboy. When we first meet him, he's the spitting image of the Marlboro man, hat tucked low over his eyes, cigarette dangling from his lips, elbows crooked at his sides as he leans, waiting, against a trailer. After that summer on Brokeback Mountain, Ennis uses the "cowboy" as a shield; he's not a father, not a homosexual, not a husband. He uses his job as an excuse. Only at the end does he begin some semblance of integration, lowering his shield and reaching out towards himself through those he loves, be they alive or dead. Ledger's performance is masculine and vulnerable in the necessary psychological aspects and fully cultured, fermenting to slow-burn perfection over the course of two hours on screen.

"Brokeback Mountain" gives lost dreams and silent pining the shape and distance of a specific place and time long ago but just over the mythical next horizon. By making this a cowboy movie, Lee inserts an too-long unspoken reality into the manufactured legend of the American west just as its grandeur seemed in danger of dying out. The elegiac tone (established by breathtaking cinematography by Rodrigo Prieta and composer Gustavo Santaolalla) contrasts with the fiery passion of the amour of Ennis and Jack and the optimism that the success of the film (both artistically, critically and commercially) brings to our future. If there is a place for the gay cowboy in the American mythos, we can hope that there will be an acceptance of the gay community in mainstream society; not a place manufactured by political correctness and or minimal standards of "tolerance," but a genuine acceptance that will make the film's haunting image of two bloodstained shirts hanging inside a closet door as triumphant as it is poignant.

[Thrindle]

Please tell me you wrote that review for something other than Xixax (not that we don't deserve good reviews).  Thank you.  This film deserves more than a cliche and a trendy-film review.

[Reinhold]

Please tell me you wrote that review for something other than Xixax (not that we don't deserve good reviews).  Thank you.  This film deserves more than a cliche and a trendy-film review.

but apparently it's not worthy of your 1000th post, you passive-aggressive homophobe.

i finally saw this today. i thought that it was very, very good in parts and very, very mediocre in others. 

the super wide shots showcasing the clouds made me think of george carlin's bit about clouds in books, but that's just about all i have to say that hasn't already been covered in the previous 9 pages.

[modage]

i could be mistaken but i dont think anyone else here except me found parts mediocre so i'd be curious to find out what you didnt think was spectacular about it.

[Reinhold]

i didn't like the repeated use of jake gyllenhaal's all-purpose pout, present in all of his roles that i've seen.  some of the dialogue seemed canned, and i remember thinking that more could have been done with shot framing to pull the viewer into the story at a few points in the film, but specifics aren't coming to mind right now.

in spite of those things it still gets a solid 7-8 skulls. i don't want it to sound like i didn't like the movie. i did. a lot.