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*** Official BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

Mikel_Cooperman

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Funny, I dont remember a mainstream movie recently that had a plot such as this. Making Love was more than 20 years ago and it did not have big name actors and there was a disclaimer before it. It's another step forward for films of this kind.
Pricilla is about drag queens and has nowhere the emotional impact that this does.

"Brokeback Mountain" sweeps NY film critics awards
Mon Dec 12, 2005 2:03 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gay cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain" won three of the top four awards from the New York Film Critics Circle on Monday, gaining momentum as a critics' favorite for the Oscars.
The awards are among the second-tier prizes leading up to the March 5 Academy Awards.
Director Ang Lee's film is shaping up to be an Oscar contender despite concerns that its plot -- the relationship between two cowboys in Wyoming -- may offend conservative audiences.
The New York Film Critics Circle gave the movie awards for best film, best director and best actor, for Heath Ledger.
 

Jason_V

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There are a great number of films that are heralded as "important", "excellent" or "best of the best" when they arrive in theaters and then again on video. I personally have never found Gladiator to be the fantastic movie everyone claims it is; I haven't been able to sit through it.

I find Longtime Companion to be an incredibly important movie and well done for the budget they had to work with. It was timely when it was released and will be timely 20 years from now. Brokeback is the same thing: it deals with the world we live in right now and, because this is a love story, will be relevant for years to come. Just because people who think Doctor Doolittle (Eddie Murphy) is a work of genius believes Brokeback isn't timely or important doesn't mean it's not.
 

Mikel_Cooperman

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One of the cast I was impressed with, and I dont know her name, who played Ennis' daughter. She was another person who was a casualty of the loveless marriage he was involved with and she portrayed the hurt so well.
 

Kyle_D

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I'm not sure if you could necessarily call it a wide release. Last time I checked, in Chicago it's only hitting one or two of the art theaters. I go to school at Champaign, home of the U of I and one of the few liberal outposts in Illinois south of I-80, and the closest the film is ever scheduled to come near here is 45 miles away in Decatur and that's not until January 6. They're going to take their time rolling this out, letting buzz grow on people.

I wouldn't expect a "wide" release (~1000 screens) until mid-late January.
 

Mark Leiter

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Dont' know much about this film except that every time I hear about it I think of that old South Park joke.

All movies that are shown at Sundance are about gay cowboys eating pudding.

So inquiring mind want to know...any pudding eating going on??? :D
 

DeeF

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Interesting to have seen this movie, and then King Kong the next day. These are polar opposites, and could maybe learn a thing or too from the other.

Brokeback is too spare, too slow. It wants to engage the emotions, but it's a very hard thing to do when your characters are so buttoned-up they barely speak.

Fortunately, there is no CGI -- the movie is about real people.

King Kong, on the other hand, is bloated and there's much too much happening, and it's too long, and the cutting is fast and furious. Let me enjoy the sunset too, please.
 

Jeff Savage

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Just did a quick check in the the Dallas area and it is playing on 2 screens in the Cinemark by my house in Plano as well as the Angelika Theater (arthouse).

So Buzz that is only a 10 hour drive :)

Laters,
Jeff
 

Inspector Hammer!

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The film looks good, Anne Hathaway's in it also, so of course I will see it. :D

What part does she play and does she get much screentime? I ask because i'm always on the lookout for that one film that will show Hollywood what a great potential she has, especially after her role in Havoc which sadly didn't get much attention.
 

Claudia P

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I have yet to see the movie, but read the story. Having read the comments & criticisms on this thread I would suggest reading the story will fill in the gaps in understanding.

Brokeback Mountain is a short story written by Annie Proulx (Shipping News et al). BBM appears in Close Range - Wyoming Stories.

Annie Proulx has that rare gift of evoking a time & place, of 'seeing' the human condition, of articulating the essence of relationships - never more evident than in Brokeback Mountain. I've read the story many times; each time it remains as stunning to me as the time before.

I was fearful that the movie would not do the story justice - but the comments on the thread tell me that Ang Lee may just have captured the essence of this relationship on film.

I'll be brave and go see it.
 

Mikel_Cooperman

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'Brokeback' Wrangles Strong Numbers in Expansion
by Brandon Gray
December 18, 2005


In limited release, Brokeback Mountain saw another stampede of moviegoers in its second weekend, while there was no springtime for The Producers in its debut.

Focus Features' cowboy love story lassoed an estimated $2.4 million from 69 locations, averaging a potent $34,188 per site, raising the total to $3.3 million in 10 days.

Last weekend, Brokeback Mountain trumpeted a $109,485 average at five bustling theaters in Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco. It's natural for a picture's average to drop significantly as it adds smaller markets.

"The danger with distributing a movie like this is if you get ahead of it, you lose it," said Jack Foley, Focus' president of distribution. "We'll do what we have to do to meet the business capabilities and the demand. I'd love to see this movie in 2,000 theaters. I have no limits to how wide I want it to go."

Foley said that the expansion will be more aggressive than previously planned, with around 275 theaters set for Jan. 6 and about 400 for Jan. 13. The original intent was to be in 300 venues by the end of January.



MOUNTAIN HIGH: Brokeback Mountain's eighth-place finish in the weekend box-office tally betrays its accomplishments. The groundbreaking film took in $2.4 million across just 69 theaters, an average of $34,194 per screening — a record for a non-IMAX film with more than 50 playdates — and is the first film since 1995 to crack the box-office Top 10 while in fewer than 100 theaters. "You can't do what we're doing [appealing to just] one demographic," a Focus Pictures exec tells Variety. "The notion that this is a 'gay film' is proving to be mistaken."
 

Richard Kim

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She's a blonde in the latter part of the film only. I believe this was intentional, to show how years in a loveless marriage changed a once vibrant woman into a hardened shell of her former self.
 

Jason_V

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Nick--

While we never see Jack doing anything with the married man, the connection is that the "friend" Dad talked about was this man. It shows that Jack is becoming more comfortable with being who he is and that, in some ways, he has moved on from Ennis and from Brokeback.

Jack having another man isn't odd and didn't detract from the film for me. How long can a person be put off and kept on a leash before they go looking for what they want in someone else?


I really don't think there is a true love between Ennis and Jack. What they have is a comfort with each other to do things other men would not do. There may be love on Jack's side, but Ennis clearly does not show it throw most of the movie.

And I am not ashamed to say that the final speech on Brokeback had me crying right in the theater. When it comes into wider release, I'm dragging my boyfriend to go see it.
 

RafaelB

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Funny, I thought Anne Hathaway had the blonde hair in the latter part of the movie to reflect the Farrah look. :D ;)

Rafael.
 

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