"Brokeback" expanding to more theatres faster than planned

[OneFinger]

The Salt Lake Tribune gave the movie their 4 star rating. Also ran 3 great articles about it this week. Here's some snippets from one article and a link to the whole story.

 

"Like many gay Utahns, Ritchie Olsen has been bursting with anticipation over "Brokeback Mountain," the acclaimed new film about a secret love affair between two Wyoming cowboys. After all, the movie could almost be the story of his life.

 

Olsen grew up in Neola, a conservative town of about 500 people on the southern edge of the Uintas. His family ran a small cattle ranch, where Olsen spent much of his youth on a horse. Although Olsen struggled with his attraction to men, like the characters in the film he kept quiet and married a local girl, his true nature stifled by community pressure and his own fear.

 

"I didn't feel like I had any other choice," said the 32-year-old, who didn't come out of the closet until he divorced his wife 18 months later and moved away. "I was expected to fit a certain image, and I did. It created a lot of anxiety."

 

That's why for Olsen and countless other Westerners, "Brokeback Mountain" is an event film and a hot-button topic. Besides being a rare Hollywood drama about gay romance, it may be the first high-profile movie to address homosexuality within a group rarely associated with it: the iconic cowboys of the American West. These onscreen lovers aren't San Francisco hairdressers, they're stoic Marlboro men...

 

...In Wyoming, where the state symbol is a bronco rider and gay rights have been a sensitive issue since Matthew Shepard was murdered in Laramie in 1998, opinion over "Brokeback Mountain" appears split along similar lines.

 

Ben Clark, a fourth-generation rancher, saw "Brokeback Mountain" at its Dec. 10 premiere in Jackson, Wyo., where it earned a standing ovation. Clark grew up outside Jackson and felt so lonely as a gay youth that he considered suicide. He moved to Southern California in his 20s, came out as a gay man and eventually returned to Jackson, where he raises quarter horses.

 

"I loved the film," said Clark, 42. "It's the kind of movie that everybody, especially straight people, need to see to understand the culture we grew up in and what we go through."

 

On the other side of the fence is Rick Makris, a part-time rancher from Evanston, Wyo., who believes the movie will harm the state's image.

 

"I ain't got nothing against gay people. But Wyoming is not the place to make a gay movie about cowboys. I think it's a slap in the face," he said this week outside an Evanston ranch-supply store. "It's almost like they're making Wyoming a gay state."

 

Not surprisingly, Makris doesn't plan to see the movie.

 

"It's not for me," he said. "I'd rather go see 'King Kong.' ''

 

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3356221

 

BTW, does anyone know the "hung" status of the actors in Brokeback Mountain? Depending on the stats, perhaps the movie could be subtitled "The Other King Kong". }(

 

-------------

"We need to have more respect for each other. Things have just gone really crazy, out of control. ... We're on a very weird kind of cycle." Stevie Wonder

[Guest zipperzone]

>BTW, does anyone know the "hung" status of the actors in

>Brokeback Mountain? Depending on the stats, perhaps the movie

>could be subtitled "The Other King Kong". }(

 

I believe someone here posted an URL for nude pics of Ledger snapped by some enterprising photographer on location. He was "adequate" but not "spectacular".

[+ Hoover42]

Can someone re-post that link? I can't find it on the message board.

 

Thanks

 

...Hoover

[Bilbo]

I am so glad that you posted the snippets as well as the link. I am very tired of people just posting a link and expecting us all to go "over there" and sift through the whole thing.

As far as the local thinking that his state was a bad place to shoot the movie? I wonder if he realizes that the movie was actually shot in Canada and his state didn't even get the money that shooting there would have brought them? Serves him right.

[+ ArVaGuy]

>As far as the local thinking that his state was a bad place to

>shoot the movie? I wonder if he realizes that the movie was

>actually shot in Canada and his state didn't even get the

>money that shooting there would have brought them? Serves him

>right.

 

I would speculate that besides being less expensive to shoot in Canada, the producers also considered how the locals would react to such a film being shot in their area. Much easier to shoot the film when you don't have to worry about protesters and religious fanatics manufacturing all kinds of trouble.

[+ Hoover42]

I've heard that that province of Canada is one of the most homophobic areas of the country.

 

...Hoover

[Guest bighugbearphx]

Here in AZ, it is still on just two screens (one theatre) until Jan 6, when it expands to 7 additional theatres in that chain (all in the Phoenix metro area, except for one in Flagstaff and one in Prescott in northern AZ. It goes to an indie theatre in Tucson on Jan 13.) The evening performances are still generally sell-outs, I am told.

 

I also heard from a friend in Memphis who saw it at a theatre where they expanded it from one to three screens, and there were actually people who paid to stand in the back of the theatre for the entire film! (OK, I loved the film, but I would *not* pay 8 bucks to stand for an entire 2 hr movie!)

 

Loved the AP article quoting the AFA as saying the purpose of the film was "promoting homosexuality." Makes me think we are wasting a heck of an opportunity here. Perhaps we should have card tables set up at the exits when people leave seeing the film, give out copies of "The Joy of Gay Sex" and sign up recruits. Any volunteers? "Talent"-scouts??

 

About the book, realize the "Brokeback Mountain: Now A Major Motion Picture" book is only 64 pages, and lists for $9.95 (which is also what Amazon charges, a bit of a ripoff.) Better to get the original "Close Range: Wyoming Stories" book by Annie Prouix, which has that and other stories she wrote, list $14.00, selling on Amazon for $10.50. Or, if you want a real Brokeback Mountain "souvenier," there is a new edition ""Brokeback Mountain - Story to Screenplay" which includes the original story, the screenplay, notes from the screenwriters about the process of writing it, and some black and white stills from the film; it is $16.00 list, $10.88 on Amazon.

[OneFinger]

>I am so glad that you posted the snippets as well as the link. I am very tired of people just posting a link and expecting us all to go "over there" and sift through the whole thing.

 

I've got to agree with you on excepts plus the link. I'm much more likely to read the article if it appears to have details I want. Also have a pet peeve with links to stories that require you to register. I'm less likely to go through the hassle of registering just to read a story.

 

-------------

"We need to have more respect for each other. Things have just gone really crazy, out of control. ... We're on a very weird kind of cycle." Stevie Wonder

[+ deej]

>I've got to agree with you on excepts plus the link. I'm much

>more likely to read the article if it appears to have details

>I want. Also have a pet peeve with links to stories that

>require you to register. I'm less likely to go through the

>hassle of registering just to read a story.

 

Technically, links to password-protected sites are not allowed here. But they'll show up because people forget they have to log in -- the cookie stored on their system bypasses login.

 

For sites requiring registration, you can often get a password from http://www.bugmenot.com :-)

[Boston Guy]

>Do those of us who have seen the movie predict a decline in

>the national sales of fishing paraphernalia with such a

>widespread release?

 

LOL... Thanks for the first real, laugh-out-loud laugh of 2006.

 

Loved the movie. It hit close to home in several ways. On leaving the theater, I stopped a young gay couple to ask their reactions. They liked it as much as I did, but for different reasons. Explaining why would turn this into a spoiler. Suffice it to say, I guess, that love stories can be seen through many different eyes and hearts.

 

BG

[Guest zipperzone]

>I've heard that that province of Canada is one of the most

>homophobic areas of the country.

 

The province is Alberta. I'm not sure if it is the majority of the population of the province that is homophobic or just the Premier, Ralph Kline, who refused to allow same-sex marriage in the province before the Federal Government made it a rule of law.

 

But I guess if there was a large collection of red-necks concentrated anywhere in Canada, Alberta would be the most likely.

[Houston Bonfires]

The following is an excerpt taken from the Calgary Sun Newspaper on 25 Dec 05 regarding filming in Alberta.

 

 

December 25, 2005

Gay community goes for Brokeback in Canada

 

Gay community goes for Brokeback

 

Calgary Sun, Canada

 

Like many Calgarians, Stephen Lock eagerly anticipates Dec. 23's release of the Alberta-filmed Brokeback Mountain.

 

“They filmed my dog in the backup of a pickup truck, so hopefully that makes it in the movie,” he says.

 

But his hopes run deeper than just seeing if his pooch made it in.

 

As a longtime gay rights activist with EGALE Canada, Lock is hoping the film, the story of an illicit, lifelong romance between two Wyoming cowboys — played by two of Hollywood’s most bankable leading men, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal — will open doors for depictions of gay relationships in mainstream movies.

 

“Mainstream movies still usually have gay and lesbian characters read as stereotypes,” he says. “There’s a long history of gay just being a cipher for decadent or flamboyant.”

 

Patrick Buckley also looks forward to the film and the possibility of better movie portrayals of homosexuals.

 

Buckley, the public relations director for the Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association, says it’s ironic the most explicit gay love story yet to come out of Hollywood is, of all things, a western.

 

“We promote the western lifestyle in Western Canada and within the gay community. So a movie like this seems made for us ... hopefully it lives up to the press.”

 

Hope this adds to the discussion; seems the film crew was welcomed.

 

Houston Bonfires

[flopsy]

SPOILER--discussion of something in the plot. If you've not yet seen the movie, skip reading this reply, as it may reveal something about the story that might lessen your enjoyment of the film.

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When Ennis calls Jack's wife--as she's telling him about what happened, we see another version being played out on the screen. Is what we're shown what actually happened or is that just a flashback of Ennis's to what his Dad showed him? Is his wife reciting the story she made up about the incident or is she telling the truth?

 

Thanks,

Flopsy

[+ Hoover42]

RE: "Brokeback" expanding to more theatres faster than planned

 

Hi Flopsy,

 

The alternate scene is what Ennis believes really happened; the viewer (reader) is left to decide the truth themselves.

 

Only Annie Proulx knows for sure.

 

...Hoover

[flopsy]

RE: Brokeback

 

"...The viewer (reader) is left to decide the truth themselves."

 

I just hate having to make decisions like that. ;-)

 

Thanks for clarifying, Hoover, and take care.

 

 

Flopsy

 

"Girls, girls--You're BOTH pretty!"

[straight_up]

RE: Brokeback

 

>"...The viewer (reader) is left to decide the truth

>themselves."

>

>I just hate having to make decisions like that. ;-)

>

>Thanks for clarifying, Hoover, and take care.

>

>

>Flopsy

>

>"Girls, girls--You're BOTH pretty!"

 

I believe that the flashbacks, while Ennis was talking with Lureen, were the actual events that depict the violence perpetrated against homosexuals at the time. Lureen was telling a palatable version. To corroborate that surmise watch the abrupt ending of the call as Lureen realized that Ennis was Jack's lover and her allusion to Jack's secrecy that he kept all his friends' names in his head.

[Guest JohnPela]

RE: Brokeback Mountain

 

I saw this movie in Montreal on early New Year's Eve and it was wonderful. The love story, the pain, you really feel like you are part of and glimpsing this slice of gay life at that place, time and people.

 

I read the short story on the plane to Montreal and read it again after seeing the movie. Takes about 1 hour to read. It was recommended to me to read before seeing the movie. So I knew the whole story beforehand and I still enjoyed the movie, probably even better, because one medium helped with the other medium and viceversa.

[seaboy4hire]

I am the only one who didn't care for this film? I think the acting was very weak and things just dragged on. I almost felt that I was watching Tean Wolf 2 again. Oh and yes I did dose off a couple of times, it really was that painful to watch :-( I really wish I could say I enjoyed it but well I just can't. The only positives in this film are the mountains in the background and the ending credits.

 

Hugs,

Greg

Greg Seattle Wa seaboy4hire@yahoo.com

http://www.male4malescorts.com/reviews/greg_seattle.html

http://seaboy4hire.tripod.com

Vegas Jan 10-13, 2006

[+ Tom Isern]

There's been a lot of chatter about the violent and sad ending of BM on some gay bulletin boards I read. Do we really need another sad, sad, song is the jist of these reviews? Initially unsympathetic to their view, I'm reassessing today. I just finished re-reading Forster’s Maurice (how do I underline that here?). The terminal note contains this from the author:

 

“A happy ending was imperative. I shouldn’t have bothered to write otherwise. I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the eve and ever that fiction allows, and in this sense Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood. I dedicated it “To a Happier Year” and not altogether vainly. Happiness is its keynote—which by the way has had an unexpected result: it has made the book more difficult to publish. Unless the Wolfenden Report becomes law, it will probably have to remain in manuscript. If it ended unhappily, with a lad dangling from a noose [or shall we add here, beaten to death by homophobic American cowboys] or with a suicide pact, all would be well, for there is no pornography or seduction of minors. But the lovers get away unpunished and consequently recommend crime….the only penalty society extracts is the exile they gladly embrace.”

 

It is depressing to note that Maurice, written 1913/15, almost a hundred years ago, is in this respect a much more progressive, hopeful, and politically challenging message than BM-—where the fag gets beaten to death and the gay leads are straight in “real life” and "redeem" everything, at least it seems so in the media, by fucking and/or marrying their female costars.

[+ deej]

The SAG Award noms were announced today. BBM got four, leading the pack.

 

(It got a nom for "best ensemble cast" which I find odd, but whatever.)

[Guest JohnPela]

RE: Brokeback

 

>I believe that the flashbacks, while Ennis was talking with

>Lureen, were the actual events that depict the violence

>perpetrated against homosexuals at the time. Lureen was

>telling a palatable version. To corroborate that surmise watch

>the abrupt ending of the call as Lureen realized that Ennis

>was Jack's lover and her allusion to Jack's secrecy that he

>kept all his friends' names in his head.

 

This is how i understood the movie. It was clearer in the movie then the book (I read the short story, yes for $9.95 but worth every penny). You could see on Lureen's face that finally she understood that Ennis was the love of Jack Tripp's life and that Brokebake Mountain, where Jack wanted to be buried was his special place/love fullfilled with Ennis. Very touching, not as clear in the book.

 

Some aspects of the story are clearer in the movie and some are clearer in the book. I also read the stort story the next day after seeing the movie (on the airplane from Montreal back home). I enjoyed the story reading it even more after seeing the movie.

[Steven_Draker]

RE: Brokeback Mountain

 

I saw the movie today and I loved it.

I haven't opened any of the threads here in the MC about Brokeback Mountain until tonight because I didn't want to 'spoil' the experience.

 

The theater was almost packed at the 4:00 PM show - the public was mostly gay.

 

I wish the movie was subtitled because I had some troubles with Ennis' "accent".

 

Straight up wrote above:

>I believe that the flashbacks, while Ennis was talking with Lureen, were the actual

>events that depict the violence perpetrated against homosexuals at the time. Lureen was

>telling a palatable version.

 

I didn't have any trouble understanding that scene. I think Lureen's expression was very good.

Also loved the final scene with Ennis and Jack's parents.

 

Steven Draker ~

http://www.hotsexystud.com/uk

 

PS: And finally after the movie there was an unusually long line into the men's restroom :-)

 

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/focus_features/brokeback_mountain/_group_photos/heath_ledger5.jpg

[RockHard]

RE: "Brokeback" and politics

 

"It is depressing to note that Maurice, written 1913/15, almost a hundred years ago, is in this respect a much more progressive, hopeful, and politically challenging message than BM"

 

I'm not surprised SO MANY gay men have this need to politicize Brokeback Mountain or any Hollywood film featuring homo characters. Plenty of you are repressed and fighting for some kind of equality while some of you are angry and just want a fight. I think many of you just hate feeling melancholy. Who can blame you?

 

Ang Lee has NO political agenda in Brokeback. There is NO MESSAGE. And Hollywood DIDN'T interfere (much) with Lee's vision of this 1997 story, which won the National Magazine Award.

 

Brokeback Mountain is a film based on a beautifully written story and the result is rapturous. It's nothing more. Frankly, it's amazing it ever got made in this hyper conservative climate. We gay men owe a great debt to Mr. Lee, Mr. Ledger and Mr. Gyllenhaal: this movie will have profound effect on many who see it and I believe the effect will be positive.

 

I wish more gay men would get to their computers and write. Maybe some of the whiners could come up with "a much more progressive, hopeful, and politically challenging message" that someone will care about.

 

Yada, yada, yada. Just give me a good story and an equally great film adaptation. I'm pretty easy to satisfy. (NOT) But, then again, I'm not angry and I love my life.

 

"PS: And finally after the movie there was an unusually long line into the men's restroom"

 

Oh Steven, you're so gay.

[Guest JohnPela]

RE: "Brokeback" and politics

 

>"It is depressing to note that Maurice,

>written 1913/15, almost a hundred years ago, is in this

>respect a much more progressive, hopeful, and politically

>challenging message than BM"

>

>I'm not surprised SO MANY gay men have this need to politicize

>Brokeback Mountain or any Hollywood film featuring homo

>characters. Plenty of you are repressed and fighting for some

>kind of equality while some of you are angry and just want a

>fight. I think many of you just hate feeling melancholy. Who

>can blame you?

>

>Ang Lee has NO political agenda in Brokeback. There is NO

>MESSAGE. And Hollywood DIDN'T interfere (much) with Lee's

>vision of this 1997 story, which won the National Magazine

>Award.

>

>Brokeback Mountain is a film based on a beautifully written

>story and the result is rapturous. It's nothing more. Frankly,

>it's amazing it ever got made in this hyper conservative

>climate. We gay men owe a great debt to Mr. Lee, Mr. Ledger

>and Mr. Gyllenhaal: this movie will have profound effect on

>many who see it and I believe the effect will be positive.

 

I AGREE WITH THE ABOVE. I JUST SAW BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN AGAIN IN MY HOMETOWN LAST NIGHT WITH FRIENDS. SEVERAL DURING DINNER TRIED TO SAY THIS MOVIE HAD POLITICAL UNDERTONES. I TOLD THEM IT IS A STORY ABOUT TWO PEOPLE FALLING IN LOVE AND FINDING THEIR LIFE MATE, WHO HAPPENS TO BE OF THE SAME SEX AND THE LOVE STORY BEING TRAGIC AND MUCH OF IT UNFULLFILLED. NO POLITICAL MESSAGE INVOLVED. THOUGH THIS MOVIE SHOULD HAVE A GREAT EFFECT ON THE LARGE STRAIGHT AUDIENCE THAT IS SEEING IT.

[Bilbo]

RE: "Brokeback" and politics

 

Until we are no longer second class citizens, our very existence is a political act. The same goes for any work of art about us, any newspaper article, any web site on which we congregate.