Hope I'm not spoiling it for anyone watching the show but "Brokeback Mountain" has won Best Picture at the Critic's Choice Award. AFI has also name it best picture of the year.
Wow!
I guess I have to see it. (I've been holding back even though the indicators are good.)
I want to see it--but there's absolutely no one I could take who'd think it was appropriate.
I guess I'll have to wait for it to come out in video.
Or go alone?
I've been doing that more lately, kinda nice. Not that I see movies that often, but the last 2-3 have been solo. (Usually when there is a limited engagement with open captions and E.G. isn't available/ isn't interested, and it's too old for sozlet.)
Wow.
I'd never thought of going alone.
You know, once the movie starts, it's not like you're talking to anyone...
I may try that!
Great idea -- I saw it alone the first time and am seeing it again tomorrow near the gallery with a co-worker and a client. I'm bringing three boxes of kleenex.
From a BBC news release:
Critics honour Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain leads the Golden Globes nominations
Cowboy romance Brokeback Mountain has secured three more prizes at the 11th annual Critics' Choice Awards.
The epic movie, adapted from a short story by E Annie Proulx, was voted best film by the critics, who have a reputation for picking Oscar winners.
Director Ang Lee was named best director, while Michelle Williams was jointly named best supporting actress.
The tale of forbidden love between two men leads the nominees for the Golden Globes, due to be announced next week.
Williams, who plays the disappointed wife to Heath Ledger's character Ennis Del Mar, shared her prize with Amy Adams, for the comedy Junebug.
"We trusted the tale and it led us to where it wanted to go ... we are getting a better reception than we thought," said Taiwanese-born director Lee, speaking after the awards.
It's a great film. I'm glad to see that it's winning awards.
I see films alone all the time, Lash. Don't miss this one! Some films should be seen on a big screen and this is one. The scenery and cinematography won't be nearly as impressive on a TV.
Oh, and definitely bring Kleenex.
I sogged up a bunch of Kleenex and it has been years since a film has been able to get that emotional response from me. I wasn't embarrased because I could barely find anyone leaving the theater who wasn't -- many have remarked how that happened with "Passion of the Christ," except here nobody was thrashed to death.
I may have to go watch it alone too
Second time around, just as powerful if one lets themselves be drawn in by the imagery and the emotions of the characters. Ang Lee leaves it to the viewer to hear the emotional inner voices as much of the direction of the charcters is very Kubrick. Again, the majority of a matinee audience (the theater was well attended) remained seated when the credits rolled and I think its because they were too stunned to get up.
I'm sorry but for those who don't get this picture, you may be suffering from cold fish syndrome.
Rightwing religious zealots are being served giant plates of crow in the lobby:
Utah Theater Snub Can't Bridle 'Brokeback Mountain'
by Brandon Gray
January 9, 2006
Last week, distributor Focus Features set up 484 theaters for Brokeback Mountain's expansion, but on Friday that figure was revised to 483. The difference was one theater in Utah.
The Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy decided to pull director Ang Lee's cowboy love story at the last minute on Thursday night, despite having agreed to play the picture. The theater is owned by Larry H. Miller, who also owns the Utah Jazz, a National Basketball Association team.
"It's the most despicable practice that any exhibitor can do," Focus' head of distribution, Jack Foley, told Box Office Mojo. "It was a flagrant dismissal of a commitment, and without even a phone call. So I'm not in business with him anymore. It's a breach of contract. It's unethical. We can sue him."
Calls to the Megaplex 17 resulted in "no comments" in regards to why Brokeback Mountain was yanked. "You're not going to get any comment from us on that," said Dale Harvey, General Manager for Megaplex Theatres.
As of Sunday, Megaplex Theatres' Web site had Transamerica, a comedy-drama about a transsexual parent, listed for Jan. 20 in their "Coming Soon" section, but the movie has since vanished from their schedule.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been the Megaplex 17's top draw in recent weeks, grossing over $27,000 this past weekend. "It's a family show, and we generally do well with those," Harvey noted.
The Megaplex 17 is showing Hostel as well. Though No. 1 nationwide, the sex-and-gore saturated horror picture ranked fourth at the theater with $10,700.
Moviegoers in the Salt Lake City area still have a chance to see Brokeback Mountain as the picture is playing at three other theaters: the Broadway Center Cinemas in Salt Lake City, the Century 16 in South Salt Lake and the Cinemark 24 at Jordan Landing.
On the four-day New Year's frame, Brokeback Mountain earned $46,300 at the Broadway, landing among the top nationwide per-screen averages that weekend. For the weekend ending Jan. 8, the movie took in $18,823 there, still No. 1 in the complex, after Focus added the Century 16 and Cinemark 24 on Friday.
At the Century 16, Brokeback Mountain was also No. 1 with $12,741. Harvey pointed out, though, that the picture was No. 6 at the Cinemark 24, where it made $7,056.
Brokeback Mountain is one of the most talked about movies in theaters now, and the Megaplex 17's dismissal of the picture garnered them publicity, including a headline on the Drudge Report.
Despite the Utah slight, Brokeback Mountain rode into about 80 more markets over the weekend and roped $5.7 million. At 483 theaters, the movie averaged a bustling $11,856 per site, and the total sits at $22.4 million after 31 days of limited release. Its production budget was $14 million.
"We no longer have to worry about breaking down the homophobic barriers, and [Brokeback Mountain's] now breaking into the more mainstream boomer market," said Foley. Foley will accelerate the movie's expansion again, reaching over 700 theaters on Friday.
With a raft of rave reviews, awards and media hype, including frequent jokes on late night talk shows, Brokeback Mountain has spun its negative perception of being "that gay cowboy movie" into a positive?-the label put the picture on the map and then marketing savvy and word-of-mouth took over.
"To me, on a personal basis, that [gay cowboy label] annoyed me, but it was a liability and an asset," Foley said. "It certainly identified it. The good news is that the gay community and the art house audience saw it, and, now, the suburbs are just as solid. In most of the new theaters, the film ranks No. 1, and these are commercial houses."
Elsewhere, Brokeback Mountain's lead actor, Heath Ledger, went from repressed homosexual to legendary womanizer with his other movie in release, Casanova. The Lasse Hallstrom-directed period comedy wooed $4 million from its nationwide expansion to 1,004 theaters. The picture has captured a soft $5 million in 15 days.
Among Brokeback Mountain's presumed Oscar competitors, Universal's Munich went wide as well, grossing $7.6 million at 1,485 locations?-up 953 from last week. With $25.4 million in 17 days, Steven Spielberg's $70 million action drama about Israel's response to the Palestinian terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics is on track to be the director's lowest grossing picture since Amistad in 1997.
On the other hand, Match Point is on course to be Woody Allen's highest-grossing movie in years, although the bar is a tiny fraction of Mr. Spielberg's. The DreamWorks-distributed thriller scored $2.7 million in its expansion to 304 venues for $3.6 million in 12 days, and a nationwide release to over 700 sites is scheduled for Jan. 20.
-from Box Office Mojo
Four Golden Globes including Best Picture and Best Director -- maybe I was more excited about the Best Song! Although Heath and Michelle lost out to some stiff competition, this should boost "Brokeback Mountain" into the box offices annals for small films (it is actually a major studio behind the film, Universal with Focus Features).
This whole thing reminds me of a recent article by (A.O. Scott? Anthony Lane? Don't remember) about how there are far fewer awful films these days but far fewer great ones, too. About how the same risk-taking that produces greatness produces awfulness, and major studios are allergic to risk. This was a risk-taker, and good for them.
Absolutely, good for them. Universal and Focus Features are on their way to doing greater things than the dominant Miramax who have now lost their key executives.
Ang Lee lauded this year as a great one for films as well as Ebert and Roeper. Search out the gems and one can state that 2005 was a great year for movies. Now whether major studios will now conscientiously produce some really good gay themed films or end up exploiting the thematic material remains to be seen.
Ang Lee is such an awesome filmmaker - I know people also didn't repond well to Hulk but I think Lee has a way of understanding his materials so well (like formatting structure of Hulk like actual comic strips) and unfold them subtly on screen. Perhaps too subtle for the general public? If you look at the list of films he's made over the yrs, it's just amazing the depth and variety of genres and stories he's experimented with. So following in that vain, Brokeback Mountain is yet another masterpiece - keep it coming Ang Lee!!
Heath Ledger on Jay Leno, explaining his absence from the post press conferance and parties at the Golden Globes:
HEATH LEDGER ON THE TONIGHT SHOW
The film has also garnered nine BAFTA nominations, the British Oscars.
And Jake Gyllenhaal on Leno:
JAKE ON LENO LINK
