BlueWizard goes to the movies: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and KING KONG- Page 5

[cturtle]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:31pm

i saw the very first showing of the film in atlanta, and the audience was 95% gay men. hopefully that will change as the run continues ...

Updated On: 12/21/05 at 12:31 PM

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:33pm

i think while that may be true of ennis, wizard, that your statements do not portray jack at all. he very much knew what he wanted but he never found the man to fulfill his dream with.

True; I should amend my original post. I was mostly referring to Ennis, since I think BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is largely his story.

What could Ennis have done? I guess he could have left his kids behind and followed Jack, but he was too caring a father. In an ideal world, he'd integrate his two lives, but not in closeted Wyoming.

I guess it comes down to that question of Greek tragedy, hamartia: given the disposition of Ennis, could he really have lived any other life other than the one he had? Was he doomed?

Updated On: 12/21/05 at 12:33 PM

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:33pm

evelyn, do you mean that BM's marketing was inspired by titanic? surely not the story, right?

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:34pm

The poster is, according to reports.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:37pm

"When it came time to design the poster for the film, [co-president of Focus Features and frequent Lee collaborator James] Schamus didn’t research posters of famous Westerns for ideas. He looked at the posters of the 50 most romantic movies ever made. 'If you look at our poster,' he says, 'you can see traces of our inspiration, 'Titanic'.'"

http://towleroad.typepad.com/towleroad/2005/11/brokeback_poste.html

[DG]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:39pm

Robb - I can see how some might draw a simplistic comparrison between the stories of two people who were not supposed to be together, and ultimately one died.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:40pm

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:43pm

I'm glad some critics are recognizing what is still a human-driven performance:


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The hirsute star of Peter Jackson's "King Kong" will receive a special honor at the 11th annual Critics' Choice Awards on January 9.

The Broadcast Film Critics Assn., the group behind the event, created the Distinguished Achievement in Performing Arts Award to recognize what it called "the singular achievement in creating this character, representing a revolutionary leap forward in synthesizing visual effects with an actor's performance."

"Many BFCA members wanted to vote for Kong for best actor because they were so impressed by the astonishing way in which he expresses love, lust, humor and rage in the tradition of the finest human actors," BFCA president Joey Berlin said.

The award will be accepted by Andy Serkis, the actor who breathed life into Kong. Jackson and his crew are creating new footage for the event.


King Kong knocks out film critics

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:47pm

I also own every gay themed movie ever made--and yes RobbO, even the sad, unhappy-ending ones. I don't view this as a gay film. It was made for and is being marketed to a straight audience to recoup the investment; which is part of my problem with the film. The audience at the showing I attended in Philadelphia was almost all gay. Not a single one of my many, many straight friends has seen the film. My coworkers aren't talking about it and I am openly gay at work so that is not the issue. It will be interesting to see how it does financially over the long hall.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 12:50pm

The marketing of BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is bothering me too (especially the interviews with Jake and Heath), but that shouldn't take away from the artistic accomplishment of the film. If you forget that two defiantly straight Hollywood studs are playing the leads, it's a truthfully-told movie.

Updated On: 12/21/05 at 12:50 PM

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 1:08pm

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 2:57pm

i don't think ennis was thinking of his kids when he refused to leave his wife or, later on, move to texas. the thought of two men living together was just too foreign to him and then there was his boyhood memory of the old rancher who was killed.

Updated On: 12/21/05 at 02:57 PM

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 2:58pm

somms, i think you'll find more and more that people will be hearing and talking about this movie. right now because it's only open in 69 theatres, mainly independent film lovers and people who are seeking the movie out make up the audience.

i'll bet that changes drastically in the next month.

also, somms, remember that you saw the movie in a major city in a neighborhood known to be very gay-friendly and in a theatre chain that attracts many gays (and arthouse movie lovers).

Updated On: 12/21/05 at 02:58 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 3:14pm

i don't think ennis was thinking of his kids when he refused to leave his wife or, later on, move to texas. the thought of two men living together was just too foreign to him and then there was his boyhood memory of the old rancher who was killed.

I think he was considering both; he tries to be a good father, but I agree -- I think he was afraid.

I also just wanted to say that Heath looks excellent on the cover of the Advocate.

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 3:16pm

i don't think he was that good of a father either. one of the things that bothered me in the movie was when ennis dropped off his daughter at her house and was driving away before she even got fully inside the house.

it struck me as unfatherly since if i was a father i would wait to make sure my daughter was safely inside before i drove away. random, yes, but it stood out.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 3:17pm

Quite true; I think he's very torn -- at times he wants to be a good father to his children, and at others he only does the bare minimum because he has to. His mind, often, is elsewhere.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 8:46pm

I can't recall there ever being a strong remake of any film, so I think Jackson's KING KONG easily takes the crown here.

I just hope this film has long legs at the box office; if it doesn't do well, I think it'll be the end of these kinds of ambitious projects, with the exception of sequels and adaptations -- which would be a pity, because the movie really took me back to my childhood and the thrill of watching something on the big screen for the first time. This must have been what it felt like for the 1933 audience watching the original KING KONG.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 8:46pm

Back to the posters for a moment -- I own the Titanic poster, and I asked my mom to get me the Brokeback Mountain poster for Hannukah. I think I should hang them near each other.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:03pm

Well, I've already posted them side by side, so you be the judge of how good they look together. Personally, I think they make a very nice match, so I hope that your Hannukah wish is granted!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:05pm

Thanks! I have a feeling it will be; my mom's a bad liar. So when she says "maybe" that's a yes.

They look really nice together.

Now I just have to get her to the movies.

Updated On: 12/21/05 at 09:05 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:48pm

I agree, Wizard. I really hope KONG eventually meets up to its expectations box office-wise.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:59pm

I just saw this film this afternoon and I'm a little confused about one thing. I'm sure someone can answer this. When Ennis called Jack's wife about his death and she described how he died, did they show a flashback of guys beating and killing Jack (meaning he didn't die on the road, but was the victim of a hate crime) or was that some other flashback? My mind must have been wandering and I wasn't paying attention.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:01pm

Jane, this thread should help you:
The End of Brokeback Mountain

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:16pm

Thanks, emcee. I agree with some of the posts-the wife knew all about the love affair between the two guys. She made up the story about the tire. He really was beaten to death.

[DG]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 1:08am

Out of the top 15 tracked movies (for box office), BROKEBACK and KONG were the only two that dropped in takein from Monday to Tuesday. That may not bode well for the 'word-of-mouth' on these two pics.