Posted on 12/09/2005 4:28:35 AM PST by jjm2111
OS ANGELES (Reuters) - It has wowed film festivals, won rave reviews and sparked Oscar buzz, but when "Brokeback Mountain," a.k.a. the gay cowboy movie, begins playing to general audiences on Friday, it faces its toughest challenge yet -- wooing mainstream America.
[snip]
...Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, risk alienating fans and sending their stars plummeting if, after watching the pair have sex on screen, audiences cannot see them any other way than gay.
Winning over middle America is important for the roughly $12.5 million movie because its backer, art house specialist Focus Features, wants a big box office and wider exposure for the film's themes of love, friendship and family ties.
[snip]
Gyllenhaal and Ledger say they are less concerned about their futures than the film's, which was directed by Ang Lee and based on Annie Proulx's story about two cowboys who meet in 1963 wrangling sheep in Wyoming and form a bond that transcends time and transforms their lives.
Ledger, whose career has suffered from several recent flops, also said the role gave him the opportunity to mature. "If you just be safe about the choices you make, you don't grow," he said.
[snip]
Critics have raved. Roger Ebert told Reuters: "Brokeback will become the kind of movie that you hear about at dinner parties that you feel you have to go see. [in the liberal Northeast]"
[snip]
But many industry watchers are skeptical of its crossover potential in a country divided into conservative states mostly in mid-America and the South and liberal states on the coasts.
"(But) we should probably recognize there are some areas and some groups that will oppose this film."
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
You're watching something from 1945 with a 2005 perspective. The two don't mix well and things get confused.
Funny, I thought I had a 1945 perspective and was trying to operate with it in 2005. Maybe you're right. All I know is I'm increasingly vexed and annoyed.
It only cost $12.5 million to make. If 1 of every 4 homos in the country goes to see it, it will make money.
I don't know any straight people with any urge to go see this picture. Including my uber-lefty commie sister and brother in law.
They seem to be hoping that public outrage will cause protests, thus boosting the noteriety of the film. I think the protests against The Passion of the Christ actually improved attendance at the showings. But I think the gay cowboy film will just fizzle without most of the public even being aware of its existence. No outrage, just a big yawn with a few retching sounds in the background.
Only if Al Queda ties me in a chair and prop my eyelids open, under threat if beheading.
As soon as the $1,000,000 check someone pays me to see it clears the bank.
Grilled steak, baked potatoes, vegetable casserole, spinach salad, homemade bread...and blackberry cobbler. Yum.
"BTW, is Ang Lee gay? Why did he do this?"
....
Hmmmm ..lets see..... could it be Ang Lee is playing crouching tiger hidden dragon? Gotta watch those Chinese. They sneaky wascals. What better way to chip away and "neuter" America's most heralded macho symbol which has always been unique compared to every other country, The American Cowboy. The Wild West. The Great Frontier....taking it up the a$$.
When someone shows you who they are, BELIEVE THEM!
Are there really people out there who go to see movies based on some sense of social obligation? The notion seems absurd.
What do you call a gay cowboy?
A faggot.
"Critics have raved. Roger Ebert told Reuters: "Brokeback will become the kind of movie that you hear about at dinner parties that you feel you have to go see.."
Roger Ebert talks about guys having sex while he's eating? No wonder I don't watch his show...
Ebert makes Elton John look macho.
LOL!!!!
Thanks.. that was good.
"Hulk" will still gross more money than "Brokeback Mountain" even though it was a "disappointment".
Lots of pretty good movies don't do well at the box office - as a fan of non-mainstream cinema I know this all too well. I don't know how good Brokeback Mountain is, but I wouldn't read too much into its box office given that its subject is aimed at a non-mainstream audience.
A) depends how much was invested in it. NC had a $35mn budget, did about $8mn in sales. B) This message movie is meant to move the unwashed masses. C) You are talking about the low budget art films; there I agree. D) to be fair, BM is benefiting from an unbelievable amount of free publicity, AKA propoganda.
oh I bet they were "wrangling" with those sheep...
sorry I just couldn't let that one go by
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