Posted on 12/22/2005 8:26:10 PM PST by rightwinggoth
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gay and political films are dominating this year's Academy Awards race with some experts expecting that Oscar will wind up wearing pink, either for left-leaning politics or sexual preference.
As Hollywood starts its annual awards season leading to the March 5 Oscars, key front-runners in main categories are either gay-themed or political films, with Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," a drama of love between cowboys, leading the pack in the all-important best picture race.
"It could be the gay Oscars this year because gay-themed movies could win almost all the major awards," said Tom O'Neill, show business awards columnist for The Envelope.Com., referring to the sudden dominance "Brokeback Mountain" has gained so early in the race.
"'Brokeback' is going to be hard to beat. Rarely do we have this kind of award consensus for a movie, and its director (Taiwan's Ang Lee) is long overdue for an Oscar," O'Neill said.
"Brokeback," the first gay romance to make a bid for mainstream respectability, has already won the top awards handed out by critics in New York and Los Angeles and copped seven nominations for the January 16 Golden Globes, often a key indicator as to which way the Oscar wind might be blowing.
As for political films -- the field is crowded with potential winners: "Munich," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Syriana," and "The Constant Gardener."
Many experts predict that "Brokeback's" toughest competition could come from either George Clooney's "Goodnight, and Good Luck," a steely-eyed examination of the McCarthy era, or "Munich," Steven Spielberg's study of the price Israel paid for its reprisals for the murder of its athletes at the 1972 Olympics.
DON'T COUNT "MUNICH" OUT
Before the race began and before anyone had a chance to see Spielberg's movie, it was being touted as the odds-on favorite to snare the best picture award, namely because Spielberg is a revered figure in Hollywood and had chosen to make his most serious movie since "Schindler's List."
The film is an examination of the cost of fighting terrorism and whether a democracy can use methods like targeted assassinations without destroying or shaming itself.
The film was hit by a backlash as soon as it was shown to Jewish American and Israeli groups, who argue that Spielberg ignored arguments that Israel was justified in using the methods it does in the war against terrorists.
New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier wrote that "'Munich' prefers a discussion of counterterrorism to a discussion of terrorism; or it thinks that they are the same discussion. This is an opinion that only people who are not responsible for the safety of other people can hold."
David Poland of Movie City News said that "Munich" has to overcome the impression that it is anti-Israeli and possibly can do this "because the anti-Israeli accusation is a neoconservative one and not a mainstream Jewish one."
He noted that at screenings at the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose members give out the Oscars, "Munich" was well received.
Poland, himself, is optimistic, predicting that "'Munich will still win the Academy Award. I think 'Brokeback' will suffer when it goes into a wider viewing."
Other films with gay characters or gender-challenging themes that have won prominence this year include "Capote," thanks to its standout performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman as writer Truman Capote, and "TransAmerica," with Felicity Huffman winning rave reviews as a man on the verge of completing a sex change.
In this movie, she's a woman playing a man about to become a woman and if that sounds easy, rest assured it isn't.
"Brokeback Mountain" is also doing well at the box office -- even though it is only in 69 theaters, it was last week's eighth-highest-grossing movie.
Howdya figure? Faggot films aren't chick flicks. Women like to see traditional romances.
"Hello, is this thing on?"
I suggest that you and all others, myself included- who are SICK and TIRED of Hollywierdos, and their boring, sick, lame, perverted "movies" which seem to be attached to uneducated, left wing moon-bat political opinions disguised as "movie promotions" - spend your time more wisely. Buy some bait, go fishing, spend time with the kids, or dump your Democrat girlfriend. ANYTHING but spend a penny for Hollywierd. Buy a "Bollywood" movie in spite.
Went to see Narnia today and was one of the best movies ever. Disney did a great job and did not hide the message of Jesus. Great movie.
Pray for W and Our Victorious Troops
That reminds me I have to write my contribution check to Focus on the Family before the end of the year.
Plus "Bareback Mount-Me"...every single film a far-left wing diatribe or propaganda piece. Amazing! Hollyweird clearly wants a wrose box office next year than their record low in 2005.
The whole thing comes down to the fact that most Americans realize that Hollywood is now promoting its liberal/left agenda and that their "thought monopoly" is gone. Thirty years ago most Americans looked at the evening news (NBC, CBS, ABC) at the same time and heard the same opinions from the same three anchors expressing the same things. Now, with the internet, talk radio, and 24/7 cable news that monopoly is gone forever. Still, Hollywood remains clueless. They are stuck in the 50's and 60's. I'm not saying that good films must have conservative or liberal orientation - far from it. But somehow in some way some modicum of "objectivity" must be restored if these producers ever expect to regain any respect or support.
Speaking of Bollywood, Korean soap opera drama DVDs are all the rage in Hawaii and California.
And they're G-rated.
My money is on PeeWee Herman. He is both gay and a pedophile.
These Oscars are a free advertisement for the Republican Convention! I wish they were closer to election day in 2006.
I live near a small "city" town, which has one theatre, I know the owner well. The show has been running since Tuesday, and runs 2 times nightly, 7&9 pm. last show tonight. In that town of 25,000 people, The owner says he has sold 95 tickets in total for the three days. He's never seen such a poor crowd in all his years he claims.
I'm sure it'll do well in the Middle East! Not!
Why did he show it? How many screens does he have? It should have been obvious this movie wouldn't do well in his theater.
Let's turn them off.
Anyone want to guess how it will do at the boxoffice......
I bet it does great on Middle East TV, though. I suspect most of these terrorists are pervs who do it with boys, as I've read is the case more often in the Middle East than you might think.
I've never seen any of that stuff. Are they any good? I'm not much of a TV or movie fan, regardless of who makes them.
I became sickened by the industry years ago, turning on the TV just bombards a person with Hollywierdo "news" and perversions of the sick and twisted, repeated 10 times a day on every "free" channel a person can receive with rabbit ears.
I have on occasion sat at friend's houses and watched "satellite TV, where they can get 350 channels, which broadcast the same hollywierdo "news" and perverted lifestyles ten times a day. I can never understand why anyone would pay for that.
And freep instead!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.