Posted on 01/22/2006 4:47:02 PM PST by Dr. Scarpetta
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Gay cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain" has left its competition in the dust, surging to the front of the Oscars race just as voters cast their ballots for next week's Academy Awards nominations.
Taiwanese director Ang Lee's story of forbidden macho love in 1960s Wyoming got a huge boost by reining in four Golden Globe Awards, Hollywood's second-highest plaudits, just five days before polls were to close ahead of the January 31 unveiling of nominees for the 78th annual Oscars.
The 5,798 Academy members had until Saturday evening to fill out their nomination ballots and hand them in to auditors, who will tally the votes under great secrecy and determine the identity of the nominees in 24 categories.
But Hollywood pundits are already convinced that in a lacklustre awards season, dominated by smaller independent movies rather than major studio productions, "Brokeback" is the unequivocal early favourite for the top Oscars.
"'Brokeback' is way, way out front and was given major momentum by coming out the most honoured movie at Monday's Golden Globes," said Tom O'Neil, writer for the GoldDerby.com and the Los Angeles Times's TheEnvelope.com.
"But the race isn't over yet, and a lot could happen between now and the Oscars ceremony in March," he said of the prospects of the film starring Australian Heath Ledger and American Jake Gyllenhaal.
"Brokeback" is based on a short story by Annie Proulx and tells of two farmhands in rural America who fall in love and maintain an unfulfilled relationship over two decades. Lee won the best director Golden Globe for his interpretation.
The Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line," starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, is also a hot Oscars contender and is considered by many a favourite for best picture, best actor and best actress nominations, after picking up three Globes, including best musical, best actor and best actress.
"'Brokeback Mountain' and 'Walk the Line' are now the Oscars frontrunners, and I think that 'Capote' is a potential winner with good strength, not only for Philip Seymour Hoffman but also as a potential best picture nominee and winner," said Marty Grove, columnist for the HollywoodReporter.com.
Hoffman won the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama -- beating out Ledger for the prize -- for his startling turn as US author Truman Capote in the story of the circumstances surrounding the writing of his book "In Cold Blood."
George Clooney's politically charged drama "Good Night, and Good Luck," the story of 1950s US television anchorman Edward Murrow's crusade against the communist witchhunt of Senator Joseph McCarthy, is also seen as a likely best picture and best director contender at the Oscars.
Also vying for Oscar nods is Paul Haggis's racial drama "Crash," starring Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle and Matt Dillon, which O'Neil said could make a strong showing in the Oscars, despite its low awards profile so far.
"Crash" and "Good Night, and Good Luck" could be serious competition down the line for "Brokeback," O'Neil told AFP, warning that the Clooney film may yet snatch the best picture and best director statuettes from "Brokeback" and Lee.
But, experts said, while major studio epics -- including Peter Jackson's much-vaunted remake of "King Kong," starring Naomi Watts, and "Munich," Steven Spielberg's drama about Israel's hunt for Palestinian terrorists -- may win some Oscar nods, they are unlikely to dominate the awards.
Creating additional uncertainty in this year's race is the fact that Oscars organisers pushed back the ceremony to March 5 from February, creating an awards season vacuum in usually frantic February.
"There is this wild card this year, as the season is interrupted after the guild awards in January and then resumes in March, which could give Oscar voters the time to get bored and change their minds about their early favourites before the Oscars," O'Neil said.
The very influential Producers Guild awards will be given out on Sunday, the Directors Guild honours will be doled out on January 28 and the critical Screen Actors Guild awards will be handed out on January 29 -- more than a month before the Oscars.
"We'll have to wait and see whether this will be a boring Oscars year, where the outcome will be clear from the day of the nominations, or whether it will be one full of suspense and surprises," O'Neil said.
Ping
I think it's good we speak out. It joins the battle, marks the territory, and keeps the forces of evil from winning by default.
Canada is what you get when conservatives decline to join the battle or to speak out strongly and clearly on moral issues.
The Hollywood crowd thought "Deliverance" was another love story.
I thought it was Fudgepack Mountain.
I heard the "I've heard it's good, what's wrong with it" story three times this weekend. When I told them what it was about, there was a bit of shock because the ads on TV hide what it is really about.
That said, I'm ready for this one to go away. I will be glad when the Oscars are over. No amount of "buzz" is going to change anyone's mind either way.
So Hollywood—have your party. Enjoy yourselves. Pat yourselves on the back for your saintliness. Just don't expect most of us to show up to help you with it.
Ate puddin'
That's because only the deviants would go see it if they told the truth. Last night they had the commercial on repeatedly on Food Network. I couldn't take it anymore and had hubby change the channel. They are putting it on networks mostly females are likey to watch i've noticed on cable.. and guess what? They don't show the men doing things together, only them and their wives while calling it a love story. Tricky eh?
I really enjoyed Walk the Line, except for the middle part which dragged and was predictable to anyone who's seen a made-for-tv movie.
I've yet to talk to someone I know who actually saw the movie. I'm wondering what the women are saying who saw the movie by accident, thinking it's a love story.
It deserves recognition.
I think that the views of conservatives are generally the majority views in this country, including a generally disapproving attitude toward homosexuality and, especially, its promotion.
But our majority -- the old "silent majority" -- not only contains many who are silent but also many who are unaware. Such people need to have these things pointed out to them and their significance explained: It is not just a weird movie with gay cowboys. It is part of a cultural warfare changing the shape of media, schools, your workplace, and your kids' lives. When we get these issues out in the open and push back, we move politics and culture back in our direction.
The value of Rush is that he has been so successful in reaching out to large numbers of people once unaware. A reasonable amount of negative noise about this movie is an important part of making everyone aware. (I do not deny that it is possible to go over the top on an issue like this, however.)
Who outside of SoddomWood wants to see two Homosexual Sheep Herders pack fudge?? No Agenda Here!@
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
Keran Chetry of Fox News liked it a lot...
The negative noise didn't reach my 80 yr old aunt who wanted to see it.
Actually, I hope this garbage wins a pile of Oscars, especially Best Picture.
These awards are a joke anyway and I think that our side would benefit from the spectacle. Plus it would be "noise" not created by any of the usual suspects on the right. Maybe Auntie will stay up late that night and get the word!
Pretty soon little kids across this country, will think homosexuality is just a choice. "Do I want to go out with a girl or a boy?"
That's definitely what got me to go see it! I can only watch something talked about so much before I have to give in and check it out for myself. And then my sister wanted to go, and brought her husband. And of course I needed to go with a date, who invited her brother too, who brought his fiance along. Yup, that's how it works.
Repeating previous comments, other threads:
All these "news" articles being plastered all over networks and sites, including this one here, are the result of the overtly zealous Universal Public Relations and Marketing Departments.
Unfortunately, many people read these "articles" and assume it's crashing news. It's nothing more than some wire employee resubmitting Press Release information from Universal to the daily wire feed.
Be aware of when you are being both hyped and conned. Universal just HAS to announce that their film, "BM" is going gangbusters because Universal is depending upon manipulating the film into an Academy Award.
THAT's the process. It's PROCESS of film marketing. In reality, who sees this title? Urban repeat viewers and the homosexual community.
Universal's making it out to be that the 'whole world' is oozing enthusiasm over this product of theirs. It's marketing hype and readers should take note.
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.