Hollywood Rocked: 'Gay Cowboy' Movie Becomes an Oscar Frontrunner

Drudge Report ^ | November 6, 2005

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XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN NOV 06, 2005 19:28:02 ET XXXXX

HOLLYWOOD ROCKED: 'GAY COWBOY' MOVIE BECOMES AN OSCAR FRONTRUNNER

Arriving with nudity and explicit gay sex scenes between two cowboys, UNIVERSAL/FOCUS FILMS's BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN has quietly become an award season frontrunner, interviews with Academy members reveal.

"It could very well be the last film standing at this year's Oscars," a top Hollywood producer not associated with the film explained from Hollywood.

"There was not a dry eye in the house at the screening at Telluride [Film Festival in Colorado]," says the producer, who asked not to be named out of respect for the cast and crew of the producer's own Oscar contender. "Watch it come out of the gate at the Golden Globes with super controversy."

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS critic Jack Mathews predicts the gay cowboy movie, which takes place in Wyoming, may be "too much for red-state audiences, but it gives the liberal-leaning Academy a great chance to stick its thumb in conservatives' eyes."

Director Ang Lee's movie staring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger won the Golden Lion, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival earlier this fall.

But will a movie even Madonna calls "shocking" sit with the heartland?

Playwright and lifelong Wyomingite tells the STAR-TRIBUNE of Casper this week that she has never encountered a gay cowboy, and doesn't think it's right for Hollywood to portray Wyoming as a state with gay cowboys.

Her message to the writers of BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN: “Don't try and take what we had, which was wonderful -- the cowboys that settled the state and made it what it was -- don't ruin that image... There's nothing better than plain old cowboys and the plain old history without embellishing it to suit everyone."

Meanwhile, Michell Howard of the state's Travel and Tourism Division says her agency is already hearing a buzz that people in other countries are expressing interest in visiting Wyoming because of the film.

“It's gotten rave reviews from the international community,” she said. “I don't know if they're more tolerant or something, but they're viewing it as a great Western movie.”

Developing...

[Captain Peter Blood]

By the way is the setting of this film the Old West or the Modern West?

[pollyannaish]

This garbage will not make money and it will engender a backlash.

And Hollywood will revel in the cold chill of their victimhood, because they will finally feel alive.

[ark_girl]

Clearly they're confused. People in the red states don't give a crap who wins those awards....we learned a long time ago that the quality of the movie is frequently inversely proportional to the amount of acclaim it gets from those people.

[ark_girl]

The beauty being that Mel got all the money since they wouldn't back him. So, they STILL didn't get to capitalize.

[coydog]

Did you ever hear, during the 80's of a film called Making Love which had Kate Jackson in it? It made the "daring" step of portraying a gay relationship and got laughed out of the local theatres. My parents had gone to see it because they liked Kate Jackson, but ended up laughing at the 'romance' scenes along with the rest of the audience. From Dad: "I only go to a movie once every five years and THIS is what I get!"

[Captain Peter Blood]

Well I had asked thte question what era this movie was set in and here it is from IMDB "A raw, powerful story of two young men, a Wyoming ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, who meet in the summer of 1963 sheepherding in the harsh..."
So we aren't talking about the Old West but the Modern West of 1963.
I am sure many of you remember Clark Gable's last film, the title was "The Misfits", this might be a better title for this film.

[Awgie]

"And Hollywood will revel in the cold chill of their victimhood, because they will finally feel alive."

Sounds like the start of a good screenplay.

[SouthernFreebird]

I'm saving a fortune on all the movies I'm not watching.

[laney]

Modern West...At least Bonanza was not gay but the Rifelman was definetly GAY!

[fella]

Wow. Were they eating any pudding in the movie?

Just keep Kenny away from 'em. "South Park" leads the way again.

[pollyannaish]

Ok...let's work on it! ; ) I hear there is a huge untapped market just sitting there waiting to be taken.

[doug from upland]

I will never be able to look at THE PATRIOT the same again. This is disgusting.

[Seizure]

True. This movie is another lame attempt at tarnishing a facet of American identity. Unfortunately, Hollywood has been successful in its culture war. I hear people complain but they still pay for the tickets or rent/purchase the dvd.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Somebody tell these "people" that a cowboy is supposed to mount his horse, not his buddy.

[raccoonradio]

Gay caballeros.

[sayfer bullets]

"Nope...just trying to imagine what the dialogue would be like in a Western where the male leads have sex with each other."

"...I'm nought gonna #@$# ya...I'm not gonna @*## ya...Like hell I'm not.!..."

[dersepp]

Shoulda been "Bareback Mountain."

[OSHA]

All I can say is thank goodness Gene, Roy and Tex are not alive to see this.

[Disambiguator]

Hollywood hasn't abandoned the adult market.

All they seem to make any more are "adult" films.

The real challenge is to find something you can watch with your kids.

[razorback-bert]

Lance "Bambi" Alworth