Author Topic: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5  (Read 50089 times)

Offline Kindred

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News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« on: Jan 30, 2006, 09:59 AM »
(Didn't see a thread started for this week yet)

Article in CNN.com regarding Ang Lee winning the DGA:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/29/directors.guild.ap/index.html

The comment from Ang to Heath is hilarious!

'Brokeback' filmmaker is Directors Guild choice

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The most lauded movie of 2005 added another honor to its list Saturday.

Ang Lee was named filmmaker of the year by his peers, winning the Directors Guild of America award for the epic romance "Brokeback Mountain."

The win affirms Lee's position as favorite for best director at the Academy Awards on March 5. He has captured more than 10 honors for his work on the film, which follows a 20-year forbidden love affair between two Wyoming ranch hands. Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday.

The Directors Guild award is one of Hollywood's best barometers for the Academy Awards. Only six times in the 57-year history of the Guild honors has the winner failed to go on to win the directing Oscar.

Lee was one of them. He won the guild prize in 2000 for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," but Stephen Soderbergh took home the best director Oscar for "Traffic."

This year, Lee bested fellow guild nominees Steven Spielberg ("Munich"), Paul Haggis ("Crash"), Bennett Miller ("Capote") and George Clooney ("Good Night, and Good Luck).

"There's no winner," Lee said before earning the night's top prize. "I think we're all winners because we're blessed. We're filmmakers. What a life."

Based on a short story by E. Annie Proulx, "Brokeback" stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as roughneck shepherding pals who conceal their homosexual relationship from their families. Ledger and Gyllenhaal have garnered acting nods for their performances from critics groups and the Screen Actors Guild, which will present its awards Sunday.

"Ang Lee is fierce in his timidity, his humbleness and his respect for everyone around him," Gyllenhaal said as he presented the diminutive director with a medallion in honor of his nomination. "He's frustrating and so damn wise."

Ledger was equally generous with praise, thanking Lee for "introducing us to these delicate characters."

"It took a delicate man to tell this story, and that's you," Ledger said.

"I don't know about you," Lee said with a laugh, "but that feels a little gay to me."

The guild prize is particularly meaningful because it's decided by fellow directors, Lee said.

"This is like winning at home," he said. "This is professional approval."

Lee was also nominated for a DGA prize in 1995 for "Sense and Sensibility."

Spielberg, who has earned 10 guild nominations, characterized the year's nominated feature films as "the most courageous" of any he's competed against.

The DGA awards, presented at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel, honored directorial achievements in 10 categories.

Veteran director Clint Eastwood was presented with the guild's lifetime achievement award.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
« Last Edit: Jan 30, 2006, 10:49 AM by Kindred »

Offline monicita

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #1 on: Jan 30, 2006, 10:55 AM »
Gay indeed, I love it (and I love Ang, even though I do repeat myself)

monicita
Love is a many splendoured thing...

Offline ethan

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #2 on: Jan 30, 2006, 11:49 AM »
Hello, monicita, thanks for starting a weekly news coverage.
Remembering Pierre (chameau) 1960-2015, a "Capricorn bro and crazy Frog Uncle from the North Pole." You are missed

Offline ennisandjack

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #3 on: Jan 30, 2006, 04:31 PM »
Thanks for starting this thread :) 

Ang Lee is so sweet. gotta love that guy...

Offline jasonx

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #4 on: Jan 30, 2006, 05:51 PM »
 >:(

China censors decree gay cowboy film too sensitive

Monday, 30 January 2006
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=147802006

CENSORS in China have banned the screening of Brokeback Mountain because they object to its homosexual content.

The film is directed by the hugely popular Taiwanese director Ang Lee, whose 2000 Oscar-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon helped to raise the profile of Chinese cinema internationally.

But a report by the official Xinhua News Agency said that the film's "sensitive topic" of gay love meant that it could not be screened.

World Trade Organisation rules require China to screen a minimum of 20 foreign films a year.

Gay activists in China have regularly complained of harassment and discrimination.

Last month, Beijing police closed down a gay and lesbian arts festival, saying organisers did not have the necessary permission to hold the event.

Officially there are 40 million homosexuals in China, but unofficial figures suggest the number may be nearly double that.

Offline tpe

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CNN: 'Mountain' looms over Oscar nominations
« Reply #5 on: Jan 31, 2006, 10:11 AM »
From http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/31/oscar.nominations/



'Mountain' looms over Oscar nominations
'Crash' earns six; Clooney picks up three

Tuesday, January 31, 2006 Posted: 1506 GMT (2306 HKT)

"(CNN) -- "Brokeback Mountain," the story of two male ranch hands who become romantically involved, led all films with eight nominations for the 78th annual Academy Awards.


"Brokeback Mountain" stars Heath Ledger, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal as ranch hands who have an affair.

"Brokeback," based on a short story by E. Annie Proulx, picked up nods for best picture, best director (Ang Lee), best actor (Heath Ledger), best supporting actress (Michelle Williams) and best supporting actor (Jake Gyllenhaal). Its screenplay adaptation, by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, also received a nomination.

The film already has won several awards this season, including best picture honors from the Golden Globes (drama), Broadcast Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Circle.

Tuesday was also a big day for George Clooney, who picked up nominations for directing "Good Night, and Good Luck" and co-writing its original screenplay with Grant Heslov. Clooney was also a pick for best supporting actor for his performance as a CIA agent in "Syriana."

"Good Night, and Good Luck" also received nominations for best picture and best actor (David Strathairn, who portrays TV newsman Edward R. Murrow), while "Syriana" earned a nod for best original screenplay for its director and writer, Stephen Gaghan.

Other nominees for best picture are "Capote," "Crash" and "Munich."

"Walk the Line," the Johnny Cash biography that has earned acting honors for stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, was shut out of the best picture race, but both Phoenix and Witherspoon were nominated in lead acting categories.

Forecasters on the mark

With a handful of exceptions, the nominations matched prognosticators' forecasts.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, who has garnered several awards for his portrayal of author Truman Capote in "Capote," was nominated for best actor. Ledger, Strathairn and Phoenix have been on many short lists. The category's mild surprise was "Hustle & Flow's" Terrence Howard, who earned critical raves but was seen by many as being on the bubble.

The best actress category is seen as a two-person race between Witherspoon, who played June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line," and Felicity Huffman, for her performance as a pre-op transsexual in "Transamerica." Other nominees are previous Oscar winners Charlize Theron ("North Country") and Judi Dench ("Mrs. Henderson Presents") and newcomer Keira Knightley ("Pride & Prejudice").

In the best supporting actor category, Paul Giamatti -- left out of the nominations last year despite being much-lauded for "Sideways" -- was nominated for his performance as boxing manager Joe Gould in "Cinderella Man." William Hurt, who popped up for short, sharp performances in "Syriana" and "A History of Violence," was nominated for the latter.

The other nominees are Clooney, Gyllenhaal and Matt Dillon ("Crash") .

Rachel Weisz, already a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award winner for "The Constant Gardener," earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. Her competition includes Amy Adams ("Junebug"), Catherine Keener ("Capote"), Frances McDormand ("North Country") and Williams ("Brokeback Mountain").

Newsweek, in its annual Oscar preview chat among likely nominees, hit it exactly right with the five directors it selected for this year's talk: Paul Haggis ("Crash"), Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain"), Bennett Miller ("Capote"), Clooney ("Good Night, and Good Luck") and Steven Spielberg ("Munich").

Other categories

Woody Allen, a frequent original screenplay nominee, was nominated once again, this year for "Match Point." His competition includes Clooney and Heslov, Gaghan, Haggis and Bobby Moresco ("Crash") and Noah Baumbach ("The Squid and the Whale").

The nominees for best adapted screenplay are McMurtry and Ossana; Dan Futterman, "Capote"; Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"; Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"; and Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich."

Oscar steered away from computer-animated films this year, picking "Howl's Moving Castle," "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" and "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-rabbit" for best animated feature. The latter two were done with stop-action figures.

After "Brokeback's" eight nominations, three films follow with six: "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Memoirs of a Geisha." "Geisha" was shut out of the major categories.

"Munich" received five nominations.

None of the year's blockbusters was well represented. "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" received one nomination, for makeup -- perhaps the first time a "Star Wars" film did not receive a special effects nomination. "King Kong" picked up four nods, but only in technical categories, and "War of the Worlds," Spielberg's other 2005 film, also picked up three nods in technical categories.

The awards will be held March 5 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California. Jon Stewart is the host, and ABC will broadcast the ceremony.


Offline tpe

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From the NY Times: http://nytimes.com/2006/01/31/movies/redcarpet/31cnd-oscars.html?hp&ex=1138770000&en=671a29f7f1112209&ei=5094&partner=homepage


'Brokeback Mountain' and Small Films Lead the Way in Oscars




Focus FeaturesHeath Ledger received a Best Actor nomination for his performance in "Brokeback Mountain," which was nominated for eight Academy Awards. Other nominees for best picture are "Capote," "Crash," "Munich" and "Good Night and Good Luck."
 
By SHARON WAXMAN
Published: January 31, 2006


LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31 —In a year when size counted for less than serious intent among voters, Oscar nominations were divvied up among small films with deep political and social themes, from gay romance to the abuse of government power to racial relations to the cycle of vengeance in the Middle East.

"Brokeback Mountain," a love story of two cowboys set over three decades, received eight nominations, including best picture, continuing a run that has put it in lead position as the awards season unfolds.

Two other films in the best picture category had a total of six nominations each: "Crash," a tapestry of racial tensions in Los Angeles, and "Good Night, and Good Luck," by actor-director-writer George Clooney, about newsman Edward R. Murrow's challenge of Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare.

The other Best Picture nominees were Steven Spielberg's "Munich," about the hunt by Israeli operatives for the killers of that nation's athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich; and "Capote," about writer Truman Capote's relationship with two murderers he profiled in his book, "In Cold Blood."

But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presents the awards, did not nominate in its top category several movies that had been otherwise feted or were the kind of crowd-pleasers it traditionally favors. Among those films shut out of best picture were "Walk the Line," about country singer Johnny Cash, which won the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy; "Cinderella Man," an inspirational boxing story by Oscar-winning director Ron Howard; the ambitious, monster epic "King Kong," by another Oscar winner, Peter Jackson; or "Memoirs of a Geisha," about that secret world of Japanese manners, by director Rob Marshall.

Mr. Clooney, the former television star who pursued movie stardom, in part, by donning a bat suit in "Batman & Robin," was nominated for three Oscars: best director and best screenwriter for "Good Night, and Good Luck," and best supporting actor for playing an embittered C.I.A. agent in "Syriana."

Mr. Clooney said he made "Good Night" because Murrow was one of his heroes, but also because he was frustrated by the lack of tenacity by modern-day journalists.

"I made it because I was upset with what was going on in broadcast journalism at the time, the ball was massively dropped about asking tough questions of anyone in power," he said, referring to when he wrote the film over a year ago. "That to me is the responsibility of the fourth estate. Everyone, even from the New York Times, should ask tougher questions."

Diana Ossana, who was nominated with Larry McMurtry for writing "Brokeback Mountain," based on the short story by Annie Proulx, said the film was changing attitudes in the country and starting a broader conversation about homosexual relationships and the nature of love.

"One of the jobs of art is to inspire discussion, and it certainly has done that," she said of the film. "It's like a window and a mirror. You're looking through a window at lives you may or may not have experienced. But it's a mirror in the sense we've all felt lonely, we're all, at one time or another, looking for and hoping for love."

Early this morning, she said Mr. McMurtry, her writing partner who has written many classic films including "The Last Picture Show," was still asleep and didn't know he had been nominated.

Other nominees for best actor were Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played the title role in "Capote," and won the Screen Actors Guild award last weekend for his performance; Terrence Howard, who played a pimp in "Hustle & Flow"; Heath Ledger, one of the lovers in "Brokeback"; Joaquin Phoenix, who was Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line"; and David Strathairn, who played Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck."

The best actress category singled out performances from pictures that were otherwise largely overlooked. They were Dame Judi Dench, who played a wartime widow in "Mrs. Henderson Presents"; Felicity Huffman, who played a man in the process of becoming a woman in "TransAmerica"; Keira Knightley, in the classic Jane Austen drama, "Pride & Prejudice"; Charlize Theron, who played a miner in "North Country"; and Reese Witherspoon, who won the Screen Actors Guild award on Sunday for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line."

"Memoirs of a Geisha" garnered six Oscar nominations, as many as "Crash" and "Good Night," but mainly in the technical categories.

The directors category mirrored that of best picture, with nominations for Ang Lee for "Brokeback Mountain," Mr. Spielberg for "Munich," Bennett Miller for "Capote" and Paul Haggis for "Crash," in addition to Mr. Clooney.

Mr. Clooney added humorously that he was surprised that these were his first nominations: "I was a little disappointed I didn't win for best actor in a batsuit with nipples," he said referring to his much-mocked performance in "Batman & Robin." " But I needed a specific category."


Offline ennisandjack

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #7 on: Jan 31, 2006, 08:46 PM »
Should we have a topic of its own for this article?

As you prefer  :)

Offline ennisandjack

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #8 on: Jan 31, 2006, 08:49 PM »
Time Magazine Article
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1154754,00.html

Who Can Derail The Brokeback Express?
An Oscar analysis of the nominations by TIME's Richard Corliss
By RICHARD CORLISS

Posted Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006
"The only way I can lose the election," Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards notoriously said in 1983, "is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy." Brokeback Mountain would have to go further to lose this year's Academy Awards race for best picture, since the live boys is what set the movie apart at first and helped position it as the Oscar film to beat.

In the Oscar nominations list announced this morning (complete list available) Brokeback shared the Best Picture category with Capote, Crash, Munich and Good Night, and Good Luck. But the gay cabellero movie led the pack with eight nominations, including six in major categories: Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Adapted Screenplay. No surprise here. This sere, soulful adaptation of the Annie Proulx short story had already snagged the Golden Globe for best drama, the Directors Guild Award for best director (Ang Lee) ,the Producers' Guild Award for best motion picture and the top laurels from nine critics groups and the Venice Film Festival (where it premiered last September).

But don't take the word of a mere professional movie-watcher. Pinnacle Sports.com, the largest sports betting site on the Internet, has already posted its Oscar odds. Brokeback is favored for Best Picture at a prohibitive 1 to 13, and director Lee at 1 to 19! In other categories, the Vegas sharpies like Philip Seymour Hoffman for best actor, Reese Witherspoon for best actress, and Paul Giaamatti and Rachel Weisz in the supporting actor slots.

No film hit double figures in the nominations tally, because none of the front-runners was the sort of megaproduction or David Lean-style period piece that can run up a half-dozen citations in the categories devoted to technical expertise (sound editing) or frou-frou artistry (art direction, costumes). These are all "people" movies and "issue" movies.

With four of the five top nominees (all but Munich) claiming the tag "indie productions," this is an Oscar year more dominated by non-blockbusters than any since 1997, when four "indie" nominees were The English Patient (the ultimate winner), Fargo, Secrets & Lies and Shine. (The fifth film was the Tom Cruise comedy Jerry Maguire.)

Then as now, an "independent" company was a subsidiary of a big studio. The division, though, remains clear: studios make their regular movies to earn money, and their indie movies to earn prestige which, as Oscar time nears, can mean the same thing. Look for Brokeback, between now and March 5, to double the $51 million it has cadged so far at the domestic box office. Munich may get a little bump, and the others will see their big business at the video store.

Indeed, an argument could be made that all five nominated films are independent; for what Hollywood filmmaker is more his own man than Steven Spielberg? He gets to do what he wants, whether it's a budget-busting remake of War of the Worlds or a medium-budget documentary-style thriller about the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes and its revenge aftermath.

The big box office pictures more or less eliminated themselves. Sure, Revenge of the Sith was the best Star Wars movie since the 80s, but that's not saying too much, and even then, only the original film got a Best Picture nomination; and George Lucas is seen as the remote figure up in Marin Country. Narnia: too twee, and maybe too Christian. King Kong did not burn up the box office at Lord of the Rings temperature, and at three hours it played like the first "director's cut DVD" shown in theaters. Harry Potter movies just keep getting better, but their target demographic misses the Academy's by about 80 years.

Let's take a glance at the big categories:


BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman, TransAmerica
Keira Knightley, Pride and Prejudice
Charlize Theron, North Country
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Never underestimate the power of the Weinsteins. After selling their interest in Miramax to Disney, Bob and Harvey had only four films to release through their own new company in late 2005 and two of them, Mrs. Henderson Presents and TransAmerica, picked up Best Actress nominations. Dench, taking her fifth acting nomination in nine years, can get nods even for walk-through performances, displays of the Dench hauteur, which is what her role here is. Huffman has a distinct shot: beloved in three strong acting communities (Chicago, New York and L.A.), blending mainstream work (in TV's Desperate Housewives) with indie stuff (TransAmerica), plus she plays a sympathetic, slightly freakish outsider, in a role requiring lots of makeup. Oscar loves that: see recent awards for Nicole Kidman in The Hours and Theron in Monster. In fact, I've just talked myself into saying she'll snatch the prize from till-now front-runner Reese Witherspoon, whose turn as June Carter Cash is lovely but clearly a secondary role in Walk the Line. Oh, and one other thing: Keira Knightley???

CORLISS FAVORITE: Reese Witherspoon
LIKELY WINNER: Felicity Huffman


BEST ACTOR
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck
How swell that Terrence Howard got a nomination in the super-indie Hustle & Flow! I'm also pleased that Joaquin Phoenix emerged from Witherspoon's shadow to get a nod. A win for either of them would be fine by me, but the race seems to be between Hoffman and Ledger. Hoffman's Capote is a stunt, a caricature, the kind Oscar often rewards, but it's also a great performance. Ledger, his character's emotions so internalized he's nearly made mute by his passion and guilt, would dominate any other year. But in the leading actor categories, I have to go with the Huffman-Hoffman ticket.

CORLISS FAVORITE: Terrence Howard
LIKELY WINNER: Philip Seymour Hofffman


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Junebug
Catherine Keener, Capote
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
In a very "guy" year, there's more action in the Supporting Actress category than the lead one. Weisz is smart, sexy, spiky in a movie where she'd dead in the first five minutes. Keener lends humanity to Capote, and is the earth mother (or big sister) of all indies. McDormand's role was obvious and shrill, but she tempered it with her usual intelligence. Williams plays arguably the one unequivocally sympathetic character in Brokeback, and does so with quiet yearning beauty. And Adams redefines "adorable" as the star-struck yokel in Junebug. I like all these actresses, and most of their roles, but I like most that Adams came from practically nowhere to beguile and break my heart. Ergo...

CORLISS FAVORITE: Amy Adams
LIKELY WINNER: Michelle Williams


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Matt Dillon, Crash
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt, A History of Violence
Clooney is here, I suspect, more as a thank you to a big star for using his wattage in honorable ways. Giamatti now carries Cinderella Man (since Russell Crowe wasn't nominated), and Dillon carries all the hopes of all the supporting actors in Crash. Hurt makes an indelible impression in his few minutes onscreen, and it's instructive to see that the most self-serious of actors can have menacing fun. But Gyllenhaal, the one important Brokeback actor who's been almost overlooked, should win.

CORLISS FAVORITE: Jake Gyllenhaal
LIKELY WINNER: Jake Gyllenhaal


BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, Brokeback
Bennett Miller, Capote
Paul Haggis, Crash
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Steven Spielberg, Munich
For sheer directing virtuosity, Spielberg was at the top of his game. But this category is not worth a full paragraph. The Angster has it.

CORLISS FAVORITE: Steven Spielberg
LIKELY WINNER: Ang Lee


BEST FOREIGN FILM
"Don't Tell," Italy
"Joyeux Noel," France
"Paradise Now," the Palestinian Authority
"Sophie Scholl: The Final Days," Germany
"Tsotsi," South Africa
Politics will make this category faascinating. Sophie Scholl, a very good film on a safe subject (the German student who defied Hitler's Reich and died for her bravery), is up against Paradise Now, a very good film on an incendiary subject (a Palestinian suicide bomber). Three years ago, the exemplary satire Divine Intervention was denied a Foreign Film nomination because Palestine, whence the film originated, was deemed "not a country." That rule was changed, and there's a distinct possibility that on Oscar night the winner will be "from the Palestinian Authority." Can Hamas' election victory scuttle a movie's chance at Oscar?

CORLISS FAVORITE: Paradise Now
LIKELY WINNER: Sophie Scholl: The Final Days


BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Howl's Moving Castle"
"Corpse Bride"
"Wallace & Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"
Funny that, in the year when old-fashioned animation was declared dead, there's not a single CGI film in this category: one traditional cartoon from Japan (Howl's Moving Castle) and two stop-motion film epics. What did Disney just pay $7 billion for?

CORLISS FAVORITE: Wallace & Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
LIKELY WINNER: Wallace & Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit


BEST PICTURE
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Crash"
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Munich"
Munich's nomination for Best Picture was no sure thing, because the film had managed to cause a rumpus on the left and the right. The main blasts came from Israelophiles who found the movie's anguished semi-evenhandedness a slur on the memory of a modern min-Holocaust. After Schindler's List, the gag went around town, "I knew Steven Spielberg before he was Jewish." Now, much of Hollywood was saying mournfully, "I knew Spielberg when he was Jewish." The ascendancy of Hamas (which Spielberg can't be blamed for) won't help. Neither will the film's middling box office. Three reasons why Munich can be the first film eliminated in the Best Picture countdown.

Capote will make do with Hoffman's Oscar. Good Night, and Good Luck is the kind of movie you invite to the Oscar party but don't ask to make a speech. That leaves Crash. It's the most Hollyuwood kind of indie picture: amazingly low-budgeted (about $5 million), serious to the point of solemnity, and with a cast of top stars doing charity work: smallish roles in a film with big, social ambitions. The actors' branch of the Acaademy is the largest, and they may have an itch to reward the kind of film that makes actors look good.

It's a long long time from January to March. Preferences and prejudices can change over the next few weeks. Academy members could conceivably be anesthetized by the roll call of Brokeback victories. But our guess is that Brokeback will proceed, at a pace as measured as the movie itself, toward the happy ending the film denied its main characters. If the consensus holds, the one challenge left will be for the film's makers, who already have given more than a dozen acceptance speeches, to find new phrases of gratitude on March 5... and to feign surprise when their names are called.

CORLISS FAVORITE: Brokeback Mountain
LIKELY WINNER: Brokeback Mountain

Offline ethan

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #9 on: Jan 31, 2006, 08:51 PM »
Thanks, I have moved it.

Here is the article.    Love makes ‘Brokeback’ Oscar favorite - MSNBC

http://www.ennisjack.com/index.php?topic=1025.0
Remembering Pierre (chameau) 1960-2015, a "Capricorn bro and crazy Frog Uncle from the North Pole." You are missed

Offline ethan

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Brokeback Nominees reaction
« Reply #10 on: Feb 01, 2006, 12:15 AM »
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -
Ang Lee had just returned to his home in New York Tuesday after taking his children to school and hoped to steal a few moments of sleep.

That plan was foiled when the news broke about 8:35 EST that his "Brokeback Mountain" led the Oscar pack with eight nominations, including his citation for best director.

Although "Brokeback's" string of guild nominations had positioned it for Oscar glory, Lee admitted, "we were hopeful, but there was a little anxiety, so this is very good."

As the movie -- which skeptics initially warned might play only to a narrow demographic -- has slowly spread across the U.S., Lee said: "It gives me lots of hope and has taught me a big lesson -- that I should never categorize people. Certainly, I've come to realize that there are more gay people out there than I realized. And I also think the movie speaks to people who are very thirsty and hungry to see something with true emotion and some complexity."

Lee was particularly gratified when "Brokeback" recently opened in his homeland, Taiwan, where it was rated as suitable for moviegoers 12 and older. It opened as the No. 1 film, he noted, and "all kinds of people have gone to see it."

The film's star,
Heath Ledger, was in a Los Angeles hotel bed with new wife and "Brokeback Mountain" co-star Michele Williams and their baby daughter, Mathilda, when they heard the news of their Oscar nominations.

"Supporting my partner and enjoying this awards season for her makes it so much more bearable," said Ledger as Williams made calls from another room in their suite. "It means you're not wrapped up in your own nomination. It's exciting, and I'm extremely proud of her. It's sweet. I'm also excited for Jake (Gyllenhaal) and Ang (Lee) and the movie, which is really beautiful, and Annie Proulx, the creator of this story. The biggest reward of this movie was my two girls: I was given a family, which is bizarre."

Williams, meanwhile, said the couple "might get a baby-sitter and go on a date."

Speaking from the set of "Zodiac," supporting actor nominee Gyllenhaal said he was asleep when his agent called him with the news.

"I try not to have expectations. I had given up expectations in the past little while, and it's done me a lot of good. I think it's good to leave your expectations at the door. I feel that way about my birthday, I feel that about Christmas, and I feel that way about this."

One of the first calls "Brokeback Mountain" cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto received after the Oscar nominations was from a popular radio station in Mexico City, his hometown. "It's an exciting day -- we have two Mexican cinematographers nominated," Prieto said of his colleague Emmanuel Lubezki, nominated for "The New World."

Prieto started work on "Brokeback Mountain" right after shooting
Oliver Stone's "Alexander."

"I'd say the camera and lighting packages were 10 times smaller on 'Brokeback,"' the first-time nominee said. "That didn't make shooting 'Brokeback' less challenging. We worked on a short schedule, the weather was not cooperating, and (we had) so many locations and time periods. I just never imagined that it would get the attention it's getting. I didn't think it was the kind of cinematography that would get noticed -- we tried to be as organic and unnoticeable as possible -- so it's very exciting."

When the nominations were announced, "Brokeback Mountain" composer Gustavo Santaolalla was in London, readying himself for a Tuesday evening Barbican Hall performance of "Ayre," a collaborative work with Argentinean composer Oswaldo Golijov; Santaolalla appears Friday and Saturday in New York at Lincoln Center with Bajofondo and the Kronos Quartet. Santaolalla, whose Golden Globe-winning song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" was ineligible for an Oscar nomination because of its brief screen time, received his first Oscar nomination for just his fifth film score after a long career as a performer, songwriter, producer and label operator.

"I started in the music business when I was 16," he said. "I've been at it since I was a kid. I'm totally aware of the speed in which things moved in this new phase. I'm excited and in a state of awe."
Remembering Pierre (chameau) 1960-2015, a "Capricorn bro and crazy Frog Uncle from the North Pole." You are missed

Offline tpe

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« Reply #11 on: Feb 01, 2006, 08:14 AM »
From the Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-0601280113jan29,1,5699007.story?coll=chi-travel-hed

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The mountains and that movie
A 'Brokeback' romance with Alberta and Wyoming

By Alan Solomon
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 29, 2006


This story contains corrected material, published Feb. 1, 2006.



There is no Brokeback Mountain. That doesn't mean people won't pay to see it.

The mountain, like the Annie Proulx short story in the New Yorker (later in a book) that spawned a much-honored motion picture bearing the name, is fictional.

Proulx placed it somewhere in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains. The movie's director, Ang Lee--because it was cheaper--shot the film in Alberta, along the Canadian Rockies, primarily in the Kananaskis Country area near Banff National Park.

If you film it, people come.

Erica Backus of the Savannah Convention and Visitors Bureau witnessed firsthand the phenomenal interest created in the Georgia city a decade ago by the book, then the movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

"It's amazing," she said, "what cinema can bring out in a person, how the need to go see and touch and hear scenes from their favorite movies can really influence their vacation decisions."

But where "Shane" brought Wyoming's Grand Tetons into national focus and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" generated detours to see Devils Tower, also in the state, "Brokeback Mountain"--a tale of cowboy-cowboy love expected to receive numerous Oscar nominations Tuesday--carries with it a unique kind of baggage.

Ten Sleep is a little town (pop. 300) at the base of the Bighorns that has drawn some attention as the nearest settlement to the country that likely inspired Proulx, who visited the area.

"It's a charming little place," said Diane Shober, director of Wyoming's state travel office. "It is absolutely breathtaking."

Nearest sizable town is Worland (pop. 5,200), 25 miles west. Mike Willard is executive director of the Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce.

"Hopefully, it will have a positive effect," Willard said. "We've got beautiful country out here, and a lot of great people, and we're very open to everybody and anybody--and come on out and visit."

Some of those great people, evidently, are more open than others.

"In this area," said Darell Ten Broek, who operates Ten Broek RV Park, Cabins and Horse Hotel in Ten Sleep, "we don't deal well with--whatever you want to call 'em. Not that it doesn't go on. There's a couple that have been in this town since I've been here and everybody leaves them alone, but it just isn't very well accepted here."

Ten Broek, 62, has been a rancher, cowboy, competed in rodeos.

"I've lived within 300 miles of here all my life," he said. He hasn't seen the movie, he said, and he won't.

"And I think most people that I talk to around here feel the same way about it. They don't feel it's depicting Wyoming or real cowboys or real ranchers at all. It's just kind of a slap in the face."

Even the chamber's Willard conceded not everyone is thrilled.

"My mother's family has been around the area since about 1893," Willard says, "and she's enjoyed the other books she's read by this gal, but this one did not impress her at all. She felt it portrayed us as a bunch of demented hicks."

Nonetheless, people of all persuasions, lured by the promise of pristine wilderness and, perhaps, by the unquestionably romantic setting, are sure to come on out and visit. Some may wind up visiting the Wyoming mountains shown in the movie's ads and posters, and they'll be dazzled--and wrong.

"Yep, that's the Tetons," said Jackie Skaggs, public information officer for Grand Teton National Park, about 275 road miles (150 as the eagle flies) west of the Bighorns. She was looking at the film's Web site. "It looks like it's taken from a point on the Snake River near Blacktail Ponds, and that is the classic full-range view. I had no idea they were using us."

Problem?

"No." She laughed. "The Teton range is used in a multitude of ways, because it's such an iconic mountain range and so picturesque. And we don't have ownership on the views of the Tetons."

At least they're in the designated state, where Shober said half the calls coming into her office are about Brokeback.

"`Is Brokeback Mountain a real mountain? Is there a place where we can go?' They're seeing the wide-open spaces that are indicative of Wyoming," she said, "so we're excited for what that could mean for us."

So is Alberta.

There may be no more beautiful stretch of mountain scenery in the world than the Rockies from Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, which straddles the Montana-Alberta border, through Banff and Jasper National Parks.

Unlike most of Wyoming's Bighorn region, the Rockies along the Alberta-British Columbia line have been a serious tourist draw for generations, spawning world-class hotels, spas and ski resorts. Diversity, of all kinds, is nothing new.

"There's always been a gay-friendly community here," said Judy Love Rondau, representing Travel Alberta. But she insists the increased interest in her region has little to do with the gay story line.

"The beauty of the scenery actually overwhelms the story," she said. "Everybody I know who's seen the movie, whether they like the story line or not, says, `My gosh, it looks like it goes on forever.'

"I don't think people realize there's countryside like this left."

Calgary, major airline port of entry for the region, is excited.

"It'll help our tourism a ton," said Joe Connelly of Tourism Calgary. "People are already talking about seeing that movie and that fact that the vistas are absolutely beautiful, and we want to make sure nothing impedes individuals from having a look at that."

Mirroring the response of some Wyoming residents to "Brokeback Mountain," much of Savannah was scandalized by "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," whose story involved murder, high society, homosexuality and prominently featured a black drag queen.

"When the book first came out," said Backus, "people did have that feeling about it, like, `Oh, my God, they've aired all our dirty laundry.'

"But then people started to say, `Hey, there's 10 million people in town eating at our restaurants, shopping in our shops, patronizing our businesses.'"

So it became . . .

"`Sure, we have voodoo and crazy people in this town--and we love it!'"

Backus' message to Alberta and, yes, to Wyoming:

"Embrace what you can. Everyone benefits. All tourists are good tourists."

From Annie Proulx: "The mountain boiled with demonic energy, glazed with flickering broken-cloud light; the wind combed the grass . . . "

- - -

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE

Wyoming: Ten Sleep, western entryway to the Bighorn country that was the setting for the fictional "Brokeback Mountain" short story, is about a 1,250-mile drive from Chicago, all but the last 65 miles on Interstate Highway 90 (once into South Dakota, a wonderful drive). Alternatively, United, American and Northwest fly one-stops out of O'Hare into Casper, about 190 miles away; quoted fares (late spring; subject to change) were in the $425-$450 range.

Other air options: Gillette, 135 miles, about $475 (one-stop) on United; and Rapid City, S.D. (home of Mt. Rushmore), about 280 miles, with a non-stop on United priced around $388.

Alberta: Air Canada and United fly non-stops into Calgary, gateway to the Canadian Rockies and about 70 miles east of Canmore, a good base; lowest price quoted (again, subject to change), $399 on Air Canada.

STAYING THERE

Wyoming: Best selection of lodgings can be found in Worland, 25 miles west of Ten Sleep; Buffalo, 65 miles east; and Sheridan, 100 miles northeast. Plenty of camping opportunities in state parks and Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.

Alberta: A plethora. Calgary, being a real city, has plenty of options, but best selection near the mountains would be in Canmore, Banff (just west of Canmore), Lake Louise and on Alberta Highway 93 along the mountains between Banff and Jasper National Parks. Plenty of camping opportunities in the national parks and adjacent recreation areas.

THE KEY "BROKEBACK" SITES

Wyoming: The Bighorn Mountains, especially north and east from Ten Sleep. (There is no Brokeback Mountain; Annie Proulx says she was inspired by seeing a reference to "Break Back Mountain" in the state, but there's no record of the mountain; closest name to it are several references to Brokenback--creeks, a dam, a reservoir, a narrows--all in Big Horn and neighboring Washakie Counties.)

Alberta: Most scenes were filmed on private land, but check out Kananaskis Country near Canmore; "The Three Sisters," a mountain grouping also near Canmore featured in the film; Ft. Macleod, near Lethbridge; and, for the town scenes, the Crossfield/Blackie area, about 20 miles north of Calgary.

THE GREAT DRIVES

Wyoming: Cloud Peak Skyway, from Ten Sleep to Buffalo, 65 miles; Red Gulch/Alkali Backway, between Hyattville and Shell, 32 miles.

Alberta: Icefields Parkway (Alberta 93), from Banff to Jasper National Park, 143 miles.

INFORMATION

Alberta: 800-252-3782 (800-ALBERTA) (the phone number as published has been corrected in this text); www.travelalberta.com. For Calgary, 800-662-1678; www.tourismcalgary.com.

Wyoming: 307-777-7777; www.wyomingtourism.org. For Worland-Ten Sleep: Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce, 307-347-3226; www.tensleepworlandwyoming.com.

-- Alan Solomon
« Last Edit: Feb 01, 2006, 08:55 AM by tpe »

Offline Buddy

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Heath Mention in NY POST Cindy Adams
« Reply #12 on: Feb 01, 2006, 10:06 AM »
Speaking of sex brings up a Heath Ledger story: "Six years ago, my publicist got me a huge break and booked me with Regis Philbin, whose first question was, 'What do you like to do for fun back in your native Australia?' I said, 'Me and my mates like to grab weenies and sit around in thongs watching girls go by.' Regis turned white, cut to a commercial and they yanked me off. In Australia, thongs are flip-flops, and weenies are hot dogs, but all I know is it was a long time before I got booked on another talk show."

Offline tpe

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Most Internet Hits!!!!
« Reply #13 on: Feb 01, 2006, 10:06 AM »
From http://www.999today.com/technology/news/story/2661.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brokeback Mountain searches dwarf other nominated movies
1 Feb 2006


Brokeback Mountain stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger

Gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain heads the nomination list for this year's Oscars.

The low-budget film, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, scooped nominations in eight categories, including best film and best director for Ang Lee.

While some are predicting that Brokeback Mountain will be a runaway success at the awards ceremony on March 5, how popular are the nominated movies and actors in the eyes of US Internet users?

According to web monitoring firm Hitwise, for the week ending January 21, 2006, searches for "Brokeback Mountain" were over 57 times more prevalent than the next most searched on nominated movie, "Crash", and over nine times more prevalent than all other nominated movie titles combined.

"While not predictive of award night winners, search data on the nominated movies provides us with unprecedented insight into what is on the minds of US Internet users," said Bill Tancer, general manager, global research for Hitwise.

Quote
Bill Tancer from Hitwise: "While not predictive of award night winners, search data on the nominated movies provides us with unprecedented insight into what is on the minds of US Internet users.""Partly due to its controversial subject matter, Brokeback Mountain has distinguished itself as the clear top-of-mind movie as we approach Academy Awards night."

Based on Hitwise Demographic data, for the four weeks ending January 28, 2006, visitors to the Brokeback Mountain official move site (www.brokebackmountain.com) were 56.8 per cent male versus 43.2 per cent female, while 53.8 per cent of visitors to the site were between the ages of 25 to 44.

Regional breakdown of visitors to the site during the same timeframe indicate that the states with the highest index of visitors to the Brokebackmountain.com site based on online representation were: Arkansas (216.8), Connecticut (198.2), Oklahoma (167.0), Rhode Island (164.8) and Tennessee (156.9).

Since July 2005, the most searched on nominated actresses included "Keira Knightly", with searches peaking the week of July 16, 2005, "Charlize Theron", peaking December 3, 2005, and "Felicity Huffman", peaking December 17, 2005.

For the week ending January 28, 2006, the most searched on nominated actresses were: "Charlize Theron", followed by "Reese Witherspoon" and "Keira Knightly".
[/i]

Offline monicita

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #14 on: Feb 01, 2006, 01:10 PM »
hey tpe (thanks for the interesting post)!

Maybe we should do some searching of our own, such as hitting the button for heath and jake and michelle and ann a few times???

monicita
Love is a many splendoured thing...

Offline tpe

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #15 on: Feb 01, 2006, 02:01 PM »
hey tpe (thanks for the interesting post)!

Maybe we should do some searching of our own, such as hitting the button for heath and jake and michelle and ann a few times???

monicita

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Now THAT is a good idea.  I'll start now...

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #16 on: Feb 01, 2006, 03:27 PM »
'Brokeback' love story unsettles manyCritical acclaim isn't enough for some in Del.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060201/NEWS/602010372

By RYAN CORMIER
The News Journal

02/01/2006
Sure "Brokeback Mountain" led all films with eight Oscar nominations Tuesday.

And, yes, it's received almost universal acclaim by film critics.

But that doesn't necessarily mean everyone's streaming into theaters to see Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as love-struck ranch hands.

While the $14 million film has found a big enough audience to earn more than $51 million domestically since December, it's fighting a feeling in some movie fans in Delaware and across the nation that a gay love story with potentially jarring sex scenes is just not for them.

Having a film in Oscar contention that's unpopular with a large group of moviegoers is nothing new, said Thomas Leitch, a University of Delaware professor and director of its film studies program.

"Think of 'Silence of the Lambs,' which swept the Oscars in 1992 and yet scads of people across the country would not even consider seeing it. It's not for everybody. It's not for your grandmother," Leitch said. " 'Brokeback Mountain' is clearly a movie that polarized potential audiences. Some people love it and some people hate it and a lot of people have decided in advance that they are not going to give it a chance."

Even so, the film has morphed from a punch line in late-night television monologues into a hit, converting Delaware movie fans such as Ernest Zinser, 70, of Rehoboth Beach.

Zinser probably is not the target audience for the film, and even though he decided a while ago he didn't want to see it, that's all changed recently.

Zinser said he changed his mind Sunday night after seeing clips of the film during Sunday's Screen Actor Guild Awards.

"It didn't seem it could be too interesting. I guess I couldn't believe all the hype about it being so good and it was just about two gay cowboys," he said. "But when I saw the story and the previews, I think there's a lot behind it that's deeper than what's just being discussed on the surface."

More money coming

With "Brokeback's" best picture nomination, it's pretty much guaranteed to rake in more than $100 million domestically.

"This is prime time for a picture like this between nomination and awards," said Brandon Gray, president and publisher of Box Office Mojo, an online movie publication and box office tracking service. "This is when they make all their money, and it's at $50 million before it's even nominated."

But many won't be checking out the Western love story, which is based on a short story by Annie Proulx.

State Sen. Robert L. Venables, D-Laurel, said he has not seen "Brokeback" and probably never will.

Venables, who opposed a bill that would have added sexual orientation to other categories protected by the state's anti-discrimination laws, is a movie fan, and he's about to leave for an annual monthlong vacation in Florida where he regularly sees about five films a week.

"The subject matter turns me off a little bit. I understand it's beautifully shot and it's a good movie, but somehow it just turns me off to see a man kiss a man and I don't know if he kisses him or not. That gives me cold chills," said Venables, 73. "I don't know about the younger generation, but a lot of people in my generation just would rather that stay a little bit behind the scenes."

Newark's Elizabeth Johnson, a fortysomething mother of two, won't consider watching the film, which she calls "a disgrace" because of the homosexual content.

"That doesn't surprise me," she said of the nominations. "The world is full of evil and I don't care what they do out there. It's a different planet out there in California anyway."

'That's their loss'

Tina Betz, director of Wilmington's Office of Cultural Affairs whose office runs Theatre N, has not had the chance to see "Brokeback," but she said she definitely will because of the rave reviews. She says she feels sorry for people who rule the film out.

"People know what the subject matter is and have already formed an opinion about that and for them it totally outweighs the quality, the critically-acclaimed acting in the movie, and quite frankly, I think that's too bad," she said. "From my point of view, that's their loss."

Steve Elkins, executive director of CAMP Rehoboth, a nonprofit group that promotes the interests of the gay and lesbian community, says he saw "Brokeback" last week after getting an earful about not seeing it.

When he told fellow churchgoers at Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth Beach that he and his partner hadn't seen the film yet, he got a few shocked looks.

"I had heterosexual men and women that were appalled we hadn't seen it yet," he said. " They said, 'We saw it the first day. Why haven't you seen it yet of all people?' "

He said the only people he's met who didn't want to see it didn't go because it was a sappy love story.

"It's not an action film, they think. And it's definitely not, except for a couple of scenes," he said, laughing.

No matter if it's action, drama or a comedy, Venables said he's not up for it and neither are the majority of his constituents.

"Our society might be ready for that in the Hollywood area, but I'll tell you that in lower Delaware, they're not quite ready," Venables said. "I'm always willing to go see whatever. And I probably could take this one, but it won't certainly be one I'd be enthusiastic about going to see."

Offline ennisandjack

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #17 on: Feb 01, 2006, 03:29 PM »
Having a film in Oscar contention that's unpopular with a large group of moviegoers is nothing new, said Thomas Leitch, a University of Delaware professor and director of its film studies program.

"Think of 'Silence of the Lambs,' which swept the Oscars in 1992 and yet scads of people across the country would not even consider seeing it. It's not for everybody. It's not for your grandmother," Leitch said. " 'Brokeback Mountain' is clearly a movie that polarized potential audiences. Some people love it and some people hate it and a lot of people have decided in advance that they are not going to give it a chance."

What a ridiculous comparison  ::)

Offline tpe

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Brad Pitt Wants BBM?
« Reply #18 on: Feb 01, 2006, 04:19 PM »
From http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news?id=13014

Is there any truth to this???

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brad Pitt Desperate For His Own 'Brokeback Mountain'
By: Lowri Williams on 2/1/2006


 
Brad Pitt is reportedly desperate for a role in a gay movie following the massive success of ‘Brokeback Mountain’.

Pitt is currently looking for a script which portrays the "ultimate gay love story".

According the Sun a source said: "Brad has asked his people to find him a script to play a gay man.

"He wants it to be a story that appeals to both men and women and he wants it to be the edgiest work he's done.

"He's seen the critical acclaim that ‘Brokeback Mountain’ has won and he wants a piece of it.”

So he wants an Oscar does he? Or maybe just a snog from Heath Ledger?

"Brad knows it would be seen as shocking to take on a gay role because he's seen as such a heart-throb.

"But he has never shied away from taking on controversial films, and he has often chosen to do smaller, more challenging movies, rather than go for the big box-office smash."

Like what exactly, ‘Troy’?
 
 

Offline monicita

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #19 on: Feb 02, 2006, 09:06 AM »
Troy, LOL ;. Seeing that they decided to not show even a hint of the love story between Achilles and Patroklos (which just happens to be THE love story in Greek mythology). ;D

monicita
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Offline ennisandjack

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #20 on: Feb 02, 2006, 01:48 PM »
LA Weekly

How Gay Will Oscar Go?Handicapping who’ll win, who’ll lose, and who’ll just jerk off

http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lawcontent&Itemid=206

By NIKKI FINKE
Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - 7:25 pm
Given that it's Oscar time,  I nominate the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Bunch of Hypocrites. That’s because this year’s dirty little secret is the anecdotal evidence pouring in to me about hetero members being unwilling to screen Brokeback Mountain. For a community that takes pride in progressive values, it’s shameful that Hollywood’s homophobia may be on a par with Pat Robertson’s.

Despite the hype you’re reading in the press and on the Internet about Brokeback, with its eight nominations, being the supposed favorite to take home the Best Picture Oscar on March 5, Crash could end up winning. The issue isn’t which film is better. The issue is more like which movie was seen by the Academy. Frankly, I find horrifying each whispered admission to me from Academy members who usually pose as social liberals that they’re disgusted by even the possibility of glimpsing simulated gay sex. Earth to the easily offended: This movie has been criticized for being too sexually tame. Hey, Academy, what are you worried about: that you’ll turn gay or, worse, get a stiffie by just the hint of hunk-on-hunk action?

That Brokeback isn’t the Oscar favorite may have been foreshadowed at the SAG awards, when Crash topped it for best picture and Philip Seymour Hoffman won over Heath Ledger. Remember: Truman Capote was so unthreatening — as compared to the in-your-face sexiness of Ledger looking longingly at Jake Gyllenhaal’s loins — that Johnny Carson used to invite him into the nation’s living rooms as a frequent guest on The Tonight Show.

It’s not that Crash isn’t Oscar-worthy and Brokeback is. Both are good, if flawed, movies. Crash makes up in aesthetic bleakness what it lacks in subtlety — Los Angeles is a city of minorities divided but colliding, duh! — but it’s also gripping and powerful. Brokeback gives us something we haven’t seen before — closet-case sheepherders tastefully presented so they redefine the notion of love. But it’s also slow and ponderous.

Look, I do understand the degree to which the cowboy has been an iconic figure in motion pictures through the ages. Also, that many geriatric Academy members not only worked on oaters, but also worshipped Audie Murphy, Gene Autry, John Wayne and other saddle-sore celluloid heroes. And that only an equally iconic figure like Clint Eastwood could redefine the genre in Unforgiven in a way that didn’t turn off the old-timers. But, jeez, I’m not just talking about the geezers. I’m talking baby boomers and younger Academy members who are sketched out about seeing Brokeback.

Sure, even without seeing the movie, they could feel guilt-tripped or succumb to a herd mentality to vote for the gay-cowboy movie and strike a blow against Republican wedge politics and religious hatemongering. But, if they don’t, then Brokeback may lose for all the Right’s reasons.

Cantcha just see red-staters licking their lips to give Hollywood a verbal ass whooping after looking at Tuesday’s Oscar nominations? “Boy hidey, those show-biz folk are just a homo-promotin’, liberal-media-embracin’, minority-lovin’, devil-worshippin’, pimp-hustlin’, terrorist-protectin’ bunch of pansies, commies and traitors.” Or hollering “We was robbed!” when Walk the Line was blown off as a Best Picture contender.

On the other hand, you’d think the religious right would be dropping to their knees and thanking the Lord, for instance — about the miracle of Munich and Spielberg squeezing out nominations. It turned out just as I predicted back around Thanksgiving: Because of Steven’s involvement, Academy voters ignored the loudmouth neocons at The Weekly Standard and National Review who denounced the movie’s POV, and instead accepted on faith Spielberg’s much-fictionalized take on the Munich Olympics aftermath.

Overall, Tinseltown’s never been so proud to be savaged by right-wing punditry. That is, everywhere but at ABC, the award show’s broadcaster, where suits are tearing out their hair plugs anticipating in-the-cellar ratings because of the celeb polemics, the lack of blockbusters among the nominees, host Jon Stewart bitch-slapping Dubya, Dick Cheney and parent company Disney’s CEO Bob Iger. (The Daily Show wit reported on the recent $7 billion Pixar deal by asking, “Do you feel your children are beholden to too many multinational corporations?”)

American Idol is for amateurs. Bring on the pro-edition humilitainment we’ll see on Oscar night. Take George Clooney, who always said he’d never attend the Academy Awards unless he’s a nominee. So now he’s ass-kissed by the Geritol generation in not one, not two, but three different categories. Look for him to show up at the Kodak Theater all smiles only to be shitting by evening’s end, when he’ll be blanked bigtime.

Then there’s Mark Gill, kicked to the curb from Miramax by Harvey and Bob Weinstein back in 2002, when the longtime president confided that he’d be leaving when his contract expired. Who has the last laugh now? Harv and Bob lost control of Miramax. But Gill, now head of Warner Independent, slapped a Morgan Freeman narration on the French-made March of the Penguins and will see it win for Documentary Feature unless the Academy resents its $115 mil worldwide gross.

Speaking of Harv and Bob, Oscar campaigning has been less nausea-inducing than usual — that is, if you don’t dwell on the drivel being written by the Los Angeles Times and New York Times in their new awards-show blogs. (Please prescribe a Xanax stat for Tom O’Neil’s hyperventilated prose.) Interesting how this year’s absence of backbiting coincides with the Weinsteins’ MIA status while their new company gears up. Still, the dysfunctional duo did manage to eke out two Best Actress nods (Judi Dench for Mrs. Henderson Presents and Felicity Huffman for Transamerica). But don’t be surprised when gossip columns soon start outing category rival and current front-runner Reese Witherspoon as a Ku Klux Klan member or, worse, a Republican donor.

Meanwhile, it’s never too early to prognosticate about who’ll win these lame awards, who’ll lose, and who’ll just jerk off. (Sorry to work blue, but given that this year’s films include gay cowboys, trannies and a song about a pimp, just deal.)

BEST ACTOR: This category should be renamed Best Impersonation of a Real-Life Dead Guy. Terrence Howard fails to qualify. David Strathairn is known as an actor’s actor, which means he’s never the first guest on Leno or Letterman. Translation: He’s not flashy enough to win. Joaquin Phoenix played it like Johnny Cash Lite, so he’s out. Philip Seymour Hoffman eerily seemed more Capotesque than even the writer’s archival footage, so he’s the front-runner. Which leaves as his only serious competition Heath Ledger. I dunno, couldn’t he have married someone hotter than Michelle Williams? I think that lapse in judgment alone gives the Oscar to Hoffman.

BEST ACTRESS: The geezers love Dame Judi, but Dench won too recently. Same with Charlize Theron. Keira Knightley is too waifish; she needs to pack on 50 pounds for a role to get serious notice. Which leaves Felicity Huffman in the perennial Oscar-favored gender-bender role versus Reese Witherspoon in the less admired I-didn’t-think-I-had-to-sing role. Both are one-half of famous Hollywood couples: Felicity is married to William Macy, who always collects accolades, while Reese is wed to Ryan Phillippe, who mostly collects unemployment. Reese therefore gets the sympathy vote.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Forget loony William Hurt, who once fired an agent for “making me into a movie star.” Jake Gyllenhaal already has the next best thing to an Oscar: on-again-off-again girlfriend Kirsten Dunst. Matt Dillon hasn’t done anything decent since 1983, when he played opposite Ponyboy in The Outsiders. Not even George Clooney spitting up spinal fluid can mitigate those Vanity Fair glamourpuss photos of him at the wheel of the speedboat he keeps at his Lake Como villa. By contrast, Paul Giamatti looks like a troglodyte. The ugly guy wins.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: This is usually the wild-card category. (Two names: Marisa Tomei and Juliette Binoche.) Amy Adams and Michelle Williams are still nobodies. Frances McDormand already has one for Fargo. Catherine Keener always elevates the material, so that alone should make her the shoo-in for her work in Capote. But the Academy desperately wants to assuage its liberal guilt and bestow largess on The Constant Gardener. So Rachel Weisz is the beneficiary.

BEST DIRECTOR: Spielberg limped into this category. It’ll take more years for the Academy to forgive Clooney for making Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Paul Haggis and Bennett Miller came close, admittedly. But Ang Lee wins for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

BEST PICTURE: Too close to call between Brokeback Mountain and Crash for the reasons I’ve cited above. But if the adulated Don Cheadle campaigns hard, give the edge to Crash.


Offline AnitaSmith

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #21 on: Feb 02, 2006, 05:15 PM »
I got this news article from the Internet Movie Database website.

<<'Brokeback' a Hit in Montana - February 2, 2006 -- http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2006-02-02/#3

 Contradicting predictions by commentators that Brokeback Mountain would not attract ticket buyers in red-state strongholds like Montana, the film has actually performed strongly in many of those areas, distributor Focus Features has maintained. (Fox News commentator John Gibson remarked: "I think most people do not want to go into a darkened room with a tub of popcorn and munch away watching two guys get it on." His colleague Bill O'Reilly has opined that the film has received critical praise because the media "want to mainstream homosexual conduct." And he predicted, "They're not going to go see the gay cowboys in Montana.") However, the online magazine Salon today (Thursday) quoted the manager of the Wilma Theater in Missoula as saying that the film grossed $33,006 in its first four weekends there -- "one of our best starts for a movie we've ever had."

In the conservative town of Kalispell, the film opened last Friday with $3,656. In the town of Whitefish, it took in $2,312 and beat out the three top national draws, including the No. 1 film, Big Momma's House 2. Salon indicated that the film is also a hit in Great Falls, Bozeman, and Helena, where it also opened at No. 1.

Meanwhile, L.A. Weekly entertainment columnist Nikki Finke has observed that Brokeback Mountain could be passed over at the Oscar ceremonies. "That's because this year's dirty little secret is the anecdotal evidence pouring in to me about hetero members being unwilling to screen Brokeback Mountain. For a community that takes pride in progressive values, it's shameful that Hollywood's homophobia may be on a par with Pat Robertson's," Finke wrote. >>

Offline Emmanuel

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #22 on: Feb 03, 2006, 08:15 AM »
Please read this ! :)
b]A Picture of Two Americas In 'Brokeback Mountain'
By Stephen Hunter
Washington Post Staff Writer


Thursday, February 2, 2006; Page C01

The eight Academy Award nominations secured this week by Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" guarantee that not only will the film itself continue to prosper at the box office, but that the bitter culture war surrounding the gay-themed western will continue to be fought.
Liberals will see the film as a beacon of tolerance, a study of the cruel pathologies of intolerance, a plea for acceptance for the humane principle that love between consenting adults, no matter their gender or orientation, should be celebrated.
Conservatives will see the liberal tyranny of an entertainment culture forcing elitist "progressive values" on the reluctant red-state millions and, in the process, staining the purity of the most American of good ol' American genres, the western, home of Duke Wayne, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.
Boys, boys, boys, settle down. Put them shootin' irons away. It's only a movie.
But the question remains: Does "Brokeback Mountain" have an agenda? After all, it's certainly not preachy. It's as stoic as the men it follows and the mountain it loves. It's a story of a love that dare not speak its name because nobody in it knows the word for its name.
All that is true. But again, a movie is a collection of images, not just words. What is said is secondary to the imagery -- images, in the hands of a skillful filmmaker, such as the great Lee ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is his most well-known, "Eat Drink Man Woman" his best), are ideas. They carry ideas. They issue proclamations. They lobby for policy.
And what do Lee's images tell us?
Based on an Annie Proulx short story, it's the tale of two young cowboys, Ennis Del Mar (Oscar-nominated Heath Ledger, in a superb performance) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal, also nominated), who are hired to spend the summer of 1963 up Wyoming's Brokeback Mountain, tending a herd of sheep far from civilization. Both are of the rural proletariat, ranch-bred, horse-proud, sinewy, resourceful, brave, tough, industrious, poorly educated. You can bet they don't care much about the sheep they've got to tend; they'd much rather spend time running the more noble beef cattle. Neither is a talker or a reader; their only solace over the long nights is tailor-made smokes and whiskey neat.
The last thing these two ever figured on is falling in love. With each other.
The movie then jumps over the years, four or five at a stretch, as each fights against what turns out to be his true nature, and forces himself to genuflect before the stations of the cross of heterosexual culture: marriage, family, responsibility. Yet if the love doesn't speak its name, it certainly sings its tune. The two sneak away over the years for trysts, and eventually each spouse learns the bitter truth.
Finally, the inevitable tragedy and the realization by one man of what a misspent life he's had. How he should have to his own self been true; how happiness has evaded him forever. It's hard to argue that the movie constitutes any kind of threat, or pro-gay propaganda. For one thing, there's too much authentic pain in it, it's too bloody sad. The final image of the aloneness of the survivor is heartbreaking. He was never a crier, of course, but you know inside he's sobbing. The film shows, convincingly, that love comes from the heart, not the glands, and if the heart is engaged, the body follows.
It also shows a lot of conventional heterosexual romantic themes in full bloom: the idea of the special person or "fate" bringing two kindred souls together; the idea that the basis of love has to be trust and friendship, not just lust; the idea that over the long term, a loved one grows to accept the other's foibles; and finally the idea that certain things are meant to be, and without them, life seems somehow incomplete and miswired. It's a film about hearts -- broken and otherwise. It's pure romance.
Yet it makes an argument with images craftily employed to communicate ideas. Nothing in it is arbitrary.
For example, one merely has to compare the visual motifs by which director Lee expresses homosexual life vs. heterosexual life. Homosexuality in "Brokeback Mountain" is always associated with a river: It's a great torrent of nature, which cannot be controlled and which provides sustenance, nurture, satisfaction, joy. The happiest image in the film, and the most poignant, is Ennis and Jack, off by their lonesome, pulling off their clothes and leaping off a cliff into the placid, welcoming waters below. Realistically, it's a river; metaphorically, it's the great river of homosexuality, and safe and free immersion in it is utterly joyful to them. Indeed, most of the two men's squabbling and (mostly off-camera) lovemaking takes place next to a river. It's glimpsed in many of the backgrounds, usually a turmoil of frothing white water to signify the rush and power of their love and lust for each other. Sometimes it's calming, it's always there for them, and they suffer at their imposed distance from it.
Contrast that with the imagery of family and hearth. These venues are expressions of the impoverishment of the heterosexual family lifestyle. Ennis lives in a shabby apartment where he is regularly assailed by his doughy, clueless wife (Oscar-nominated Michelle Williams). His children squall and make demands that he cannot satisfy; his wife clings and resents; we are pressed to identify with him and feel the pain he feels and the yearning he aches with as he lurches out to the "purity" of the river.
The same is true for Jack. His family is equally dysfunctional, fronted by a bully and braggart of a father-in-law who sells farm equipment in Texas. His wife, Lurlene (Anne Hathaway), is first glimpsed as an impossibly pretty young rodeo rider, but after the marriage she ages gracelessly into a chain-smoking harridan with big blond hair and bad teeth.
Then there's Ennis's visit to Jack's parents at the family homestead, which might be called "Ennis calls on Grant Wood's 'American Gothic.' " Old Ang Lee is really laying it on thick here. The actor chosen to play Jack's father (Peter McRobbie) certainly looks like Wood's living cadavers -- grim, wheezing skinhead, lacking only that pitchfork -- and the house itself has the quality of skeleton to it: bare with unfinished wood, rotting in the sun. Again the visuals are overwhelming in their attitude: family life, home life, breeder life as a gestalt of impoverishment and stark, comfortless angularity. The old man cares less about his son's life than his death; his one issue is that the boy's ashes not be scattered on Brokeback Mountain, as Jack had wished, but that he be buried in the family plot, that he be hypocritically reclaimed for something called the name of decency.
In fact, generally, the movie is cruel to family. It seems to think family is a bourgeois delusion; Ennis's poor daughter ends up in a gaudy Trans Am owned by her fiance, a harbinger of roughneck disaster to come. Jack's boy is simply forgotten about; his ultimate pain -- and it will be considerable -- is not commented upon.
The movie also misses the deepest joy of family, which is that sense of connection to the great wheel of life. Giving birth to, educating and loving a kid are among the profound joys of human existence. "Brokeback Mountain" cannot begin to imagine such a thing; that reality simply is not on its radar, and if you looked at the story from another vantage -- the children's -- it would be a different tale altogether: about greedy, selfish, undisciplined homosexuals who took out a contract in the heterosexual world, and abandoned it. They weren't true men; they failed at the man's one sacred duty on Earth, which is to provide.
It's when the movie moves upstairs at Jack's parents' house that "Brokeback Mountain" achieves its true power and universality. The subject then becomes not homosexuality but closets, which Lee presents, again literally -- that's a real closet there -- and metaphorically. Ennis is alone in the room, but he feels a presence and looks into the closet where he's metaphorically lived the most meaningful and happiest days of the life. He ducks in as if prostrating himself before an altar, drops to his knees and, hidden way in the back, finds Jack's shirt, smeared with blood from a fight they'd had; and within Jack's shirt is his own shirt, with his blood from the fight. It's all that remains of Jack, and this man, who can ride and rope and fight (we've seen that) and kill (coyote and elk) finally has a tender moment as he brings the garments to his face and rubs them against his cheek. Presumably the people who will be sickened by that sight have either a) not come in the first place or b) left an hour or so earlier after the first scene in the tent. Those of us who are left get the full emotional weight of the scene as the repressed man finally allows himself the redemptive pleasure of a little expression.
We see the shirts again shortly; now, however, their order has been reversed, so that Ennis's shirt encloses Jack's, in a gesture, too late but all the more poignant for it, of protection. The site of the shirt, however, is still the closet: It's Ennis's closet in his trailer where he lives alone, essentially an exile from each society, gay and straight. On the inside of the closet door, he has taped a photo of what may be the actual Brokeback mountain, or just a mountain that his imagination has taken as Brokeback. It's an image of paradise, as the whole train of mountain imagery is generally glorious, going all the way back to James Hilton's Shangri-La. The picture makes homosexual America a Shangri-La.
But when he opens the door, it swings out on its hinges and comes to rest against the wall. By a cleverness of design that is brilliant, it is next to the window of the trailer, and through the window, we see another America. The composition of the shot is genius-level work. Both images are framed -- the mountain by the frame of the photo, the reality by the frame of the window, and both are enclosed in a third frame, the screen. The meaning is clear: the movie is offering choices. Shangri-La or . . . ?
And what's the image of the real America through the window? Why it's flat. It's a dreary rural wheatscape, if you will, with no features to interest the eye, no textures to assuage the soul. There's nothing interesting to it. It expresses someone's idea of repressed America, where gay men are forced to bury their personalities and violent conformism is the rule of the day. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, there's no there there.
Lee has made his point viscerally; he's not in a pulpit, but he's no innocent either. He's speaking louder with images than most of his ideological opponents do in words.

Offline Jack Rance

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #23 on: Feb 03, 2006, 08:50 AM »
Very insightful review in The Daily Aztec -the student paper of San Diego State Univ linked below


http://www.thedailyaztec.com/media/paper741/news/2006/02/02/Tempo/Film-Reignites.mountain.Of.Emotions-1596585.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.thedailyaztec.com


Really like this paragraph :

"However, we all agree on one thing - this film has something intangible. At the risk of sounding cheesy (and completely art-illiterate), this film resembles a classic painting. You can look at it and let the feeling take over you. You can interpret it anyway you want - you can hate it if you want - but you can't deny that it made you feel. "...
 

Offline monicita

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #24 on: Feb 03, 2006, 08:53 AM »
I like it too. Well, on to new and exciting interpretations, then!  :D

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Offline XWing

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #25 on: Feb 03, 2006, 10:00 AM »
More about tourists looking for the "real" Brokeback Mountain, from USA Today:


Looking to climb Brokeback Mountain? Head to Canada
But Wyoming is still drawing fans of the film
By Jayne Clark
USA TODAY

The hottest spot on Wyoming's tourist map these days doesn't truly exist.

But that isn't stopping fans of Brokeback Mountain from ringing up the state's tourism office with queries about how to get there.

Hundreds of calls asking about the location of Brokeback Mountain have come in since the movie's release in December.

If the responders were in full disclosure, they'd explain that the peaks featured in the film are 700 miles or so north of Wyoming in Alberta's Canadian Rockies. But not being the sorts to let a marketing opportunity slip by, employees tell callers that while the movie wasn't actually filmed in Wyoming and there is no mountain by that name, director Ang Lee captured the spirit of Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains. Lower production costs spurred the move to Canada.

“The way it's set up, it would be hard to think it wasn't Wyoming,” says tourism spokesman Chuck Coon. “Even people who live here think it's Wyoming. We're not claiming it, but we're sure enjoying the fruits of this movie.”

Brokeback Mountain is the love story of two sheepherders whose relationship spans decades. And the critical success of the movie, which led this week's Oscar nominations with eight, is likely to fuel more interest in Wyoming's majestic vistas come the spring thaw.

The state's tourism website (wyomingtourism.org) features a Brokeback Mountain link and the office will provide a list of “gay friendly” tourism suggestions ranging from guest ranches to wagon train adventures.

One place name in the film that does exist is Riverton, Wyo., though many in the community of 10,000 aren't particularly thrilled with the inclusion. It's an emotion shared by many old-school ranchers and farmers around the state who aren't big on the movie's homosexual content, Coon acknowledges.

At The Boot, one of two bars in Riverton, owner Sally Lozier says that the movie has stirred up “a whole lot of controversy around here. The ranchers, the cowboys are really upset.”

Brokeback hasn't hit town yet, so presumably these local critics haven't seen it. Nor do they plan to, if you ask Lozier. “I would not go see it. And that (sentiment) comes from every cowboy, every rancher and other individuals who have nothing to do with the (agricultural) community,” she says.

Meanwhile, in Alberta, tourism officials are spreading the word to fans who didn't sit through the closing credits that the rugged on-screen beauty is on their turf. And it's easily accessible.

“Most people are flabbergasted that's there's that much untouched scenery. They ask if they had to take down fences to film it,” tourism spokeswoman Judy Love Rondeau says. “But the majority of the scenes are on public land, so it's not like we have to create a special tour. You pass it driving from Calgary to Kananaskis on the way to Banff.”


Offline ethan

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Re: News Coverage: January 30 - Feb 5
« Reply #26 on: Feb 03, 2006, 10:19 AM »
Thanks for contributing to the news coverage. It is great.
Remembering Pierre (chameau) 1960-2015, a "Capricorn bro and crazy Frog Uncle from the North Pole." You are missed

Offline Buddy

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Re: Heath Mention/LA TIMES re SAG behavior
« Reply #27 on: Feb 03, 2006, 11:50 AM »
SAG behavior
Some viewers were shocked at Heath Ledger’s apparent gay spoof at the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night.

At the podium with Jake Gyllenhaal to introduce a clip from "Brokeback Mountain," Ledger kept putting his hands on his cocked hip as he read the teleprompter, acting like he was auditioning for the role of Carmen Ghia, the flamboyantly gay choreographer in “The Producers.”

“It was insulting,” said one Hollywood insider after the show. “Heath lost a lot of support from the Hollywood gay community after that bizarre performance.”

No one can figure out what Ledger could have been thinking or why he behaved so bizarrely onstage.

Which makes it a real shame that the Directors Guild Awards, held the night before, weren’t televised. Then viewers would have seen Ledger’s heartfelt and sincere expression of gratitude to  director Ang Lee, who won the DGA’s top filmmaker award that night.

Paying tribute to Lee, Ledger thanked the director for “introducing us to these delicate characters. It took a delicate man to tell this story and that’s you.” To which, Lee then joked, “I don’t know about you, but that feels a little gay to me.”

Maybe Ledger’s frankly fey SAG performance simply followed Lee’s DGA gay joke lead? Maybe he thought he was being really funny?  Hey, it’s a theory. What's yours?

Offline tpe

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Re: Heath Mention/LA TIMES re SAG behavior
« Reply #28 on: Feb 03, 2006, 02:14 PM »
SAG behavior
Some viewers were shocked at Heath Ledger’s apparent gay spoof at the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night.

At the podium with Jake Gyllenhaal to introduce a clip from "Brokeback Mountain," Ledger kept putting his hands on his cocked hip as he read the teleprompter, acting like he was auditioning for the role of Carmen Ghia, the flamboyantly gay choreographer in “The Producers.”

“It was insulting,” said one Hollywood insider after the show. “Heath lost a lot of support from the Hollywood gay community after that bizarre performance.”

No one can figure out what Ledger could have been thinking or why he behaved so bizarrely onstage.

Which makes it a real shame that the Directors Guild Awards, held the night before, weren’t televised. Then viewers would have seen Ledger’s heartfelt and sincere expression of gratitude to  director Ang Lee, who won the DGA’s top filmmaker award that night.

Paying tribute to Lee, Ledger thanked the director for “introducing us to these delicate characters. It took a delicate man to tell this story and that’s you.” To which, Lee then joked, “I don’t know about you, but that feels a little gay to me.”

Maybe Ledger’s frankly fey SAG performance simply followed Lee’s DGA gay joke lead? Maybe he thought he was being really funny?  Hey, it’s a theory. What's yours?


I truly believe that this is part of some media attempt to discredit Ledger prior to the Oscars.  Yes, I have had one friend who cited to me this supposed insult by Ledger at the gay community.  Frankly, I think it is all hogwash.  I watched the SAG, and I never thought for a second that Ledger was doing a gay spoof.  He clearly had trouble reading the over-the-top write-up of the Brokeback Mountain presentation with a straight face.  That was it.  I am not going to kowtow to the spin doctors of the US media telling me what to think of this. 

The members of the gay community who propagate this misrepresentation should give themselves a collective slug to their faces. 

Offline *Froggy*

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Re: Heath Mention/LA TIMES re SAG behavior
« Reply #29 on: Feb 03, 2006, 02:16 PM »
I truly believe that this is part of some media attempt to discredit Ledger prior to the Oscars. 

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