Always a little reluctant to write about Brokeback, not because it is not loved but that is almost loved too much. So much passion and emotion tied to this movie that the feeling is that a simple post will never meet the feeling and fervor of fans.
But several recent mentions, led to this post.
Heath Ledger finds and keeps the shirts Jake Gyllenhaal had saved from their first trip to Brokeback Mountain (2005) was named one of the New 25 Romantic Gestures in The New Movie classics list in Entertainment Weekly recently. It was only behind Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey's dance in Dirty Dancing, Robert Redford washing Meryl Streep's hair in Out of Africa, and John Cusack playing Peter Gabriel outside Ione Skyes window in Say Anything. All of these moment are iconic in the pantheons of romantic movies, and Brokeback is no different. In a way it has after all this time achieved the shift from gay cowboy more to classic love story, just the way Ang and the rest of the cast saw it to be when it was made. Some felt that way from the beginning but now more are shifting as well. Brokeback is will be forever a classic love story in cinema history.
This week will be another big week for Brokeback. Why now? This Friday at 9pm, after the GLAAD media awards, will be the U.S. network premiere on Bravo, a cable channel and part of parent compan
y NBC.
What will be edited out for television? Is Bravo a test run for it to be seen on NBC? Or this NBC's solution putting it on Bravo instead on NBC?
One thing it is, is a chance to reach an audience who was too scared to go to the movie or rent the video. Putting it on network TV, in whatever form, may reach that one person, that one teen who may need it most to realize that " love is a force of nature."
Monday, June 23, 2008
Back to Brokeback
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42 comments:
What a beautiful song and post - not that I haven't watched Brokeback countless times, but I will watch it on Bravo too. Beautiful! :')
I don't think I could bare watching BBM on a commercial channel, but it sure would be interesting to see how much they cut out. But you have a very good point about it reaching a larger audience.
Yep, ya got that right - inside every lady's a cowboy who wants ta get out! ;)
This song had a resurgence in popularity for a few weeks when BBM came out and then it was gone. So glad to bring it back.
I hadn't thought about what they would cut out. I'm thinking most of the SNIT scene would have to go. FNIT is more implied than shown, so that might be able to stay.
While I like the idea of the movie being on network TV and accessible, adding commercials and possibly editing the movie for time or content would be a tragedy. I hope they show it intact.
I dont like to mention R, but a commenter on ONTD noted that in the latest airport pic, with her hair cut, the hat, she resembles Heath Ledger. Have to admit, he has a point.
Pastor Haggard leaves 'Spiritual Restoration Program'
Local (SC) information about the Nailed shutdown
'Nailed' Gunned down again
Not sure what they will cut or pixelate. There is some nudity they might, scene with Jack cooking and Ennis washing up, doubt they will cut much from the jump into the water. Will be very interesting in how the two tent scenes are presented. And if anything is cut from hotel.
I do think there can be good from it being on a channel like Bravo. I still know people who wouldn't go to the movie or get the video, and that is shame that they waited this long to see such a great movie till they could watch in anonymity. And there are a lot more people out just like them that now a chance to discover BBM as a beautiful love story.
Really interesting Washington Post chat about the recent research suggesting that being gay is biologically based
Talks about the morality of whether or not it's a choice.
Or, that it may have been a common occurrence since the dawn of time?
I have always believed this, and its quite evident, I feel. While there may be a biological basis, and that's wonderful, it should be respected in its own right, its right to exist alongside any other valid lifestyle, without having to be explained away scientifically, or worse be "cured" when there's nothing to be cured. It should just be.
I'm happy that BBM is going to be on Bravo - I remember seeing Maurice on Bravo, and it wasn't edited much that I could see. I don't know what effect having a different parent company would have on the programming, if any.
Jake Gyllenhaal wants to Marry Reese Witherspoon
Check out how much longer Reese's second toe is than her big toe!
I'm squeezing a few minutes @ work to get on here - I'm on an 8 day dogsitting stint w/new customer and don't have my laptop with me. It's killin me. Couple of points - Yea for Bravo showing BBM but right, it wouldn't be good with commercials in it. I love Auntie Mame - I've only seen the Rosalind Russell version and I love it. Don't know how many times I've seen it. Xanadu takes me back to rollerskates and holy cow, what a critic nightmare that one was. But I was there at the theatre watching it. I have so much to say but I've got to get off. Work is still a bear!!!
Hi Kacie!!!Thanks for the greeting! Geez, i wish i had the day off again....
Cool - I didn't have to set up a new account. I wasn't sure it would publish with my being on my work computer & all. That could be a bad thing, now that I know.....: )
These people are HARSH!
Home today and time for a quick comment before going out.
I think my favorite "romantic" (some will say sentimental) moment in BBM is definitely the dozy embrace, both in the film and in the book. In fact I've often picked up Close Range just to read this particular passage.
My hunch about one possible cut on the Bravo version: FNIT - no way they're going to show such enthusiastic sodomy. ;)
I'd really like for people who will watch it to report back.
Haggard has been "restored"???
Guess his personal "spiritual" quest involved repeated readings of Down-Low for Dummies.
Damn it Prairie Girl, you're another Auntie Mame fan? Will it ever stop? Now I really have to watch that movie! :D
Little more info about the Nailed and it's money woes.
"Despite the studio’s financial woes, an inside source said production was expected to continue this week for the last two days of shooting, which includes a key scene for the movie. If I knew I was running short on funds, I probably would have moved key scenes up to make sure they were filmed before work stoppages occurred. Then again, since stoppages have been a trend throughout the past two months of filming, I guess there’s no real way to figure out where to put those key scenes."
What do you bet it's Jess getting the nail in her head.
Cinema Blend: Capitol Films Nailed Over Financial Shortage
Frenchy, the dozy embrace is my favorite scene too - that's when I usually lose it. What amazing acting - throughout the film Jack never lets himself expect anything, but you see faint glimmers of hope, or looking for a sign, in Jack's eyes, and all kinds of mixed emotions played out on his face. But in the dozy embrace scene - you see all the want, need, love and resignation to Ennis leaving, from the first embrace and then to the present, and last. :'(
Except for the after-the-divorce scene, when he's so hopeful and happy, and basically gets shot down. I lose it then too.
And then the shirts scene, when it finally dawns on Ennis what he's lost, but it's too late, and he's left with regret - I lose it then too. Awww hell, it's basically all downhill from the dozy embrace. ;)
I know I'm not the only one who does a speed BBM, when I go to my favorite scenes, when I do that I end on the dozy embrace.... other times I want to see Ennis discover those shirts tucked away like he was in Jack's heart.
^^It's just so beautiful, isn't it, the first time you see it - how Jack kept a part of Ennis with him, and how much Ennis meant to him, and ultimately, how much Jack meant to Ennis, when he finally allows himself to feel it, know it, and accept it. :'(
OK, I gotta go, but this is one of my favorite movies ever, so I can't resist a BBM discussion.
Is there anyone who doesn't do a speed BBM? :D The dozy embrace is the scene that always really gets to me too, just thinking about it now brings on a flood of emotions.
I have a speed BBM, a BBM that consists of watching the trailer (as that sustained me for so long before I got the DVD), and a BBM that ends when they leave the mountain. I have emotional issues with watching the whole film :)
A speed BBM! That's hilarious. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've got to go let my dog out - she's prob'ly got her legs crossed. I may have to go get my laptop sometime this week - I can't stand this.
Frenchy, the dozy embrace is my favorite scene too - that's when I usually lose it.
HA! So I'm not the only one! :D
Actually I started losing it myself the minute the music changed and I realized the burning wood I was seeing had been warming up Jack and Ennis in their younger and happier days. Then the gentle rocking and lullabying by Ennis and the ultimate gaze of younger/older Jack finished me off.
I have emotional issues with watching the whole film :)
I have emotional tissues with it! I must have emptied dozens of kleenex boxes during that damn scene already! :D
Seriously, this is such a superb flashback. And years of watching movies have convinced me that flashbacks are a true art form in themselves and few directors master its subtlety.
What Jack remembered and craved in a way he could neither help nor understand was the time that distant summer on Brokeback when Ennis had come up behind him and pulled him close, the silent embrace satisfying some shared and sexless hunger.
They had stood that way for a long time in front of the fire, its burning tossing ruddy chunks of light, the shadow of their bodies a single column against the rock. The minutes ticked by from the round watch in Ennis's pocket, from the sticks in the fire settling into coals. Stars bit through the wavy heat layers above the fire. Ennis's breath came slow and quiet, he hummed, rocked a little in the sparklight and Jack leaned against the steady heartbeat, the vibrations of the humming like faint electricity and, standing, he fell into sleep that was not sleep but something else drowsy and tranced until Ennis, dredging up a rusty but still useable phrase from the childhood time before his mother died, said, "Time to hit the hay, cowboy. I got a go. Come on, you're sleepin on your feet like a horse," and gave Jack a shake, a push, and went off in the darkness. Jack heard his spurs tremble as he mounted, the words "see you tomorrow," and the horse's shuddering snort, grind of hoof on stone.
Later, that dozy embrace solidified in his memory as the single moment of artless, charmed happiness in their separate and difficult lives. Nothing marred it, even the knowledge that Ennis would not then embrace him face to face because he did not want to see nor feel that it was Jack he held. And maybe, he thought, they'd never got much farther than that. Let be, let be.
Annie Proulx
Thanks BBM.
I found that my speed BBMs keep getting longer because I want to watch more scenes.
Newest from Ted
Dear Ted:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but in your recent Truth, Lies, and Ted video, there are at least two comical clues as to why Jake and Reese will not be living passionately ever after. One clue was visual, the other verbal, but both reaffirmed your status as gossip's most clever columnist! Kudos!
Judy
Dover, N.H.
Dear Between the Lines:
Was that when I was cleaning out the cat litter?
Dear Ted:
Love the column, Ted! Especially Sex, Lies and Ted! Great to see you in the flesh again, baby. I've noticed a few let's say "dubious" pairings in H'wood. How many reasons are there for a phony romance? Particularly when it is a serial occurrence?
Silvia
New York City
Dear Repeat Offender:
First off, it’s Truth, Lies and Ted. Sex, Lies and Ted would be quite a different show, but glad to see where your mind is going. And faux-mances are all formed for one thing: publicity.
Dear Ted:
I think just about every man in Hollywood has been suggested for Toothy, so there is only one guy left: It’s gotta be Carrot Top! Please Tedly, tell us someday soon—I might be dead by the time you spill...
Margot
El Paso, Texas
Dear Not the Top:
Don’t insult the annals of this column’s beauty, darling, please.
Hey thanks for the assist!
Uh? Jake still filming Nailed? Wasn't he in London sharing house with Reese?
Jake is done with Nailed, it's Jessica and Marsden still filming. Jake is in the UK for Pop pre-production.
Gah, that's a beautiful passage from the story.
I really like the song today; I remember reading about it around the time of BBM but have never actually heard it before.
Cheeky Ted saying TT is not the top.
I dont mind seeing BBM come to cable/tv but I would hate for them to butcher it to the point where you miss the subliminal messages of the film. So many things are implied without actual being said. When you start cutting things you mess up the flow. The tent scenes are so important to the overall feel of the film - which im sure would be the first to be cut/edited. Imo without seeing the full emotions/sexual tension/ultimate surrender in those tent scenes the last parting scene when they argue will not make any sense. I totally agree with u guys that the dozy embrace and the shirts scenes are the most emotional parts of the movie. I never read the screenplay and Im still blown away each and every time I watch them. Im so glad Im not the only one that speed dials scenes either : )
cute song...Go Willie!!
Later, that dozy embrace solidified in his memory as the single moment of artless, charmed happiness in their separate and difficult lives.
Thank you BBM. Don't know about you but the bolded words above are those that made me try to catch my breath and fight back the tears as I read the short story the first time around. I actually copied those words and stuck them to one of the mountain postcards that came with the collector's edition. Each time I read them the original feelings never fail to come back.
I forgot to say earlier that I just love today's song. I'm afraid I've come to take those daily treats as granted and often forget to say thank you. So here: a billion thanks to Wicked and Special for these daily musical gems. :)
Forget speeding through BBM. It's slow mo through the 2nd nite in the tent and the reunion scene that is the way to go. Can't begin to guess how many times I've watched them that way. The only problem with slo mo is that there is no sound.
Very observant viewer who spotted the visual cue in Ted's report. We should have known since he is so clever with words, and now video too. Ted just loves to mention that toothy is the bottom too.
NETB, I just hit a point in Maurice where it becomes to me implausible. Dont wan't to give it away if you have not reached that point or for others who plan to read it. A departure from the movie. Let me know when you have finished the book as I am curious as to your opinion and will ask at that time in a non spoilerish way.
Thanks for the BBM post. I am so glad its going to seen by even more viewers via Bravo. I can't see a screening on NBC happening but it would be amazing if it did!
I too do selective scenes or mini-viewings. There's the mountain only viewing, or my other favourite the up until Jack dies viewing. Somehow its almost impossible for me to watch that last section. Too depressing even if its in the most beautiful way. And then there's the BBM vids and fics (especially AU with happy endings) that are such a comfort and joy. My hopes are high for the opera too. Who knew a film could be so moving for so long. True art.
The actors strike could disrupt and delay Prince of Persia, and force it to shut down production:
“...More than 1,800 people, both in the U.S. and abroad, are lined up to work on Disney's nearly $200-million-budget "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," a video-game-based tale starring Jake Gyllenhaal that's set to begin production in Morocco on July 28.
"Of course, we're concerned," said the film's producer, Jerry Bruckheimer. "We'd have to shut it down and everybody goes home. . . . But I can't believe either side wants a strike." Bruckheimer said if the production was delayed, the crew nonetheless would continue working on visual effects, editing, set building and other areas not requiring actors.
Moreover, if halting production pushes the eventual start date of "Prince of Persia" too far into the future, the film would risk missing its planned release date next summer....”
Los Angeles Times
M, I'll definitely let you know and we can discuss once I get to that point, or finish the book. It sounds interesting, the departure from the film.
I have to add my thanks to BBM, and Annie's story - I've read that several times and it makes me cry too. I don't selective view because there's too much beauty to savor IMO. I watch all the way through to directly to Mexico, then I stop there and pick it up again. I love when they are discovering each other up on the mountain, and when they set up cozy camp together, and of course both tent scenes are breathtaking, but I love SNIT. I forgot, the "Just like this, always" scene makes me lose it too - because Ennis shuts the idea down cold, but it's breathtaking again when he admits how much he does want Jack. The mixed emotions playing out on Heath's face are amazing as well. Ennis has amazing moments of clarity. The reunion kiss scene takes my breath away because of the way it does the same to Jack, he never knew what hit him. They are still breathless at the top of the stairs when they meet Alma, can't hide it. Wonderful acting. :)
I love how they show time passing between them over their 20 years together, there's always a rushing river or stream. Then, I always have to turn away during a certain scenes with Jack being hurt. Really, the entire thing gets me teary, right from the first guitar chords, all that heavy weight of loneliness and wind. The "ill wind" blowing when Aquirre finds out about them, watching through the binoculars. Jack being blown in by the wind to Aquirre's office by the wind, like he's been buffeted around without an anchor. When Alma is kissing Ennis and talking about moving, and she talks about Ennis not wanting to be so lonely, the wind blows again. So much done with nature that is beautiful. I could go on and on, and probably do. Sorry! :)
Kacie, I know you were trying to find the pics of Ted's wedding. I think they are seen in Ted's new video segment project- Truth, Lies, and Ted. Also, Ted said that the videos are done at he and Jon's house! They have a pretty nice place.
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