10 Years Today

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Brokeback Mountain.

It's hard to believe it has been that long, and at the same time it seems a lifetime ago.  We praised the progress that had been made at that time.  Looking at today we see how far we've come -and much further we need to go.

Brokeback was groundbreaking when it came out, now it is one of  most iconic LGBTQ film of all time. Even those who never saw the movie, know about Brokeback.

At the heart of it, a love story that all can relate to, trapped in a time and place full of prejudice, hatred and non-acceptance of what Ennis and Jack shared.  Today in America, same sex couples have the same rights as all couples.

It was Heath's finest performance, and a performance of Jake's that resonated from his truth.

 It can never be recreated but is capture for the ages.

Brokeback was much more than a movie,  it was moment on the timeline of progress.

 Happy Hanukkah

Brokeback Bravo

With award season on, Jake's most lauded role to date is back in the news.  Brokeback is back, this time as an opera.

Several years ago there was talk of producing Brokeback as opera and
 was originally meant to be first staged in US, being commissioned by the New York City Opera, which was well known for producing new works with popular culture interest.

The organization is now defunct, and when the company’s director, Gerard Mortier, resigned, he took Brokeback to the Teatro Real in Madrid.  It’s set to open in Madrid later this month, January 28th.

Charles Wuorinen is the composer, with Annie Proulx returning to her own story by working on the libretto (ie text of the opera).

What BBM the opera is not, is "the opera version of the  movie", the piece is described as ‘grittier’ with tighter characterization, and the addition of a ghost and a chorus. Canadian bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch takes on the role of Ennis, while American tenor Tom Randle is Jack.

Broadwayworld seemed impressed with the music, saying the “Score evokes the mountains with its swells and strains, bringing to life the harshly imposing Wyoming landscape from which the story was born.”

 The openly gay Wuorinen describes it as, “A story of doomed love, in this case a complex homosexual relationship taking place in a very homophobic society.”

Doomed love? Is that perception that people had of the movie?  Was it doomed?  Or was it something else?

Reel Rewind

With it all quiet on the Jake and Austin front for the last couple of days while celebrating the holidays, thought it would be a good time to  fire up the way back machine for a rewind back to Brokeback

  

 

 

Historical Hanger

The shirts from Brokeback are now on display at the Autry National Center of the American West.

But how they got there is interesting. After Tom Gregory brought the iconic shirts for $101,100 on Ebay, they were hanging on his office wall. That was until Gregory Hinton called him on New Year's Eve.

“I was doing researching on ‘Night Rodeo,’ my fifth novel about my dad Kip (former editor of the Cody Enterprise) and wondered what happened to the shirts that were such an important prop in the film,” Hinton said. So he tracked down Gregory and proposed the idea to the Autry, along with the Gay Rodeo Legacy Project, which evolved into the symposium “Gay in the West: Reclaiming Our Country Heritage." The event will address the urban-rural bias, and will be this fall. The shirts will be at the Autry on lone for a year.

Gregory felt “the shirts hold deep meaning for so many, especially those 50 and older that could relate to the anguish and isolation of Ennis".

The Autry known for exploring all peoples of the American West, thought it was perfect for the museum . Jeffrey Richardson, assistant curator for film and popular culture, got involved and the project was pulled it together in six months.

The shirts are part of a re-installation of the Contemporary Westerns case that displays memorabilia and art from significant films since the 1970s, such as “Unforgiven” and “Tom Horn.”, “Wild Bill,” as well as gun belts and revolvers from the western comedy spoof “Three Amigos!”

Gregory's only request, that the shirts remain together and entertwined. “They have remained that way since the filmed wrapped and will always remain that way under my watch,”

Autry National Center of the American West



Something this good has to be shared.

Here is the link to pictures of Austin over at Spooky's

Austin looking hot on set - Austin Nichols Journal

Rate not so Great?

Sorry for the late post. Insomnia and cable lead to nothing but trouble for posting.

Also have to admit an oversight when it comes to Hal Ashby, I forgot to include one of his best's works, Coming Home, with Jon Voight, Bruce Dern and Jane Fonda. Winner of 3 Oscars for Best Actress, Best Actor (Voight) and Best Writing. Coming Home came out in 1978, just 4 years after the fall of Saigon. It tells the story of Sally Hyde (Jane Fonda), her husband Bob (Bruce Dern) has gone to the Vietnam War. She goes to work as nurse in a veterans hospital where Violet, her friend, works too. In hospital she meets an old high school friend, Luke Martin (Jon Voight). Like Bob, Luke had gone to Nam but he came back paraplegic. Love between Luke and Sally grow and she has a sexual awakening. After the suicide of Violet's Brother (another veteran) Luke has only one obsession: do anything to stop the sending of young guys to war. Sally finds herself with with choices to make. Coming Home is a poignant story of the situations out of one's control and the choices that life gives. Defintely a movie that should not be forgotten on a list.

Now for the post:


Another movie to recommend is "This Film is Not Yet Rated" a documentary on the MPAA ratings board. Definitely one to watch. Why? Because it documents the history and talks to numerous directors and actors about the censorship of their movies before they could be released. Including directors, Kevin Smith, Matt Stone, John Waters, Darren Aronosfsky, Maria Bello, Atom Egoyan. Director, Kirby Dick hires a lesbian family of private investigators to find out the names of the MPAA ratings board and see if the raters are actually parents of children 5-17 like the MPAA tells American parents they are.

What is interesting is Dick shows how the ratings board gives mores R and NC-17's for sexual content over violence which is in directly opposite in Europe, and how more gay themed movies and movies with not more explicit acts but non "traditional" pairs or acts get more NC-17 ratings, while killing sprees and violence toward women get R ratings. The most interesting thing is that the ratings board in completely secret. What other secret organization in the US has such an influence over the culture with such decisions? Only the CIA. MPAA says it is to protect those members from being influenced. Even the Supreme Court is publicly known and their decisions should be even more important the state of the nation. Something to think about.

And what does this have to do with OMG? It makes you wonder what MPAA told Ang to do with scenes in Brokeback. And if that influenced him not make any cuts for Lust, Caution.

And now with Informers. What you see of Austin in a threesome is what the MPAA approved for an R rating, but knowing the content of the novel and the setting in the 80's, you know that what was shot was even more explicit and it makes you wonder ended up on the cutting room floor to get an R.



The Informers opens at the Verzaubert Queer Film Festival (March 18-25 )in Berlin and then tours Frankfurt, Cologne and Munich through April. It opens in the U.S. on April 24th. I wonder what the difference in reception will be between Europe and the U.S. and wondering how much of an impact the rating system has shaped the audience.

Oscar Wild

OMG's Oscar Edition

It's all about Oscar - and it might get some people grouchy. Let's open up a little can of ...

The Curious Case of Zodiac

While Benjamin Button is visual stunning and the special effects in digitalization, aging and transformations are leading the way, and it has that trademark golden light of a Fincher film, is it really better than Zodiac? Is the Academy correcting a mistake but not recognizing what I think, was a better movie, from performances to the storyline in Zodiac, by overnominating Benjamin Button with 13 nominations? Did Pitt have a better performance than RDJ did in Zodiac? Shouldn't he lose points for what he uses as a Louisana accent? Did Jake lose out again because he played it with a quietness that some overlook, as not as inspiring, but really looking at it with a critical eye, constraint as an actor is even harder. (The less is more theory) Was it the lack of closure in the ending? Was it that Zodiac is designed not to be watched once but several times to get the whole thing? And isn't really Button really Forest Gump meets Cher in a "If I Could Turn Back Time" montage?

Hollywood has a history of right wrongs have they know they've blown it. Are they recognizing Fincher now because they know they screwed him before?

And then there's Heath.


While the Joker is an incredible performance on its own no doubt, this nomination and very possible win for Heath, seems to be recognizing the entire body of his work.

Now not everything Heath did hit the high mark, (Four Feathers?) but he how found himself in roles that transformed him. While most here would say BBM, you have to remember his role in Monster's Ball. That was the first role that really showed something different from what Hollywood wanted him to become and caught a different kind of attention. This was a serious contender in Hollywood not just for the way he looked on screen. Then his performance in Brokeback too both him and his acting to another level, and held Hollywood in his hand. Why didn't he win? Why didn't Jake? Why didn't BBM take it all? And in between Ennis and the Joker - Heath traveled from Casanova to a drug addict, from the frivalous to the deadly serious. Think ahead 10, 15, 20 years? What will people remember Heath for - wil it be Ennis Del Mar or The Joker? Now think about what this award is for - now ask yourself - is Hollywood honoring him for just one role? And if so, which one really?
More to think about:

Has the Oscar gold dulled? There is the Oscar curse. But does a nomination or a win really bring the level of work that you think it does? An interesting article in Variety.

Is the expectation of the public and the media outrun the reality of what Hollywood is churning out? Or it the way Hollywood runs itself that creates its own problems?


Now for something fun:

You can say yes to the dress and there is nothing better than playing fashion police, but then there's ... actual broadcast.

Yes Wolverine doing the Oscars is something special, but just in case there is a lull or two, how about some Oscar Bingo to pass the time.

Oscar Bingo

Who ever wins or loses, take a moment and remember what you love about movies. Remember that first movie you saw, the first movie that captured your imagination or the first that brought your tears. That's what it's really about.

Sorry for delay - I was watching Moonlight Mile - and Ebert was right - Jake should have gotten a nomination for it. I forget how amazing he is in it.

Write On - Write Off

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but apparently not for Annie Proulx. In article in the UK's Independent, despite the success of Brokeback Mountain, it has according to Proulx become "the source of constant irritation in my private life".

How so? It appears that Proulx is being sent "pornish" (her words) mail by fans offering their interpretations of the story, yes that's right Fan Fiction. While the fans see the story of Jack and Ennis a spring board of inspiration, Proulx sees the fan fiction differently.

"There are countless people out there who think the story is open range to explore their fantasies and to correct what they see as an unbearably disappointing story. They constantly send ghastly manuscripts and pornish rewrites of the story to me, expecting me to reply with praise and applause for 'fixing' the story. They certainly don't get the message that if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it."

In a way you can understand, say you've won a Pulitzer prize, a National Book Award, and a PEN/Faulkner award and have 7 books under your belt and you're getting daily rewrites of probably now the famous story you've written. The people who sent it mean no harm they are just excited and inspired by your work, but they expect you to be as excited as they are or maybe say oh this so much better than mine, I wish I could have thought of it. Annie Proulx is not that. She is a nonsense kind of person , that's not saying she's simplistic, oh the contrary, Proulx is as complex or even more so than the characters she creates.

She doesn't really like to do interviews, she's not is an entertainer, she's not a star. If she wanted to be and if the publisher got what they wanted she would be. But that's not Annie. She's writer who just wants to write. A storyteller who needs to tell the story, just like many of the fans of her work are. She's happier on her ranch writing than talking about what she wrote. She is more about the stories she writes speaking for themselves.

You'd think after all this she would move away from the Wyoming setting to give a break from the comparisons and comments but she is going back for one more time for her new collection of nine stories, Fine Just the Way It Is, based on the lives of the women on the ranches. "In a real sense, women on ranches are secondary citizens. But many, if not most, would be furious if you said that out straight, They see themselves as mythic Western women." She did say this is the last time she would visit Wyoming as a setting for her stories, saying she didn't want to be known too closely associated with only one region.

But does Annie's comments mean that writers shouldn't write fan fiction anymore? Any great work inspires many and that's what this does. There will always be fan fiction writers, writing and exploring the answers and solutions that they would like to see. Writing is a exercise of the mind and soul and that is what is for many Brokeback writers.


***********************

A little BBM and Annie moment from an interview on Bookslut.com

Annie gave Heath public praise for his performance as Ennis. It always made you wonder if she singled him out.

"You said earlier that you were pleased with Heath Ledger's performance. Did you feel that way about the whole cast?

The whole cast was magnificent. There wasn't anything not to be thrilled with, in anyone's performance. They were all extraordinary. And by singling out Heath Ledger, I didn't mean to slight Jake Gyllenhaal in the least, because he's an extraordinarily versatile, quicksilver, accomplished actor. Really, quite marvelous. And I think he went from Brokeback to Jarhead, and that is the kind of jump that is, like, "Oh, really?" And he did both with ease. Very expert ease.

All of the actors were just superb."

Back to Brokeback

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 company 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."

Fences or Freedom?

Not the typical picture you think of when you think of Brokeback, but one that captures more than the scene.

For many Brokeback was what brought them to become Jake fans. His performance as Jack Twist was done with such open honest emotion how could people not be drawn to him. Looking back now there is so much more that was happening in his real life that that helped mold his role on screen . Reflecting on it now you can see how much Jake was trying to say in his interviews and awards.

Brokeback was not just an artistic journey but personal one for Jake. A different journey than any other movie he had done up until then and will do in the future. The months proceeding and following its opening showed Jake at his happiest it seems. There was a sense of freedom in his life. For that brief time in early 2006 was when he felt he could share more than ever, even with more eyes than ever turned on him.

Now it seems the fences have been put up. Trying to corral him in. Will there ever be that freedom again?