Brokeback Mountain

[Franz Ferdinand]

I didn't actually hear it, so it would be lost, but how tongue-in-cheek was he when he endorsed it? I'd take anything Stern said with a grain of salt.
Anyway, don't know if people have seen this yet, but I just love it, it really cracks me up:
http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/1562.html

[Damien]

My co-writer Mason worked for Howard Stern when he had an abortive television show in the late 80s (early 90s?). Mason was as gay as all get-out, but when he died several years later, Howard eulogized him on his radio program as a really sweet and sweet guy.

I never listen to Howard, but, despite all the trappings, he strikes me as a thoroughly decent person, and his endorsement of Brokeback (hell, he seems to like it more than I do), only reinforces that assesment.

[Sonic Youth]

I got this from The Envelope message board. Howard Stern has given the movie his blessing. This is from a web-site that follows his radio show.

"Howard Stern said that 'Brokeback Mountain' might be one of the best movies he's ever seen... The movie is a very moving love story and he wishes that they would force the religious right fanatics to watch it to show what happens when gays are forced to remain closeted. He told Artie [a co-host] that he would like the movie if he saw it. Artie figures that the producers of the movie must love that Howard is giving his blessing on the movie. Howard said the movie was so good that he couldn't turn it off."

(As you may imagine, I edited out some of the more off-color comments.)

Forget it. If someone as spiritually and ideologically devoted to his heterosexuality [that is: if someone as big a pig] as Howard says Brokeback Mountain is one of the greatest movies he's ever seen, the other movies may as well stay home on Oscar night.

[OscarGuy]

Well, if all else fails, it just goes to show that anyone can make a comparison that looks legit but when compared with a larger palette, it's much more specialized.

[MovieWes]

Well, it is kind of weird that you list Free Willy as a failure when it made $200,000 more than Philadelphia in the same year (and Philadelphia was more of a Mass Market film than Free Willy anyway.. c'mon! Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington vs. Michael Madsen, a kid, and a whale?). Also, The Birdcage was far more star powered than any of the family movies you mentioned. In & Out isn't what I would call a hit either, at least not much moreso than Holes (although, in all fairness, it beats Holes when you factor in inflation.. but then again, Beethoven beats In & Out with inflation, so it evens out I suppose). And if you want to compare Non-Mass Market Films to Gay Films, then why not mention the independently produced (and obviously not aimed at anyone BUT kids) Spy Kids movies or, to a lesser extent, Cheaper by the Dozen?

[OscarGuy]

This is based on the "family" designation from boxofficemojo. It does not include "Kids" films. There are certain types of films that are geared more towards a mass audience (E.T.) than to a specific niche (Fly Away Home). That's the reason for the comparison. Mass Market films, which were characterized less as family films but as event films, are not included for that reason.

[MovieWes]

I did some research on other family films...

Because of Winn Dixie - 32.6 mil
Holes - 67.4 mil
Fly Away Home - 25.1 mil
Free Willy - 77.6 mil
Beethoven - 57.1 mil
Black Stallion - 37.7 mil
My Dog Skip - 34.1 mil

Oh and those Christian films:
Passion and Chronicles are certainly above 200 mil but what about these other wide release gems:

Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie - 25.5 mil
The Omega Code - 12.6 mil
Left Behind - 4.2 mil

How abuot those "Gay" films
Birdcage - 124 mil
Philadelphia - 77.4 mil
In & Out - 63.8 mil
The Crying Game - 62.5 mil

All of these were infinitely more popular than most Christian/family films, so I would have to say the public prefers gay stories to christian stories...at least by this writer's rationale.

I know I'm replying waaay after the fact, but I just had to comment...

First off, I think that you're a bit off the mark on the family film thing. You just listed a small little list of family films that didn't do well at the box-office, but then you left off A LOT of family films that did. What about E.T.? That made $441.2 million. And what about the Star Wars and Harry Potter movies, Pirates of the Caribbean, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Polar Express, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Scooby Doo, the animated Disney films, or all the CG-animated movies? Or are they not "family" movies because they have expensive special effects or have fantasy elements? (I'm not mentioning The Chronicles of Narnia because I guess you covered it with the Christian films) If that's the case, then what about Home Alone 1 and 2, National Treasure, 101 Dalmatians (live-action), Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pacifier, Big, the Spy Kids franchise, Daddy Day Care, or any other stupid Home Alone clone that's made over $100 million domestic? It's not that I'm defending all of these movies, but it just seems to me that you were being a bit selective on the family films you chose to list.

Also, with the whole Christian thing, I don't think that it has as much to do with moviegoers preferring gay films to Christian films. I think that it has more to do with the actual quality of Christian/gay movies. I haven't seen VeggieTales, Left Behind, or The Omega Code, but they look really bad and had no studio/celebrity backing or pedigree to begin with. They were all really low budget direct-to-video crap that appeared on like 5 screens and with zero hype. With The Passion of the Christ studio execs discovered that there was an entire untapped demographic out there that could make them money, and the audiences came back with Narnia (although the success of Narnia probably had more to do with the whole LOTR/Harry Potter fantasy revolution sweeping Hollywood than with the Christian overtones). That's like comparing the box-office of The Passion of the Christ with the box-office of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Gods & Monsters, or Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (or comparing Harry Potter to Boat Trip).

[criddic3]

I'd have to agree with the majority here. This film aims to be about two guys in love rather than about two gay guys discovering their sexuality, which is completely different. Although both men are caught by surprise by their feelings for one another, the story doesn't give them some adolescent plot points about why they are gay. I think that's why there is no actual mention of the words "gay" or "homosexual."

It doesn't take away from the fact that this can now lead the way for more mature material involving gay characters. Stories that are more about people than messages. There is a time in every gay person's life when they must deal with the fact that they are gay, but that is only part of the journey. It's similar (although more uncertain in many ways) than a straight teenager discovering his sexuality. You eventually move on to more adult realities and relationships. I look forward to this being reflected in future films.

[Big Magilla]

I did see Dick but barely remember it. I guess the name didn't register. I just checked out her filmography on imdb and realize I have seen her in other films including Imaginary Heroes. I guess she didn't stand out as much for me before, but I would have loved her in The Baxter even if I hadn't seen her in Brokeback Mountain. It's a really sweet performance.

[FilmFan720]

Magilla, you should check her out in Dick. A very funny, underrated movie, with fabulous performances by Williams, Kirsten Dunst and Dan Hedaya in hilarious Richard Nixon impersonation.

Tripp

[Big Magilla]

I'm glad Heath cleared that up.

I just watched a film called The Baxter, Michael Showalter's comedy, a sort of a lightweight 40 Year-Old Virgin featuring two of that film's stars, Elizabeth Banks and Paul Rudd as well as two of the stars of The Station Agent, Peter Dinklage and Michelle Williams. Like Ang Lee, I had never seen Michelle Williams in anything before Brokeback Mountain other than The Station Agent where she had another heartbreaking role. I had no idea she could do comedy. Not only does she do it, she is luminous in a role that might have been played by Shirley MacLaine forty years ago. Catherine Keener gets props for her versatility this year, but she has nothing on Williams who is third or fourth billed but walks away with the film which was billed as a Howard Hawks type comedy though it more closely resembles Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Apartment as well as the afore-mentioned 40 Year-Old-Virigin.

[Hustler]

Finally I´ve seen it. Ledger´s performance is so impressive. I also liked Michelle Williams´s character very much. Ang Lee´s direction is remarkable.
I liked the film very much.

[flipp525]

Heath explains his SAG giggles
L.A. Times
by Elizabeth Snead

Heath Ledger is horrified that some people who watched him introduce a clip from “Brokeback Mountain” at the Screen Actors Guild Awards misinterpreted his stage fright as some kind of gay spoof.

Ledger, speaking from his cell phone, called to explain. Seems the jitters started when he was sitting at the table with the “Brokeback” cast and he wondered aloud who was going to introduce their cast.

“I leaned over and asked Jake [Gyllenhaal] and he said, ‘WE are! Didn’t you get the script?' I said, WHAT? I thought it was a script for the Directors Guild Awards a few nights earlier.”

He and Gyllenhaal raced backstage to read it and try to rehearse. But there was no time and they were told to go out onstage. Gulp.

“I’m nervous under any circumstances in front of crowds," says Ledger. "I am not a public speaker and never will be. I was so nervous before the DGA Awards backstage that my jaw was jittering and I could not get the words out. I’m just not one of those naturally funny relaxed actors who enjoy the spotlight and are so good at it. And this was really weird because we were basically introducing ourselves, like here’s this brilliant cast and guess what, it’s us.”

So he got the giggles. Who wouldn’t? “How can you say all that stuff — 'two brave cowboys' — with a straight face? It was just so surreal.”

As for his self-described “teacup hand” position. “I’ve stood like that since I was a kid. You can ask me mum. It's nerves I guess. I’m a very fidgety person, always moving, never able to sit or stand still.”

Ledger wanted to set the record straight before any harm was done. “I am so sorry and I apologize for my nervousness. I would be absolutely horrified if my stage fright was misinterpreted as a lack of respect for the film, the topic and for the amazing filmmakers.”

[kaytodd]

Maybe Ang Lee and Larry McMurtry just wanted the story to be about two people who are the great love of each others' lives but who cannot be together and how this situation affects their lives and the lives of the people around them. I do not think the film would have been improved one bit if Lee and McMurtry had decided to have Ennis and/or Jack deal with open homophobia or have them confront their families with their being gay. It would be a different film.

I am not familiar with the genesis of the making of BBM, but I find it significant that Lee was chosen to direct. He is a skilled, tasteful and experienced director who has worked, mostly successfully, in a wide variety of genres. His films, even "The Hulk", have been character driven and most have focused on family relationships. And look at Larry McMurtry's work in the film industry. All of it has concerned family relationships in the American West and Southwest.

Of course, my feelings in this regard may have something to do with the fact that I enjoyed BBM so much just as it is.

[OscarGuy]

I would have to disagree. It doesn't marginalize the subject matter or the gay community. By helping the homophobic audience see it as a universal love story helps embolden people to see it and then perhaps THEY will see it not as a gay love story, attaching a word to describe it but as a universal love story. I see that as a major step because when those who hate gays the most start recognizing these kind of stories as "just another love story" then we've won. It means people have stopped putting a title on love (straight or gay) and started recognizing it as its purest form...LOVE.