[Once A Villain]

This was from the IMDB today (basically sums things up nicely):

Far more surprising to box-office watchers than the tame debut of King Kong over the weekend was the performance of Brokeback Mountain, which packed the 69 theaters in 21 cities that it played in. In such cities as Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles, the take was more than $70,000 at each theater. Nationally, it averaged a sensational $34,194 per theater, which Daily Variety said was a record for any film released on more than 50 screens (except for those released in IMAX theaters, where ticket prices are substantially higher). Generally described as a gay cowboy romance, the film reportedly played well in some smaller test markets. Today's (Monday) Los Angeles Times observed that the film fared well in the "closely watched" city of Plano, TX. Jack Foley, Focus Films' distribution chief, told the Times that its debut there "was a revelation about the accessibility of this movie. ... This is not gay-dependent. Attendance at those theaters indicates the film has the attention of suburban moviegoers."


I live in the suburb right next to Plano (both suburbs of Dallas), so this is interesting to me. They chose a mainstream theater there (as opposed to the Angelika, which plays foreign and art films all the time and is where I saw Brokeback Mountain with a great crowd) to "test the waters" in this area. The theater is the Legacy Cinemark 24, picked because it was one of the top grossing theaters in the nation for The Passion of the Christ. Focus Features is obviously wondering how a film about homosexuals will do in a city that embraced a film about Jesus Christ. The answer is: very, very well. Brokeback Mountain was the #3 grossing movie of the weekend at the Legacy Cinemark (only behind King Kong and Narnia I would assume, and both of those had multiple screens, endless hype, and no R ratings).

Anyway, I'm thrilled that Brokeback Mountain is doing so well in what has, thus far, been a very limited release. It made nearly $1 million in its first week at only 5 theaters. Now it has expanded to 69 theaters in the nation (Kong is at 3,568 theaters!), and has $3.5 million already in less than two weeks. This movie only cost $13 million to make so Ang Lee is looking at a huge hit here.

I think everyone should go to see this film and support it. It's not just a great movie, it's a movie that's really about something (normally not a rare thing, but this year it is). Also, if Heath Ledger doesn't win Best Actor at every awards show there is...then I think we should start a revolt. Ang Lee should also win for director.

[eriq]

I can't wait to see this. It's been sold out here in SF. Go figure.

I WANT TO SEE THEM DOING IT! WWOOOOOO! OH YEA BABY!

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by eriq

I can't wait to see this. It's been sold out here in SF. Go figure.

I WANT TO SEE THEM DOING IT! WWOOOOOO! OH YEA BABY!

Yeah I went to a 4:40 showing and it was packed. Then as I left, there was a HUGE line waiting for the 7:30 show...it looked like a blockbuster or something. Heh.

As for seeing Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist (the characters played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) doing it, you won't be disappointed. Heh. I mean, it's not pornography or anything close, but it's definitely a scene for adults and they do have simulated sex on screen.

I'm not gay myself, but this is just a great movie...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Heh, I'm taking a ten minute break from my spinning workout and saw this thread. Yeah, I can't wait to see it, either. Therapist who moderates a men's support group I attend is gonna try to get group to see it at a special rate. If not I'll see it alone. This is definitely one of the movies of and for our times.

[Maquisard]

I wonder if either of these straight (I think) actors got a boner (pretending to be) doing it.

[lumi]

I've got no plans on seeing it. Romances aren't for me.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Wuuuussss!

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by Spider Crusoe

I've got no plans on seeing it. Romances aren't for me.

Ha ha, I can understand that. At the same time, it's not just a romance film. This isn't just a lackluster romantic picture that is special simply because it's about two men. Not at all. A great deal of the movie is also about the pain and tragedy that can ensue when people try to live in a way that doesn't come naturally to them (in this case, living as a heterosexual).

One of the men in this story is optimistic about the feelings he shares with the other, but the other man is terrified of people's reactions. It's a combination of things: time (1960's - early 1980's) and place (small towns in Wyoming and Texas) chief among them. Because one character is too afraid to follow his feelings, other people suffer...and by no means is that limited to the other man in the relationship. Other innocent people are drawn into sharing their lives with two people trying to be something they aren't. It's very complex actually...the romance is only the root of a story that grows into something much more interesting.

[Wormsie]

Good Morning, America. No it's not out in Finland yet, therefore I haven't been able to see it.

[natalia]

I definitely can't wait to see it. I'm a sucker for love stories (doomed or otherwise), I love Ang Lee, and it has Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger -- how can I miss?

[Ninth]

It's out in France the 18th of january. So, wait and see.

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by Ninth

It's out in France the 18th of january. So, wait and see.

Wait and see, yes you're right. I should use the same restraint. Here I am saying Brokeback Mountain should win awards for Best Actor and Best Director, but to be completely fair I have yet to see Munich (going on the 23rd) or The New World.

I was just so impressed with Ledger's performance. Also, there's one thing anyone can notice about Ang Lee's films, and that's the sense of "lived in" detail and period accuracy. The home that the family in Texas lives in during the late 70's - early 80's reminds me of the house I grew up in in Houston. It also appeared that the characters really lived there. Looking behind them I saw a world within that house that I remembered from my own childhood. This is all the more impressive when one considers that Ang Lee has no business being so accurate and understanding about American times and places...the guy is Taiwanese. He's amazing.

His only mistake is a forgivable one. He nails the "honky tonk" bar atmosphere perfectly (I have relatives that live in a small Texas town, so that's my only choice of places to go when I'm visiting them). However, Lee portrays every single person (male or female) in these places wearing cowboy hats. That's just not accurate at all. You do see plenty of cowboy hats at those places, but probably not even 1/3 of the people are wearing them. In Brokeback Mountain, 100% seem to be wearing them. I went with a group of friends to see this film, and the person next to me said, "I haven't seen this many cowboy hats since Lonesome Dove." LOL. Oh well, I forgive Ang for his one flaw in accuracy.

[natalia]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

I was just so impressed with Ledger's performance. Also, there's one thing anyone can notice about Ang Lee's films, and that's the sense of "lived in" detail and period accuracy. The home that the family in Texas lives in during the late 70's - early 80's reminds me of the house I grew up in in Houston. It also appeared that the characters really lived there. Looking behind them I saw a world within that house that I remembered from my own childhood. This is all the more impressive when one considers that Ang Lee has no business being so accurate and understanding about American times and places...the guy is Taiwanese. He's amazing.

OAV, I'll echo your sentiments on Ang Lee, and add that I love the way he directs characters struggling with immense, but unspoken, emotions. I felt that he did this believably and subtly in both Sense and Sensibility and the Ice Storm. It's why I'm really looking forward to Brokeback Mountain.

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by natalia

OAV, I'll echo your sentiments on Ang Lee, and add that I love the way he directs characters struggling with immense, but unspoken, emotions. I felt that he did this believably and subtly in both Sense and Sensibility and the Ice Storm. It's why I'm really looking forward to Brokeback Mountain.

Good, then I can pump up the hype now... Brokeback has much more in common with Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm, and Eat Drink Man Woman than it does with The Hulk or Ride With the Devil. Thank goodness, eh? It also has some things in common with the emotional, dramatic side of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...minus any flying martial artists.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

His only mistake is a forgivable one. He nails the "honky tonk" bar atmosphere perfectly (I have relatives that live in a small Texas town, so that's my only choice of places to go when I'm visiting them). However, Lee portrays every single person (male or female) in these places wearing cowboy hats. That's just not accurate at all. You do see plenty of cowboy hats at those places, but probably not even 1/3 of the people are wearing them. In Brokeback Mountain, 100% seem to be wearing them. I went with a group of friends to see this film, and the person next to me said, "I haven't seen this many cowboy hats since Lonesome Dove." LOL. Oh well, I forgive Ang for his one flaw in accuracy.

I can vouch for that as well. On the road trips I've taken in the past I've passed through small towns in rural areas of states like Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, and others. I never saw even a quarter of the people in those towns wearing Stetsons. Those hats are reserved for work in the fields and for special events like rodeos.

It's kinda like some non-Asian director filming in rural Vietnam and everybody is shown wearing those conical hats.

[Once A Villain]

Ah, a bit of cool news from my neck of the woods...

"December 19, 2005 -- DALLAS-FORT WORTH FILM CRITICS NAME “BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN” BEST OF 2005. The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association voted the frontier romance BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN as the best film of 2005, according to the results of its 12th annual critics’ poll."

They also chose Ang Lee as Best Director. Unfortunately, Heath Ledger didn't win Best Actor (he was the first runner up), but at least he lost to the one guy that gave, it could be argued, an equally amazing performance: Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote.

[AFGNCAAP]

Anything that gets virtually all "best of 2005" prizes, makes me a bit suspicious of being overhyped. But I'll probably end up seeing it anyway, to find out what the fuss is all about (opens February 24th here).

Come to think of it, last time I went to watch what I had expected to be an overhyped movie, but turned out a fabulous one, the film in question was... Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by one Ang Lee.

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Wait and see, yes you're right. I should use the same restraint. Here I am saying Brokeback Mountain should win awards for Best Actor and Best Director, but to be completely fair I have yet to see Munich (going on the 23rd) or The New World.

Have you seen The Constant Gardener? If so, what did you think of it?

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Unfortunately, Heath Ledger didn't win Best Actor (he was the first runner up), but at least he lost to the one guy that gave, it could be argued, an equally amazing performance: Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote.

I've adored P.S. Hoffman since forever, so I'm rooting for him in Oscars etc., even not having seen Capote (opens February 17th). I have a hard time imagining him in a lead role, though - he almost became synonymous with a memorable background character to me (somehow I never got round to watch Owning Mahowny).

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by AFGNCAAP

Have you seen The Constant Gardener? If so, what did you think of it?

I liked it. I'm not quite sure that I liked it better than City of God though, by the same director. Probably not. Anyway, some of the other movies I really liked this year:

Match Point
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Good Night, and Good Luck
Sin City
Batman Begins
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
March of the Penguins
A History of Violence
Broken Flowers
Grizzly Man

That's just off the top of my head, I'm probably forgetting stuff, and I haven't seen Munich or The New World yet. I can't include Downfall or Saraband because they were technically released prior to this year.

[Ninth]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Good, then I can pump up the hype now... Brokeback has much more in common with Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm, and Eat Drink Man Woman than it does with The Hulk or Ride With the Devil. Thank goodness, eh? It also has some things in common with the emotional, dramatic side of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...minus any flying martial artists.

Ok, so, what if I like Hulk, but not Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?

[Lucien21]

Great film.