Yikes! To begin with, I haven't seen this movie yet (it'll take forever to find this particular county - we never even got to see "The Last Temptation Of Christ" until it came out on video; pretty stuffy area around here...) but I've been hearing and reading SO much about this new movie. Controversial? Perverse? Unnecessary? The end of civilization as we know it? Ye Gods...isn't it just a movie, for Heaven's sake? I'm very selective about the film critics I even waste three seconds of my life paying attention to and the ones I respect say this is a truly great film. A great love story, written boldly and expertly, acted with hardly a flaw, etc. Yeah, they all call it a moving experience and just lightly touch on the "other" stuff as they praise it. Most everything else I notice is all about the subject matter. Gay cowboys (surely such people can not exist and, if/when/where they do then they should be lynched pronto and not glorified in film!). If I heard correctly there is even some physical interaction/tenderness between Mr. Rough and Mr. Ready [<---some outrageous 'journalist's" term around here, not mine]. Well, that's downright unthinkable no matter how you wax the saddle. We like our cowpokes when they shoot each other dead, manhandle saloon gals, fart around the campfire and shave bi-annually? Whatever . Anyway, my question is mixed up in here somewhere:
- will people flock to see this film in hopes of a cheap thrill and miss what sounds like a really well crafted adventure?
- will they go specifically to gawk and then get all fired up at what they see?
- can a movie such as this stand on its own merit or be bolstered only by water cooler "hot topic" hour?
- has anyone seen it yet who can enlighten me on what is and what isn't true about it?
- can such a story ever be named Best Picture at The Oscars? Rumors are hot that it's the favorite. Is that possible? [I'm buoyed by the fact that "Midnight Cowboy" and "American Beauty" both pulled that feat off and were quite risky ventures themselves]
- isn't there infidelity in this picture? No one is talking much about that so does it mean philandering is OK?
- Jeesh. Does every signature film of its time have to be about wizards, spaceships, sinking luxury liners, glitzy movies about romanticized history and/or foreign places with photogenic everything and enough orchestral music to make your ears hurt?
- and, of course, is my even posting this just the same as those who are promoting the movie for, the way it sounds to me, all the wrong reasons. Naturally, all the damnation "Brokeback Mountain" is getting is driving ticket sales into the ceiling.
- finally I wonder if the movies that matter these days, mostly to that younger audience, are nothing more than gross-out jokes, zipper humor, and not much different than a Hooters restaurant commercial?

Just curious really. And, I am not asking for anyone's heated views (pro or con) about homosexuality of any variety. We can leave that matter as just a fact of life that you can either live with or you can't. What is it we want from movies, what is it we expect from them, does the content of a film make THAT much difference to the lives we live in the big picture? I don't know. I know what I think but that's no new territory for me and boring since what I think now is pretty much the same as what I did some ten years ago. Interested to hear what movies mean, teach, indicate or reveal to others out there.

Probaby not the most burning question on the bush, I reckon. Not so long ago the same ruckus (with a different flavor) was raised about "The Passion Of The Christ" and that uproar fizzled out in short order. This one will, too. Which, if you think about, says a lot about the historic impact of a 2 or 3 hour trip to the movies.

To the mods here ---> if anyone even answers up and then starts up a fuss I really hope you'll shut this down. My goal is a discussion about film (and, yes, the nature of the subjects therein). NOT to get a storm brewing about the sole issues of sexuality, cowboys, Heath Ledger and so forth and so on. Or religion or politics or any of that...

It's based on one of my favorite Annie Proulx stories, and the screenplay is written by Larry Mcmurtry. I'll go see it, though I doubt if it will hit our theatre here.

Trait doesn't apply to the entire young audience, mind you - here's what I had to say - bottom line, controversy's just talk, same with Passion, but in a sense, so are both films, given how middling they are compared to the recognition they get.

Wow, not even at your theater? I'm a junior in high school in an American city, and it seems like almost everyone has seen that movie except me. Sounds good too, from what I hear, and I'll check it out as soon as I have a spare second...there are about 3 theaters with it plastered on their billboards within walking distance from my house.

Ah, but I live in a very small western Canadian town - we only have one theatre, it changes its movie once a week. They only bring in movies that they think will be popular, no way can they show everything.

I have a question about this movie. Is Brokeback Mountain actually the name of the mountain or is it somehow related to the relationship of the main characters. Seriously it seems an odd name given the movies topic. A little crass i admit but i'm curious.

It refers to the mountain, although both I guess if you're generous.

Edited for legal reasons.

I saw this film a few days ago, and I don't see what the fuss is all about. To me it's a film like many others. A (at times moving) love story of two people who want to be together but can't. The fact that they're gay seems to be the explanation for the trouble they have in maintaining a relationship. The external factor that keeps them apart, because of society's opinion about homosexuality. Just like in other films where you see people being kept apart by unaccepting parents or other complications.

People who compare Brokeback Mountain to gay porn are way off, as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks, everybody! The feedback on the film here was most interesting! And "Brokeback" actually IS playing in this county, I discovered. Maybe I will get to see it after all. From everything I'm hearing it is 'different' enough to pique my interest and sounds to be beautifully crafted enough to satisfy my technical expectation(s). Sounds worth seven bucks to me!

I saw it last month, and yeah, it's worth your seven bucks. Not the best movie I've ever seen, but powerful and moving enough.
I also was touched by it for personal reasons. It was filmed in southern Alberta, and shows the scenery we are so proud of. The Wyoming town also had an Alberta stand-in, I'm sure. The just-off-main-street streets in the town I live in could have been used in the film - you just would have had to move the recent cars. And, down south of here, in smaller towns, MAIN street still looks like that. It gave the movie an immediacy that I am not used to - I don't see anything from Hollywood or TV that looks anything like my life, usually.