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1. I'm a Canuck and I still think those pix are hysterical!
   (and trust, we've certainly got our fair share of substitutes)

   Posted by: Mark | Jan 6, 2006 1:36:21 PM

   
   

2. "A day without the cunt word is like a day without sunshine." Lady Bunny, SUCH a class act...

   Posted by: Jim | Jan 6, 2006 2:30:05 PM

   
   

3. ITA, Jim (And Jack did have a son...)

   Posted by: Lady Heather | Jan 6, 2006 2:49:24 PM

   
   

4. The ever more schizoid Chris Crain, the Big Stinky Cheese, at Window Media [Washington Blade, Genre, et al., opined yesterday that "even in 269 theaters, it remains untested in true middle America," proving that he's as dumb about demographics generally as he is about his fellow gays specifically. While they are more than one-horse towns, what could be more middle American than Milwaukee, Houston, Columbus, Nashville, Alburquerque, and Salt Lake? Or Indianapolis, as described in the article below. While not exactly documenting any significant straight attendance, and I think some of those quoted are naive, it does illustrate the large numbers of gays in that fire engine red state and, ironically, that even the official Brokeback site is not keeping up with the rapid additions of new theatres. Neither the new Indianapolis venues nor the one in Bloomington are on their latest list. Now, will Pope BeneDICK demand that Notre Dame cancel their showing?

   Breaking expectations in Indy
   Film portraying cowboys' gay relationship is doing brisk business here
   By Bonnie Britton
   bonnie.britton@indystar.com
   January 6, 2006
   
   If you were wondering whether "Brokeback Mountain" -- the film dubbed by some "the gay cowboy movie" -- will play well in the conservative heartland, it's doing blockbuster business at Landmark's Keystone Art Cinema and Indie Lounge.
   The take for its exclusive first-week run topped $50,000.
   "A phenomenal week," said Hugh Wronski, senior regional publicist for Landmark Theatres. "We're happy if we do $4,000 a week on some films."
   Because of the film's subject matter, some might have envisioned protests from conservative churches and family-values groups over the Ang Lee-directed film. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal star as 1960s gay cowboys whose relationship brings them and their spouses a lifetime of pain and denial.
   Locally, there have been no organized protests, no pickets, no boycotts of the film.
   However, "Brokeback" has received negative reviews from Christian and conservative critics nationwide. The Office for Film and Broadcasting, part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has classified the film as morally offensive.
   "There's not much difference between rampant heterosexual sex in films and profanity, and homosexual sex in a film," said Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana, which backs Christian-Judeo values. "To most Christians, wrong is wrong. They don't go see filthy R-rated movies and they won't go see this."
   "Hollywood hasn't been lined up with traditional Christian values for a long time," he added. "So it's not news to us that they'd make a movie we don't agree with."
   A. Charles Ware, president of Crossroads Bible College, questioned whether "Brokeback" shares an "agenda" with the City-County Council's recently passed Proposal 622, which bans discrimination in the workplace and housing market based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
   "There is again a very positive portrayal of a lifestyle (in "Brokeback") that many of us consider to be biblically immoral. Some in the Christian community feel defeated on this issue. Many would object but kind of feel like their voice won't make a difference," Ware said.
   Brian Powell, a professor of sociology at Indiana University, has been following news about "Brokeback" and said that while fence-sitters in the heterosexual community might see the film, there's still a large group of people who "no way in hell would they ever go to this movie."
   He added, "If they're smart, the Christian right's best thing to do is not mention ("Brokeback") at all. The more you mention it, the more people will want to see it."
   Ted Mandell, who teaches in the Department of Film, Television and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame and writes a column for The Indianapolis Star, said, "When you have a film that is very highly praised pretty much across the board" -- as is "Brokeback Mountain," with best film honors from major critics groups, seven Golden Globe nominations, Screen Actors Guild nominations -- "the content is not as relevant as the experience of seeing the film.
   "In this case, just because the content deals with the gay community doesn't necessarily mean all of the conservative right is going to come out against it. There's no political stance to the film."
   Since Dec. 28, the Landmark theater at Indianapolis' Fashion Mall at Keystone at the Crossing has been the only place in Indiana to catch a showing. But starting today, the film, based on Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx's magazine story, opens at Regal Village Park Stadium 17 in Carmel and Kerasotes Glendale ShowPlace 12 in Indianapolis, as well as ShowPlace East 11 in Bloomington.
   Christopher Sieving, assistant visiting professor in the Notre Dame film, television and theater department, said "Brokeback" is scheduled to open the Gay and Lesbian Film Event at Notre Dame in February.
   "This seems like the first gay high-profile romance that is on everybody's radar. There's curiosity. It mines a lot of the conventions of the romance genre. It's a tale of lovers who, because of social constraints, cannot connect, cannot end up with each other. That's a scenario that has been exploited in movies before. The twist with this one is two lovers of the same gender."
   Will "Brokeback" find its way to smaller Indiana towns?
   Debbie Koepke, owner and president of Indiana Booking Service, which represents about 200 screens in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, said one-theater towns probably won't be picking it up because "they just don't play R-rated movies in general" unless they're a "Saving Private Ryan" or a "Schindler's List."
   "It's pretty much family audiences in those towns."
   Foley, though, sees "Brokeback" eventually going to larger Indiana cities such as South Bend, Muncie and Fort Wayne.
   Indianapolis movie-goers approach the film in different ways.
   Attorney Robert Hammerle, a local film buff, saw the movie last week and predicted that Heath Ledger not only will receive an Academy Award nomination, but possibly will win an Oscar.
   Hammerle sees the pairing of the iconic American cowboy image with a gay relationship as creative. "Dealing with a love story on a basis like this that is so unique, and dealing with a sense of loss -- heterosexual or homosexual -- it resonates."
   He said anyone leading the charge to deny basic civil rights to gays should see "Brokeback Mountain" so they can see the consequences "of forcing gays to stay in the closet."
   "Who would not want to see Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal passionately kiss each other?" said Ron Spencer, executive artistic director at Theatre on the Square. "There is a chance this could be a crossover hit, because both of those guys are well-respected actors. So I think people are going to take their work seriously."
   If there's still doubt about interest in the film, especially in the gay community, just ask Mary Byrne.
   The co-owner of Out Word Bound, a gay and lesbian bookstore in Indianapolis, says her customers are all talking about the movie. She's had to reorder "Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplay" but still has copies of "Brokeback Mountain" and "Close Range," a compilation that contains the short story.
   "The men are just falling all over themselves to get to the movie," she said. "I think it's across the board. There are straight people who can't wait to get to it. I think that's the way they've intentionally marketed it -- not as a gay Western, but as a love story."

   Posted by: Leland | Jan 6, 2006 3:45:06 PM

   
   

5. So Lady Bunny believes Jake was the 'gayer' of the two. Now I can sleep soundly at night, knowing that another arbiter of gayness has explained it all to me. I was also happy to find out it's really all about the daily fear that we must live in, knowing that at any second we might become one of the millions of queers murdered by straight men.Oh wait..on average it's a couple. Yes it happens, and it also happens to straight men, black men, chinese women, arab children....people get murdered. Usually, it's not for a good reason. I love when idiots like that open their traps.....it proves that straight men aren't the only fools in the world. But if the world didn't have the boogieman, how would Lady Bunny earn a living.....there just wouldn't be as many fundraisers.
   I'm glad I saw that 'other' movie...the one that spent time focusing on the tragedy of not taking risks for love. That was a great movie. Yes, it noted that it's a scary world, but that last scene between Ennis and his daughter wasn't just a polemic against the evil others who do us wrong. It was about love and choices.

   Posted by: PSMike | Jan 6, 2006 6:04:39 PM

   
   

6. What I find laughable is that somehow HOLLYWOOD owns the cowboy image. That the image of Autry, Wayne and Bob "Tex" Allen have anything to do with the reality of cowboys. Hollywood loves to think that its film offer up slices of reality, when in fact, they are fairytales, usually told from a heroes point of view and culturally inaccurate. I movies like "Unforgiven" are unforgivable in their portrayal of a violent, immoral wild west. It's a bit like suggesting that the portrait of Indians is correct. I say get over it. The West had a thousand components and I am certain that homosexuality was one them. It simply took over a hundred years for the story to be told.
   There is never any preaching in this film; that the world of heterosexuality and fatherhood are confining and in many ways loveless are true. While unrequited love, in this case, a homosexual attraction, is depicted as a bond, to be shared in the wild, with a blazing sunset and warm camp fire. The irony is, of course, is take the movie in one simple OTHER direction: what if, what if, Ennis and Jack did move together (Brokeback Mountain, the Sequel: Jack is not dead, he was mistakenly thought dead, but turns up dancing the two-step at a country and western bar in Los Angeles' Valley neighborhood) and they decided to raise a family. Would it be any less claustrophobic? Would Ennis find therapy and get in touch with his guilt-ridden emotions and become a happy man able to turn a sweet sentence audible rather than mumbled? Would Jack be faithful or as the film hints, he is really the picture of the promiscuous homosexual, and Ennis' heart is broken when he finds Jack in the hay with another man?
   This film is not about how horrible how awful American society is towards homosexuals no more than Romeo and Juliet is about Italy. It's about love denied for whatever reason and the that is the attraction. Ang Lee does justice to the gay community by portraying his characters as kissing, fucking and loving as gay men will. How America reacts is America's problem. American had enormous difficulty swallowing a black man kissing a white women...it wasn't until 1966's "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" that that remarkable incident occurred on film. What Brokeback does do in the way of any kind of agenda is portray men affectionate towards one another lovingly...and that might be real news. Right wing America would love to think that gay men are hunted by God, by viruses, by rednecks in every town, but the are quite happily mistaken. For every Matthew Shepard there a dozen kids who escape, realize their sexuality and hopefully live full, happy lives. Brokeback as a film, due to cinematic and screenwriting necessities is a story of loss, denial, love and its many human shapes and designs, and the awful sadness that comes of not becoming who you are

   Posted by: randy | Jan 6, 2006 8:40:21 PM

   
   

7. The Delay poster is great...

   Are shorter postings read by more readers?

   Posted by: HisHolynessDPope | Jan 6, 2006 10:14:09 PM

   
   

8. "Are shorter postings read by more readers?"

   Yes, unless they make sense within the first few lines of the first paragraph.

   Posted by: Chad Hanging | Jan 7, 2006 3:36:54 AM

   
   

9. 1 - What PSMike said.

   2 - I'm wondering what the hysteria level would be if Lee had done a similar film about two women. Not as severe, I believe, because there's less of an implied...well, threat to the straight world in such a scenario.

   There are so few good movies that deal with men loving men, and this may be the best. No one's a cartoon within it, and THAT spells trouble for a frightened straight community; if decent, Home Depot-going guys like these are suppressing, what the hell is my husband holding back? And why didn't we just see NARNIA?

   Whereas a storyline involving two women leading sexually duplicitous lives isn't as dangerous. It's merely another side, to the average American consciousness, of unfathomable femaleness. Hence is it just fine for women to dance together, while men doing so sets off a screeching alarm.

   Besides, an all-girl BROKEBACK would sell a lot more tickets; no girlfriend has to drag her boyfriend to a sensitive film if there's a chance to see some hot Lesbo action in it.

   Posted by: Jacko | Jan 7, 2006 4:58:14 AM

   
   

10. Love the movie posters! Too funny!
    Brokeback opened here in Richmond, VA yesterday and the first showing was almost sold out--in the capital of South...maybe we are more open minded than most give us credit for. Movie was excellent by the way, and I wonder why Jake is not up for a Globe...he was great. As far as the 'scene'...was not what I expected. the way the conservatives in this country were talking, you would have thought we would have seen a lot more in the tent than we did.

    Love the site!

    Posted by: Kelly | Jan 7, 2006 7:28:37 AM

    
    

11. Dumbfuck Mountain! HA! I was all set to steal that image and post it on my blog (with proper credit, of course), but then I noticed Condoleezza was misspelled. Which creates an unfortunate irony.

    (Not that I'm calling the artist a dumbfuck, but we kind of lose our edge if we don't even check our spelling.)

    Damn.

    Posted by: Jake | Jan 7, 2006 9:30:33 AM

    
    

12. Amen to publishers (even bloggers) checking their spelling! "Approbrium"? Come on . . . That's just sloppy.

    Posted by: GM | Jan 7, 2006 12:03:15 PM

    
    

13. I went and watch it twice!No precedent!
    What about the role of elements and light/shadow in the movie?
    When they just reach the mountain, Jack falls into an innocent sleep while the clouds of a storm a slowly coming in the background.Later, -just after Ennis has sex with him- they get ice cubes,and then snow.
    I think Ang Lee really did a good job for he prepares us with very symbolical metaphores of what is goin to happen...

    The movie starts with the picture of the night and then slowly let us slip into an universe of light, doesn't it refer to an 'abandun of narrowmindness'
    Whatsoever...thank you!
    

    Posted by: thomas/france | Jan 28, 2006 5:04:51 PM

    
    

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