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View Full Version : Finally watched "Brokeback Mountain"...



MinionZombie
17-Feb-2007, 09:46 PM
...so, it's been out for ages, all the buzz about it has long since died down, and as it was showing for the first time on Sky Movies, I figured "why not?"

I have to say, it really is an excellent movie, beautifully shot, superbly directed, the acting is spot on and the script is fantastic. I definitely think it was a good idea to wait for the hubub to die down about it before I watched it, that sorta stuff can tweak your opinion or just saturate you too much.

Anyway, an excellent movie, very moving. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

tju1973
17-Feb-2007, 10:11 PM
:eek:

not a bad flick..and well, that is all I can say..

capncnut
18-Feb-2007, 02:01 AM
It's a good movie. That's all I have to say about it.

bassman
18-Feb-2007, 05:23 AM
I agree with ya, MZ. I too just recently saw it after all the excitement had died down and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The....ummmm....let's call it "Tent scene" was a bit too much, but overall.....Great flick.

MinionZombie
18-Feb-2007, 10:41 AM
lol, the tent scene...

I'd been interested to see it after a "vidcast" that Gervais/Merchant/Pilkington did after the latter had watched Brokeback Mountain on DVD and he was trying to get his head around the "etiquette" of man-love in a tent, like "how do you decide who's on top?" ... by the looks of things they simply wrestled for it, hehe.

You don't see much man-love on the silver screen, and with the added aggression (passion) involved (being that they're manly-man cowboys and all) just beefs up the scene and you kinda get a bit high-eye-browed.

It was a fantastic film, a breath of fresh air from the myriad of dumb-dumb action movies, remakes and piss-poor teen comedies/piss-take films that are so prevalent these days...with BM you've actually got something with substance and weight and it leaves an impression on you.

bassman
18-Feb-2007, 06:03 PM
Yeah...Ang Lee definitely redeemed himself after "Hulk"....

MinionZombie
18-Feb-2007, 06:07 PM
I think "Hulk" was definitely the wrong project for him, he said himself he was looking to make some sort of Greek tragedy style film out of it - er, it's a comic book/cheesy TV show, Greek tragedy most definitely doesn't suit The Hulk :rolleyes:, so that'll be why that tanked ... as well as the dodgy CGI where it all looked so stupid.

Brokeback Mountain is definitely what Ang Lee does best, and he did a stonking job of it.

coma
18-Feb-2007, 06:24 PM
I think "Hulk" was definitely the wrong project for him, he said himself he was looking to make some sort of Greek tragedy style film out of it - er, it's a comic book/cheesy TV show, Greek tragedy most definitely doesn't suit The Hulk :rolleyes:, so that'll be why that tanked ... as well as the dodgy CGI where it all looked so stupid.

Brokeback Mountain is definitely what Ang Lee does best, and he did a stonking job of it.
Hulk didnt suck so much because of "Greek Tragedy", but because of that dumb ass editing. The Picture in Picture stuff makes it utterly unwatchable. And yes, it's pretentious too.however,Just cause it's from a comic doesn't mean it cant be "deep".

bassman
18-Feb-2007, 07:54 PM
And yes, it's pretentious too.however,Just cause it's from a comic doesn't mean it cant be "deep".


Yup.....look at the sort of Jesus/Moses/savior undertones of Superman. That's actually what made me like the "Superman" movies. The fact that I could relate to it from my own life and the things I've learned/experienced. It's also a good tale of just being a good person with what you can.

With the Hulk, Lee had an opportunity to make it a film about the anger that boils within every person and how that anger can be focused into doing good. When I saw the film, I didn't get the sense of any social commentary or religious/heroic undertone. The fact that the Hulk became the size of Godzilla was a bit of a turn off, too.

That's the great thing about comic books and comic book characters. They're always deeper than what's being laid before you. If you sort of read between the lines, you can see the bigger picture. As a kid, I never liked Superman. I was always a Batman fan(and at a young age, I could see the message behind the character), but I never liked Superman until I was an older person and the character just leaped out at me and now I'm a huge fan. Superman is the definition of "good". Batman is as well, but he chose that path. Superman was sent to a different place and realized that his powers weren't meant for that place......he could help. It wasn't necessarily his choice. It was his destiny.

Anyways, I think Ang Lee could have taken the character of The Hulk to many different areas but failed to do so in my opinion.

_liam_
18-Feb-2007, 08:08 PM
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/9/98/200px-Southpark_ep906_1.jpg
"it's just a bunch of gay cowboys eating pudding"

coma
18-Feb-2007, 08:35 PM
Yup.....look at the sort of Jesus/Moses/savior undertones of Superman. That's actually what made me like the "Superman" movies. The fact that I could relate to it from my own life and the things I've learned/experienced. It's also a good tale of just being a good person with what you can.

With the Hulk, Lee had an opportunity to make it a film about the anger that boils within every person and how that anger can be focused into doing good. When I saw the film, I didn't get the sense of any social commentary or religious/heroic undertone. The fact that the Hulk became the size of Godzilla was a bit of a turn off, too.

That's the great thing about comic books and comic book characters. They're always deeper than what's being laid before you. If you sort of read between the lines, you can see the bigger picture. As a kid, I never liked Superman. I was always a Batman fan(and at a young age, I could see the message behind the character), but I never liked Superman until I was an older person and the character just leaped out at me and now I'm a huge fan. Superman is the definition of "good". Batman is as well, but he chose that path. Superman was sent to a different place and realized that his powers weren't meant for that place......he could help. It wasn't necessarily his choice. It was his destiny.

Anyways, I think Ang Lee could have taken the character of The Hulk to many different areas but failed to do so in my opinion.
Well said. Originally Superman was a fighter for Social Justice against Slum Lords, War profiteers, bad work conditions, child labor, corrupt politicians and fascists. His bosses made them soften it up into fantasy villains. Sigeal and Shuster were interested in a character that would fight for regular people who had no one to stand up for them. While that was subverted , the character still retains that flavor. And when I saw Superman the Movie as a kid, I DID believe a man could fly. I wanted someone like that to exist so bad I cried.

While Stan Lee takes credit (as usual) for the Hulk , the character was created by Jack Kirby who grew up in the Lower East side slum in the 20s. While a truly good man at heart he was forced to do horrible, violent things to survive, as illustrated in his one fully autobiographical story "street fight". He also saw major combat at D Day and almost lost his legs from frostbite at the battle of the bulge. He was a rifleman as well as a scout who had to go into enemy territory to draw the layout of the land and was almost smoked repeatedly. He was man who would be super sweet (as anyone who met him will tell you) but , if threatened, would turn on a dime and totally fvck you up. That includeds ganngsters, leg breakers, and extortionist. And he was only 5 and a half feet tall.
I ask anyone,
Does THAT sound like Stan Lee (rich kid with all the breaks)?

I dig Bats too. He uses all his advantages for the greater good, sacrifcing all for his mission to save the weak and downtrodden. Sort of like Travis Bickle:)

MinionZombie
18-Feb-2007, 09:43 PM
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/9/98/200px-Southpark_ep906_1.jpg
"it's just a bunch of gay cowboys eating pudding"
:lol:

I thought of the exact same Cartman comment when I first heard about Brokeback Mountain, gay cowboys ... with the pudding replaced by beans! :D

bassman
19-Feb-2007, 01:37 AM
I dig Bats too. He uses all his advantages for the greater good, sacrifcing all for his mission to save the weak and downtrodden. Sort of like Travis Bickle:)

One of the best references I've seen on this site, man.:thumbsup:

coma
19-Feb-2007, 04:40 AM
One of the best references I've seen on this site, man.:thumbsup:
Thank you, I am truly honored by your comment!:)

Neil
22-Feb-2007, 07:31 AM
A good flick, and a very brave one in many ways!

MinionZombie
22-Feb-2007, 10:17 AM
Indeed, very brave. I wonder if it ever showed (or even cropped up on video) in states like Alabama. If they start throwing rocks at a pick-up truck with "Man Love Rules OK" scrawled on the side, what on earth would they do at a film showing two straight actors pretending to have some back door fun in a tent ... whilst driving around in pick-up trucks! :eek:

The bit at the end when the one left alive opens his cupboard and "Jack-f*ckin'-Twist's" denim jacket/shirt is hung up, and the guy is kinda glassy-eyed and almost says 'I love you' but doesn't quite complete the sentence before leaving frame, I thought, was really powerful. The final shot with the jacket hung up on one side and the view out the window on the other was perfectly measured.

Indeed, a very brave film when you consider some parts of it, and especially consider some parts of America where gayness is about the worst thing since Hell.

Minerva_Zombi
22-Feb-2007, 01:44 PM
Should have won The Oscar for Best Picture. Crash was def. not that great. It tried to hard to a powerful movie about rascism. But, it failed. American History X pulled that off brilliantly 10 years ago.

coma
22-Feb-2007, 05:16 PM
Should have won The Oscar for Best Picture. Crash was def. not that great. It tried to hard to a powerful movie about rascism. But, it failed. American History X pulled that off brilliantly 10 years ago.
Ed Norton reedited American History X, which the director is super bitter about.I would be too.
There is a directors cut that he possesses. I would love to see that.
Terence Howard was great in crash and I thought Ludicrius had great dialouge, but it felt a but like a soapbox It seemed like the creators had no personal connection with the issues in the film. I think if they had something about the connection/conflict between poor whites and "minorities" wouldve helped alot. But that's not PC and rich producers dont believe it exists, so why tell that story? It makes things too complictaed for bleeding hearts with narrow experience and clouds the issue for Rich people.

Tricky
22-Feb-2007, 05:50 PM
What?two blokes?kissing and cuddling?your having me on! (vic reeves quote,smell of reeves and mortimer) :lol: