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Originally Posted by Autumn Ocean
What are everyone's thoughts on Brokeback Mountain?
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It's atrocious. And worse hair and make up than a RuPaul Drag Race audition video.
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Originally Posted by Dex
"it's boring" and I haven't seen it since. I need to give it another try. I do think the symbolic significance of having a completely gay romance in the hollywood mainstream with the budget and star power that BM did was an enormous thing for us and I'll always appreciate it for that. But in terms of the film's actual content, unfortunately, I really don't know what I think of it. What do you, Autumn Ocean?
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Your first reaction was the correct one. It's boring. Ang Lee is a dull filmmaker. Also since Staircase was made in the late 60s, nobody can call Brokeback Mountain a breakthrough. Star power? Ledger and Gylennhal where in flop after flop prior to BM (what an appropriate acronym). Staircase starred Rex Harrison and Richard Burton at their peaks of star power. Their bravery--and ARTISTRY--will never be appreciated it seems. Besides, Oliver Stone's Alexander is far more daring as an attempt at a bisexual blockbuster (with two hot actors people cared about!!! Jordan Catalano!!!!)--and it came out one year before Brokeback Mountain. Don't believe the hype.
I cannot stress enough that some of the gigantic movie achievements of the last three decades have been gay films whose intention is to reach the universal audience. They failed to reach those audiences because they didn't have BM's hype machine--and also, to be frank, the media's homophobia which BM appeased. It's time to flush.
Also in American cinema, although Vito Russo--author of The Celluloid Closet--and his clique of sycophants successfully conspired against them: Robert Altman made (maybe) the greatest overtly gay American films of all time in the early 80s:
Streamers and
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean. BM don't rate.