I was so looking forward to seeing it, all I've heard are wonderful things about it, so we finally went out to a matinee viewing of Brokeback Mountain yesterday. The one good thing about the experience was smuggling in cokes and candy which we purchased prior for $3.16. At the concession stand it would have been $14!
The movie....long story short, spouse fell asleep, and I kept wondering when something was going to happen. I am very sentimental and cry easily at movies, yet I only experienced marginal wetness right there at the very end. Marginal.
Problem #1 Nothing new thematically. A little like Same Time Next Year meets Maurice (both of which were better movies.
Problem #2 Unintelligible accents. Note to moviemakers: in your struggle to achieve verisimilitude, I understand it's necessary to have thick accents and mumbling characters at times - Just put some subtitles in that case! I can't believe I'm the only one who couldn't understand Inis (or however you spell that character's name.)
Problem #3 "We was". I can't help it, my job is to correct this error, so it jumps out at me every time.
Problem #4 It was, gasp, BORING.
There are more problems but I'll stop there. I did love the scenery and cinematography. And a couple of the minor characters turned in excellent performances.
Wanna see a great gay themed film? Check out C.R.A.Z.Y (if you can where you are) It's far superior to Brokeback, in my opinion.
Interesting - this is the 1st bad review i've seen. Everyone else has made such a big deal about it. I haven't seen it yet - lack of time etc. I'm glad you posted this, because with all the hype, my expectations going in would have been way high and led to disappointment.
ReplyDeleteI think you should read the short story. I believe that you can still access it for free on Amazon. If not, email me and I'll send it over to you.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine Ennis speaking with anything but the accent that Heath Ledger used. Regarding the "we was," thats how some people speak and its appropriate. I cannot even fathom to be begin how sterile fiction would be without being true to the character's native dialect. The Color Purple would have been an utter bore if Celie's letters were written without any form of dialect, no matter how grammatically incorrect they were.
Thank god! The voice of reason! Thank you precious for not letting me be the only one that really got my panties in a knot over this movie.
ReplyDeletekb
haven't seen it yet, I'm guessing by now I'll probably wait until video. Nothing beats my own couch for viewing a movie anyway.
ReplyDeleteI will say, you've got me CRAZY for C.R.A.Z.Y -- I've been looking for it since you first mentioned it. It is subtitled I'm guessing?
And it's ennis like Pennis. easy enough eh? Also, the link to the short story is somewhere on my blog if you're interested in reading the short story, blog headline has the word brokeback in it.
It was a quiet movie, I'll give you that, but that was part of it's charm for me.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think of it as a "gay" film, I saw it more of "the choices we make" film. I thought it was very sad, the whole way through, although I don't cry generally at movies. Didn't cry at this one either.
Maybe "sad" is too small a word for this movie. Sorrowful would be better.
"Same Time Next Year"? Wasn't that a comedy?
Anyway, that's what I love about movies, everyone loves something different. This one particularly spoke to me. Made me think about how even well-intentioned decisions end up hurting people who had no choice in those decisions.
I'd even go to the theatre to see it again.
i can't stand it when i feel like i've wasted my time and money by seeing something in the theatre. more and more lately, i see previews and think, that's a renter.
ReplyDeletebut i love that you sneak stuff into the theatre, i do that too. movie theatres make their profit off charging 6 bucks for popcorn that costs them a dime.
I haven't seen it yet, but I did love C.R.A.Z.Y.
ReplyDeleteI may give it a try on the big screen. I'll only get confused and rent 'Bareback Mountie' at the video store.
ReplyDeleteAlthough. It probably won't be a bad thing...
I second Adam and Rebekah's comments. And your opinion of C.R.A.Z.Y.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't agree with you Brokeback reivew, C.R.A.Z.Y. rocks.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately for our out-of-Quebec friends it has not been released in theatres yet (no US distributor), but you may be able to buy it and ship it from here.