I mentioned on my last blog entry that the movie “Brokeback Mountain” about two gay cowboy sheepherders would not be that popular with the masses in the US.
I am surprised that it is not even being shown at the theaters in the county I reside in which has a pretty dense population and a good mixture of urban, suburban and rural communities.
It also has many megaplexes with there 12 to 20 movie screens. Yet not one of them wants to exhibit “Brokeback Mountain”, not even in one of those small forty to fifty seat theaters inside these buildings. You would think that one theater in the county would be able to show this film and make a profit because of the mere fact that it would be the only theater showing the film but I guess this is not the case.
Anyway, I wouldn’t see “Brokeback Mountain” anyhow because I tend not to want to see dramas or love stories at the theater. It is a very rare occasion indeed when I will see films that are only about some aspect of the human condition or the nature of things.
In a sense all genres of film deal with the human condition or the nature of things but I’m talking here about movies known as dramas. Unfortunately, these are the kinds of films that critics prefer and actors like to perform in.
Real life is more dramatic and sometime more troubling than the stories shown in many dramas in my opinion so I see no need to go to the theater to watch such films.
As I have said on other post science-fiction films are my favorite. There often is good drama embedded in sci-fi and when it is you usually have a very good movie.
I have seen many movies where gay themes loom large and have no problem with movies that have gay, transsexual, transgender or bisexual (or whatever) themes it is just that most have been seen at home on VHS or DVD and not at a theater.
Maybe I should mention some of them here (with grade). Here they are; “My Own Private Idaho” directed by Gus Van Saint (1991- this one is kind of art house and it gets a grade of C+), “The Birdcage” directed by Mike Nichols (1996- I give it a grade of A), The Wedding Banquet directed by yours truly Ang Lee (1993 - grade is C), “Total Eclipse” directed by Agnieszka Holland (1995, C+ grade), “Ode To Billy Joe” directed by Max Baer (1976, B grade), “Philadelphia” directed by Jonathan Demme (1993, C+ grade), “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” directed by Jim Sharman (1975, B grade), “To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar” directed by Beeban Kidron (1995, C+ grade, art house feel) and “The Crying Game” directed by Neil Jordan (1992 - I wanted to jump through the screen I was so bored. It gets a D grade).
I think I should also mention a few movies where gay themes are minor or not apparent to the average audience like “The Hitcher” directed by Robert Harmon (1986, A grade), “Naked Lunch” directed by David Cronenberg (1992 - art house feel or just bizarre, C+ grade) and “Rope” by Alfred Hitchcock (1948, A grade).