(no subject)

[quidditchgrrl]

Is not putting "I cried all the way home" under a cut considered a spoiler?



Oh my God. If Heath Ledger doesn't win Best Actor, consider him utterly robbed.

I'd been frantically avoiding/scrolling past anything about BBM because I didn't want to be spoiled for the movie stuff or be making comparisons between the movie and story before I got to see it. Didn't re-read the story, either.

I really, really wanted to tap into the whole THIS IS A MOVIE ABOUT GAY COWBOYS thing, but I just couldn't. It's so much more than that.

It was...awe-inspiring. Breathtaking. SO WELL ACTED. This movie could have easily been shit had any of the main cast blown their part. Jack looking just a little too long and Ennis not looking at all. Michelle Williams did that blank-eyed thing she always does, but it worked out perfectly here. Anne Hathaway was *eh*, but she did the Dallas-inspired Texan daddy's girl very well. Her hair was a character unto itself.

I didn't get upset at the scenes I thought I would. Hate-based violence really gets to me, though, and when Ennis found those two shirts...devastating.

Ennis' girls, too, made me feel a bit teary - you always think your daddy is the best daddy in the world, no matter what.

I was sitting next to a 19-year-old flamer who was an ass - I guess he had a great coming-out, his parents accepted the news with flowers. He seems to be unaware that people still get killed for being gay. Not everyone is free to prance around and talk through their nose. Jerk.



Stereotype alert:

I have to say that watching a movie with gay men is worse than being in a theatre with black men. There are a thousand whispered conversations going on, none of which you can hear, but which effectively drown out the movie as quickly as shouting commentary at the screen. Happily, however, the whispering died down about fifteen minutes in.

So, those of you who've seen it, what did you think?

I'm picking up these icons as soon as I make room for them.



This story/movie is one of those that will blindside you with a thought that just kills you...

I wonder if Ennis' story about the dead man he saw when he was young flashed through Jack's mind in his final moments, and if it ended up like this anyway, did he (Jack) feel cheated? Regretful?

Oh, yeah, I'm bawling like a baby right now.

Comments

[chickadilly.livejournal.com]

YAY! I'm so glad you got to see it.

you always think your daddy is the best daddy in the world, no matter what.


Eh. I certainly didn't! :P

But I loved the bit at the end with his daughter -- that's when I lost it.

I want to see it again.

[chickadilly.livejournal.com]

Now you can read my spoiler posts! :D I've been dying because hardly anyone had seen the movie and no one commented and I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT! :D

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

I went and read...and let me tell you, instead of laughing, people *gasped* when Alma opened the door and saw them. I think a lot of the older crowd had read the story beforehand, so they knew what was happening.

Yes, I thought the bit with his daughter was so emotional...then when he opened up the closet with the shirts...I'm getting teary just thinking about it.

[chickadilly.livejournal.com]

I've heard from five or six people now who have experienced laughter at that scene. I do NOT get it because it's so emotional -- my heart went out to her.

It took me all week to feel 'over' that movie, Donna. Well, not over just ... like I wasn't walking around in a daze if that makes any sense.

I want to see it again. There's so much more I want to say about it, too, but haven't yet because I'm STILL trying to formulate my thoughts and put it all together. While I was visiting with here_be_dragons she asked me why the movie affected me so and I was sort of stumbling for an answer. I want to be able to find the words ...

Does that make any sense?

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

That makes perfect sense. I've been trying to explain that this movie simply could NOT be about gay cowboys, if it were based on the story...

I guess the story affected me so strongly because it's about finding your soul mate, but being completely unable to ever, ever share that knowledge or hope that it could ever be accepted. With male/female relationships, no matter what, love CAN conquer all. Even with female/female relationships, it can be more discreet. But two men? In the 60s West? It's absolutely doomed from the beginning, and each of them sacrificed so much to have the little they were able to scrape by with, and they paid for it in spades. They knew their love could never be shown for what it was, but they could never not love each other desperately.

That still isn't words enough, really.

[chickadilly.livejournal.com]

*nods* EXACTLY. There's that whole machismo thing going on.

I really had to ask myself why I was so affected, though. I mean I'm not male, not gay, didn't live back in the 60's but I felt like I could relate in some ways. I've got a few conclusions that I really think only make sense to me.

But -- the film just captured the feelings they had so well. I mean just the fact that they really loved each other but couldn't even TELL each other that, couldn't admit that WAS what it was -- it's heartbreaking. And even today so many people have to live like that -- it really boggles me.

Btw, I actually thought Anne Hathaway nailed that bit at the end. The whole "what does she know?" feeling from it? I was impressed. The whole cast was brilliant, really but you mentioned feeling sort of 'eh' to her which surprised me.

I used to live in Wyoming -- there are a lot of people still very much like that which is sad. article about how the film is playing in Wyoming and An interview with Annie Proulx that also mentions how it's playing in Jackson Hole. Some interesting commentary there. What got me the most was this line: You've taken the last thing we had," said the ranch hand, who declined to provide his name. "We don't get any money, you work us like dogs — then you take our image … and then gay it up."

Reading that broke my heart a little bit.

[thalialunacy.livejournal.com]

I saw it yesterday too, so yours is the first comment I've read on lj. Awe-inspiring is a very good way to put it, but I haven't processed much more than that. I had to shut it out to get to sleep last night. :/

So pretty much all I have to say is that you're awesome; even if you're not on my team I'm damn glad to have you in the stands. ;) And that boy you sat next to? I'll slap him for you at the next pride parade. :P

[simons-flower.livejournal.com]

It's an excellent movie. I haven't been able to see it a second time since seeing it back in December, but I want to.

The shirts didn't get me, but when Jack died it did.

And it is so much more than a gay cowboy movie.

[thursday-last.livejournal.com]

I read the story a while ago, when I first heard that Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal had been cast for the movie. I loved the movie, although some of the dialogue (mostly Jack's) felt borderline cheesy for me, and I know that in the hands of a lesser actor, they would have come off that way. And I have to agree about watching a movie with gay men--the audience I went to see it with was about 80% gay men and the same whispering thing happened all throughout the trailers and during the first part of the movie.

Oh, and it's Michelle Williams, not Michelle Phillips.

[slappytanker.livejournal.com]

I thought it was a good movie and while it hit a very personal note (if there were more similarities between the end and wishes with the ashes and all, I would have seriously screamed "PLAGIARIZED!"), I didn't love the movie.

This is completely based on my own personal preference, though. I need things to keep my attention going, and even though the cinematography and acting were top-notch, there weren't enough explosions and sex scenes to get my ass back in a theater seat. And I think the dude on the cell phone in front of me and the giggling girls behind me had something to do with it.

Glad ya liked it!

[madam-minnie.livejournal.com]

I absolutely loved this movie! I will definitely own it! It stayed so true to the story that I was not just impressed, but mesmerized! Their dynamic and even the chemistry between Heath and Jake was as spark-ful (if that's even a word! LOL) as Ennis and Jack's was.

Watching it with an audience full of gay men and women made it even better for me! Not to mention seeing a few veiled references that had the gay men behind me and I giggling through several scenes... mainly the one with Jack riding the 'Versatile' tractor with his son. Shouldn't giggle, but it was perfect!

Heath should DEFINITELY receive MAJOR nods for an Academy Award.

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

I think there is always a reactionary stance from communities that have had certain aspects of their existance "outed".

The history of the homosexual community is rooted in intolerance and horrific violence.

Strange, here in the Midwest, I think a LOT of people admire the rugged individualism and the hard-work ethic of the American Cowboy. I felt for the characters, all of them, and their need to make a living in what can be hardscrabble country.

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

LOL, he was just a kid...and both me and the older guy sitting his other side said, "shut up!" at the same time. He did, to his credit.

Yeah, I was washing my face when that last thought hit me, and I ended up crying into my towel. I had to mentally lalalalala to get to sleep, too.

*hugs*

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

When the postcard came back stamped "deceased", that just killed me.

Jack came off, strangely, the less sentimental of the two, so seeing the shirts, carefully hidden, spoke to me. And to my tear ducts.

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

I thought Williams was off, but was too lazy to go to IMDB.

I agree - the dialogue was so well handled - I compared it to the Sam/Frodo interaction in ROTK, because even the slightest change in inflection would have given it a totally different (read cheesy) spin.

But god, was it good. :)

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

BBM is my favorite movie, hands down. The chemistry was awesome, and all of the actors worked together so well. Even the tiny bit between Jack and Alma - you could really sense the tension there.

Yes, there were several moments that made me smile, too. It was such a great mix of emotion.

[thalialunacy.livejournal.com]

Awww, good for him. :pets kid:

And for me, it was sneaky in that way--I didn't actually cry at the movie, and was initially more impressed by the movie-crafting itself than the plot or characters or social issues... then two hours later I found myself destroyed. It sucked, to say the least, lol.

:hugs back:

[jennlee2.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say "me, too" to the Heath Ledger deserves Best Actor. He was absolutely superb.

I saw the movie in sort of an "art house" theater and there were a lot of same-sex couples there (the theater even has "love seats" so you can cuddle up with your honey). I sort of wondered if they felt grateful that we were in a community where they could feel relatively safe and accepted about being who they were in public. It isn't like that everywhere in the world or in all times.

On the other hand for a while during the movie I was like, "Guys, just go live in San Francisco. Gay cowboys are most welcome, I'm sure." My great uncle is gay and he had to leave Wisconsin when he was young for San Francisco because he wanted to live openly and it was about the only place to go back then.