Brokeback Mountain
— Known as the greatest script never to be greenlighted, Brokeback finally got made and it's not a bad effort.”
- Director: Ang Lee
- United States, 2005
Apparently, for a time Brokeback Mountain became famous within Hollywood circles as “the greatest script that nobody greenlights”. Based on a story by Annie Proulx, writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana adapted it several years before it finally got made, with director Ang Lee onboard.
It would be facile to describe Brokeback as a “gay cowboy movie”, though in the hands of a less sensitive director the film might not have realised the full potential of the script’s more universal themes.
Against a backdrop of stunning scenery (with Canada as a substitute for North America) leads Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger acquit themselves well, but as age overtakes their characters it is Ledger who convinces most.
See also:
Zodiac
Overlong and slightly overambitious but a welcome return for Fincher and a careermaker for Ruffalo.
- Originally published: 20 May 2007 in Film
The Wild Bunch
Peckinpah’s version of the American West lives hard, ages fast and dies violently.
- Originally published: 2 Apr 2007 in Film
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
Shoot your way out of that: a butch story that didn’t leave me dancing.
- Originally published: 19 Feb 2007 in Film
Inside Man
Spike Lee underscores the ancient truth that all black cops must be cool.
- Originally published: 29 Jan 2007 in Film
A Bittersweet Life
Yet another tour de force in a growing trend of Korean cool.
- Originally published: 16 Nov 2006 in Film
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Hello you, I'm Mike Padgett. I'm not a Princeton curator, Knoxville mayoral candidate, Kentuckian pastor or Arizona journalist, I just share the same name. In fact, I am a consultant working in user experience and information design.
I also enjoy travel, concerts, films and walking.
I'm originally from Yorkshire, England but nowadays I live in Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is Black Albert.
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