Posted on 03/07/2006 5:30:05 AM PST by GeorgiaDawg32
Edited on 03/07/2006 6:05:45 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
LOS ANGELES -- One of the mysteries of the 2006 Oscar season is the virulence with which lovers of "Brokeback Mountain" savaged "Crash." When the film about racism actually won the Oscar for best picture Sunday, there was no grace in their response. As someone who felt "Brokeback" was a great film but "Crash" a greater one, I would have been pleased if either had won.
But here is Ken Turan in the Los Angeles Times, writing on the morning after: "So for people who were discomfited by 'Brokeback Mountain' but wanted to be able to look themselves in the mirror and feel like they were good, productive liberals, 'Crash' provided the perfect safe harbor. They could vote for it in good conscience, vote for it and feel they had made a progressive move, vote for it and not feel that there was any stain on their liberal credentials for shunning what 'Brokeback' had to offer. And that's exactly what they did."
Heterophobia at it's zenith...
Brokeback probably made the least relative $$ of any movie nominated for an Oscar.
When nominated, its viewership did not go up as usually happens.
It lost. Even in liberal Hollywood.
Lets face it, the natural response to seeing two guys get it on is revulsion.
I think the academy realized that if BB won, it would not get the sales that traditionally come with a winner and Hollywood in general would be the loser. At least Crash will draw some additional revenue out of curiosity.
I have not seen any of the nominated films.
Maybe, just maybe, Brokeback got as far as it did based on "pro-homosexual hype" instead of not making it all the way based on "anti-homosexual bias."
I would have liked to have seen Narnia and Walk the Line get more awards.
I saw it months ago - and I loved it. Great film
Crash was a much better film--that's why it won.
"Mystery"? Either he's kidding, or he's in denial. The militant sodomite agenda is no mystery at all.
Defund Hollywood. If you must see their trash or listen to their music, download it. Send these traitors back to wiating tables and parking cars.
You mean the Oscar voters vote for a movie based on something other than artistic merit?! I'm crushed!
So let me get this straight: Hollywood makes stinking movies and then they fight among themselves about which stinking movie is the stinkiest?
Sounds like a massive waste of time to me. Just like the oscars were.
liberals eating their own (so to speak) because the libs ain't lib enough..
The public might actually have some interest in the Oscars if there were any sanity in the nominations. If you asked 10 people at random what movies they saw last year, the best picture nominees would not rank in the movies named.
Fraudywood....good name for Sleazywood.
One talking head said that 2005 was the year of the "morality movie," with Transamerica about transgenders, Brokeback Mountain about homosexuals, Munich about anti-Semitism, Good Night Good Luck about McCarthyism and Crash about racism.
Sleazywood patted itself on the back for their "moral movies."
No wonder none of the five "best" films were box office success stories. Americans have had "morality movies" shoved in their faces and rammed down their throats for 40 years....telling them how to think, feel and act about "morals."
What a farce...."morality" movies coming out of Sleazywood.
My thoughts exactly! Those were the only two films worth anything this year.
Far as I'm concerned, Narnia was Best Picture of the year. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon each deserved Best Actor/Actress for Walk The Line.
At least the Academy got 1 of 3 right!
agreed, and the best movie of the year -- a movie about a man who fought his demons, addiction, and an abusive personality, and ultimately overcame them to become a good family man and devoted husband was totally ignored by the Hollywood Elite.
Not sure, but has there ever been a year in which a movie "Walk The Line" garnered both Best Actor and Best Actress nominations , and yet did not get a Best Picture nomination? At least they did honor Reese for her excellent portrayal of June Carter.
I actually have not seen these either. I just don't enjoy the whole "going to the movies" experience. I look forward to seeing these two very soon on DVD.
That said, "Walk The Line" and "Chronicles of Narnia" were both far superior than "Crash"
Ebert states:
This seems simply wrong. Consider Finke's "anecdotal evidence" that puts Hollywood's homophobia on a par with Pat Robertson's. Pat Robertson? This is certainly the most extreme statement she could make on the subject, but can it be true? How many anecdotes add up to evidence? Did anyone actually tell her they didn't want to see the movie because it was about two gay men?
-----
The ultimate put down in Hollywood is to be told you are the equivalent of Pat Robertson! Of course, Christian bashing is completely acceptable when compared to the perceived hate crime of homophobia in the minds of the Hollyweirdos.
Michael Ovitz (the former Hollywood superagent) was ran out of Disney and Hollywood by Eisner and crew back in 1995. This led him to claim that his downfall had been engineered by a Hollywood cabal he referred to as the "gay mafia". Ebert and anyone that foolishly voted for "Crash" over the anointed "Brokeback Mountain" obviously didn't get the memo to toe the line or else. They are merely getting a taste of what Ovitz warned them about, as the uber militant gays can tolerate no dissenters.
This is exactly what liberal Hollywood deserves for humoring these intolerant morons as long as they have. It is long past the time for the gay community to get over themselves. If the stupid liberals in Hollywood don't figure this out soon, and keep capitulating to the "gay mafia", they will all be out of a job.
Just wait till the bird flu hits. Nobody will be going to the movies.
thanks
Ecch!
I guess the gays now know how we felt when Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare in Love.
Truth for its own sake never seems to occur to these people.
I totally agree with you that this is a microcosm of the Democratic party. Earlier it was stated that the liberals were eating their own. I just find it amusing that those who lecture America on tolerance and understanding of people that are different from you, come off as jack booted thugs or spoiled brats when they don't get their way.
Once more, this is much ado about nothing as far as the movies, but has exposed the ongoing culture war over where America is heading. Hollywood liberals have just discovered what everyone else knows, that refusal to placate and bow down to this hyper-vocal-3%-of-the-population gay community means you have to put up with endless crap from them. In the long run, it is building up to a huge backlash effect for the gays. If they keep alienating people by their militant behavior, they will have no one to blame but themselves.
It will be interesting to see if they can finally piss off their biggest supporter (the Hollywood liberal).
Reminds me of a line by Lewis Black: "Republicans are the party of bad ideas and Democrats are the party of no ideas. A Republican stands up in Congress and says "I've got a sh!tty idea!" and a Democrat stands up and says, "I can make it sh!ttier!"
I'm not so sure it's gays whining about this choice. I think it's Hollywood uber-lefties trying to prove to themselves and the world that they are "more liberal than thou." I know some gays who hated Brokeback Mountain. Thought it was cliched and tiresome. A straight person's take on gay life.
Yes, the uber lefties are always torn when two of their favorite issues (gays and racism) clash. It is a no-win situation for them. The Democratic party is currently breaking down for the same reasons, as you pointed out earlier.
My wife is constantly annoyed by women being publically represented by the likes of NOW, as she claims they are completely out of touch with most women and entirely focused on their agenda to the point of excluding all other concerns. I have received the same type of feedback from many gay men and women who are basically sick of the Hollywood gays behavior. In a way, these special interest groups are doing great harm to the public image of the people they supposedly care about and represent.
If sheep herders behaved as those two do
There'd be a rebellion by neglected ewes
joined no doubt by a ramette or two
angered by the gall of two giddy guys
trying to pull the wool, over their eyes.
While I would've liked to have seen Narnia win more awards, I don't know which ones it might have won. I can see it not getting 1 of the 5 Best Picture slots (although there are other films that should've made it there), I couldn't see it winning if it had been nominated. It's a nice film and a nice story, but it wasn't Lord of the Rings (which just got an Oscar) and it isn't one of the more serious "arty" entries. There wasn't much there for a possible acting award. That leaves the techie stuff, where it had to contend against Star Wars, Batman, and Memoirs of a Geisha. The latter of which and/or Walk the Line should've gotten Best Picture and/or Director nods.
TS
Thanks for response.
Crash deserved to be nominated, and to win. I saw it many months ago and predicted it would win Best Picture. It's about human nature in all it's complexity.
Oh come on, Roger. Who do you think the "lovers of 'Brokeback Mountain'" are? They do tend to get bitchy when slighted.
They are getting a bit bitchy since being backdoored by "Crash."
'Crash' won as a backlash to Katrina. The Academy needed to demonstrate their support for Katrina victims, therefore they snubbed the gays and voted for racism.
Katrina and its aftermath was caused by President Bush's failure to support African Americans in New Orleans, therefore, Brokeback Mountin' is a Katrina victim and lost because of Bush; ie It's Bush's fault!
That's my theory, and I'm stickin to it.
They should formally establish "Most Politically Correct Movie" award and give it out at the start of the evening so they can get it out of their system and award "Best Picture" on merit.
Maybe some people just realized that if "BM" had been about a heterosexual couple, it would've been nothing more than a beautifully-shot but slow and way overlong weepy chick flick. Sure, "An Affair to Remember" makes people cry, too, but would you have voted for it for the best picture of the year?
Ebert is a liberal, but he's an honest film critic. And I still admire his courage in praising Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" and defending it from its many ignorant detractors.
I prefer PJ O'Rourke's line: "The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
"Walk the Line"
this was disappointing. Reese Witherspoon was good but Jacquin Phoenix was really awful. The theme of the movie was that, until he married June Carter (which was the end of the movie) Johnny Cash was a worthless drug addict. I doubt the truth of this (note, they waited until Johnny Cash and June Carter were both dead to make the movie---eliminating the possibility of libel.)
Jacquin Phoenix truly looked horrible. Looks like a real drug addict, not an actor playing one.
Johnny and June both approved the script and hand picked the actors to play them.
I didn't find Capote to have that much to do with homosexuality. Obviously, Truman Capote was as queer as a three dollar bill but other than his mannerisms and voice his sexuality was left out of it. A very naive (or young) person would probably think he had a relationship with Harper Lee and not his boyfriend.
Harper Lee is a woman.
Oh, wait...never mind.
"Good Night, and Good Luck" was surely a "safe harbor" for liberals, with its attack at a safe distance on McCarthyism -- although it carried an inescapable reference to McCarthyism as practiced by the Bush administration, which equates its critics with supporters of terrorism.
Ebert never misses a chance to gratuitously smear Bush, even in an Oscar postmortum in March.
What a scumbag. He's nothing without Siskel.
'Brokeback Mountain' was a pawn in the culture war. It's quality as a piece of filmmaking was irrelevant except in so far as it was good enough to garner an Oscar nomination for best picture in a pretty lame year. The left wanted the movie to win and the right wanted it to lose.
Well, we won and the scumbags lost. Again.
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