USCCB reviews Brokeback Mountain ["The universal themes of love and loss ring true. ..."]

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ^ | Dec 12 2005 | usccb

[Bainbridge]

That is a standard response used to rebuff criticism. " Oh,but you are the only one who is complaining..." Odds are this is an absolute falsehood. One should always press the point and not accept this ( generally disingenuous) tactic.
Were it true, what difference would that make, you might ask. The peer pressure argument has gotten us where we are today as failing civilization.

[patent]

>>>>Your last line is already wrong, though. It's breaking records for per-screen ticket sales, and it was such a relatively low budget that it will probably make money. Women will see this; they don't need straight men to see it.

Its only being shown on a handful of screens in the most gay activist communities. Of course its "per screen" sales are high. Try to show it somewhere outside the homosexual community and see how it does. Despite all the advertising and publicity, it will tank.

patent

[Phx_RC]

We have Apostolic visitations of seminaries.
What we need is an Apostolic visitation of the offices and staff of the USCCB.

[AmishDude]

I have no interest in seeing this movie, but frankly I don't think it's that big a deal--seems more like one of those movies that would die a quick death if people against homosexuality would just ignore it.

Bzzt! Wrong-o. This movie was made to get awards. That's why Ang Lee was made director. It won't make back its budget until after the Oscars. Even then, it'll be nip and tuck with overseas receipts and DVD and cable TV rights.

[AmishDude]

It should be noted that Brokeback Mountain didn't just release in 5 cities. It released in 5 theaters. That's it. Just 5. Given the targeted marketing and the size of the markets, I don't anticipate it doing well in wide release. I'm not sure that it will.

[HairOfTheDog]

You can't even claim your girlfriend dragged you to see it- if she is able to, then you are too gay for a girlfriend.

ROTFL!

[Antioch]

Look at this ad they are going to try to run in the "red states" to trick people into seeing the movie.

The same strategy and marketing spin was used for the horribly acted movie "Far from Heaven." As a tipoff, it too received a phalanx of five star reviews and Acadamy Award hysteria. Sure enough, it turned out to be a screed glorifying gay sex, family adandonment, and trashing the values of the 50s by equating homophobia with racism. It was pathetic. And of course, the USCCB reviewers LOVED this "insightful look at the tensions simmering below the facade of what would appear to be the ideal nuclear family..." hoping that with our "sophisticated" contemporary perspective, we would consider and hopefully reject our own prejudices."

[Coronal]

"It won't make back its budget until after the Oscars."

The costs have already been recouped from foreign sales. The domestic gross will be pure profit.

[dangus]

>> While the actions taken by Ennis and Jack cannot be endorsed, <<

Doncha love it when truth slips out?

[dangus]

Doncha wish you could ping Papa Benedict? Something like:

"Accidental Self-Outing Ping!"

[dangus]

Syriana had a very comparable initial outing. It will gross about $25 million when all is said in done. It's market is much, much, much less confined to LA-SF-NY. Same goes for "Punch Drunk Love" which eventually made $17 million.

I'd compare it even more to "Melinda and Melinda," which went on to make less than $4 million.

Drudge compares it to other "Live Action" releases. Which is silly, because live action movies have never used such a release schedule, except for strictly micromarket ("art house") releases. Only Disney has ever done such releases. Compare Bareback Mountin' to Pocahontas, which made $450,000 per theater on six screens, the Lion King, which made $793,000, or even the spectuacular failure of Anastasia, which made $120,000.

[Antioch]

same accidental outing in this opening line of the review:

Brokeback Mountain arrives at last,

[dangus]

"The universal themes of love and loss ring true."

What kind of sicko considers one night of anal exploitation to be "love"?

[bonfire]

Annie Proulx. Horrible writer. threw one of her books across the room after the line "his eyes were the color of plastic"

[dangus]

The fact that the movie makes anal exploitation resemble love is precisely why it is so God-damned evil.

(And I'm not swearing; I mean that as I wrote it.)

[ArrogantBustard]

Dunno if the movie itself can accurately be described as 'God-damned", but making it would seem to be the Grave Matter of which mortal sins are made ... IMO, viewing it likewise might also be an occasion of sin (in that it might lead one toward an approving view of sodomite "relationships").

[Antioch]

OpusatFR on post 46 hit the nail on the head, and I agree. This would have been the only legitimate Catholic response to the confusion of love with sexuality. Christianity DOES have something vital to say about this matter-too bad the USCCB doesn't know what it is. It could have written a powerful and beautiful reply using JPII's "Theology of the Body." (this cultural phenomenon is precisely why he wrote it)

[nonsumdignus]

We have Apostolic visitations of seminaries. What we need is an Apostolic visitation of the offices and staff of the USCCB.

I'd much prefer resurrecting the former Office of the Inquisition and place the Hammer of Heretics at its helm. Better yet, place any SSPX priest at its helm, and the Hammer of Heretics (Saint Bernard of Clairvaux) as its patron.

[MSSC6644]

Doncha wish you could ping Papa Benedict?

I sent a copy of the review via e-mail to the Pope. I hope it gets there.

[Darkwolf377]

But that's normal for a release of this kind. We can deny it all we want, but the critical acclaim is going to make this a decent box office performance. The important thing is that that doesn't really matter much.