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Heath Ledger burst into tears after paparazzi attacked him with water pistols at the Australian premiere of Brokeback Mountain in Sydney earlier this year, according to his father. The actor's relationship with the Australian press soured during filming for new movie Candy, and the paparazzi decided to have the last word at the January premiere of his Oscar-nominated film. Ledger's father Kim tells the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper his heart was broken when his son called just hours after the run-in, saying he wanted to sell his waterfront home in Sydney and move to the US permanently. He says, "Heath...

<p>Wednesday, June 07, 2006 WASHINGTON — A constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman stalled Wednesday in a 49-48 vote, but conservative backers say they are pleased to have had the vote nonetheless.</p>

In an eagerly awaited landmark decision, the state's highest court ruled today that Governor Mitt Romney and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly had the authority to invoke a 1913 state law that Massachusetts used to block out-of-state gay couples from marrying here when same-sex marriage became legal in 2004. The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the 1913 law when it was used to block same sex-couples from Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, because gay marriage is prohibited in those states. The court, however, did not rule on the claims of the couples from New York and Rhode Island because state...

The author of "Brokeback Mountain" is trashing the Motion Picture Academy and Best Picture Oscar-winner "Crash" in the wake of the film's upset loss at the Academy Awards. In a commentary piece titled Blood on the Red Carpet posted on U.K.'s Guardian online, E. Annie Proulx called out "conservative heffalump academy voters" for not voting the gay-themed "Brokeback" Best Picture, and called "Crash" "Trash." "Roughly 6,000 film industry voters, most in the Los Angeles area, many living cloistered lives behind wrought-iron gates or in deluxe rest-homes, out of touch not only with the shifting larger culture and the yeasty ferment...

South Park has done several great episodes lampooning popular films. One of my personal favorites involves the children dressed up like Lord of the Rings characters taking a pornography tape back to the video store while avoiding the temptation of watching it and trying to escape some older kids who want the tape for themselves. While I’ve never been a big fan of the show, I have grown more fond of it lately, and I’m pretty sure I watched every episode this season. Series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are capable of being very topical in that they can...

HOLLYWOOD (AFP) - Tension reached fever pitch as Hollywood began the final countdown to Sunday's Oscars, with a posse of "serious" films, led by "Brokeback Mountain," set to overrun the big night. As workers frantically put the finishing touches on preparations for the 78th annual Academy Awards, which start with the legendary red carpet celebrity fashion show, the anxious nominees are crossing their fingers. In a year laden with small-budget movies packing weighty political or social messages, Taiwan director Ang Lee's film about gay cowboys is the frontrunner for the top awards, including best picture and best director. "We're almost...

March 2, 2006 -- The makers of the gay cowboy flick "Brokeback Mountain" were too rough on sheep, an animal-rights group charged yesterday. In a letter to director Ang Lee, The Humane Society also complained about the way the horses and elk were treated. "The excessively rough handling of the sheep and horses leaves viewers questioning whether anyone was looking out for the safety of those animals," the letter said. "And many also wonder how the filmmakers got the elk to lose its footing and crumple to the ground 'on cue' after being shot." A spokesman for the producer of...

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Nine former fans of American Idol star Clay Aiken are forging ahead with threats to sue his record label bosses for false advertising. The one-time devotees have been shocked by recent tabloid claims the wholesome pop singer is gay and they've filed a Federal Trade Commission complain against executives at RCA and Sony/BMG, alleging they were duped in marketing and promotional campaigns. The nine-strong group, listing themselves as "aggrieved consumers," allege that employees of RCA, Sony/BMG, and Aiken himself "engaged in collusion to prevent public disclosures they believed might be harmful to their product." The angry ladies go on to...

The pirate DVD version of Brokeback Mountain made it to Turkey before the offical screenings had a chance to, and evidently the title they’ve gone with translates in Turkish to “Faggot Cowboys.” Reader Odradek shares with us this scan from local paper Radikal and comments “This hopeless and disgusting name shows my culture’s primal face. It’s really bad.”

Mickey Kaus at Kausfiles.com says that the gay-cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain has the same marketing strategy as Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. Both, he says, have been hyped as blue-state movies that are reaching and changing minds in the cities of red America. He calls this the "Heartland Breakout Meme”. ("Meme" refers to a cultural copying unit that hops from brain to brain without much thought or any at all). What Kaus means is that the mainstream media keep reinforcing ideas liberals want to believe, whether they are true or not. But the alleged breakout of Fahrenheit appears to be myth,...

"Brokeback Mountain," already a hot favorite for next month's Hollywood Oscars, was the big star of the night at the British Film Academy awards on Sunday, scooping four BAFTAs.The gay cowboy love story won the coveted Best Film Award, Ang Lee was picked as Best Director, Jake Gyllenhaal was chosen as Best Supporting Actor and it also won the Best Adapted Screenplay statuette."I didn't have a specific message. I wasn't trying to push any political issues. We are dealing here with love," Lee told Reuters Television before accepting his award.Gyllenhaal, flabbergasted by his triumph, shook his head in astonishment and...

The media are showing their pro-homosexual bias with their excessive coverage of the "Cowboy Sweethearts" movie, Brokeback Mountain. On the website of the Washington Post, I counted nine stories in 6 days about the film: * Brokeback Mountain Tests Oscar Waters, Dec. 13 * N.Y. Critics Honor Brokeback Mountain, Dec. 13 * Brokeback Mountain Leads Globe Nods, Dec. 14 * L.A. Critics Honor Brokeback Mountain, Dec. 10 * Gay-rights Activists Elated by Brokeback, Dec. 15, * Lost in Love's Rocky Terrain, Dec. 16 * Wrangling With Love on the Range, Dec. 16 * In Focus: Brokeback Mountain's Heath, Dec. 16...

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Willie Nelson chose Valentine's Day to release the gay-themed song "Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond of Each Other)." The country music icon premiered the track Tuesday morning (February 14) on Howard Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio show as it was being made exclusively available via Nelson recorded the song, written in 1981 by songwriter Ned Sublette, last year at his home studio in Perdernales, Texas, around the time he first mentioned it during an appearance on Stern's former terrestrial radio show. The timing of the song's release coincides with a time when the idea of gay cowboys...

Some of the "Top Ten Signs You're a Gay Cowboy," courtesy of David Letterman: _You enjoy ridin', ropin' and redecoratin'. _Instead of a saloon, you prefer a salon. _Native Americans refer to you as "Dances With Men." Is the bottomless font of "Brokeback Mountain" humor — late-night monologues, fake Internet movie trailers, movie poster imitations — harmless and fun, or insulting? Most gay groups find it fairly benign, and note that in any case, the movie's overwhelming publicity can only be a good thing. "Some of the humor may be insensitive, but even that has spurred positive conversation," says Susanne...

CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) -- Fans of "Brokeback Mountain" don't seem to care the movie was actually filmed in Canada. They want the Wyoming experience. The Wyoming Business Council's travel and tourism department has received hundreds of calls asking about scenery in the movie, which is based on Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Proulx's short story about two gay Wyoming cowboys. "When we tell them it was shot in Canada, they're still interested in Wyoming," said Michell Howard, manager of the council's film, arts and entertainment office. "They don't hang up and call Alberta. They're intrigued in the story." Wyoming Business Council spokesman...

"Brokeback Mountain" and a slew of other arty, less-widely seen Oscar-nominated flicks are expected to take the polish off ABC's ratings for the Academy Awards this year. With no big-budget films like "Titanic," "Gladiator" or "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" in this season's crop of nominees, ABC may be staring down the barrel of one of the lowest-rated Oscar telecasts in recent memory when it airs on March 5, say TV-industry analysts.

The cowboy love story "Brokeback Mountain" led the Academy Awards field Tuesday with eight nominations, among them best picture and honors for actor Heath Ledger and director Ang Lee. Also nominated for best picture were the Truman Capote story "Capote"; the ensemble drama "Crash"; the Edward R. Murrow chronicle "Good Night, and Good Luck"; and the assassination thriller "Munich." The Johnny Cash biography, "Walk the Line," considered a likely best picture nominee, was shut out, though Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon earned acting nominations for the film. George Clooney picked up two nominations, as supporting actor for his role as...

U.S. Republican Senators Mike DeWine (L)(OH) and Lindsey Graham (SC) talk during a news conference, after the Senate vote confirming Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, in the Capitol Building in Washington January 31

Shalit responded on Jan. 10 in a statement sent to GLAAD in which he wrote, "I certainly had no intention of casting aspersions on anyone in the gay community or on the community itself. I regret any emotional hurt that may have resulted from my review of 'Brokeback Mountain.'" "In describing the behavior of 'Jack,'" he continued, "I used words ('sexual predator') that I now discover have angered, agitated, and hurt many people. I did not intend to use a word that many in the gay community consider incendiary." In his review, Shalit called the film "wildly over praised" and...