Monday, November 13, 2006

Review for a Movie I'll (Likely) Never See

A while back, in the comments section of another post, I made a joking reference contrasting the stereotypical image of "manliness" in the "wild west" with the movie Brokeback Mountain. I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain, nor am I ever likely to see it, at least not willingly. My aversion to viewing this film has nothing whatsoever to do with a fear or hatred of homosexuals--I really couldn't give a toss what consenting adults do in private. The fact is, I have no interest at all in movies with 'romantic' plots. They bore me to tears. Romantic plots generally score at or near 'zero' on the believability scale in a drama, and in other movie genres romantic sub-plots are gratuitous and just plain annoying (for me, Alien is pretty much the pinnacle of cinematic achievement...).

I only mention this because someone asked me the other day whether I'd seen Brokeback Mountain "yet", as if my life couldn't be complete until I'd seen it. But really, if I'm bored by the on-screen romantic antics of any given actor and actress, I'm not very likely to get excited about watching a couple of guys fall in love now, am I? I mean, I guess anything is possible; I could suddenly become a quivering mass of romantic passion--hell, I could even "turn" gay (I read that some folks believe this is possible). Don't hold your breath, though...


8 comments:

  1. Though I don't seeing it would change your life in any way whatsoever, Brokeback Mountain is a fairly good flick that's as much about the changing American West as it is about those two gay cowboys who eat pudding

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  2. Hey reel, thanks for the comment. I'm sure you're probably right that there's some redeeming quality in the movie that rescues it from the love story!

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  3. I haven't seen brokeback Mountain either. Best romantic movie: The Princess Bride

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  4. I can't recall the "romantic" parts of that movie, which is probably why I remember liking it. I'd like to visit the "Cliffs of Insanity" (I think that was it) some day...

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  5. I did enjoy Brokeback Mountain, though it is slow and boring in parts. But I saw it more as a men cheating on their wives movie than a gay cowboy movie. The infidelity was kind of overlooked for the sexier gay cowboy theme...I came away thinking, those poor wives more than those poor cowboys.

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  6. Hi NMJ, thanks for dropping by. You've presented an angle to the film that I hadn't thought of. Hey, do you think there's a hidden parable here (cheating on your wife will make you gay!)?

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  7. Never seen it, Mark Kermode thought it "slushy" and that's good enough for me. Princess Bride was an excellent pastiche of a romance. To be honest, I don't think I've EVER seen a good romantic film. They're for girls, aren't they?

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  8. Yes, Shit, I believe they are "for girls", but we must be careful to give proper lip service to them from time to time (in the service of, er, 'lip service'...).

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