shmexsay

First of all, I would just like to express my relief that this movie has finally received a well-deserved place on the top 250 movies list.

Anyway, I've been wanting to see this for the past month or so. There's been a lot of talk about it, and as I'm a sucker for slash in fanfiction, I was curious to see how it would be played out on the big screen. Before I went to see it, I read the short story (which I enjoyed thoroughly) and pleaded with everyone I knew to come see it with me. Eventually, I convinced two reluctant friends to come along with me.

The friends I went to see Brokeback Mountain with were extremely hesitant to see it because all they'd heard was that it was 'the gay cowboy movie' or the one that had 'guys having sex'. A lot of my friends are somewhat close-minded when it comes to open homosexuality (even if it's just acting), so I had a hard time convincing them it was more than just sex.

The movie itself was simply amazing. Stupendous, fabulous, magnificent, stunning, marvelous, extraordinary, spectacular, fantastic, wonderful, exhilarating, etc. It was everything I'd read in the positive reviews and even more. I could not have asked for more realistic and heartbreaking performances from Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway as the two wives were just angry and bitter enough to make their characters seem believable. The cinematography was beautiful; the sweeping views of the landscape were just breathtaking, and they really enhanced the raw, natural love between Ennis and Jack. Every little detail about the movie was so subtle, and it worked in every way possible. I was so relieved about this subtlety because I had expected the acting and the script to be dramatic because face it -- the story is a dramatic one. But no; Ang Lee worked his magic and pulled it off.

By the end of the movie, I was sobbing hysterically along with everyone else in my theatre...everyone from the teenage couples to the old men and women, and even -- to my surprise -- my friends. We walked out of the theatre and just stood outside of it for a few minutes without saying a word. The movie had hit us so hard, and when my friends were able to regain their ability to speak, they couldn't stop gushing about how wonderful the movie was.

If any movie can work miracles, it's Brokeback Mountain. I highly recommend seeing it.

I've been looking forward to seeing Tristan & Isolde ever since I saw the trailer, which I thought was fantastic. Well, I went to see it on opening day, and unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as good as the trailer. I'm the kind of person who almost always thinks a movie is good regardless of how much the critics abuse it, but this is one exception...this movie is absolutely terrible. I understand that it follows the basic outline of Romeo and Juliet, and I must admit, the Tristan & Isolde version of it is very sweet. It could have been done so wonderfully, but the way the movie chose to portray it through the acting/script/etc. was just bad. I have no idea how long its actual running time was, but I felt as though it was over in 30 minutes and that those 30 minutes were just sex (in a PG-13 way) scenes, fighting, and whispered conversations that made absolutely no sense. The relationship between Tristan and Isolde was far too rushed and had no explanation whatsoever, and it wasn't exactly helped by their hopelessly cheesy, cliché lines. Basically, the only character that felt real to me was Lord Marke, portrayed by Rufus Sewell, because he actually showed some emotion through his words, his diction, and his acting.

Overall, if you had as high of hopes as I did for this movie, I recommend steeling yourself to be let down. For once, I agree with the critics...on my (extremely) generous grading scale for movies, this one is a 5/10.