Hollywood going for Broke?
By J. James Estrada (12/15/05)
Last year, Hollywood ignored Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ at awards time. Will the same thing happen with the spectacular adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe? The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hands out the Golden Globes awards, gave us a good indication this week.
On Tuesday, the Golden Globes announced their nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama, for the year ending December 31, 2005. And the nominees are…”Match Point,” “A History of Violence,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Constant Gardener.” And Tinstletown wonders why theatre receipts were down this year?
“Brokeback Mountain” is about gay cowboys. Do you know anyone (outside of San Francisco and The Village in New York) who would have a remote interest in seeing that? As Yogi Berra might say, “If John Wayne were alive, he’d be turning over in his grave.” I suppose in a couple of years this film will make its way into the public school system as “educational” sex-ed fare. I remember watching a movie called “The Boys in the Band” as part of my school’s attempt at presenting knowledge of alternative lifestyles. It was a sleeper, literally; but a movie with “shoot-em-ups?” We may have something here!
(“Good Night, and Good Luck”? I think that’s what America has collectively said to George Clooney).
Should “Brokeback” win the award as Best Picture, I wonder if Heath Ledger (who, I guess, is one of the gay cowboys) will come on stage and not do push-ups as tough guy Jack Palance did some years ago, but do a not-too-discreet stocking pull-up and lipstick tissue test. Shocking!? Like most of the movie season this year, will anybody be watching anyway?
Copyright 2005 J. James Estrada
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