Whine & Cheese

DVD: Julie & Julia

I've been sitting on this post for at least a week now.  I am trying to write (some) stuff in advance and let it marinate for a bit before posting, but still I shouldn't forget about it, anyhow...

I can't promise this will be a new W&C feature, but you'll probably start seeing more movie-related posts every now and then.  This past Christmas we gave ourselves a "house gift" of a new big-screen TV and were also quite easily talked into a Blu-Ray home theater system.  This has resulted in watching more movies (or Blu-Ray material), even going so far as getting a Blockbuster membership (which seems so 1993 or something!). 

As with my book posts, I suspect these posts won't be so much about the movie, but more about what brought me to it and what things/thoughts it stirred up...

First up is Julie & Julia.  Basically, I was looking to get some prep for this year's Oscars with the legendary Meryl Streep's take as the legendary Julia Child.  With this record 16th Academy Award nomination, it seemed as if Streep had the edge to win her 3rd (she hasn't won since Sophie's Choice in 1983!), but now it seems that Sandra Bullock has the momentum to win on her first ever nomination with The Blind Side. 

Again, I won't go too much into the film. It was cute and quite enjoyable, better than I had expected.  As expected, Streep is stellar, more of homage than distracting imitation.  With most of this movie taking place before Child became famous, Streep creates a younger and even more vibrant of Child than the one we are familiar via the television (easily compared thanks to bonus material featuring Child cooking show clips).

The surprise was the "Julie" half of the movie, which was rumored to have paled to the "Julia" part.  I think Amy Adams is just one of those uber-likable actresses (ala Sandra Bullock or Julia Roberts) that can pretty much making anything watchable/forgivable, though I did not think this half of the movie needed "saving" (perhaps it was the lowered expectations going in).  It could have been the blogging component that made it more interesting for me as Julie Powell was really one of the first to turn a blog into a brand new life and career.

... and this brings me to the first detour: blogging leading to bigger and better things.  Blogs, and now even Twitter feeds, have become the new Hollywood Boulevard drugstore with starlets hoping to be plucked from obscurity with hopes of fame and fortune.  While this is a nice fantasy, it was never something that entered my mind when I started blogging (nor is it now!). There are quite a few reasons for this:  a) I'm not ambitious and b) I am not a good enough writer (we're talking grammar, punctuation, etc), c) my "material" is nowhere near focused enough... and that's just off the top of my head. 

Now, would I love to make a living writing?  Absolutely.  Do I think it will happen?  Well, even having dabbled in quasi-professional writing in the past, the answer would be... no.  I am not sure if it's  poor self-esteem coupled or just an honest self-assessment that I am just not good enough to do it for a living.  I think the same of those folks who are not so subtlety gunning for a book deal via their blogs/feeds/etc.  While I think many (most!) of these folks are far more talented than I am, I still think there is a good deal of delusion in play.  Part of me worries for them, but part of me thinks good for them for the self-belief!  Ditto to the person I stumbled upon who said they would love photography to be their new career.  Again, this person is a talented photographer, but get in line buddy... behind me! And, for the record, I assess my photography skills similarly to my writing skills.

The next detour is how fun would it be to live in Europe for an extended period of time.  It was thrillingly romantic to see Julia and her husband arrive in Paris for an extended (several year) stay... and alas, a palpable sadness when it was time to leave.  Our 2008 trip to Europe was absolutely life-altering for me and I would love to live in any of the cities we visited. There is just a whole different style of life/culture over there that I think would be amazing to immerse oneself into for an extended period of time.  I am sure it would get old eventually, but think it would take quite some time to get there. 

The thing is that we could probably figure out a way to do it.  Most of Todd's business unit (and his immediate boss) is located in France (alas not Paris, but a good-sized city), so there's that for starters... and I can pretty much work anywhere. 

But before dreams of a long weekend in Barcelona, a train rides to Rome, a quick flights to Santorini, or the allure of "coffee" in Amsterdam start dancing in my head, one is roused awake by the logistics of leaving, even temporarily... leaving things behind like a house and pets and family and well, a lot of stuff!  But Julia's life-changing years and joie de vivre in Paris, certainly got the daydreaming juices flowing, so much so that we are currently plotting a return to Europe.

So, a final return to the actual movie... quite fun, no-brainer of the movie, only further enhanced by a supporting cast including Chris Messina (who I mooned about - and shared his "moon" - last summer during the film's theatrical release) as Julie's husband Eric... Mary Lynn Rajskub, best known as 24's resident curmudgeon Chloe... the always fine Stanley Tucci as Julia's hubby... and even Glee's own Sue Sylvester, Jane Lynch in a small role as Julia's sister.

Two Year Drought Ends With 'Sex'

No need to worry, this is not a post about my personal life!

This past weekend we ended a 2+ year absence from the movie theater to go and see... Sex and the City.  We haven't been purposely boycotting the movies.  It just seemed as if there was nothing compelling to go to see... or if there was, we just never got around to doing it.   And thanks to TiVo there is always a surplus of things to watch... including all those HBO and Showtime movies we didn't see on the theaters.  Now that we've returned, I am not sure my "going out" to the movies attitude has changed any... but more that in a bit...    

But onto the movie!  Not sure how much I can say about the movie, since pretty much any commentary would contain some spoilers... so I'll do my best, but give a gentle warning that this post may contain mild spoilers...

Although I did my best, I knew most of the major plot points going in... a few thanks leading up to the release... and a few way back when filming started... i.e. photos of the scene with Charlotte and Big outside the restaurant pretty much let one cat out of the proverbial Prada bag.  Surprisingly enough, I did not know the ending... could I have predicted or expected it?  Well, yes.

Overall, I enjoyed the film.  I was a pretty big fan of the series -- though I can't imagine how one would "get" any of it if one wasn't pretty familiar with the girls, either via HBO or now via syndication.   Stretched to a 2 hour, 15 minute feature, no surprise that some of the crackle-and-pop pacing of the show was missing (I would often be surprised that the 30 minute episode was already over) and we thought the film was a bit of a downer for a large portion of it.   

Charlotte and Samantha I think remained most true to their "series" selves in the film... and I found myself questioning some of the behavior with regards to Carrie and Miranda.  Granted Carrie has always been somewhat of a conundrum when it comes to life decisions - not knowing what she wants and with a tendency to turn whiny - so it probably remained in the spirit of the character, but she's still a bit frustrating... but I still love her so.  The ever rocky relationship between Miranda and Steve is tested - but again I am not sure I buy Miranda's attitude through most of the film, particularly given a jaw-dropping line from hear in bedroom early in the film - which in my eyes, was just as bad (or worse!) than... well, I'll just zip it.

But it was certainly fun to see the girls again and I am sure the film will please most fans of the series... would I have had it end just a tad differently... quite likely... but again, no major complaints. 

Ok, back to the theater-going experience.  In our absence, prices have gone up.  While we can afford it, I was a bit shocked by the cost of the ticket, granted the cashier initially charged us for a evening show (we saw it mid-afternoon)... but still, admission and two medium sodas was about $25.  We laughed at the "meal deal" price of two large sodas and a large popcorn - which has to cost pennies on the dollar, clocked in at $15.75 - and even more so, that our movie club card offered an (insert sarcasm) uber-generous 50 cents off discount off of one of those "deals."  Given increasing by the day gas prices and it sucking up disposable income, I can't help but think movie theaters are going to start feeling it ... just doesn't seem like a whole lot of bang for the buck... that said, we should probably get out and do it every so often!

Bush To Be Stoned

I am not sure when was the last time I had much anticipation over an Oliver Stone film, but having already tackled JFK and Nixon... but the casting on the often controversial director's next feature W., tackling the current POTUS an scheduled for a 2009 release, has me pretty intrigued. 

The First Family is set with Josh Brolin playing Dubya, Elizabeth Banks (best known to me as JD's baby mamma on Scrubs) as Laura ... and veteran actors James Cromwell and Ellen Burstyn as George Sr. and Barbara.   While I am sure many would agree (myself included) that this is very kind casting, I can definitely see them pulling off the roles quite nicely.

Also pictured above, and in final talks to join the production are Thandie Netwon as Condi and Ioan Gruffudd as Tony Blair -- again pretty fine choices.  Still to be cast... the axis of evil... Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rove... can't quite think who would fit... any ideas?

Weekend Update: Sicko, Borders, and BB8

Instead of rambling on, I will try some brief-ish commentary on a few things from the weekend.

On Saturday night, we caught Michael Moore's latest Sicko (thanks, Scott... and I will just leave it at that... hee hee!).  As always, Moore does a bang-up job, this time on the American health care system, that manages to be (and at times, simultaneously) entertaining, infuriating, funny, heart-breaking, and embarrassing.  I still think Moore is a master manipulator and a tad bit of a sensationalist... but, if you tend to agree with his politics, it is easier to swallow (though this is far less partisan than his past few films).  But whatever you think of Moore, it is clear that our country's health-care system is FUBAR.  I dare any (American) viewer not to have to pick their jaw up off the floor after seeing examples of evil socialized health care systems in other democratic (and even one quite autocratic) nations.

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We "rented" our first movie to our TiVo via Amazon Unbox.  It felt quite like "the future is now" moment, to be able to download a movie right from our TiVo box... and for only 99 cents.  Each weekend (Fri-Sun ony), Unbox gives you 5 of these "special deals"... so for under $1, it seemed worth a try/experiment.  We are curious to see what the picture quality will be... the 2 hour, 10 minute movie (ok, it's Dreamgirls... haha!) takes up less disk space than a 30 minute program in HD.... so this has us slightly concerned, especially since we have officially turned into HD snobs (official word is that it is better than "Best" TiVo quality).  Why haven't we checked it out?  In a Big-Brother-ish way, rentals are deleted off your TiVo after 30 days or 24 hours after you start watching... whichever comes first... so since we decided on Sicko this weekend, we'll catch this one some other time.

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On Saturday, we were also stereotypical gay Democrats... a trip to Borders to pick up a couple of new book.  Even though I have four recently purchased books sitting on my shelf, I had to finally get the latest Armistead Maupin book, Micheal Tolliver Lives... and Todd picked up Al Gore's The Assault on Reason.  Even at lunchtime ("the morning after"), the store was still in a Harry Potter frenzy.  I was the only person in the checkout line who did not have a Harry Potter book (and nearly everyone walking around the store seemed to have a copy in hand as well).  I asked the cashier if I would be able to leave the store without a Potter book... she laughed and said she wasn't sure about that...

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Finally, Big Brother 8!  I am having some movement in my unofficial favorite houseguest list.  Dick is on the slide for me.  As often happens, a player gets HoH and their head swells beyond recognition.  We watched some of the ShoToo BB After Dark  show this weekend, and Dick pretty much thinks he's the best player ever to be in the BB house.  We lapsed into a coma listening to Dick drone on to Kail telling her all the ways she's messed up... which granted she did... but shut the f&ck up already... and I don't know why they even talking to each other since Dick would tell Kail approximately every 10 minutes that she was not going to be in the house next week. 

I still like Eric, but his America's Choice shtick with the raised eyebrow and the rubbing hands in preparation  "okay, America!" is getting old... fast!  Though I realize, he is probably coached by BB to address the camera in that manner.

Jen is on the rise.  Now, I still don't like her... but I do recognize her entertainment value.  Her line last night over "being bad about feeling bad" for the folks on slop was classic.  She's no Janelle, but there is some of that sass that makes her preferable to some of those personality-challenged hamsters.

Oh, we finally had a Showtime moment. BB After Dark promises us uncensored feeds... it usually doesn't take long for the F-bombs to start dropping... but we saw our first case of "real" nudity... i.e. something other than Jen almost wearing her bikini.  We're innocently watching Kail, Mike, and Jen talking around the hot tub... when suddenly there's a full-monty frontal shot of Amber drying off in the HoH bathroom.  The nudity wasn't the shock per se... it was just the sudden camera switch and that we had yet to see Amber (bathing or otherwise) prior to that on this session of the televised feeds... and it really was a very quick flash as she wrapped a towel around herself... but they caught it and we got to see everything... and let's just say it appears Amber maintains her nether regions pretty darn well.  I'm guessing most of the camera people (and decision-making feed producers) are men... so I have my doubts we'd ever see equal treatment when it comes to the guys... but who knows!

Fast Food Nation: The Movie

I am usually quite "up" on stuff like this (heck, it is one reason I am currently reading this classic novel... btw, almost wrapped up!)...

Having recently finished reading "Fast Food Nation", I had absolutely no idea it was going to be turned into a major motion picture coming this fall...

Curiously enough, it is not a documentary... they are fictionalizing it. 

I checked out the trailer and it appears Greg Kinnear is portraying author Eric Schlosser... though according to the film's listing on IMDb his "character" is Don Henderson... and the fast-food restaurant featured is called "Mickey's."   The trailer (available on the movie's official website) does seem to cover most of the topics in the book... interesting!   This may just drag me back to the movie theater!

Movie Mania Continues

If you are looking for something to add to your TiVo or Netflix queue (does anyone rent anymore?)... here are my thoughts on my latest round of movie watching:

House of Flying Daggers - I am a bit surprised that I am getting into these martial arts films.  But I guess I tend to like artsy stuff... but going back to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon I developed an affinity for this genre.  I guess I am saying the badly-dubbed, kung-fu type-stuff is what I really don't like.  I won't give too much of the plot away, but this one has quite a few plot twists... but the story is easy to follow (yes, it's subtitled).  It has all those gravity-defying type action-sequences... but heck, on the realism scale it is pretty much the disbelief equivalent of the bad guys having no aim, and the good guys knocking 'em off in one shot.   The film is like a piece of art brought to life.  And okay, the male lead Takeshi Kaneshiro is really quite striking at times.

The Wedding Date - Like the other romantic comedies I have seen of late, this one was realy no different... pretty predictable, not great... but light, fluffy, harmless and entertaining.  Basically these films only make it to the big screen thanks to the leads...and Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney made it an enjoyable and watchable hour and a half.  Messing plays Kat, pretty much Grace in an alternate Will-less universe, who hires male-escort Mulroney for $6k to accompany her to her sister's wedding in London.  I sent this movie off with my guy since he has a thing for Dermot (ok, I do too!)... and I am sure it kept him company... particularly since we got to see some Dermot chest... and even brief booty... yum!... but darn that Messing for getting in the way!

Napolean Dynamite - Finally got around to seeing this one... and I can really see why it has become a real cult-classic favorite.  That's said, I really don't know what to say about it... after it was done, I just thought... what an odd little movie.  But definitely fun and different.

Weekend Movies

Survived the weekend, the hardest part of Todd's business trips are the weekends.  During the week, I am alone most of the day anyhow... so weeknights it was a matter of just keeping myself occupied for a few hours (which I managed to do making major progress on my latest book)... but the weekends are the most challenging... a lot of time to fill!

Our TiVos are still quite anorexic... our main 140-hour one had 102 suggestions (which we use to gage how much free space we have) early last week.  Currently it is in the upper 80s, mostly thanks to some movies I have recorded off HBO (some of which I burned on DVDs and sent off with Todd), so that has been the major TV entertainment of late.

But thankfully, I did get out of the house and have some social time this weekend.  Scott was nice enough to lend me Buckaroo for dinner and a movie.  We ended up seeing the big-screen reunion of Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in The Lake House... a "suspend all reality," time-warp romance.  It was pretty good... but if it has Sandy in it, that's usually good enough for me... but we agreed that it was probably a good choice to see without our significant others.

A funny thing happend on the way into the theater.  We were looking around for seats and a group of women passed by us.  One of them said to us "Oh, you're seeing a chick flick, huh."  We were like "Yeah, I guess"... and then she quickly added "Well, that's a good way to meet girls."  We could only smile and suppress a giggle after that one... I guess it's not the way to meet very perceptive or smart girls.

At home, it seems I am in a "romantic comedy" kick... here are some of flicks I recently caught up on:

Wimbledon - No explanation why I wanted to catch this one... being a tennis fan, plus the fact that the real Wimbledon tournament is conveniently just a week away.  Pretty harmless, entertaining, and predictable flick.  The leads, played by Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany, were charming... though I didn't quite get what attracted them to each other in the first place.  But, I had some issues since I think I know a thing or two about tennis. First, I think it is highly doubtful that two players would start up a romance during a Grand Slam tournament.  Not saying it doesn't or can't happen... but no terribly believeable.  Ok, that one I can let slide... but a semifinal singles match would never be played on a outside court at the All England Club (which surprisingly allowed filming, even on famed Center Court).  Perhaps real-life tennis commentators, Mary Carillo, John McEnroe, and Chris Evert (appearing in cameos) should have set them straight on that one.

Monster-In-Law - Not expecting much from this one, other than the run-of-the-mill romantic comedy... but it was not so bad. Like Sandy and Kirsten, Jennifer Lopez is pretty palatable no matter what she's in... and this one was pretty easy to digest... though the handsome Michael Vartan deserves sopme credit as well.  Of course, this was Jane Fonda's big return to the silver screen and I give her props for having fun and doing something totally over the top... though Wanda Sykes does manage to steal nearly every scene she's in with the Oscar winner.  TV fans will also catch Will Arnett (Arrested Development's Gob) in a supporting role... and a brief appearance by Harriet Sansom Harris (the devilish Felicia Tillman from Desperate Housewives).

Bride & Prejudice - This is the Bollywood re-telling of you guessed it... Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice (a book that I have never read or likewise seen any of the dozens of movie translations).  Bollywood is the nickname of the Mumbai (formerly Bombay) based movie industry in India.  In the film, our heroine is a young woman trying to find love in a land of arranged marriages... which puts her on the bumpy road to romance with an American hotel heir, William Darcy. 

This was my first dip into Bollywood and I have to say it is a tad strange.  These films are known for their extravagant and colorful musical production numbers.  But it is not a musical per se... just a film, that occasionally breaks out into song... with the singing being not terribly well-dubbed by folks other than the actors.  Overall it was an interesting and different experience... there are some good looking boys (though the guy that plays Darcy has the charisma of a wood log)... but the strikingly beautiful (and "The Queen of Bollywood") Aishwarya Rai is certainly worth a look.  Oh, for Lost fans, Naveen Andrews also has a supporting role... see Sayid sing (well, lip-synch) and dance!

Academy Award Predictions

Taking a cue from JD and posting my Academy Award predictions... again not who I think should win, but will win.  We don't match up on 14 of the 24 categories (though only 2 of the 8 "biggies"), so I am not which one of us will help you win your Oscar contest!   Basically, I just handicapped the handicappers!

The biggies:
Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain
Best Director: Ang Lee
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffmann
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon
Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz
Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain
Original Screenplay: Crash

"Like I really have a clue" predictions:
Animated Feature: Howl's Moving Castle
Art Direction: Memoirs of a Geisha
Cinematography: Good Night and Good Luck
Costume Design: Memoirs of a Geisha
Documentary Feature: March of the Penguins
Documentary Short: God Sleeps in Rwanda
Film Editing: Munich
Foreign Language: Paradise Now
Makeup: Chronicles of Narnia
Score: Brokeback Mountain
Song: "Travelin' Thru"
Animated Short Film: The Moon and the Son
Live-Action Short Film: The Last Farm
Sound Editing: King Kong
Sound Mixing: Chronicles of Narnia
Visual Effects: King Kong

Swans, Witchhunts and Birdies... Oh My!

We had quite the event-packed weekend... here are the highlights:

On Friday night, as part of our Broadway Across America season ticket package, we saw Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake.  And this definitely was not your grandma-ma's Swan Lake...

As you may know, it was the groundbreaking take on the classic ballet... but the "swans" are male!  So think of it more as Brokeback Lake... as it turned out to be the a homo-erotic crossfire worthy of the OK Corral! 

So you are probably thinking this was a slam-dunk, "loved it" from us... well, not exactly.  I have to admit that the "high brow" arts (see also: "foo foo" or "la-ti-da") arts are not exactly my cup of tea.  So put ballet, opera, and even museums on that list (though there are certainly exceptions)... I know this is a shocking revelation from a guy whose life seems to swirl around reality television!   

But while quite well-done and truly quite visual stunning, this production, at several points, just seemed interminable!  Our eyes were rolling over into the back of our heads quite in step with Swan's famous music.  While you think the eye candy would counteract all of this (which ok, admittedly it did at times), the male cast seemed more like a bunch of eunuchs... as noted by the absence of any body hair in the above picture.  So again.. not bad by any stretch... and while nice to see something different for a change, just give me back our good 'ole fashion musical!

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On Saturday, we caught a matinee of the re-released because of Oscar nomations, Good Night, And Good Luck.  It was really quite a good film, that really as much about today's world as it did during the Joseph McCarthy witchhunt era of the 1950's... funny, you wouldn't expect anything currently politically from writer/director George Clooney, now would you!?  Haha!

So now we have seen 3 of 5 Best Picture nominees, which has to be some kind of record for us in the past couple of years.  While this was quite good, we would probably still put it in the third slot after Brokeback and Munich.

As mentioned, the movie definitley proves the old adage that history repeats itself.  After one of Murrow's (played expertly by David Stratharin) takes on dissent... a person in the theater actually applauded.  In their Oscar issue (out this week), Entertainment Weekly sums the movie up far better than I ever could... so I will leave you with their words...

"How shocking it is, this movie keeps reminding you, that there was a time in this country when politicians could get away with fearmongering and intimidation.  When they could rise to power by preying on people's paranoia.  When they could cow the nation into thinking dissent was somehow disloyal."

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Finally, on Sunday we headed up to Scottsdale and the FBR Open... the big PGA stop in town.  Now I am thinking you are pretty stunned that I would go to a golf tournament... well, Todd was "rewarded" with VIP tix through work... so the day did not cost us anything other than gas... parking was free (for everyone)... but we got also got tix which allowed us entry to "Member's Club" tents along the fairways with free soda, snacks, sandwiches... and even wine & beer!   So I guess that explains it!

This is pretty much one of the biggest parties to hit town.  This year another attendance record was set (over 82k on Sunday, which is always down because it falls on Super Bowl Sunday... over 168k attended on Saturday!) and it was the largest "gallery" for any PGA event ever.  Though I am pretty confident there is a pretty significant percentage of the crowd that probably never sees a golf ball struck - it is a "seen and be seen" event.  We did, however, watch some golf.   

I can probably count on one hand the number of golfers I could recognize by site (Tiger, as usual, was not here)... and we did get to see them... Jesper Parnevik, Vijay Singh, and of course our "local" hero... former Sun Devil, Phil Mickelson.  Otherwise, we had to figure out who was who by the names on the back of the caddies.

Probably the highlight of the afternoon was seeing Phil hit a tee shot about 5 feet from the hole at the par 3 Hole 16.  Hole 16 is legendary... it has to be golf's version of a Roman Coliseum... almost completely surrounded by sky-boxes and revelers who cheer the golfers as they enter thru a tunnel and yell (or moan) at every shot.  So Phil's birdie at this hole was particularly memorable.

So who won?  A fresh from college, 23-year old named J.B. Holmes.  We saw him and the other tournmanet leaders when we initially hung out at the par 3 Hole 4.  Now, I still couldn't pick him out of a police line-up if I had to... but I guess I should remember that name so I can say "I was there when..."   This was only JB's 4th tour event... so a major win so soon in his career (Tiger won on his 5th event), by an impressive 7 strokes, and the winner's check for $936,000 certainly seems like a hell of a good omen to me!

Brokeback: In Words

If you have been paying close attention to W&C you may have noticed that I have already moved onto another book... having quickly devoured Brokeback Mountain: Story To Screenplay last weekend.  Hands down, it is the most costly "book" I ever read if you go by a "cost per minutes read" ratio.  While, of course, physically a book... it is more a compilation of the original short story, the movie screenplay, and 3 essays... one each from Annie Proulx, Larry McMurtry, and Diana Ossana.

Having seen the movie, probably helped to speed up the reading experience just a bit... after all I had the visuals already in my mind (which, I guess is good and bad).  Proulx's original short story (oft quoted as an 11 page story, it takes all of 28 pages in this book) moves at break neck speed.  It is certainly unusual to read something where pretty much everything made it into the movie (but more on that later).  But at a leisurely pace, I still think I read the entire story in about an hour. 

The screenplay didn't take too much longer than that... after all a written direction of "montage of the moving sheep" takes seconds to read but minutes on film.  Most of Proulx's dialouge from the short story made it directly in the film... and even McMurtry and Ossana used Proulx's text as stage direction... but one McMurtry/Ossana addition particulary stood out for me.  After Alma accidentally sees Ennis and Jack's enthusiastic reunion... the direction is "Alma has seen what she has seen, having aged years in the space of a few moments"... thought that was a great line and something that Michelle Williams captured wonderfully in that scene.

The essays were probably the most interesting to read.  Needless to say, Proulx was ultimately thrilled with the film translation (something you don't hear all that often)... interesting Proulx believes her work as "a story of destructive rural homophobia" rather than "a tale of two gay cowboys."  McMurtry, despite not being a fan of the short-story genre, writes about the luxury of expanding and fleshing out the original piece and ponders why more short stories are not turned into films... again interesting, as the failure of most book-to-movie transitions see to lie with what has to be left out or condensed.  Finally, Ossana writes about falling in love with the story and her utter devotion in getting it onto the silver screen.

On a sidenote, I actually have signed books by all three authors... though it was so long ago, I kind of forgot all about it.  I have a signed copy of Proulx's The Shipping News and, back in 1994, McMurtry and Ossana both signed my copy of their novel Pretty Boy Floyd (which, btw, I never read!).  I am guessing the value of the signatures may have gone up!

And since I am talking about Brokeback, in today's local paper there was a USA Today article of how the movie has spurred (ha!) gay-cowboy jokes.  The piece starts off saying that "I wish I knew how to quit you" is the new "Show me the money."