Brokeback Mountain and one Hot Date

We agreed over New Year's that we weren't seeing enough of each other, and so decided to start getting together on a more regular basis. Not Boyfriend but friends B, J, L, and C. So Friday night we did a date night where we met up at Serendipity at 8 and then would go on to see a movie at a little past ten. At least that was the theory. I imagine they did have our table at eight, but I was almost forty minutes late (courtesy of a cab driver who stayed on 6th avenue a little too long) and literally running in the door after almost screaming at him when he didn't run a yellow light. Generally I applaud the cab drivers who don't make you feel your life is flashing before your eyes but at the moment this seemed a little more important. So we had this great dinner and dessert thing going on with a cute waiter and funny little touristy couple sitting next to us. My favorite moment of dinner was when we elected J to ask the waiter if this was Serendipity 3, where were 1 and 2? Answer: A strange look and "This is the only one. It's called 3 because it had three owners." Um, why wouldn't they just call it Serendipity, is my question? I hate when people feel it's necessary to put their own stamp on things.

After dinner we headed over a couple of avenues to the old Clearview at 62nd and 1st ave. Boyfriend was running late and I had had trouble with credit cards being declined that evening (a ridiculous story that ended with me once again h aving to explain to them that I lived in New York now, and yes, I spent money at a Barnes and Noble here). So I picked up tickets and rushed in the theater and finally found my friends and we settled down to watch my first Golden Globe nominated movie of the season.

Brokeback Mountain actually lived up to its criticism. Of course, that's just an opinion, but I'm the kind of girl who doesn't mind a movie that spends a lotof time panning the countryside and showing cowboys in tight jeans and sexy hats. My favorite movie is the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, for God's sake. That should explain it. So I loved the opening scene of just dust and earth and a blue blue sky that was probably Canada but definitely represented Wyoming to me. PLus anything with Heath Ledger is a safe bet, even if he is playing a gay role. Women are not turned on by men making out with men the way men love to see women making out, but a girl can definitely respect a guy who takes on a role that involves close contact nakedness and passionate kissing with Jake Gynllenhal (spelling?). I did. I loved watching them as they herded sheep through this beautiful mountain range. I love films that focus on the beauty of living off hte land. Sure, ranching isn't the best part of what mankind has done to this earth, but it wasn't the "factory farming" they have going on today. It was two guys and their horses along with a couple of dogs to make sure the sheep made it without being preyed upon or getting lost. And if Heath LEdger asked me to be a ranchhand for him, I would not hesitate.

What made this movie work though, way beyond its shock value is that in the end it was truly an unrequited love story. I even got a little teary, as it moved over two decades and watched these men try to fit into a world they could not appreciate and not be appreciated for fitting in. They were both in marriages that would end up dying out of their own accord and both only finding their true selves in their partner. "Old fishing buddies" was a way of getting them together outside of this. Anne Hathaway played an amazing role as Jack Twist's wife, becoming more and more dated and disillusioned as the film went on. I'm not a big Michelle Williams fan so I couldn't really comment on her role, except to say I thought she would be a little better about handling the relationship when she found out about Ennis.

Since I live here now, I like going to movies that are set in very rural parts of the world. Maybe it's something about compressing people to this extent that makes us want to see another world where people literally don't have to talk for days. I love watching that, maybe because of how talkative I am it's nice when there are characters out there who are mostly or nearly silent. Did it make me want to leave the city? Not yet, not yet. Will it someday? Who knows. I guess i could go out west and herd something.