Tag: Brokeback Mountain

American LGBT Film Festival in Delhi to feature five films

NEW DELHI: Five prominent American films will be screened in a special LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) festival to be held in the capital next week.

The American Centre has organized the festival, which will be held from 25 to 27 June.

The opening film is the 2001 film Kissing Jessica Stein by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld and stars Jennifer Westfeldt, Heather Juergensen and Tovah Feldshuh. It is about a woman out to find a perfect man, ending up finding the perfect woman instead.

The other films include the Brokeback Mountain (2005), which is American epic romantic drama directed by Ang Lee. It is a film adaptation of the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx. The film stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams and Randy Quaid. The movie depicts the complex emotional and sexual relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1983.

Also screened will be But I’m a Cheerleader, which is a 1999 satirical romantic comedy film directed by Jamie Babbit with Natasha Lyonne starring as Megan Bloomfield, a high school cheerleader whose parents send her to a residential inpatient conversion therapy camp to cure her lesbianism and she comes to embrace her sexual orientation, despite the therapy, and falls in love. The supporting cast includes Melanie Lynskey, Dante Basco, Eddie Cibrian, Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, RuPaul, Richard Moll, Mink Stole, Kip Pardue, Michelle Williams and Bud Cort.

Lead with Love directed by Jenny Mackenzkie is a poignant film that follows the true stories of four families’ experiences in learning that they have a lesbian, gay, or bisexual child and then going to psychiatrists etc for help.

The closing film is Boys Don’t Cry, a 1999 American independent romantic drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and co-written by Andy Bienen. The film is a dramatization of the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a transman played in the film by Hilary Swank, who is beaten, raped and murdered by his male acquaintances after they discover he is transgender. The film explores the themes of freedom, courage, identity and empowerment.

June 19, 2015
Life of Pi: A gripping tale finely executed

MUMBAI: When Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain) helms a film, the least you can expect from him is a saga with insights and with his newest film Life of Pi, he doesn‘t disappoint. He takes the seemingly impossible-to-film book, written by Yann Martel, and transforms it into a visual delight with 3D and CGI thrown in for good effect. Not since Avatar have these two been used with better results though 3D has since gone on to be a widely used filmmaking tool.

Life of Pi seeks to encompass a wide array of emotions and situations and succeeds in all of them. The result is a film about finding faith, the triumph of human endeavour, coming of age and childlike delight all seamlessly woven together without missing a beat. And, considering that most of the film has only one boy and a tiger adrift on the Pacific Ocean on a life boat, that is saying a lot. Even the otherwise overused ‘voiceover‘ tool is so well used it becomes unnoticeable.

It is the story of a young boy, Pi, and his family moving bag and baggage and a hold full of zoo animals from Puducherry to North Amerca on a ship. When the ship sinks in a storm, Pi and a handful of animals are the only survivors. The ménage of animals is gradually reduced to only Richard Parker, the tiger. How Pi manages to tame the wild beast to form an uneasy and easily broken truce, gives the thrust to the film. It is almost impossible to believe that the tiger is largely CG though for some scenes Bengal tigers were used for reference.

But alone on the ocean, Pi‘s mind wanders and as the director takes you through some of the fantasy he experiences, the viewer gasps in delight at the sheer beauty of the imagination. With the physical and the metaphysical so well blending into each other it‘s almost impossible to tell the difference between the two. Truly, suspension of disbelief was never more rewarding.

Some debuts are just meant to happen and such is the case with young Pi, Suraj Sharma, who is entirely believable and will be a talent to watch for in the coming years. While Irrfan Khan and Tabu, in short roles are as competent as they are expected to be, Adil Hussain, as Pi‘s father caps his unconventional career with another brilliant performance.

But, of course, this is Ang Lee‘s film, one of the best directors of contemporary times.

November 23, 2012
Brokeback Mountain, Wedding Crashers shine at MTV awards

MUMBAI: Comedy Wedding Crashers and Oscar-winning drama Brokeback Mountain have bagged five top awards at the MTV Movie Awards held in California.

Jim Carrey won a lifetime achievement award. Actor Steve Carell won the award for best comedic performance for his role in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Jake Gyllenhaal stole the limelight by bagging the best performance prize for Brokeback Mountain and the best kiss recognition for the one in the movie with co-star Heath Ledger.

Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger beat Brad Pitt and Angelina Joline in Mr and Mrs Smith. Pitt and Jolie won the award for the best fight in the same movie.

Wedding Crashers was named best film and collected best screen team and breakthrough performance awards, voted for by MTV viewers.

The show, hosted by actress Jessica Alba, will be broadcast in MTV USA on 8 June.

June 6, 2006
Focus Features to distribute Iraq doc globally

MUMBAI: Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights to Patricia Foulkrod’s documentary feature The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends.

The film tells the stories of a half-dozen Americans – men and women who heeded the call for military service in Iraq — as it charts recruitment and training, combat, homecoming, and the struggle to
reintegrate with families and communities. The conflict in Iraq is a prelude for the even more challenging battles fought by the soldiers returning home — with personal demons, an uncomprehending public, and an indifferent government.

As these battles take shape, each soldier becomes a new kind of hero, bearing witness and giving support to other veterans, and learning to fearlessly wield the most powerful weapon of all — the truth.

Focus Features president James Schamus said, “Patricia has made a searing film, one with exclusive footage that will stun audiences. These soldiers are patriotic Americans articulating stories that must be heard, and we think filmgoers around the world are ready to watch and listen.”

Foulkrod said, “This film has been made from the soldiers’ point of view, and it captures their shattered lives and broken hearts. My intent was to give them a voice, and to inspire viewers to reach out to all soldiers and their families.”

Focus Features made the most critically acclaimed film of last year Brokeback Mountain.

April 12, 2006