The Malcontent

Winners: A Million Brokebacks Later

OK, I have settled on a prize for Michael from Knoxville, Tenn., our One Millionth Visitor here at The Malcontent.  Actually, it's a two-parter.

Michael will receive a $200 gift certificate from Amazon.com, but he will also receive an amplified "voice."  I had decided to give the winner one year with a prominent link on The Malcontent to any site of his/her choosing, whether that be a blog, a political candidate, or a favorite cause, as long as it wasn't a hate site or objectionable as deemed by my own subjective criteria.

Michael has chosen "antiwar.com," which seems to be a coalescing point for extreme isolationist views from both the left and right.  While a quick glance yielded article after article with which I vehemently disagree, I'm not calling the shots here.  Congrats to Michael and to antiwar.com, and thanks once again to all of our readers.  Robbie and I feel very lucky to be part of such a great virtual community.

As for our other recent contest, find out "Who's the Brokeback-est of Them All" after the jump ...

Get Your Entries In

Remember, our "Most Obsessed Brokeback Mountain Fan" contest ends Tuesday night (April 4) at midnight Eastern time!

Willie ♥s Cowboys Who ♥ Willies

A week after debuting Rufus Wainwright's Brokeback-related song, Logo's "NewNowNext" premiered a video that's a little more closely related to the subject matter.

Willie Nelson's "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly (Fond of Each Other)," which hit iTunes on Valentine's Day, is now a delightfully campy music video.

The premise is a "video within a video," with hot cowboy line dancers under Willie's watchful eye and directed by a strangely swishy Burt Reynolds.  (I smell yet another career resurgence for the toupeed one.)

But damn Logo for keeping that idiotic "TV-PG" disclaimer over Burt's face for far too long at the beginning!  It's bad enough that the censorious prigs in our nation made the networks adopt the TV ratings system in the first place, but they really don't have to piss all over artistic integrity in the process.

Once again, the high-res version is in double the normal MalcoVision resolution.

[Watch video – 5:39, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 5:39, WMV format, low bandwidth]

Who's the Brokeback-est of Them All?

As we mentioned a few days ago, Brokeback Mountain comes out on DVD on April 4, even while it is still taking in strong box-office returns.

The distributors have offered us an as-of-yet undetermined number of DVDs, so we thought we would hold a contest to give them away, in recognition of how many rabid Brokeback fans are among our readership.  (It might also have to suffice as a lame way of saying "thanks" when we hit our 1 millionth visit, if I can't think of anything else.)

So here's the deal:

Tell us your true story about how big a Brokeback fan you are.  It can be funny, it can be moving, it can be about how the movie has inspired you, or how you have used it to change the minds of those around you.  Maybe you're such a lunatic that you camped in a tent to be first in line.  Or maybe you met your boyfriend at a Sunday matinee.

The best stories, as determined by Boy Robbie and myself (and perhaps a handful of other readers if we find ourselves in eye-gouging disagreement), will win however many DVDs we have to give away.  It's as easy as that.

So write your stories directly in the comments section of this post.  Or if you'd rather, email them to us.  (If you email, however, you're consenting to having it published when we announce the winners.)

Try to keep them short, say, no more than 400 words or so.  I won't be a bitch about limits, but be warned that you'll get points off if our eyes glaze over.  The deadline for entries is midnight Eastern Daylight Time (not E.S.T.) on Tuesday, April 4, the day of the DVD's release.  Winners will be announced ASAP afterward.

Good luck, and may the most obsessed fan win!

UPDATE: We will have two copies of the DVD to give away.  If you don't win, I'm sure Andy Towle will have thousands of his own.  :-)

New Rufus

Rufus Wainwright's video for "The Maker Makes" from the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack debuted at midnight last night on Logo's "NewNowNext."

The haunting song about longing in the face of divine ambivalence is juxtaposed with images from the movie, along with simple visuals of Wainwright at a piano, and in close-up against monotone black and white backgrounds.  In a brief interview segment before the video, Wainwright explains that the song is as much about the nation's current political climate as it is a commentary on the characters in Brokeback.

The high-res version is sampled at twice the normal bitrate.  Enjoy.  [Thanks, Celeste!]

[Watch video – 5:02, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 5:02, WMV format, low bandwidth]

If Ya Can't Bribe It, Ya Gotta Elect It

How deeply has Brokeback Mountain penetrated every level of American culture?

Lori tipped us off to this attack ad being run on local television by the Guy Drexington campaign in Georgia. His opponent for state insurance commissioner, John Oxendine, just can't quit Big Insurance and HMOs.

Entitled "Greenback Mountain," sheep, spanking, and satirical content abound.

[Watch video – 0:31, WMV format]

A Twist on Twist

Carlos Mencia was late to the Brokeback Mountain parody sweepstakes, his Comedy Central show "Mind of Mencia" having had its second-season premiere only last night.

But his entrant was, in my opinion, well worth waiting for.

Starring in the Jack Twist role was "Saved By the Bell" alum Mario Lopez, whom I've wanted to bag since, oh, I was probably barely more legal than he was.  (His quickly annulled marriage to Ali Landry has always made me wonder if some lucky guy might have had a chance.)

He and Mencia are co-workers in a boring office who quickly hit it off.  Soon they are taking trips to the mountains together to ... well, you have to see it for yourself.

[Watch video – 4:10, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 4:10, WMV format, low bandwidth]

Brokeback Galloping to DVD

What should land in my e-mail today, but the press release heralding the upcoming DVD of Brokeback Mountain.

Academy Award nominees Heath Ledger (The Patriot, Lords of Dogtown) and Jake Gyllenhaal** (Jarhead, Donnie Darko) star in the seminal film, Brokeback Mountain, the sweeping epic of two men who forge an intense, secretive bond, available on DVD from Universal Studios Home Entertainment April 4, 2006.  Ang Lee’s (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) skillfully nuanced direction, which earned him an Academy Award®, shapes Brokeback Mountain into a landmark story that is powerfully affecting. Also starring Academy Award® nominee for Best Supporting Actress Michelle Williams (The Station Agent, Prozac Nation) and Anne Hathaway (Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted), this must-own DVD unfolds against the raw beauty and splendor of the American West.

Given the rapid turnover from big screen to home theater, there seems to be little in the way of extras.

• On Being A Cowboy
• Directing From the Heart: Ang Lee
• From Script to Screen: Interviews with Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
• Sharing the Story: The Making of Brokeback Mountain

We expect there will be supplemental features in a more extensive, later release. Still, if you're jonesing for your next Brokeback fix, you can head on over to Amazon and hope they update the pre-order page in the near future.

Purg-ing the Airwaves

Purgason: Billy of the Hills

An obscure Missouri state senator, previously known for trying to take away prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs from the disabled, kicked up a bit of a fuss last week by suggesting legislation that would prevent cable TV companies in his state from airing Brokeback Mountain.

Chuck Purgason is an Ozarks-born farmer who runs a cow/calf operation near Caulfield, Mo.  Many movies that came before Brokeback escaped the his eagle eye.  But this time, it's personal:

“I feel cowboys across the nation have been put into a bit of a poor light,” Purgason said.

Purgason later withdrew the amendment, saying he was only joking. Sort of. “I do think they have been put in a bad light,” he said.

Purgason has a long career in both houses of the Missouri legislature, but the achievement he is most proud of was getting a free bowl of soup with that haircut.

If you'd care to offer other things Mr. Purgason might care to legislate, you can email him at [email protected], or call his office at 573-751-1882.  Or offer them here in the comments section.  [Thanks, Celeste!]

Brokeback Bitching

Annie, sweetie, honey, darling. Sometimes it really is best to just step away from the bitter.

Though, phrases like "gold-coated gelded godlings" and "The hours sped by on wings of boiler plate," do earn you my undying affection.

h/t Pen15 Club

Black Sheep Brokebacked

The pervasive influence of gay shepherds rampages unchecked through culture. Just like Pat Robertson predicted!

A childcare centre in Britain is teaching children to sing Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep rather than Baa Baa Black Sheep to avoid causing offence . . . Stuart Chamberlain, the Sure Start centre's manager, said: "No one should feel pointed out because of their race, gender or anything else.

I'd like to say that article is the first time I've ever set eyes on a rainbow herd, but I used to travel through a lot of strange Scottish areas while living in Britain.

My Farmer's Not Gay, Is Yours?

Others have noted The New York Times' laughably tardy foray yesterday into reporting on real-life women whose husbands later come out as gay, a la Brokeback Mountain.

But as an alert reader pointed out, there was a curiously gay-unfriendly reference near the top of the article.  After relating the story of Amy Jo Remmele, a rural Minnesota woman who was divorced from her husband after she discovered his Gay.com profile, reporter Katy Butler then includes this seemingly gratuitous line:

"Mrs. Remmele — now married to a farmer who raises cattle, corn and soybeans — is one of an estimated 1.7 million to 3.4 million American women who once were or are now married to men who have sex with men."

If Ms. Butler doesn't toe the Times' GLBT line a little more carefully, she could find herself yanked from the Old Pink Lady's gay beat.

I suppose it's germane that Mrs. Remmele is now remarried, but that bit about "a farmer who raises cattle, corn and soybeans"?  Are we to think that she is somehow less likely to wind up with a gay man because her hubby is some strapping pastoralist stereotype who's out bucking bales of hay every day?  Perhaps she could have made her point more clearly by writing: "Mrs. Remmele — now married to a farmer who puts his penis into her vagina every day ..."

Obviously, Ms. Butler didn't see Brokeback Mountain, because if it taught us nothing else, it was that cowboys are all humping each other like ferrets.

[Note: There is at least a thin mist of sarcasm hovering over this post.]

Oscar Clippings: Music

While admittedly difficult to imagine the thought process behind the Academy awarding a rap song about pimping, it is somewhat amusing to think of aging white folk casting ballots to convince the rest of the world they're so terribly hip. Not to mention Jordan's comment immediately afterwards, "I've never seen camerapeople scramble that fast to find all the black people in the audience."

That aside, the biggest requests I've received when it comes to Oscar music are Dolly Parton's incomparable performance of Travelin' Thru for Transamerica and the medley of Best Score nominees, performed by Itzhak Perlman. Naturally, a segment of "The Wings" from Brokeback Mountain is included.

Dolly's Performance

[Watch video – 3:49, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 3:49, WMV format, low bandwidth]

Best Score Medley

[Watch video – 4:00, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 4:00, WMV format, low bandwidth]

Note: If you're wondering about the pixelated block that appears briefly at the top of the medley video, I'd inadvertantly left my Caller ID turned on while recording last night. Someone called me, and I had to have Mal scrub out the number from the video. Sorry about that.

Oscar Clippings: Brokeback

Very slim pickings in this category, as the gay film of the year drowned in snubsville. When the vistas of Alberta, Canada lost out to Memoirs of a Geisha in cinematography, it was a foregone conclusion the rompin, stompin cowboys weren't going to be on the business end of Hollywood love. They were on the business end of another sort of "affection."

Still, there were moments, from the red carpet, to the western montage, to the three wins that salvaged the night ever so barely.

So, here I present to you the most relevant Brokeback Mountain related highlights of the evening.

[Watch video – 9:47, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 9:47, WMV format, low bandwidth]

The Sound of Rutting

Whether Brokeback Mountain wins big tonight or flames out (as it were), we will always have Annie Proulx's wonderful novella on which the film was based.

But if you're like me and find that whole reading thing to be – in George Bush's words – "hard work," then AOL Gay & Lesbian is offering a free download of the audio version of the story, as read by Campbell Scott.

Entertainment, Tonight

All those trips to East Hampton, and I never knew that we had been in the presence of a piece of kitsch history.

The husband has turned me onto the phenomenon known as "Grey Gardens."  Originally an acclaimed documentary about a pair of eccentric (to put it mildly) ladies who were related to Jackie O, and now in production as a movie to star Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, it has also inspired an Off-Broadway musical that has been even harder to get tickets to than "Wicked."  (Really.)

Well, we did manage to get tickets, but they are for tonight.  Oscar night.  So I present for your reading pleasure a selected mix of sites that will be providing ample live-blogging snark for the Oscars:

First, there are my eternal lovers at The Pen15 Club.  Bookmark these guys, now.

And then there are the rest:

LA Weekly's Deadline Hollywood Daily

Entertainment Weekly's Popwatch

PAJAMASMEDIA's team coverage

The indispensable, fantastical Cinematical

Robertik's Oscar fashion snark forum

Popbytes

If you're aware of any others worth mentioning, let me know.

Attacking Agendas He's Never Seen

Who's seen Brokeback Mountain? Apparently no one on cable news, which means Stephen Colbert hasn't seen it either . . . he thinks.

It's a topsy turvy world, as the homo sapien agenda turns nature on her head.

[Watch video – 4:52, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 4:52, WMV format, low bandwidth]

It Was Inevitable

Brokeback Mountain, as re-enacted by bunnies in thirty seconds.

So It Begins

With a scant few days to go until Oscar, the speculation and "What are the many implications of life and/or playing gay in Hollywood films?" pieces are coming fast and furious on every news bit, entertainment clip, and syndicated show that ever spent several weeks discussing Lindsay Lohan's penchant for Santa Monica demolition derbies.

MTV - known primarily for celebrating diversity by cramming every tenth homosexual on the planet into a Road Rules challenge - recently highlighted the LGBT entries you may or may not be rooting for come Sunday night.

[Watch video – 3:13, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 3:13, WMV format, low bandwidth]

Soupy Gayness

There's gotta be something very meta about doing highlights from a show that itself is about highlights.  But such are the posers we like to kick around here at The Malcontent.

The most recent edition of "The Soup" on E! followed the lead of the gay blogosphere with a round-up of all things "Brokeback."  You'll probably already recognize some of the clips from MalcoVision.

Then the talk turned to "balls" and "7-inch diameters," so how I could not include that too?

[Watch video – 3:04, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 3:04, WMV format, low bandwidth]