I SPEAK ON THE OSCARS

I think Brokeback Mountain is this year's American Beauty -- hugely overpraised, and hardly anyone is going to remember why in a few years. I went in prepared for a let-down, because there's no way it could have lived up to the hype, but boy, what a let down. I'm a little mystified by the effect its having on people. It wasn't even the best beautifully-filmed meditation on longing and regret to come out in 2005 (that would be The New World), let alone in Ang Lee's career (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was better). I didn't feel the passage of time -- Jack and Ennis acted like they were seeing each other every five minutes, not once a year or however long it was. It certainly didn't feel like twenty years passed during the film, no matter how many bad wigs or mustaches the actors sported. Heath Ledger is decent, as is Anne Hathaway, especially during her phone conversation with Ledger near the film's end, but Jake Gyllynhall is hopelessly out of his league when it comes to communicating anything other than blank expressions. But as a supporter of the Homosexualist Agenda, I'm glad it's doing boffo nubers, and I wish it all the success in the world.

I was pleased to see Terence Howard nominated for Hustle and Flow. I went and sasw it by mistake (a friend had reccomended "You, Me and Everyone We Know," and I got the titles mixed up). But it's a great movie (I'm watching it right now), and Howard did a great job. It's probably the only mainstream film I've ever seen in which being a pimp and a drug dealer aren't glamorized. Howard plays a seriously lower-economic-class criminal. It's refreshing.

I hope he wins.