Lots o' Brokeback Mountain Info & Pics

With the arrival of my top 10 of 2004 list, that year is officially over. Now we get to look forward to hopefully another year of great movies. Brokeback Mountain, as you may recall, is my most anticpated film of 2005. (Cursed, with its PG-13 rating, is officially off the list.) Over the past week, some major information has surfaced regarding the project including when we'll likely get our first look at the teaser trailer. The buzz is the film is almost finished post production as its production ended last August. I'd love for it to debut at Cannes, where five years ago Ang debuted Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to thunderous standing ovations.



+I've decided to enclose the picture to the right because I think Michelle Williams facial expression as she looks at the apple in background is hilarious. "Hi, Apple! I'm going to eat you in this scene. Its nothing personal! I just have to do it or Ang Lee will fire me. Yes, I like my hair like this, too. I love you, Apple!"



+The film's release date is currently scheduled for October 7 positioning it perfectly as a major Oscar contender. It is a platform release date. Obviously, depending on how much acclaim the film receives, there is no telling how wide Focus plans on taking it. Maybe 10,000 theatres! No, I kid.



+Rodrigo Prieto is the film's cinematographer. His past credits include Alexander, 21 Grams, 8 Mile, 25th Hour and Frida. I expect this to be a gorgeous looking film and hopefully Prieto will do the lush plains and mountain scenery justice.



+Gustave Santaolalla will compose the score for the film. The composer earned acclaimed just recently for his work on The Motorcycle Diaries, another Focus release. Santaolalla also composed the scores for Amores Perros and its American counterpart 21 Grams. I loved the score for Motorcycle and 21 Grams, both of which were nonintrusive yet very simple and beautiful. I'm very happy about this.



+Rufus Wainwright - no surprise! - has recorded a song for the film titled "Shut Down the World." The song is already available online.



+Willie Nelson will do a cover of the song "He Was A Friend of Mine," a song that was also covered by Bob Dylan. The song was written in 1962, the year the film's story begins. The lyrics are available here. Emmylou Harris will also contribute a song for the soundtrack. Based on the story, I'd also expect Heath Ledger to contribute something to the soundtrack considering at one point his character sings.



+At Focus Features.com, you can find the synopsis for the film and the image to the right.



+I've saved the best for last: Focus Features always puts a promo reel of their upcoming films on their DVD's. On the Vanity Fair DVD, which just hit shelves yesterday, you will find a 10 second clip from Brokeback. Also on the reel is our first look at Focus's other major release, The Constant Gardner. That film, directed by Fernando Meirelles, stars Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes. There's also a rumor that the full teaser trailer - how often do I get to use the term full teaser? - will be attached to prints of Rory O'Shea Was Here, which begins its run in select theatres this Friday. If so, it should be available online shortly thereafter.



For those of you who don't feel like renting Vanity Fair, you should. Its a much better film than it got credit for and it has a fantabulous Bollywood dance sequence. Here are some images from the clip and the film's title card. I'm getting a Legends of the Fall vibe from them.