6.14.2007

Taking in the 'Mountain'

... The DVDs sitting on our mantel have begun to stack up, and with no Cubs or Brewers games tonight, I was a perfect night to start watching ...

We popped in 'Brokeback Mountain.'

... I'd never been very excited to watch this movie. Yeah, it was highly-acclaimed, and yeah, it was nominated for a host of Oscars. But gay cowboys or not, for some reason it just didn't appeal to me. Still, I kept thinking at some point I was going to have to see it simply because it became such a talked-about, culturally-relevant film ...

One thing I'd heard over and over again about the film was how beautifully it was shot ... Um, yeah. That was evident just minutes into the film. Whether you like the film or not, at least it gives you two solid hours of amazing scenery ...

But it turned out I did like the film. Quite a bit actually (aside from that repetitive guitar strum theme music ...) ... Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, even more so, and everyone involved for that matter, turned in the performances of their careers. The characters mature in front of your eyes on the screen, while pulling you deeper and deeper into their relationships. And their stories tug at your heart strings every step of the way ...

That said, I still think Crash is the better film ... but, I have a better understanding of why Brokeback finished a close second ...

* * *

On a lighter note ...

When Kates and I turned off the DVD, the TV switched to the local PBS station where, lo and behold, an episode of Soundstage was featuring Rob Thomas ...

I gasped, seeing that there as only 10 minutes left ...

Catching my breath, I looked at the DVR and saw it had been recording the show the whole time ...

My face lit up. Be still my heart. We started it at the beginning and we're watching it now ...

I've always loved Matchbox Twenty and held a lot of admiration for Rob Thomas's music. The dude's a genius ...

On this particular show, he's appearing at the famed Red Rocks amid a roaring crowd. He's playing a wonderful mix of his new stuff and, in my opinion, his more superior Matchbox Twenty stuff. Mellow arrangements of Bent, If You're Gone, 3 a.m. and Smooth ...

Awesome.

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