Our expert Oscars handicapper and group-chat BFF Shaun Swayne follows up covering Best Picture winner CRASH by joining us for the film that should have won Best Picture, Ang Lee's moving, elegiac western BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. We delve into the fairly hostile culture that a movie about "gay cowboys falling in love" was released into, and the power of the film to override those qualms and become an enormous critical and commercial hit, thanks to the power of Lee's filmmaking and the entire complement of good young actors giving their all.
We discuss its elegant, heartbreaking storytelling subtlety, my history with the towns of central Wyoming, and a tidal wave of hideous pop culture parody that obligates a shamed, surface-level speedrun through the references.
This feels like the most emotionally incisive and possibly the best episode we've done, and I'm excited to bring it to y'all! Check it out!
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Theme Song: "Any Day Can Be Bicycle Day" by Ether Driver ( https://etherdiver.bandcamp.com/ )