NY Observer > Ang Lee

Brokeback Mountain Opera Coming to New York

Joe Pompeo — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:16:16 -0400

Brokeback Mountain is coming back to New York, this time in the form of an opera.

The New York City Opera has commissioned American composer and New York native Charles Wuorinen to adapt the E. Annie Proulx short story and subsequent Oscar-winning film for its 2013 spring season. It will be Mr. Wuorinen’s second world premiere at City Opera, his first being an adaptation in 2004 of Salman Rushdie’s Sea of Stoires. read more »

Ang Lee to Direct Comedy About Woodstock

Joe Pompeo — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:51:52 -0400

We'd been wondering what director Ang Lee's next move would be, especially following Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger's fatal overdose in late January. It turns out Mr. Lee's next project is a bit more light-hearted than that film, or his last, Lust, Caution. It's a comedy about the original Woodstock music festival based on Elliot Tiber's 2007 memoir Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life. read more »

Brokeback Director Ang Lee's Statement on Heath Ledger

David Foxley — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:31:03 -0500

Ang Lee, the Academy-Award winning director of 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, which starred Heath Ledger, has just released a statement concerning Mr. Ledger, who was found dead yesterday.

Mr. Lee said:

“Working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life. He brought to the role of Ennis more than any of us could have imagined - a thirst for life, for love, and for truth, and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him love him. His death is heartbreaking."

Is Hollywood Quitting Gay Movies?

Gillian Reagan — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:24:50 -0400

Adam B. Vary of Entertainment Weekly asks why Hollywood hasn't put out a gay-themed film since the commercially and critically acclaimed "Brokeback Mountain."

Brokeback was more than a movie. It was a phenomenon that commanded the cultural conversation for months, from Jay Leno to YouTube to the cover of The New Yorker. More important, it proved that straight audiences would snap up tickets to a same-sex romance. Since then, a few gay-themed films have been released (e.g., Notes on a Scandal). But seemingly no studio — nor any studio art-house division — has greenlit a film with a gay lead character. ''I don't think any studio responded by saying, 'Quick, dust off whatever gay dramas we have!''' says one former studio head. As surprising as it seemed that Brokeback could lose the Oscar to Crash, the real shock is just now setting in: Brokeback may have changed nothing.
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Sex Snooze

Rex Reed — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:07:27 -0400

LUST, CAUTION
Running Time 157 minutes
Written by Wang Hui Ling and James Schamus
Directed by Ang Lee read more »

In the Mood for Lust! Ang Lee’s Steamy War Picture Is the Most Honest Political Flick in Years

Andrew Sarris — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:17:26 -0400

Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution seems to have been discounted by many reviewers because of its extremely explicit sex scenes. read more »

Ang Lee’s Lady of Lust

Gillian Reagan — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:10:41 -0400

Tang Wei, with her chameleonlike abilities and elegant beauty, makes a bold, exquisite debut in Lust, Caution. read more »

Seriously, Game Plan? Kingdom Reigns in NYC

Jake Brooks — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:49:40 -0400

The Rock comedy didn't stand a chance against fall in New York; Lust/Caution, Darjeeling Limited thrive. read more »

Brokeback Sopranos

Observer Staff — Mon, 22 May 2006 00:44:54 -0400
What hath Annie (Proulx) wrought? The gay Vito subplot on The Sopranos, now concluded with his beating death, seems an homage to Proulx's landmark New Yorker story of 1997—and the Ang Lee movie that was based on it. How many Brokeback quotes did you catch? I noticed the rear mounting in golden light in bed on the last episode, and the sad, no-closure interstate phone call between the doomed gay lovers in the latest. But really it was the storyline: Vito's delusion about having a family life ending with a savage homophobic beating. That's what happened to Jack Twist, 'way down in Texas in the Proulx story.
The borrowing's fine. But it's symptomatic of a problem with The Sopranos. The writers and producers are straining at the form. It's not enough to have a Jersey Mafia story anymore, they have to have shafts of otherworldly literary light pouring in from out of nowhere at every turn. I mean the Lorraine Bracco shrink—abruptly, finally—challenging Tony about the violence in his job. "We've been dancing around how you live for years." Sugar, why now? And ethically, are you allowed to bring up stuff the analysand doesn't? I found it intrusive. Then there were Carmela's art-inspired epiphanies about the brevity of life in Paris. Paris—on the Sopranos. They should leave that stuff to Merchant and Ivory, and just let the Sopranos be the Sopranos.

Spike’s Pique

Sara Vilkomerson — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:00:00 -0500
At 9 a.m. read more »