i posted this in another thread in response to tony, but figure it should sit here as well:
tony -- we were able to get in for the 7:35 arclight show last night,,, oddly enough there were plenty of seats left, practically the entire front 3 rows -- must have been that computer glitch.
wow, nobody screamed during the "DECEASED" scene at our showing. there was a group of younger people slightly high or drunk, or just happy. they laughed hard during many of the scenes... kinda strange. lots of coughing too, must be a bug going around. a woman wailed at the cut to jack, his face bloodied by his three assailants. some nervous laughter during alma's window scene and when it was discovered that joe was watching them through binoculars.
i love that scene because you can hear joe in the saddle, the leather creaking slightly, and the view is jittery, like the view through a handheld camera. but you never know what's going on until they show him with binoculars in hand. some laughter here at this showing, a few audible gasps.
a slight wave of chucklng during the scene where jack describes his relationship with lureen as easy as "over the phone." dead silence during the entire twist ranch kitchen scene and upstairs in the bedroom.
my first viewing was with a very gay audience the first week it came out. lots of crying and sniffling was heard throught the movie, and much cheering at the end for ang lee. some men stood up to applaud, but i think most of the audience was just too stunned to follow.
a marked difference this time around, and the audience was varied -- saw lots of hetero couples hand in hand, and even a few families with kids as young as 8 or 10 years old. we noticed many of the people waiting to get in to the 10pm show were gay, or at least looked gay. male couples hand in hand, etc. nice to see guys unafraid to show affection, if only as simple as a head on a shoulder or open bickering over buttered or plain popcorn, lol.
i'm sure our friends in small towns wouldn't dare hold hands in line for this movie, no way.
i've seen BBM at the grove, burbank, pasadena and the arclight. i have to say that the soundsystem at the arclight was the best. like i said, you can almost hear insects crawling in some scenes! the sound in the camp scenes are masterful, with so much layering to create a perfect, outdoor atmosphere.
i went with a 21 yr old and his 24 yr old old partner, neither of them cried (!), but they loved it, and we had a nice discussion afterwards at a weho eatery. (our waiter was a looker on par with jake, a dark haired beauty from a town called wintergreen. we would have loved to have seen him in a cowboy hat, heh.)
we noticed a store window with a display of BBM related items. cowboy hats, movie posters, some horseshoe coat hangers and whatnot. i reckon the phenomenom will continue. can't wait to see boys in west hollywood in cowboy boots and pearl button shirts. who knows, maybe two shirts layered, denim on top of a light plaid, will be fashionable in the gay community sometime soon.
my seventh viewing was tonight as well... but surely not the last!