Like this really surprises anyone.

Brokeback Gets Boot
By Sean P. Means and Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune

SANDY - Carol Adams just wanted to watch a movie and have a burrito.

But Adams learned Friday the movie she wanted to see - the R-rated Western gay romance Brokeback Mountain - had been pulled from screens at the MegaPlex 17 at Jordan Commons.

Management at the MegaPlex 17 decided late Thursday afternoon not to open Brokeback Mountain on Friday as scheduled. Word of the decision arrived at area newspapers by e-mail at 5:39 p.m. Thursday, too late for Friday papers that still listed MegaPlex’s screening times for the film.

“I even called in advance yesterday, and they said the first showing was at 12:45 p.m.,” said Karen Tiblier, of Sandy, who went to Jordan Commons with a friend to catch a matinee of Brokeback Mountain.

“I just had a feeling that they wouldn’t show it here, and then I saw that it was and I was surprised,” Tiblier said. “Now I’m being surprised again.”

Adams, who moved to Sandy from Washington state more than a year ago, said “this is the first time I’ve been slapped in the face with what I believe to be closemindedness. … This movie has gotten stellar reviews, and it’s already up for boatloads of awards. Not showing this film says bigotry and fear.”

Neither theater management nor Jordan Commons’ owner, auto magnate and Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, returned calls seeking comment. The only official explanation was a typed message posted at the MegaPlex ticket window: “There has been a change in booking and we will not be showing Brokeback Mountain. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

In an interview with KCPW-FM reporter Jonathan Brown, which was taped Thursday afternoon and aired Friday, Miller said booking a movie like Brokeback Mountain was a business decision.

“It’s something that I have to let the market speak to some degree,” Miller told Brown. “I don’t think I’m qualified to be the community censor.”

However, Brown said Friday that Miller was unaware of the storyline of Brokeback Mountain - about two Wyoming cowboys who maintain a hidden romance for two decades - until Brown described it to him Thursday, less than two hours before the schedule change was announced.

Other new movies with R-rated content - such as the marijuana-fueled comedy Grandma’s Boy and the grisly horror movie Hostel - opened on schedule at the MegaPlex 17. Officials for Focus Features, the movie’s distributor, were incensed.

“Only hours prior to opening Brokeback Mountain, [the theater management] reneged on their licensing agreement with Focus Features and refused to open the film today as scheduled,” the company said in a statement. “Given the gigantic grosses already being posted in Salt Lake City for Brokeback Mountain, this is their loss. We are thrilled that the film … is now being embraced by such a huge audience in Salt Lake City, regardless of the deplorable business practices of this one theater.”

Mike Thompson, executive director of the gay-rights group Equality Utah, said, “It’s disappointing that bias would prevent a beautiful and award-winning film such as Brokeback Mountain from being made available to the residents of Utah.”

The movie, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, set box-office records for the Broadway Centre Cinemas when it opened Dec. 30. Tori Baker, executive director of the Salt Lake Film Society (the nonprofit group that runs the Broadway and Tower theaters), said Brokeback Mountain made $46,000 over the four-day New Year’s weekend - placing the Broadway 10th nationwide for per-screen average.

Baker said Focus Features, the movie’s distributor, “is falling off their chair about [the numbers].”

Focus Features has been releasing Brokeback Mountain slowly across the country, building up positive reviews to counter the marketing hurdle of selling a gay romance to middle America. But better-than-expected box office prompted Focus to speed up the national release, up to nearly 500 screens this weekend - including the Century 16 in South Salt Lake and the Cinemark 24 at Jordan Landing.

The Utah Film Critics Society named Brokeback Mountain the year’s best movie, and also gave top honors to director Ang Lee. The movie has received similar honors from critics’ groups nationwide, as well as seven Golden Globe nominations, four Screen Actors Guild nominations, and nominations for Directors Guild, Writers Guild and Producers Guild awards.

Adams, not wanting to cancel her weekly “Mom’s day out,” chose to watch a movie she has already seen, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But she said the Brokeback Mountain incident may change her moveigoing habits.

“There are some new theaters around here and they show all the same movies,” Adams said. “I may end up going there.”

And let’s not forget the rabidly conservative news view of things (including obligatory ignorant quote from hate-monger and Utah Eagle Forum leader Gayle Ruzicka). Note the lack of dicussion of the film’s critical accolades and the discrepant information about Utah’s ranking for per-screen averages:

Utah Theater Won’t Show Brokeback
By Nicole Warburton and Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret Morning News

A film about two gay cowboys was removed Friday from the schedule at the Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons, which is owned by Larry Miller.

The film, Brokeback Mountain, was scheduled to begin screening at 12:45 p.m. Friday, according to ads in the Deseret Morning News and Salt Lake Tribune. Late Thursday, the Newspaper Agency Corp., which handles advertising, production and printing for both papers, was asked to remove show times for the film from its ads.

Greig Smith, senior vice president and ad director for the NAC, said notification to pull the listing came too late to remove it from Friday’s paper. It has been pulled from ads for papers today and Sunday, he said.

Calls to Miller and a spokesperson were not returned Friday. Cal Gunderson, manager of the Jordan Commons Megaplex, was reached by phone but declined to comment. A check of the theater’s online and telephone listings showed that Brokeback Mountain had indeed been removed from screening.

Conservative groups lauded the apparent decision to not show the film. Others said it was a decision that would deny Utahns a chance to see a true work of art.

“I think it sets an example for all the people in Utah and, like I said before, he’s my new hero,” said Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Utah Eagle Forum. “It’s such a terrible show, and it is such a horrible message. I just think (pulling the show) tells the young people especially that maybe there is something wrong with this show.”

The film, which stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, is about two cowboys who unexpectedly discover feelings for one another while on a job herding sheep in Wyoming. The two eventually marry women but return over the years to rekindle their love.

Advocates in Utah’s gay and lesbian community expressed disappointment about the decision to pull the film, but Mike Thompson, executive director of the gay rights advocacy group Equality Utah, said he’s not calling for a boycott of Miller’s theaters.

Thompson described the movie as very tasteful with “nothing that even hints at pornography.”

“It’s just a shame that such a beautiful and award-winning film with so much buzz about it is not being made available to a broad Utah audience because of personal bias,” he said. “It’s just disappointing.”

Jane Marquardt, board chairwoman of Equality Utah, agreed, saying the decision is especially disturbing since Miller’s theaters are showing movies with graphic violence.

“It’s sad to think that someone would think a movie is that controversial simply because it’s a love story between two people of the same sex,” she said.

Marquardt did say there was one bright side. The Broadway Theater, which has been sold out for showings of the movie, will likely get more business.

“I hope (Miller) doing that will encourage more people to learn more about what it’s all about,” she said.

Brokeback Mountain is scheduled at other theaters in Utah, including the Broadway and Tower theaters, managed by the Salt Lake Film Society.

Tori Baker, executive director of the film society, said Brokeback Mountain has had record earnings since it opened at the Broadway and Tower theaters last Thursday. Across the nation, 296 screens are showing the film. Utah ranked 12th last week with per-screen average earnings, said Baker.

The Film Society received rights to premiere the film a week ahead of other Utah theaters.

“That’s phenomenal,” said Baker. “We hope the earnings continue, and we have this for a long time to come.”

After all this, my only question is, “Why ISN’T Equality Utah suggesting a boycott?”

There’s no way my homo dollars are contributing to Larry H. Miller’s arrogant, hypocritical wallet. Or to his conservative agenda.