Last night we went out to the Aero in Santa Monica to check out Brokeback Mountain with Q & A afterwards by the cast and top crew. Missing from the see was the amazing Ang Lee who was snowed in in Connecticut.

On second viewing, the movie moved a lot faster and the landscapes were even more potent. My one complaint is that I could see the greasepaint that was supposed to have aged our two leading men. But I was impressed enough by the performances that it only bothered me a little.

The Q & A afterwards was fun, even though there were a lot of "you gave us a gift" type comments. I'm sory I didn't do pictures, but I'm exactly the person that if they say not to do it and I do it, I get busted. Especially as one of the 3 black people in the audience.

Jake Gyllenhaal is a fun-loving character. He was the most lively of the bunch and did the funniest things, including an awesome Barry Gibb impression into the "seventies and cool" microphone he used for the after-show.

Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams looked mostly tired. I imagine that new-parenthood, press junkets and award ceremonies do not blend well. I may have been projecting, but it seemed Michelle just wanted to get back to the baby.

There were a lot of thank you's from gay men in the audience, which I guess shouldn't have been a surprise to me. But it was surprising. I guess having lived mostly in New York and having been used to gay culture my whole life, I have never seen it as something someone would have that much trouble living with. I forget how conservative American society is sometimes.

All in all, it was fun to watch a Hollywood event like this, even if everyone was gushing at the people onstage. Brokeback Mountain is a really good movie, after all.

Tags: celeb, movie