BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005)

"Jack, I swear..."

Wyoming, 1963. Two young cowboys are hired to take care of some sheep way off in the wilderness for a few months. They fall in love and then spend the next 20+ years living a lie. Both get married and have kids, but their hearts belong to each other and their entire existence revolves around the infrequent visits where they can be together.

Honestly, it was hard to simply write out that brief synopsis without crying.  BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is such a great movie.  A masterpiece of human emotions, regret and lost love.  When Heath Ledger says "Jack, I swear..." all I could think about was how we're only blessed with one trip around this racetrack and it's so easy to waste that time and get caught up in life and dumb shit and unintentionally neglect the ones you love or to simple lose them for other reasons that are completely out of your control. Relationships (and humans) are such a fragile thing sometimes.  Treat every day like it is your last.

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN isn't just a masterpiece of emotions, but also a masterpiece of filmmaking.  Perfect direction by Ang Lee, breathtaking cinematography, heartbreaking story, great pace, masterful acting and the music is a joy.  Highly recommended.

EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN (1994)

Widowed master chef, Mr. Chu, lives at home with his three unwed daughters.  The youngest is a teenager who works as a cashier for Wendy's Hamburgers, the middle one is an executive for an airline and the oldest is a high school teacher.

As the film starts, we see Mr. Chu preparing an extravagant, mouth-watering feast for himself and his three children.  He does this each Sunday.  There's food enough to feed 12 people, but yet his daughters hardly even touch anything.  They barely even talk either.  The festive-looking dinner table is at a contrast to the quiet mood...each of the four main characters are lost in their own private worlds.  They've all come to a crossroads in their lives and, thanks to the brilliantly constructed script by James Schamus, Ang Lee and Hui-Ling Wang, we soon learn all about Mr. Chu, his three daughters and the various people in their lives.

EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN is a wonderful film.  It's been probably a decade since I last saw it, but watching it again for this review was a real treat because it was just as touching and human as I remember it to be.  Perfect script, subtle cinematography that kinda creeps up on you at just how beautiful it really is, great acting.

If you've never seen EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN, then you should do yourself a favor and check it out.  Highly recommended.