Dinner and a movie

So how did I celebrate my name day?
Well, I got to the department for a TA meeting. After that, I just stayed at the computer room where I chatted a bit with Raph, Gustavo and Moti. At around 5.30, I, Moti and Raph left. (I have to say that walking down Peel was not as frightening as I thought it would be; you know, with all that ice....We did though go by the road and not by the sidewalk!)
I walked with them west on St. Catherine's (although I live at the opposite direction) since I had made plans to meet my friend Andonis at Guy/Concordia. You see he had his name day yesterday but since he was working we decided instead to do something today for both his and mine name day.
So, we went for dinner to Bangong (one of the best Thai food places, if you ask me) and while still there we started discussing about a possible movie we would like to watch.
Strangely enough we ended up to AMC and saw Brokeback Mountain. I have to say I have been a bit curious about that movie (let's not discuss the famous saying about the unpleasant results of curiosity for now) and we thought that since it had received so many good reviews (and Golden Globes recently), well, it had to be good.

So, impressions (kind of the "straight" eye for the "gay" movie)

• Definately an Ang Lee movie. Superb direction; period. And the scenery, it was just breath-taking.
• The acting was great. I have to shamefully admit that I know little about the actors who starred. In any case, great (and, at least for me, convincing) performance from almost everybody (including the non-leading characters).
• I do not really like labels and I do try to avoid using them. It's interesting this movie is mostly referred to as a "gay romance" one, since I find that characterization superficial. I believe that the best description of the movie comes from its director. In the words of Ang Lee: "You can never categorise or stereotype a region or a place. People fall in love, period. This is a universal story ... I just wanted to make a love story." And, I believe this is why the movie wins the spectator at the end. It is a love story, but not only that. Love, is explored directly and indirectly in so many levels and forms. So you have the love between the two main characters, the love between them and their wives, the love between them and their children, the love between them (as children ) with their own parents (this is so prominent in one of the last scenes of the movie).
• Overall, it was a movie about human emotions and passions and how people deal a) with them, b) with the other people around them and c) crucially, with themselves. I guess, the only way one could find that movie offensive in any way would be not to share any form of any of these emotions, in a way not to share what makes us all human.
• When the movie finished and lights came on I saw that the room was even more packed than it was before the movie started. If you consider that it has being on for some weeks now and also that this was a week day, you can see how good that movie is.
• Just one bad thing: For the first 25 minutes of the movie, the audio was really low and people sitting in the back rows could hardly hear anything. In fact, the distinct accent of the main actors made understanding kind of a challenge for the non-native speakers. Then, suddenly, the volume increased and the dialogues were clear. After the end, we asked some of the theater people about it, but they said that this is how the movie was filmed. Now, I might be wrong, but this looks so BS!