Mining 'Brokeback Mountain'

WSJ.com: "Despite the cracks about gay cowboys on late-night TV and chin-stroking about whether it would play in Peoria, 'Brokeback Mountain' is poised to be not just one of the most praised films of the 2005 Oscar class -- it will become one of the most profitable movies of the year, and a mainstream one at that. How did 'Brokeback' break out? By surgically targeting where the movie would play in its initial release; selling it as a romance for women rather than a controversial gay-bashing tale; and opting out of the culture wars rather than engaging them. 'I'm more proud of what we didn't do with this film, as opposed to what we did do,' says James Schamus, co-president of Focus Features, explaining the contrarian marketing and distribution strategy behind the $14 million film. 'Brokeback,' which expanded into 1,196 theaters last weekend and has now grossed $43.8 million at the box office, is filling seats across the country, and last week passed Steven Spielberg's $70 million-budget 'Munich' (a drama about Palestinian terrorists) even in the heart of the heartland. 'Brokeback' is 'doing quite well,' says Debby Brehn, vice president of Douglas Theatres in Lincoln, Neb., where 'Brokeback' ticket sales are running 3-to-1 against those for 'Munich' since 'Brokeback' opened Jan. 6. 'I wouldn't say people are not seeing it because of its homosexual content,' she says."

Turkey Drops Charges Against Novelist - Forbes.com

A Turkish court on Monday dropped charges against the country's best-known novelist for insulting 'Turkishness,' ending a high-profile trial that outraged Western observers and cast doubt on Turkey's commitment to free speech. Orhan Pamuk went on trial for telling a Swiss newspaper in February that Turkey is unwilling to deal with two of the most painful episodes in recent Turkish history: the massacre of Armenians during World War I, which Turkey insists was not a planned genocide, and recent guerrilla fighting in Turkey's overwhelmingly Kurdish southeast. "Thirty-thousand Kurds and 1 million Armenians were killed in these lands, and nobody but me dares to talk about it," he said. The controversy came at a particularly sensitive time for the overwhelmingly Muslim country. Turkey recently began membership talks with the European Union, which has harshly criticized the trial, questioning Turkey's commitment to freedom of expression. "