The critics have gone on a fishing trip with cowboy-on-cowboy three-bandanna weeper Brokeback Mountain, but we reckon there ain't much fishing going on. Its accolades have been so unanimous, the buzz around Hollywood (where Hollywood = Reuters and The Envelope) is that Brokeback has now become far and away the one to beat for Best Picture at this year's Oscars:

As Hollywood starts its annual awards season leading to the March 5 Oscars, key front-runners in main categories are either gay-themed or political films, with Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," a drama of love between cowboys, leading the pack in the all-important best picture race.

"It could be the gay Oscars this year because gay-themed movies could win almost all the major awards," said Tom O'Neill, show business awards columnist for The Envelope.Com., referring to the sudden dominance "Brokeback Mountain" has gained so early in the race.

"'Brokeback' is going to be hard to beat. Rarely do we have this kind of award consensus for a movie, and its director (Taiwan's Ang Lee) is long overdue for an Oscar," O'Neill said.

While it's looking more and more like the film will rack up some of the bigger prizes, don't be surprised if it grabs a technical award or two as well. The state of the art green-screen techniques required to create the illusion that Heath Ledger was actually entering Jake Gyllenhaal, who in reality was over 4000 miles away on a London soundstage, rival any of those used to bring Kong to life.

• 'Brokeback Mountain' tops Oscar bets [Reuters]

Contact information for this author is not available.