Still, for those who long for a sequel to Ang Lee's romance, this picture gives us some indication of what might have happened had the two Wyoming sheepherders finally taken the plunge and moved to the big city in Brokeback 2: We'll Take Manhattan.

• Travolta Always Wanted to be in a Gay Cowboy Movie [Towleroad via EW.com]

Our first instinct was to disbelieve the story; after all, virtually every profile we've ever read of Hathaway mentions how carefully and professionally she answers questions, concerned that her quotes will be taken out of context. Had Hathaway been emboldened after her split with boyfriend Raffaello Follieri, or was someone putting naughty words in her mouth?

Turns out, it's the latter. We contacted Esquire for comment, and spokesperson Rhett Usry was shocked by the rumor. "Absolutely not true," he told us. "There is no interview with Anne Hathaway at all in the upcoming issue of Esquire."

So where did the story originate? All signs point to this September 12 posting on Celeb.Dump, a photo-laden blog promising "Sexy Celebrity Pictures With Little To No Bullshit" (and headlines like "Stacy Keibler is so very hot" and "Jessica Simpson touching herself"). "Thanks to Miss M. from Esquire for letting me know" about the rumor, said the poster (who declined our repeated requests to comment on his tip).

As for how this obscure bit of gossip hit the big time, we're betting it's due to a potent mix of wishful thinking, Hathaway's Rachel Getting Married press tour, and lingering conflation of the actress with Brokeback Mountain. Either that, or Follieri's got an axe to grind. Memo to Celeb.Dump: if your "source" claims to be Esquire's liaison to the Vatican, it may be time to place some calls.

[Photo Credit: AP]

• Anne Hathaway Loves Anal Sex [Celeb.Dump]

WSJ: What effect did the success of "Brokeback Mountain" have on your writing life, if any?

Ms. Proulx: "Brokeback Mountain" has had little effect on my writing life, but is the source of constant irritation in my private life. There are countless people out there who think the story is open range to explore their fantasies and to correct what they see as an unbearably disappointing story. They constantly send ghastly manuscripts and pornish rewrites of the story to me, expecting me to reply with praise and applause for "fixing" the story. They certainly don't get the message that if you can't fix it you've got to stand it. Most of these "fix-it" tales have the character Ennis finding a husky boyfriend and living happily ever after, or discovering the character Jack is not really dead after all, or having the two men's children meet and marry, etc., etc. Nearly all of these remedial writers are men, and most of them begin, "I'm not gay but…." They do not understand the original story, they know nothing of copyright infringement—i.e., that the characters Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar are my intellectual property—and, beneath every mangled rewrite is the unspoken assumption that because they are men they can write this story better than a woman can. They have not a clue that the original "Brokeback Mountain" was part of a collection of stories about Wyoming exploring mores and myths. The general impression I get is that they are bouncing off the film, not the story. There's more, but that is enough, ok?

OK! We can see Proulx's point; after all, it somewhat dilutes the gist of the original story if a sequel just happens to involve Ennis Del Mar meeting the slain Jack Twist's identical twin (coincidentally, also gay!). When will the internet accept that Proulx's simple, elegant tale simply can't be done justice by a poorly written Livejournal follow-up? Instead, it needs a wildly ambitious, UFO-set pas a deux that takes the cowboys to an alien world where homosexuality is the norm and instead of farming sheep, you farm gleepdorps. Annie, rights are still available!

• Return to the Range [WSJ]

Defamer: I see you have a series called Four in Focus dedicated to first-time filmmakers. Is there one to watch? Do you find that younger filmmakers focus on different subject matter than their predecessors?

Kirsten Schaffer: Half Life, by Jennifer Phang, is exceptional (see video clip above). The thing that they have in common—which is interesting and sort of new is that the gay subject matter is definitely a part of a story, but it’s not the central focus of any of these stories.

Do you think that’s something different with the younger generation?

I do. Because this generation has grown up seeing more images of queer people on film and in television, they are free to tell stories they want to tell, and integrate the queerness in different ways. Like, in the 90s and even in the first part of 2000s, we weren’t seeing enough coming out stories, so people were making a lot more coming out stories. They are still being made and they are often good, but at the same time the filmmakers are reaching a little bit deeper into their lives and telling stories that are complicated and involve queer stories in a different way.

How has the quality and number of submissions changed over the years?

The submissions have definitely gone up. When I first started programming in Seattle with a fax machine-before the Internet, I feel like there were maybe 200 submissions. So now it’s tripled, and I think the biggest change is the diversity of things to choose from. It used to be if there was a gay romantic comedy, you had to show it. Now, there are 20 gay romantic comedies, and you can choose from the best. That said, the other thing that’s changed, more so, in the last couple of years, is that there’s fewer and fewer films being made on film and more being made on video and DVD. And the plus side of that is that people who didn’t have access to film are making great movies. The downside of that is, sometimes it feels like the movies are getting made really fast. Sometimes the quality isn’t always the same. The stories are good, they are interesting, but there’s something that’s missing from not being made on film.

Local filmmaker JD Disalvatore has a funny line on her website: "Please, help me, help you not see bad gay movies!!!" Do you think this is a frequent pitfall in some gay films?

I think it’s happening in independent cinema across the board. I don’t think it’s just gay films, I think it’s everything. It really is, it’s great and it’s terrible at the same time. There are some good movies being made, but just because somebody grabs a camera and makes a real good movie, but then, there’s a lot more to wade through because someone is grabbing a camera and making a movie. There’s a intentionality and a skill that’s missing than when you are making a film on film, and you have to spend two, three, five, 10 years raising the money and reworking the script. There’s a difference between making a movie in a month and making a movie in five years.

Which movies do you consider some of the most monumental flicks in gay filmmaking that Outfest has shown?

Hedwig and the Angry Inch—that was the opening night in 2001; Boys Don’t Cry; High Art; Making Love in 1983; Desert Heart in 1985; Paris is Burning; Poison, Todd Haynes’ film from 1991; Go Fish in 1994; Celluloid Closet in 95.

Which flicks in this year’s fest are worthy of the Canon—as they say?

There’s a film called Wild Combination about musician Arthur Russell which I think is exceptional. I think a Jihad for Love because it’s the first of its kind is a really important movie. I really like this film The World Unseen, a lesbian film set in South Africa in 50s. It’s really lovely and beautiful.

Half Life—that is set suburban northern California, it’s about a family and a single mom and her two teenage children; trying to figure life out in the suburbs. It’s not as dark as Todd Solondz’s movie, Welcome to the Dollhouse. It’s a little bit dark, sometimes funny and mostly dramatic suburban tale, which is my favorite kind of movie. A little like American Beauty, Safety of Objects. What this has that’s different is the 12, or 13 year-old boy lives in a fantasy world, and when he goes into that fantasy world, she uses animation. The teenage girl—the 19 year-old-—her best friend is gay and there’s a whole subplot that focuses on their relationship and his relationship to his Christian parents.

Hamlet 2. Andrew Fleming’s new movie, he did Threesome. This is a really fun film with Amy Poehler, Catherine Keener, Elizabeth Shue. It’s about a high school drama teacher who is quite unsuccessful and decides that instead of doing the kind of plays he’s been doing, he’s going to write his own. So he writes Hamlet 2. There’s one of the students is gay and he writes Hamlet 2 as a musical, so it’s pretty campy.

We’re also showing a film called 11 Minutes which is about Jay McCarroll, the first winner of Project Runway. I think that’s going to be a fun screening because he’s going to be there. That’s on July 16th.

What sort of movies are you ultimately looking for?

We’re looking for films that are of interest to the lesbian, gay, transgender, queer, community. It’s kind of broad. Sometimes that’s a film that’s a gay film from start to finish, or sometimes that’s a film that’s really campy, because it’s of interest to the gay community. Like this year, we’re doing South Park as a sing-a-long, because we think that’s campy and fun and the gays want to see that. Sometimes we’ll show some feminist movie that’s not that lesbian but it’s really about women and feminist culture and that’s of interest to lesbian audience. This year we’re showing a film that’s mostly about environmental issues, it’s a mockumentary, but it has a gay-appearing character as the lead, but it’s not about their gay identity at all. It’s totally about environmental issues. But they seem gay to me and I liked it, so we’re showing it. The movie is called Sizzle. It has an awesome photo of a guy and a polar bear in a slightly compromising position.

For more info: check the schedule here.

Also: FREE TIX. First two people to respond to each email get entree to the Eleven Minutes screening Wed. 7/16 at 8 p.m., and The South Park Sing-a-long on Thur. 7/17 at 8 p.m. Both are at the Ford. Send emails to southpark AT outfest DOT org and 11min AT outfest DOT org and it might just be your lucky day.

Follow the jump for an enlarged photo and all-too-brief description of the year's most macabrely marked-up memorabilia to date.

A taller-than-average one with the black canvas backrest having the star's name on the back and the Brokeback Mountain logo on the front, both in white lettering. Included is a 'certificate of authenticity' from Paramount Pictures and Focus Features indicating that Ledger used this chair during the film's production.

As mentioned, this single Ledger item towers above the belongings of icons before him, upsetting the delicate balance of marketplace power not just among A-list tchotchkes, but also among the burgeoning Brokeback auction subculture that previously foisted Jack Twist's shirt and even his pick-up truck on an unwitting auction scene. It's no accident those James Dean lifemasks are bringing up the rear at $400-$600 — this is Heath's world now, glorified dorm-room furniture and all.

• Lot No: 3136 [Bonhams via La Daily Musto]

New York City Opera has commissioned Charles Wuorinen to compose an opera based on Annie Proulx's short story "Brokeback Mountain," which was adapted into the 2005 film.

Slated to premiere in the 2013 spring season, the work will be Pulitzer-winning composer Wuorinen's second commission for City Opera, following the 2004 premiere of "Haroun and the Sea of Stories," based on the Salman Rushdie novel.

While five years seems practically an eternity to wait for Jack Twist's angelic tenor and Ennis del Mar's more dominant baritone to serenade us with such masterful arias as, "You Know I Ain't Queer (Me Neither)," "You Need to Shut Your Slop-Bucket Mouths, You Hear Me?," and "Up On Brokeback Mountain," we'd remind you that great art is always a time-consuming process. It will all be worth it when we're finally seated in the audience on the night of the work's world premiere, experiencing the full fury of a 300-person choir singing the "Carmina Burana"-esque climax accompanying Ennis's fateful first "taking" of Jack in their hillside pup-tent.

• 'Brokeback Mountain' takes to stage [Variety]

UPDATE: Michelle Williams's publicist refutes Us's Ledger rehab story, after the jump.

The actor, who is godfather to Ledger's two-year-old daughter Matilda, has been devastated by last week's news. Says one Gyllenhaal friend, "Jake is taking this harder than most people." [...]

This has had a strong personal effect on [Jake]," says a set source. The insider adds that Gyllenhaal left the set immediately after learning of Ledger's Jan. 22 death - but he flew back on a commercial flight to shoot an additional scene on Thursday.

"He was there, but he wasn't with us. It was obviously a major trauma," says the movie source. "These guys were very close. [Jake] was sitting in the director's chair staring off into space."

Not depressed enough yet? Well perhaps Us Weekly's new cover, "Heath Ledger's Secret Struggles," will sweep the remaining crumbs of hope from your overtaxed hearts. According to their reports, Michelle Williams drove Ledger to Promises shortly after the 2006 Oscars, insisting he seek help with various drug addictions. He refused to leave the car, pledging instead that he'd sort though his dependency issues on his own. Their lead besotted with grief, shooting on Williams's current project Blue Valentine has been "postponed until further notice," says a ThinkFilm rep.

UPDATE: Williams's rep responds to the Us story:

"Much of the tabloid reporting is inaccurate," Mara Buxbaum tells CelebTV.com. "This fabricated story of Michelle Williams attempting to bring Heath Ledger to rehab is just one lie among many. The speculation is heinous. Let this family grieve privately."

• Jake Is Taking Heath's Death 'Harder Than Most' [People]
• EXCLUSIVE: Heath Ledger Refused to Get Out of Car to Enter Rehab in 2006 [Usmagazine.com]
• Heath's ex too 'Blue' to do next movie [NY Daily News]

• 'Crash' director sues producer over film profits [AFP]

Although we won't be seeing his pal Jake Gyllenhaal, 26, Heath Ledger, 28, is currently in negotiations to reprise his role as Ennis.

"It will follow the nasty process of being openly gay in 1963 Wyoming, an insider tells OK!.� "Ennis will finally come out of the closet."

No matter that the movie ends in 1983—the screenwriters can easily work around that by setting the action during the months of the year when the forbidden lovers aren't able to rendezvous at their favorite fly-fishing destination. Yes, Escape from Brokeback Mountain promises to mine all the nasty gay processes missed by the original, while setting the stage nicely for part three, Brokeback Revolutions, in which our hero finally reaches the fabled realm of Zion (which looks a lot like a leather-themed circuit party in Fort Lauderdale).

• Heath for Brokeback Mountain 2? [OK]

Fortunately for us all, this unexpected house-cleaning turned out to be just a false alarm: Atene has already returned, shirtless and brandishing a bottle of Sam Adams (has he signed a product placement deal?), and reassuring his fans that not only hasn't he gone away ("I'm STILL here. I'M STILL HERE, I'mstillhere"), but that he's on the verge of a prolific period in his creative development. Enjoy his public workshopping of a Brokeback Mountain piece that we're confident will shame the original Heath Ledger performance once he's had a little more time to run through its tricky, bittersweet rhythms.

• Another Atene! [YouTube]

The lawsuit claims that Jessica Turner, 12, suffered psychological distress after viewing the movie in her 8th grade class at Ashburn Community Elementary School last year. [...]

Turner and her grandparents, Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking around $500,000 in damages. [...]

The substitute asked a student to shut the classroom door at the West Side school, saying: "What happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class," according to the lawsuit.

Richardson said his granddaughter was traumatized by the movie and had to undergo psychological treatment and counseling.

Obviously, Jessica failed to heed the disclaimer inspired by a popular Nevada tourism campaign, as she didn't hesitate to tattle to her grandparents about the nonessential course materials she was subjected to that day. Her classmates, meanwhile, hardly eased matters in the ensuing days, knowing that faintly humming the opening notes to Gustavo Santaolalla's evocative score would be enough to send Turner screaming from geometry class, wishing she knew how to quit the horrific, Jake-taking imagery seared into her consciousness—something that no amount of therapy, but possibly $500,000, might be able to one day erase.

• Family Sues School Board After 'Brokeback' Shown To Class [AccessHollywood.com]

But Focus, in a statement, said: "Randy Quaid is a wonderful actor who delivered a beautiful performance in 'Brokeback Mountain.' The circumstances of him dropping the suit are as mysterious as the circumstances under which he filed his claim. Focus Features never negotiated, offered or agreed to any settlement agreement with Mr. Quaid or his attorneys, but we are happy to put this behind us, and do wish Mr. Quaid all the best."

In the interest of respecting the spirit of the film, we are happy to refrain from coughing "bullshit" into a balled fist, and instead look away as Quaid and Focus doff their shirts atop an idyllic hill, embrace in seeming anger, then tumble down its grassy slope in a tangle of giggles and stolen kisses.

God, we miss Brokeback jokes.

• Quaid: deal or no deal? [Variety]
• Randy Quaid Craves Backend For 'Brokeback' [Defamer]

Missing from the UAE version were scenes showing mistreatment of Asian workers in the Gulf, and references to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a late Saudi king. [...]

As for "Brokeback Mountain", a story of two male cowboys falling in love in the conservative American West, its Beirut-based distributor, Italia Films, said it had dropped plans to try to show the movie in the Gulf after discussing its taboo topic with concerned ministries and receiving negative feedback. [...]

Homosexuality is a serious offence in the Gulf, punishable by flogging and imprisonment. In February, 11 men were sentenced to six years in jail in the UAE after a raid on a gay party in a desert hotel.

As Brokeback continues its banned world tour, we're once again reminded how premature it was to declare this the International Year of the Gay. Imagine how much harder your clandestine, gay Oscar bunker party would have sucked if moments after Crash was declared Best Picture, you heard a loud knocking and the angry shouts of a Middle Eastern vice squad at the desert crawlspace door.

• 'Tolerant' Dubai censors two US films [Middle East Online]

Despite a Department of Correction policy that prohibits showing to inmates movies that contain prison themes, police brutality or gang violence, cons at state facilities are currently watching "Get Rich or Die Tryin' ," a film about a crack-dealing gangbanger who writes rap songs about splitting open cops' heads while serving time behind the wall.

The autobiographical movie stars rap star 50 Cent and contains a soundtrack with the song "Don't Need No Help" that contains the refrain "(Expletive) tha police." [...]

Last month, the movie "History of Violence," which was rated R for "strong brutal violence, graphic sexuality, nudity," was shown throughout the prison system, DOC spokeswoman Diane Wiffin said.

Other films on the DOC's movie review list include such approved titles as the Frank Sinatra brainwashing/assassination classic The Manchurian Candidate, the Olsen twins' brainwashing/assassination classic New York Minute, and Herbie Fully Loaded. Among the rejected were The Accused (rape scene scorecard: stairwells—yea, pinball machines—nay), Showgirls (too gay?), and Derailed, which we can only assume was not for any objectionable content, but because the DOC just couldn't buy Jennifer Aniston trying to play unlikeable.

• Reel thugs 101: DOC takes rap as violent films entertain cons [BostonHerald.com via The WOW Report]

Massachusetts Department of Correction spokeswoman Diane Wiffin said the recreation officer, whose name was not released, had not followed standard procedure for screening the movie for excessive violence, assaults on correctional staff, nudity or explicit sexual content.

"I want to make it clear, it wasn't the subject matter — it was the graphic nature of the sexually explicit scenes," Wiffin said Monday.

The officer played the movie Thursday at MCI-Norfolk, a medium security prison about 25 miles southwest of Boston. According to Wiffin, a deputy supervisor came in as the movie was playing and asked if the officer had screened it first. He said no. Since there were only 20 minutes remaining, the inmates were allowed to see the end, she said

We applaud the prison officials for not denying them the Ennis del Mar shirt-hugging scene; surely it melted the hearts of even the most hardened of these criminals, perhaps even encouraging some to finally tell their bitches how they truly felt about them. And while Joaquin Phoenix may be Folsom prison's #1 pin-up hunk, we imagine many a magazine-snipped photo of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in various stages of dreamilicious shirtlessness have started popping up on MCI-Norfolk's cell walls since.

• Prison officer to be disciplined for showing 'Brokeback Mountain' [Boston.com/AP]

A Bahamian government board's decision to ban the movie "Brokeback Mountain" has prompted charges of discrimination and censorship in the island chain.

Gay rights groups and others have called on the Plays and Films Control Board to reverse its decision prohibiting theaters from showing the award-winning movie about a troubled love affair between two cowboys.

"The board chose to ban it because it shows extreme homosexuality, nudity and profanity, and we feel that it has no value for the Bahamian public," Chavasse Turnquest-Liriano, liaison officer for the control board, said Wednesday.

We're not sure what exactly constitutes "extreme homosexuality"—the term conjures the image of dozens of helmeted chorus boys performing radical maneuvers on hot pink BMX bikes—but we hope this foolhardy and censorious decision is reversed. The thought of Crash sweeping the Bahamas' top film honors at this year's prestigious Golden Coconuts ceremony is almost too much for us to bear.

• Bahamas 'Brokeback Mountain' Ban Draws Ire [ABC/AP]

• VPage Photos [Variety]
• Previously: 'Brokeback Mountain' Crushes Gay-Friendly Competition At GLAAD Awards [Defamer]