We’ve Got Passion, How ’bout You

Yeah yeah … Mel and Jesus, a new form of buddy picture. I’m sure everyone is sick of all the media attention placed upon the film, and the stoned looks on all the faces of audience members around the country being interviewed by Deborah Norville or Aaron Brown minutes after walking out of the theatre who might as well be saying, “It was better than Cats, I’m going to see it again and again.”

Give Mel some credit … all you have to do is torture Jesus for a while, and suddenly you’ve got all the right-wing, ultra-conservative, and religious folks who live in that part of the country that I tend to fly-over more than visit, and who constantly berate the “media elite” and “Hollywood” for damaging our children with too much violence—right after giving Timmy a shotgun for his fifth birthday—throwing money at box-office windows. $26 Million its first day? On a Wednesday? (Thankfully, Hobbits still beat Jesus in Wednesday openings $34.5-$26.6.)

Well, if you’re a good, secular Jew like me (damn, just outed myself), move on from feeling guilty about Mel’s version of history by remembering to pick up the just-released issue #5 of Heeb Magazine. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s not your grandmother’s Jewish Bulletin, and their controversial cover (hey, their PR flack quit on them … that’s a controversy, right?) takes Mel to task with the headline; “Back off, Braveheart.” The release date of February 25, 2004 was certainly coincidental.

Now I do have to withhold judgment until I see the movie, but if Doug Resin’s review is true, sounds like it rocks. (Doug Resin’s Joint: King of the Spews [Link Inactive])