The Passion of the Christ

A collection of 27 posts

On Movies & Media

"Talk About the Passions"

Discovered at David Hudson's IFC blog: Joshua Land at Moving Image Source writes about The Passion of the Christ and The Last Temptation of Christ: Considering the tremendous importance of Jesus to many millions, it's understandable that supporters and opponents of [Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader&

Looking Elsewhere

Browser: Passion of the Rourke. Horton Hears Ken Morefield. Decemberists. Frost/Nixon nixed. Milk of Sorrow. Leonard Cohen. Laura Gibson.

1. A.G. Harmon on The Wrestler and its reference to The Passion of the Christ. 2. Ken Morefield on where Horton Hears a Who went wrong. Earlier: My own problems with that playful pachyderm.. 3. Frost/Nixon could have been done right, says Rick Olson. They carry it through

Mel Gibson

The Passion of Screenwriter Benedict Fitzgerald

Mel Gibson is still in trouble for how he handled The Passion of the Christ. Fitzgerald's attorneys claimed Tuesday that his payments were eroded by Gibson's spending habits while filming the movie in Italy, including "tens of thousands" of dollars on his children'

Film Reviews

The Passion of the Christ - A Letter to Christians about Mel Gibson's Film

This commentary is a follow-up to my review of The Passion of the Christ. * Most Christian press publications will lavish praise upon Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. They will celebrate the arrival of a film rich with spiritual power, rendered with riveting and even excruciating detail.

Film Reviews

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

"There is nothing less real than realism. Details are confusing. It is only be selection, by elimination, by emphasis that we get at the real meaning of things." - Georgia O'Keeffe * The words “excruciating” and “crucifixion” are related. It’s easy to see why when you

On Movies & Media

WALL-E magic. Also: "Wit" and "Passion" and Painful Movies

No, they caaaaan't take that awayyyy from me.... I'm loving the raves for WALL-E. The first and the second time I saw the film, I came away saying, "I can't review this movie. Not yet. Because I can't explain the power

On Movies & Media

God and Hollywood: Have Movies Improved Since "The Passion of the Christ"

One week ago, beer-drinkin' believers gathered at Hale's Brewery in Seattle to discuss The Passion of the Christ, "faith-based filmmaking," and whether Mel Gibson's movie heralded a new era for Christian filmmaking (as so many believed it would), or a new era in

Looking Elsewhere

Specials: CT Readers Choose Best of '07. The Passion of the Screenwriter. Is Juno Overrated?

Where does Evan Almighty rate higher than No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood? In the Readers' Choice Awards at Christianity Today Movies! (Earlier, the CT Movies Critics Choice awards.) * The Passion of the Screenwriter A screenwriter sued Mel Gibson More at Peter Chattaway's

On Movies & Media

Update: Mel Gibson offers a specific apology to Jews for his comments

BBC News has posted Gibson's full, admirable public apology for his remarks. Here is an excerpt: I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable The tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that

On Movies & Media

Picking Up Where "The Passion" Left Off

Thanks to Peter T. Chattaway for catching this breaking news: Using the Bible for its source material, "Resurrection" will tell the story of Jesus Christ beginning the day he died on the cross and ending about 40 days later with his ascension into heaven. According to insiders, Sony&

On Movies & Media

Mel Gibson: TIME Magazine gets up close to the director of "Apocalypto"

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Mel, as unpredictable and challenging as usual. This is the larger TIME article, from which that colorful excerpt in a previous post was apparently an early excerpt. It'll be interesting to see what some of the more pious Christian media figures have to say about

On Movies & Media

Introducing... The McPassion!

My friend Rik Swartzwelder, director of the award-winning short film "The Least of These," wrote and co-produced this marketing parody of the commercialization of The Passion of the Christ. And... yikes, it stings like a cat o'nine tails! Watch... The McPassion!!* (Caution: Some may find it

On Movies & Media

"What If" Question of the Day...

As tired as I am of the Brokeback Mountain and Chronicles of Narnia debates, and as uninterested as I am in the Munich debate, I find myself almost nostalgic for The Passion of the Christ. So my question for the day is this... If someone were to pick up where

On Movies & Media

Another Award "The Passion" Might Win!

The horror!! From my friend Adam Walter: The International Horror Guild, a literary guild, has just nominated THE PASSION as one of 2004's best horror films! http://www.ihgonline.org/

On Movies & Media

"The Passion of the Christ" - A Film of Ideas

Found this article via GreenCine. Nice to see some critics still finding some merit in Gibson's work. I’ll admit several reaction shots of a distraught Mary choked me up pretty bad. Still, in the end, I was too caught up in the way the film kept situating

On Movies & Media

Quentin Tarantino speaks: Best of 2005, and his future

Shaun of the DeadThe Passion of the ChristHarold and Kumar Go To White CastleThe IncrediblesBefore SunsetOld BoyThree Extremes Lord of the RingsNightwatch That's all from Quentin Tarantino, in an article at FilmFocus. There's a lot more where that came from, including an update about his World

On Movies & Media

Mel Gibson on the Oscars

from IMDb.com: The Passion of the Christ Braveheart

On Movies & Media

Christianity Today's Readers Pick... Well, Duh....

No surprise here. And, for those who like to play Guess the Oscars, you can compare your picks and preferences with me and my CT colleagues....

On Movies & Media

Feedback: The good, the bad, and the ugly

CT Movies is getting some feedback on the movies chosen by their critics as the Best of 2004. Here are some examples that editor Mark Moring has posted on the site. I'd encourage you to offer your own thoughts on the list. Send feedback to ctmovies@christianitytoday.com.

On Songs & Albums

David Eugene Edwards (16 Horsepower, Woven Hand) on Christianity and The Passion

Frank, courageous, and to the point ... as always... David Eugene Edwards, the lead singer of the riveting rock band 16 Horsepower and the newer, more experimental group Woven Hand, has offered some more food for thought in a newly-published interview from the Dutch magazine OOR. (Note: When the source article

On Movies & Media

The New, Improved, Less-Violent Passion of the Christ

Mel Gibson has cut five minutes of violence from The Passion of the Christ and is bringing this "special edition" to theatres. So, is this the "Director's Cut"? The "Lacerated Edition"? The "Flogged Version"? Here's the story. My

On Movies & Media

How to Watch The Passion

Some of the best words about The Passion of the Christ that I've ever read. Steven D. Greydanus, in a casual conversation about the film today: The Passion is almost completely uninterested in ordinary narrative conventions of character development, plot-driven storytelling, and so forth. It doesn't

On Movies & Media

Should Christian critics applaud certain Oscar contenders?

UPDATE: Okay, I admit, I posted a somewhat reactionary entry earlier after reading Barbara Nicolosi's post about the Oscars today at Church of the Masses. I'm a big Barbara Nicolosi fan, even though I don't always agree with her, and today's post

On Movies & Media

Oscar Abominations 2005

THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS 2005: Click here. Isn't it interesting that 1 of The Passion's three nominations is for an "original score" that was largely plagiarized from Peter Gabriel's soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ? Here are a few more Oscar abominations:

On Movies & Media

"Re-Viewing the Passion"

If you are at all interested in the plight of artists seeking to contribute serious religious art in the arena of mainstream art and entertainment, I encourage you to check out this new book of essays on Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. It's called