Really?

Morgan Freeman to play Lucius Fox in new Batman film.

That’s, um… that’s actually kinda cool.

Lucius Fox. Morgan Freeman.

Huh.

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Addendum

Regarding the Newsweek “Who Killed Christ?” piece on Mel Gibson’s new movie:

I didn’t pass along that link before and I’d meant to. It’s an odd article written from a very strange perspective, where the writer clearly knows something about religion and talks to a number of scholars but seemingly hasn’t encountered any actual Christian believers before.

The second-to-last paragraph points out, as though imparting a little-known-fact, that Jesus himself was a Jew. Now, for months, Christians have been pointing this out as the obvious reason that audiences won’t go into an anti-semitic fury upon seeing the movie. And Mel Gibson is the first director to actually cast Jesus, his family, disciples and followers with actors that look Jewish. The article also helpfully ends by noting that Jesus did not encourage violence.

Such statement of the obvious is infuriating, but I think I’ve figured it out. Writer Jon Meacham must be the guy who comes up with all the dumb labels such as “toaster should not be used as a ladder” and “lawn darts can cause injury”.

Bah! I can’t wait until the actual movie is out and this stupid controversy can be put to rest. If I’m wrong, and the day after the movie comes out New York and Florida are in flames as newly-recruited KKK members roam the streets, I will apologize for dismissing this.

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DAAA-aaaaad! Shuuuuut uuuuuup!

I honestly don’t get this. After all the furor over “The Passion of the Christ” has been turned down to a simmer, and with only a week to go before the movie opens, suddenly now Hutton Gibson decides to do a radio interview about Jews and the Holocaust. Hutton, Mel Gibson’s father, is clearly a classic anti-semite. I don’t think that’s ever been in question; the only question is what Mel believes. Mel won’t talk about his dad, which is both respectful and perhaps defensive.

The question is, even if Hutton is an anti-Jewish hatemonger, is he also irrational and insane? Can he be unaware of the dangers of his big yap? Does he not know that his son has $50 million at risk in a movie that opens next week which could go poof if he starts openly claiming that the holocaust is a hoax and most of the Jews just moved to Florida?

I’ll be clear here: I’m not arguing that it’s okay to hate as long as you shut up. Hutton’s beliefs are despicable. But the fact that this guy would endanger his own son’s finances, career and good name by saying things that even a bigot should realize is inflamatory…it makes me wonder if he is not in his right mind at age 85. There’s more going on here.

I don’t have any fears that “The Passion of the Christ” is anti-semitic, or even that it will somehow unintentionally make audiences hate Jews more. I base this on several things: the positive reviews from critics both Christian and secular, the quibbles raised in Newsweek which strike me as minor, and a hunch that most everyone going will be just plain excited to see a biblical movie in their lifetime. Plus, this clearly is a different treatment of the 12 hours of Christ’s death than we’ve seen before, in terms of the brutality.

My only real concern is, really, that Mel may privately hold even a portion of his dad’s views. Peggy Noonan gave him a couple real softballs in his interview for Reader’s Digest and he flubbed them, demonstrating that he may also be a holocaust-denier but is wiser than his dad in how to hide it. That concerns me. Not for the sake of his movie, but for his sake.

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Kevin Smith makes a superhero movie

Kevin Smith to Take on ‘The Green Snoogans’…I mean, ‘The Green Hornet’

At least Smith has finished working in the “Askewniverse” so this film won’t automatically contain drug dealers and raunchy sex talk, but I will wager that the movie will include SOME joke about Kato being Green Hornet’s gay lover. I just know Kevin Smith.

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