comment #1

Nicol D says ...

You may be right. There is a lot of crap Christian art out there, but the one thing the Christian commununity can usually smell is the sincerity of the artist.

If this film feels false, they will reject it.

Personally, I wish they had went the Gibson route and showed the graphic violence. It would have made the film less fairy tale and more relevant. The Cecil B DeMile route doesn't work anymore. It's an R rated world out there.

comment #2

Devin Faraci says ...

The graphic violence of... child birth?

comment #3

nola says ...

Wait a minute...Marty was a former altar boy? I like Wyck a lot good for him. Still think it's weird NL is releasing this movie.

comment #4

Nicol D says ...

No, of how Herod killed all of the new born males.

This is partially why Mary and Joseph fled.

"Didn't you guys ever go to Sunday school?"
Indiana Jones

comment #5

Devin Faraci says ...

At my Sunday School we were told that the census made Joseph go home.

comment #6

le corbeau says ...

"Wanted to make a film of lasting value that would reconnect them on some level with their rural/family roots."

Translation: I don't actually believe any of this religion stuff-- although I've lost 8 pounds since I started taking a Kabbalah class, it's the same one in Beverly Hills that Madonna took-- but I felt it would reconnect me with my people if I made a movie for the ignorant crackers who actually believe that shit. I can't wait to fly into town on the Gulfstream and see what they think.

comment #7

insidah says ...

Hmmm, are any of those folks Christian? Or are they like the Jewish guy who owned a Christmas store in my town and made a ton of money selling expensive ornaments to wealthy non-Jews. I mean this all in a very Sarah Silverman way.

comment #8

Hallick says ...

Too bad the trailer makes the movie look like "a Lifetime television original" and makes Castle-Hughes performance seem laughably self-serious. But apparently somebody wanted to be all consumingly reverential in every single frame, which is what marrs too many religious productions.

comment #9

JWEgo says ...

no no no
The movie is a cynical attempt by Jewish Bob Shaye and Christian Cale Boyter to make a lot of money. The film was very troubled- locations had to be moved, the line producer was fired.
Film will therefore make $12 billion

I am Jeff Wells' Ego!

comment #10

ZacharyTF says ...

I'm waiting for the Christian right to start attacking this movie simply because KCH is pregnant out of wedlock. They had no problem attacking End of the Spear because the lead actor was gay, so I can see them attacking this movie.

comment #11

tholl-yung says ...

Only 12 billion? I'd rather see a Christian film made by a lapsed Catholic like del Toro. Anyone know of one?

comment #12

actionman says ...

"Hmmm, are any of those folks Christian? Or are they like the Jewish guy who owned a Christmas store in my town and made a ton of money selling expensive ornaments to wealthy non-Jews. I mean this all in a very Sarah Silverman way."

if you read the article you'll see that none of the filmmakers (hardwicke, rich, bowen, godfrey) are jewish

comment #13

shawn says ...

I can tell you from long personal acquaintance that Mike Rich, who wrote the screenplay and is one of the producers of "Nativity" (which was the original -- and better -- title), is anything but a Hollywood charlatan. You may or may not like his movies ("Finding Forrester," "The Rookie," "Miracle," "Radio"), but I've known him for more than a decade in his capacities as a journalist and screenwriter here in Portland, and I vouch for him as an entirely good egg -- one of the best, in fact. No warranties expressed or implied about his partners in this project, but if you believe that films have their genesis in the writer's mind, then I am here to say that the genesis of this film was sincerely and genuinely what Rich says it was.

'Course, he wouldn't be the first screenwriter to have his vision distorted....but from everything I've heard, that's not the case here.

Shawn Levy
Film Critic
The Oregonian

comment #14

Devin Faraci says ...

All this time we thought we were teaching Mike Rich, but Mike Rich was teaching us.

comment #15

Hallick says ...

"I'm waiting for the Christian right to start attacking this movie simply because KCH is pregnant out of wedlock. They had no problem attacking End of the Spear because the lead actor was gay, so I can see them attacking this movie."

Let's see...she's straight, she apparently didn't use contraception, she isn't going to abort the fetus, and she plans to raise the baby with the man who helped make it.

Sounds more like their poster child than a target to me. And real Christians are supposed to be focused on the mote in their own eyes anyway.

But you gotta love the idea that they'd attack a girl for having a baby out of wedlock when she's in a movie about the most famous girl who seemed to do the same.

comment #16

jeffmcm says ...

T.H., check out any movie by Bunuel, Simon of the Desert and Viridiana are two good examples.

I fully expect this movie to be horrible, like both of Hardwicke's first two movies. I don't know why anybody would think she would be able to pull off a story like this when she couldn't even get a simple contemporary coming-of-age movie right.

comment #17

crabbieshollywood.blogspot.com says ...

The whole virgin birth thing bothers me. No sex. Maybe they could give Joseph a hot mistress or something. Get Salma Hayek on the phone!

comment #18

Sean says ...

"and she plans to raise the baby with the man who helped make it."

Admittedly, I'm not a Sunday School guy, but I was under the impression that it was God (by way of an angel) who made that baby.

I also thought Joseph was an older fella, and Mary was a teenager, but I wouldn't expect a movie to be that accurate...

but Zachary, the ad for the movie pretty clearly shows that the Jews around her judge her pretty harshly for being pregnant without being married.

comment #19

Nicol D says ...

"But apparently somebody wanted to be all consumingly reverential in every single frame, which is what marrs too many religious productions."

Exactly! Unlike progressive classics such as Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Syriana, Catch A Fire, Man Of The Year, The Da Vinci Code, V For Vendetta etc.; which have a light, self referential 'joie de vivre' that makes them such bubbly, effervescent fun.

comment #20

jeffmcm says ...

Nicol, you're an idiot.

First of all, none of those movies are intended to be a document reflecting anybody's deepest, most personal beliefs a la a Bible movie.

Second, as a person who considers himself a liberal/progressive, I think only one of the movies you listed above is more than mediocre - and I seem to recall you liked it more than you didn't (Brokeback Mountain).

Second, how many of them have you seen?

I do give you credit for finally learning how to spell Syriana.

comment #21

Nicol D says ...

Always the 'clever' quips eh, Jeffmcm.

Now tell me how much you hate me again. Real classy like on the other blog.

Do you ever leave the computer, Jeffmcm? I mean do you actually leave your parents basement to earn a living or something? Buy more Doritos and milk? A fresh supply of vaseline?

Quit obsessing over me Jeffmcm and get a life. You'll thank me for it.

comment #22

Wrecktum says ...

Will it have the scene where God rapes Mary, like in The Entity?

comment #23

Walter Sobchak says ...

"You may be right. There is a lot of crap Christian art out there, but the one thing the Christian commununity can usually smell is the sincerity of the artist.

If this film feels false, they will reject it.

Personally, I wish they had went the Gibson route and showed the graphic violence. It would have made the film less fairy tale and more relevant. The Cecil B DeMile route doesn't work anymore. It's an R rated world out there.

No, of how Herod killed all of the new born males.

This is partially why Mary and Joseph fled.

Didn't you guys ever go to Sunday school?
Indiana Jones

Wanted to make a film of lasting value that would reconnect them on some level with their rural/family roots.

Translation: I don't actually believe any of this religion stuff-- although I've lost 8 pounds since I started taking a Kabbalah class, it's the same one in Beverly Hills that Madonna took-- but I felt it would reconnect me with my people if I made a movie for the ignorant crackers who actually believe that shit. I can't wait to fly into town on the Gulfstream and see what they think.

I can tell you from long personal acquaintance that Mike Rich, who wrote the screenplay and is one of the producers of "Nativity" (which was the original -- and better -- title), is anything but a Hollywood charlatan. You may or may not like his movies ("Finding Forrester," "The Rookie," "Miracle," "Radio"), but I've known him for more than a decade in his capacities as a journalist and screenwriter here in Portland, and I vouch for him as an entirely good egg -- one of the best, in fact. No warranties expressed or implied about his partners in this project, but if you believe that films have their genesis in the writer's mind, then I am here to say that the genesis of this film was sincerely and genuinely what Rich says it was.

'Course, he wouldn't be the first screenwriter to have his vision distorted....but from everything I've heard, that's not the case here.

I'm waiting for the Christian right to start attacking this movie simply because KCH is pregnant out of wedlock. They had no problem attacking End of the Spear because the lead actor was gay, so I can see them attacking this movie.

Let's see...she's straight, she apparently didn't use contraception, she isn't going to abort the fetus, and she plans to raise the baby with the man who helped make it.

Sounds more like their poster child than a target to me. And real Christians are supposed to be focused on the mote in their own eyes anyway.

But you gotta love the idea that they'd attack a girl for having a baby out of wedlock when she's in a movie about the most famous girl who seemed to do the same.

and she plans to raise the baby with the man who helped make it.

Admittedly, I'm not a Sunday School guy, but I was under the impression that it was God (by way of an angel) who made that baby.

I also thought Joseph was an older fella, and Mary was a teenager, but I wouldn't expect a movie to be that accurate...

but Zachary, the ad for the movie pretty clearly shows that the Jews around her judge her pretty harshly for being pregnant without being married.

Nicol, you're an idiot.

First of all, none of those movies are intended to be a document reflecting anybody's deepest, most personal beliefs a la a Bible movie.

Second, as a person who considers himself a liberal/progressive, I think only one of the movies you listed above is more than mediocre - and I seem to recall you liked it more than you didn't (Brokeback Mountain).

Second, how many of them have you seen?

I do give you credit for finally learning how to spell Syriana.

Always the 'clever' quips eh, Jeffmcm.

Now tell me how much you hate me again. Real classy like on the other blog.

Do you ever leave the computer, Jeffmcm? I mean do you actually leave your parents basement to earn a living or something? Buy more Doritos and milk? A fresh supply of vaseline?

Quit obsessing over me Jeffmcm and get a life. You'll thank me for it."

...all of your bourgeous opinions I differ with...
as Trotsky said, 'let there be meat for us to enjoy with our beets'...

-D.Z.

comment #24

aspiringcrackaddict says ...

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comment #25

mdc says ...

T.H.,

Pasolini's St. Matthew is a good example. Although made by a man famously an atheist & a gay communist, it's the closest I've seen a film come to achieving some kind of spiritual directness and simplicity. I can't think of another film that comes close to a spiritual experience. Passion of the Christ, which I liked, nevertheless I'd say drew emotional, visceral reactions, not spiritual ones. At least it did from me. The Pasolini's a wonderful film, you won't be disappointed if you haven't seen it.

comment #26

Hallick says ...

"Exactly! Unlike progressive classics such as Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Syriana, Catch A Fire, Man Of The Year, The Da Vinci Code, V For Vendetta etc.; which have a light, self referential 'joie de vivre' that makes them such bubbly, effervescent fun."

I don't understand the connection between the movies you're citing (for their liberalism?) to the point I was making about certain religious productions which resemble the trailer I viewed, since I was addressing the way the films are made (corny, smotheringly reverential, two dimentional, etc.) and not the political angles involved.

comment #27

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