da vinci code, and other films dealing with religion

[martino]

the da vinci code is most definately not da bomb. it is a boring piece of shit!

who would have thought that tom hanks could look both bored and boring for over two hours? and that he could share a whole movie with audrey tatou without creating the least bit of erotic suspense?

the movie is pedestrian too, with camera technique out of the fifties: when you have a car chase, everything gets all hectic and vibrating so you can't really see anything, but you probably are supposed to sense that something important is going on. the camera even gets wobbly when you have a scene inside an airplane, as if this were a steadycam semi-pro movie instead of a 125mil hollywood as-if blockbuster.

don't see this movie to enjoy yourself, as it is too staid. and don't go there either because of the religious stuff. i am sure there are better religious movies out there.

but which? well, dogma comes to mind, which was quite nice if you like jay and silent bob. (it also introduced the concept of jesus having had a child with maria magdalena, years before the da vinci code!)

otherwise, i always liked "the man for all seasons", which is a movie i first saw when i was 7 and which served as an inspiration for kevin smith, as well.

scorseses "last temptation of christ" was good enough if flawed, and i also liked kubriks "spartacus" which of course was not strictly about religion but still dealt with cross-nailing and such.

on the con side, john huston's "bible" was a joke (charlton heston as moses?), as well as most others that tried hard.

so tell me: what are your favorite films that have to do with religion?

[TragicPixie]

but does it have a lot of religious imagery? because really I just get off on religious imagery.

I guess it doesn't matter. it probably won't be in theaters by the time I get new glasses and can actually *see* the screen.

[martino]

if religious imagery excites you then may i suggest some nun-and-monk porno. sorry just joking. (here's hoping you are not as easily offended as marky).

no really, the movie has some really unpleasant and graphic self-flagellation scenes which certainly did not get me off. religious as such but creepy, and you'd have to pretty kinky to find that sexy. (i am not saying that kinky is bad). on the other hand, the religious sex rituals which they say play an important part in the book are reduced to about three seconds in the movie. hollywood is sicko.

[TragicPixie]

mmm... that might work anyway ...
I am a huge horror movie fan. As awful as it will probably be - I can't wait until the remake of The Omen comes out.

[martino]

this morning between awakening and coffee, i thought of a movie i had seen on tv roundabout 20 years ago: Cercasi Gesù, which I googled to be " (1982) un film di Luigi Comencini con Fernando Rey, Maria Schneider".

i remember it as a brilliant tragic-comedy about a modern-day jesus who is a mental patient. it's funny how it forgot it for all these years but now have an intense longing to see it again.

hollywood (the capitol of rip-offery) missed this one back then and nowadays of course it would be too controversial.

if you have an ethnic video shop in your town and you speak italian, please watch it and tell me what you think.

[marky]

That sounds delightful Martino! Shall seek this film out soon - but not until my last exam this quarter. The next two weekends don't look like much fun at all. This is the worst test I've had to take in my entire schooling career. I'm not kidding. It's like some weird coincidence that the last class I happen to take in my entire schooling years is this insanely challenging piece of boring-as-fuck class. I didn't think it could get worse than Intermediate Accounting, but it has.

At least I've got a job interview to look forward to that sounds promising or maybe isn't going to be my next job, etc. Who knows?

(that wasn't meant as a reference to UK band The Who featuring Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwhistle and Keith Moon)

[Tommy Martyn]

You might check out "Priest" (I think) it was about a priest who was coming to terms with the fact that he was gay. It was a long time ago but I remember thinking it was OK. Having said that, I dimly recall liking it more because some scenes were filmed in the part of Liverpool where I lived. Who doesn't get a little thrill seeing local scenes incorporated into movies?

Staying with films, sort of.....I have new neighbours. They are a charming couple who have just moved here from Texas. You all know the slow process of getting to know folk that you are going to have to see everyday, regardless of whether you would be friends under normal circumstances. We talked about our weekend plans. We were both off to the movies. I to see the animated movie, "Over the hedge." (A dud for the grown ups and the kids) They were shooting to see the Duh Vinchi code. I mentioned that I had got through the book. Quick as a flash, the lady said, "Don't tell me the ending!" It was all I could do not to start making fantastic shit up about the plot. Apocalypses, two headed babies, masonic blood lust rituals invoving Maggie Thatcher etc. Honestly, what would you think happens at the end of an airport novel. The guy ALWAYS gets the girl. The planet is ALWAYS saved. The bad guy, after thinking he was getting away for it for 300 pages, gets to exit the planet knowing beforehand that it was all for naught.

So in that moment you recalibrate your stance with the stranger. Sifting through the things that from this point forward you can talk about and how you can talk about them. How about them Bengals?