Granted, I'm a fan of Mel Gibson's The Passion so forgive me a moment for sounding like a homie. I loved that Satan (Rosalinda Celentano in the photo) could make your skin crawl, and the revolting ugly baby scene, and the funny scene with Mary trying out a table and chair("It'll never catch on!"). Like it or not, The Passion shouldn't be dismissed simple because it depicts the life of "HE-Who's-Name-Must-Not-Be-Spoken." (No, not Lord Voldimort.)
But this is AWARDS SEASON and last year's two most talked about films are being snubbed by just about any Critics' or Associations' awards that matter. (Yeah I know, like any of them matter), First among the missing is Michael Moore 's controversial anti-'Dubya' project Fahrenheit 9/11 which was not "eligible" in any Golden Globe category because it was a documentary, and Gibson's Passion of The Christ was deemed ineligible -- for being in a foreign language! (Foreign language to whom? It's spoken in Aramaic and Latin -- which are, correct me if I'm wrong here -- virtually both alien languages to everyone on the planet.) Rules and political correctness be damned, both films will also be snubbed by the Oscars next month despite shattering box-office records and dominating headlines for months.
Other than these two, there weren't any really stand out films last year. I know fans are cheering for the Scorsese film The Aviator to win (too long), or maybe the excellent Clint Eastwood saga Million Dollar Baby, or the smallish Sideways, which is a solid film -- in a Showtime Specials sort of way. These front runner films did not light up the box office, like Gibson's and Moore's films did.
Most film critics decided The Passion was just not a good movie, artistically speaking, but we have to ask -- what exactly passes for a good movie with these critics? The Hours? American Beauty? About Schmidt?. Hated 'em.
First among the missing is Michael Moore 's controversial anti-'Dubya' project Fahrenheit 9/11 which was not "eligible" in any Golden Globe category because it was a documentary, and Gibson's Passion of The Christ was deemed ineligible -- for being in a foreign language! (Foreign language to whom? It's spoken in Aramaic and Latin -- which are, correct me if I'm wrong here -- virtually both alien languages to everyone on the planet.) Rules and political correctness be damned, both films will also be snubbed by the Oscars next month despite shattering box-office records and dominating headlines for months.
Other than these two, there weren't any really stand out films last year. I know fans are cheering for the Scorsese film The Aviator to win (too long), or maybe the excellent Clint Eastwood saga Million Dollar Baby, or the smallish Sideways, which is a solid film -- in a Showtime Specials sort of way. These front runner films did not light up the box office, like Gibson's and Moore's films did.
Most film critics decided The Passion was just not a good movie, artistically speaking, but we have to ask -- what exactly passes for a good movie with these critics? The Hours? American Beauty? About Schmidt?. Hated 'em.
