I haven't seen that one, but I had enough of that kind of stuff forced down my throat in Catholic school. I know a lot of people think The Passion of the Christ is too violent, but it's faithful to depictions of the crucifixion in the gospels.

We were taught this stuff in great detail as children. Paintings that show nails in Jesus hands are inaccurate. If placed in the hands, the criminal could have freed himself from the nails by pulling and ripping his flesh. The Romans nailed their criminals to the cross above the wrist so they couldn't escape. I don't remember what the deal with the feet was.

Jesus was said to have received 40 lashes with a cat -o- nine tails. This would be fatal. There's a good chance that this claim is exaggerated.

For those of you who aren't Catholic, we have a thing called the stations of the cross. These are 12 events during the passion that culminate in Jesus' death on the cross. Every Friday during Lent our elementary school would walk to the church and say prayers as a priest and a couple altar boys with sensors dispensing incense would stop at each of 12 paintings depicting Jesus getting the shit knocked out of him. The movie wasn't that shocking to me. Ironically, the paintings were really beautifully done.

I just thought The Passion was torture porn. The Shoes of the Fisherman is about some cardinal, I believe, condemned to a Siberian labour camp, who is given his freedom so he can serve in the Vatican. The world is on the brink of WW3. The Pope dies and he becomes his successor. He must find a way to stop the impending catastrophe. Anthony Quinn has the main role, and he's quite brilliant. One of my favorites, Oscar Werner, is also very good.

oh you  should see also ,when the  trumphets fade, afilm of world war 2 before the the battle of the bulge took place,it was a hard fought battle for the americans entering germany, what amuses me is the heroism of a private  who rose to theranks  promotion becauseof numerous ranks death, his bravery and his team volunteers save the day of many american  lives in their assault of a well defensive lines of the germans,the artillery outpost of the german were quieted or silenced by the teams suicidal mission. whatsaddened me  was one only able to return alive.

Thanks, Benju!

tunnel rat, a movie i watched last night which depicts how the vietnamese tunneled themselves in mountain places where they refuge and  fight for another day. tunnel warfare is new to the americans as seen from the movie and that vietnamese forces use it as a base for operating for they are not easily located and can hide when cornered, in a film also starred by melgibson, we were soldiers. awhole division of vietnamese army was tunneled in a mountain as their sanctuary, the very army that destroyed the french legion  away from vietnam, tunnel fighting is also done by the talibans in afghanistan. a very primitive style of warfare where the odds are great.

I've seen the movie Falling Down with Micheal Douglas a couple times, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Has anyone else seen it?

I haven't. What makes you so unsure about it, EP?

Micheal Douglas plays a nerdy engineer who loses his job in the defense industry. His skills are outdated, and he can't find another job. He is controlling and abusive with his wife and young daughter, and they leave him. He is clearly an anti-hero, yet I empathize with him. He goes on a violent crime spree, and you're cheering for him, but he's clearly a bad man. I don't want to give away too much of the movie, but the spree violence seems out of synch with the rest of the story. Still, I liked it.

Now I remember it. Yes, I've seen it, but it's been a while.

I think the audience cheers for him because he has so clearly reached his limit. And as part of his rebellion against reaching his limit, he hits on some popular, hot button issues that create empathy in the audience.

He's controlling, abusive, goes on a crime spree, and you cheer for him? Sounds like how people reacted to A Clockwork Orange.

Benju:  In 1969 I was stationed near Nui Ba Den (The Black Virgin Mountain).  Was it mentioned in the movie?

It starts out with him stuck in horrible traffic in the heat. Most of us can empathize with that.

I wasn't a fan of A Clockwork Orange. It was just too violent for me.

Yes. I think A Clockwork Orange and Lolita, were Kubrick's worst films.

I liked A Clockwork Orange, and I understood why I liked it. That kid who was the protagonist was a punk with little self awareness. He was a product of his environment with no emotional or ethical ambiguities dogging him. The Micheal Douglas character is loaded with them and knows he is deeply flawed. Kubrick really made an outstanding film in Clockwork. @CJ, with the guy in traffic, losing his job, they certainly included events that evoke sympathy.

I have to agree that Clockwork was a great movie. It was highly original in costumes, dialogue, plot, characterization, etc. I understand the characters' motivation to do what they did, and the completely sociopathic nature of the protagonist.

I just couldn't handle the level of violence. I find that sticks with me and overtakes the good things about the movie.

I didn't get a sense that his environment caused Malcom McDowell's character to do what he did. In other films about gangs, that seems to be their central thesis, but A Clockwork Orange seemed more like a violent farce/comedy. I found it to be uncomfortable viewing. I didn't think the point was convincing, if the point was to show that you can't make people good or bad against their will, because that would be against god's will. 

I went to see, This Must be the Place, with Sean Penn. I liked it. A movie about a 50 year old Goth, writes itself!

I've heard of that film. Thanks!

I didn't get a sense that his environment caused Malcom McDowell's character to do what he did.

I don't mean to put too fine a point on it, but I don't think his behavior was caused by his environment. I think he thrived in his environment.