The Great Separation

The Passion of The Christ on DVD.

Have you gotten yours? - Looks like Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ" is selling well.

ISNNews writes:

The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST sold nearly 2.5 million DVD and VHS units to consumers during its first 12 hours on retail shelves Tuesday. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment executives who are closely following retail trends surrounding the faith-based title said that most consumers are buying multiple copies, with the average being 1.8 copies.

That's good news. But was to be expected.

Muslims Denied Viewing of Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ."

But it's just a movie. Isn't it? - "The Passion of The Christ" by Mel Gibson has opened and closed in many countries since it's initial opening here in the States. But one country that had yet to allow the film into theaters was Malaysia.

Just recently however, the Malaysian government okayed the movie for view in select theaters within that country.

But there's a catch.

Patrick Goodenough, the Pacific Rim Bureau Chief of CNSNews.com, reports:

Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" may have packed theaters in many parts of the world, including the Middle East, but the authorities in Malaysia don't want Muslims to see it.

Gibson's interpretation of the biblical account of the crucifixion opens in the Southeast Asian country next month, but moviegoers will have to show national identification cards -- which show religious affiliation -- at cinemas to ensure that only Christians are allowed in.

Talk about a police state.

Malaysia also has strict rules against conversion, but only if your converting from Islam to some other religion (insert Christianity here). If you are converting from some other religion to Islam well, that's okay.

Goodenough notes that at least one government official, Teresa Kok, sees a problem with the selective viewing rule for the movie:

She asked whether the government was planning a policy that would only allow Muslims to watch movies concerning Islam.

"Isn't this regulation against the spirit of a multi-racial society where mutual understanding of each other's belief and religion is most needed to promote unity among the people in the country?"

I would answer and affirmative, Yes!

Hopefully there are other lawmakers and citizens in the country that hold the view of Freedom of Religion and how integral it is to the well being of a society.

Icon Distributions Sues over "The Passion of The Christ" Box Office Receipts.

Did anyone see this film? ;-) - Mel Gibson's Icon Distribution Inc. filed suit against Regal Entertainment Group.

Regal is a huge movie theater chain here in America. In fact according to the Reuters report on Yahoo!® News Australia, Regal is the number one movie theater chain. Which just happens to be where I saw the "Passion" twice.

Reuters reports:

In the suit, filed on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Icon said its agreement with Regal called for the companies to share receipts on "studio terms," which Icon defined as 55 percent of gross ticket sales paid to it and 45 percent retained by Regal.

Icon claims Regal has reneged on that deal and offered to pay Icon only 34 percent, instead.

That's a lot of cash. Icon is looking for $40 million plus in damages.

Buddhists in Thailand have Questions after Viewing "The Passion of The Christ".

A real movie with impact. - There's some interesting news out of Thailand where it is reported that 90% of the population is Buddhist.

Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of The Christ" has been received rather well among the populous and is leaving quite an impression upon the viewers. Many walking away from the viewing are left with questions about the violent death and the resurrection of Christ at the end of the movie.

AsiaNews.it reports:

Some Christian Churches and the Bible Society in Thailand worked to offer an explanation to the film as moviegoers entered the cinema. A Thai-language booklet introducing the meaning of the story behind the film was offered, containing email addresses and websites of Christian organizations. Apichit, a student, gave the film a “thumbs up” when he left, admitting that the brutality scared him, but he had understood what the Passion meant from the booklet he received.

AsiaNews.it notes that out of the sixty-three million people in Thailand, Christians make up one percent of the population.

Jesus Clothing Hip in Hollywood.

Nice T's! - Here's an oddity if I ever saw one.

Catherine Donaldson-Evans, reporting for FOXnews.com, informs us that a new clothing craze is sweeping Hollywood.

An LA company titled Teenage Millionaire (one has to be a teen millionaire in order to afford their T's) is making a big hit with their Jesus T-shirts which feature slogans like "Jesus is My Homeboy" and "Mary is My Homegirl."

Oh, and BTW. Some of the other non-Jesus T's from this company are on the pornographic side of things in my view.

Donaldson-Evans writes:

Madonna was seen wearing a Mary shirt; Pamela Anderson and Lara Flynn Boyle (search) have been running around in the Jesus Ts, and Ashton Kutcher was photographed with a “Jesus Is My Homeboy” baseball cap on.

Apparently all the rage is a result of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ."

Whether the stars are actually trying to testify to their faith or just cashing in, is likely only to be discovered come Judgement Day.

Or you could just judge their fruits.

The Great Separation continues.

"The Passion of The Christ" Coming to DVD!

Set to break some new records. - NYNewsday.com has an AP report stating that Icon Productions announced today that Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of The Christ," is scheduled to be released on DVD this coming August 31, 2004.

No news on special features yet.

Certainly a movie worth owning.

Hollywood Goes "Passion".

It was only a matter of when. - Got this heads up from my brother this morning. ISN News is reporting that Columbia Pictures just bought the rights to "The Passion of the Ark," for $1.5 Million.

Goes to show that Hollywood hopes to capitalize on the passion for "The Passion."

My prediction is that this movie will bomb if it actually gets the go-ahead for filming. ISN News describes the movie plot:

THE PASSION OF THE ARK is set in the modern day and follows a regular man who is told by God that a second great flood will be coming. God instructs the man to build an Ark like the one Noah made thousands of years ago.

I guess we Christians are supposed to forget the fact that God made the PROMISE not to ever flood the whole earth again.

As my brother noted, Hollywood is completely missing the point for why Gibson's movie has been so popular.

The Great Separation continues.

"The Passion" Makes a Come Back.

Another record broken. - Looks like this past Resurrection Day celebration encouraged a lot of folk to revisit Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ" at the movie theaters.

The movie was at the top of the charts for it's first three weekend showings and then slipped from the number one spot for the following three weekends. And on the seventh weekend it took the number one spot again.

You can draw your own analogies.

The movie took the number eight all-time domestic earner's spot from "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." Next to fall will be "Jurassic Park."

The Passion of the Christ Tops $431 Million World Wide.

Good news for the Good News. - Yahoo!® News has a post from Don Groves of Variety.com reporting that "The Passion of the Christ" is close to pulling in half a billion in tickets worldwide.

I wonder if any are planning on seeing it again during Easter here in the States?

The Passion of The Christ Pirated in Mainland China & My 2nd Viewing.

Well, if you're going to pirate something.... - AsiaNews.it is reporting that pirated DVD copies of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ" are being sold on Mainland China streets for $1US.

The copies are of a very poor quality, but none the less, being recommended by the underground Church in China.

AsiaNews.it reports:

Mainland China Christians who have little hope that "The Passion of the Christ" will be shown in cinemas have resorted to viewing pirated copies of the film.

Surprisingly, some of the government-approved Churches are also encouraging members to see the film. This really makes me do a double take, because, as AsiaNews.it points out, the government views Christ as a fictional character.

The continuing power of Christ's sacrifice and how it is portrayed so well in this movie is earth shattering.

I took a friend to see it last Saturday and I was surprised by my reaction having already viewed it once before.

My reaction the second time was even more emotional than my first viewing. That surprised me.

My friend, a Haitian teenager whom I tutor, had something rather profound to say. Paraphrased, he said this movie shows that all humans are criminals.