The Sheila Variations

Cazaviel was sexy as hell in that last big fight scene in The Count of Monte Cristo, though just mentioning that film makes me very, very bitter about how the ending was changed.

The accounts of the injuries and working conditions endured while portraying Jesus were amazing.

I don't remember where I read them.....but they are worth looking for.

I don't understand what all the uproar is about. I would guess that God and Jesus both enjoy the publicity.

I bet they've got the best agents in the business, Michael.

Cazaviel was great in that movie Frequency, too, with Dennis Quaid ... Liked his work a lot.

And yes. He's a bit of a hottie.

hottie = hit by lightening, as he was during the filming!

Noggie -

Wasn't he hit by lightning two times? Very hot, indeed.

I heard on the radio, just this afternoon, Cazaviel also had migrains, and a dislocated shoulder during filming, which made being up on the cross a wee bit unpleasant. Youch.

I'm sure being nailed to the cross would have been unpleasant otherwise as well, Laura!

Sheila - I'll be interested to hear what you and your fellow movie viewers have to say about the movie. I don't have any interest in seeing it at this point. I know the story. I'm not in need of having my faith boosted. Heavy on the violence. I guess what would bring me to the movie is if it is a good movie - The reviews I have read aren't giving me much to go on - so I look forward to an opinion like yours.

Bets -

I read Ebert's review and he said it was the most violent film he had ever seen. So it might end up being too much for me. What good is a violent film if some of your audience has to cover their eyes the entire time?

I don't need my faith boosted either ... and ever since I was a little kid I have imagined, graphically, what Jesus must have gone through, how much pain he must have been in ... but I do want to see it. If only so I can join in the conversation.

Dearest: I have no interest in seeing this movie. I do not begrudge the huge profit that Gibson will make on it. It can't be any worse than the Ten Commandments or The Robe [god what an awful movie!]. I loved those movies because the nuns would put us on a bus and take us out of school to see either one during Lent. They also took us to a stage play of the name Pilate's Daughter. We had a great time at that. love, dad

Pilate's Daughter?

I have a huge sentimental attachment to Frequency, since I watched it during a time when my father was very sick.

Cavaziel is a fine actor, though I'm not always sure about his role selection. I mean...Angel Eyes?

Bill - I can totally see how that movie would just GET you, in the circumstances of illness you describe.

Cazaviel is a hard-to-classify actor and because of that - people are probably reluctant to cast him, or don't know what to do with him. He's very good-looking, but he's also really intense-looking - Like, he could easily play a Ted Bundy character.

So - is he a leading man? Or is he a psycho?

Sometimes all an actor needs is "the ROLE" - the role that perfectly matches their weird gifts with the PART - (Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle is a perfect example ... Robert DeNiro was obviously talented, but obviously hard to cast, hard to place him in stuff - This business wants to put actors in little neatly labeled envelopes, and it never works that way.)

So maybe Jesus is "the" role for Cazaviel. We'll have to see. Poor guy - the reviews barely mention him. It's all about the controversy.

He is very intense, so I think he was perfect as Dantes in The Count.... I could see him playing a serial killer, but he may be too intense for a romantic lead. I just can't see him starring in a piece of fluff, which will limit his options.

Still, I think he'll always be able to find some work. I just don't think he'll become a marquis name.

Which is probably a blessing! Being a marquis name limits your options considerably.

Don't you mean a "marquee" name? Being a marquis and playing the title role in The Count of Monte Cristo would actually be a demotion. :-P

Dave ...
HAHAHAHA

Oh shit, you are very right.

"So, what was your last role?"
"Let's see. In my last film, I played a marquee."
"Wow - you played a nobleman?"
"Er ... no. A billboard. I played a billboard. Needless to say, I had no lines."

This reminds me of a joke. My friends and I are mostly actors, struggling to get by. We have a joke, an improv, where one of us will basically LIE and say we have landed this really great job, but then under questioning it is revealed that it's not a good gig AT ALL.

Like the "marquis/marquee" thing above.

One of the jokes went something like this:

Actor 1: (bragging) I got a role in the national tour of Les Miz!
Actor 2: (barely containing jealousy and rage) Really. What part do you have?
Actor 1: Well ... uh ... you know ... it hasn't been decided yet ...
Actor 2: (suspicious) What do you mean, it hasn't been decided yet?
Actor 1: (finally caving under the pressure) I'm playing the BARRICADE, all right?? I'm playing the Barricade!!!

If Dave and nitpick, so can I. We've all been spelling "Caviezel" wrong.

Err...If Dave can nitpick, so can I. We've all been spelling "Caviezel" wrong.

Bill -

I don't know what I would do without my bevy of fact-checkers and spell-checkers. I type too fast, and I rarely double-check stuff.

Especially if I THINK I already know it ... like whatsisname's name...

It isn't like it's an embarrassing mistake or anything. His name is hard to spell and I thought I had it right too.

If I nitpick and what? Oops, never mind. :-P

Dave -

HAHAHAHA

Damn, you should be a copyeditor. I mean ... I'm sure you like your job and everything, but you have a talent.

Judging from Ebert's review and the clips I've seen, it seems like a very straightforward and graphic film that's based on a largely literal interpretation of the Bible. Much more like a filmed version of a religious story (it's getting close to Easter and those "passion plays") than a secular movie about a religious subject.

I have no doubt it's well-intentioned and well-made, but I do have to wonder about those folks who think it's just fine to let their small children view graphic, gory violence simply because it's part of a religious story...

This time I'm totally agreeing with you, Mike. Although I haven't seen it, it's an R-rated movie and from what I've heard, maybe arguably on the edge of NC-17 if that rating hasn't essentially died of obsolence.

"If only so I can join in the conversation" - I love that!

It was a vivid re-imagining of the stations of the cross. Hard to watch, but hard not to. Lots of blood, but:
-Roman scourgings left one just shy of dead
-we are desensitized to violence and Mel wanted to shock people into realizing how much Christ suffered
-He wanted to make a point about Roman brutality and culpability in His death
-Christ is the blood sacrifice for our sins, a point stressed in the Eucharist flashback.
-the movie has a Roman Catholic sensibility, as anyone who went to Sacred Heart High School or recited the Litany of the Precious Blood can attest.