more 9/11 references/allegories. you’ll very easily see what I mean, but you’ll have to wait for it.

as for this being his “passion”… hmmm… well for one i dont think it has a built in audience the way the Passion did. as for the violence: its morbid, but its not as frequent as you might think. it comes in short bursts from time to time.

whats interesting is like the Passion, it already has nearly the same IMDB vote breakdowns… with around a half giving it a perfect score, 10-15 % givign it a 1/10…

this movie is being ‘dixie chicked’, ’swiftboated’. i think some of the positive reviews are coming from people who are feeling defensive of Spielberg because of all the abuse he is taking from various groups. some of these people really do intend to destroy him here.

i never paid any attention to the controversy before i saw this movie, so you can consider my review one that hasnt been infected by the fever of both positive and negative hype surrounding it. but i wrote it, so… we’ll see. i just had to be honest about it, trust me, just talking about the movie being boring for various reasons is not me chickening out because of the message…

i am honestly afraid at whats going to happen with this film. talkign about israel is a very very very touchy subject I do NOT like getting into, and even I was apprehensive writing this review knowing there could likely be some salacious responses here regarding the films politics.
I’ve been in situations talking with very pro-Israel people where i just mentioned one little thing that Israel did that i didnt like, or spoke agaisnt the Iraq war and got accused of being an an anti-semite, because to some people not wanting to remove Saddam by force is de facto sponsoring of terrorism against Israel..
like i said, its very touchy. i realize and respect many of these peoples responses even though I think they react to harshly with people who are just trying to understand. I respect that the Israeli people have been through a terrible lot and have this goal of keeping Israel strong, but I just get so upset that even suggesting that Israel has ever been anything less than righteous throughout the years can result in some very very bitter arguments.

this movie wont do anything to help. the more i learn about the controversy, the more and more it seems this is going to be a firestorm of really harsh mudslinging whether it succeeds or bombs.

watch out.

Your comments about the scene at the end worry me though… Spielberg’s getting quite the rep for bad endings!