'Apocalypto' now for Mel
Gibson will not star in "Apocalypto" and may not use a star for the film, which is set in an ancient civilization some 3,000 years ago. The title is a Greek term which means "an unveiling" or "new beginning." Consistent with such Gibson films as "Braveheart" and "Passion," the script depicts abundant action and violence. Gibson has already begun pre-production; he is setting locations and has already begun casting.
Variety, July 22

Ha! After all of those rumors about St. Francis, the Acts of the Apostles, etc.... Mel goes for a big burly action movie epic set in ancient times. Brilliant. How long before we see Christian chat room players mulling over whether or not he's wandered from the faith...?

And others reading religious significance into every detail...?

I am not surprised. Mel is a violent-film-maker. I am not sure he would have the eye for St. Francis - except maybe to show the violence of the crusades that became the catalyst for Francis' turning to being an "instrument of His peace."

Denny

Hey, look, Slate links to my blog post on this bit of news.

It's nice to see all the money raised by all those churches who bought out entire theatres going to good use, isn't it?

It gets better!

- - -

Mel tongue-ties studios
'Apocalypto' to be filmed in obscure Mayan dialect
Variety, July 24

Mel Gibson speaks!

The trailer.

That's what I love about Mel. He can be such a goofball.

Some of those images reminded me of Malick.

I heard the trailer premiered at (it pains me to say it) Harry Knowle's "Butt-Numb-Athon". Mel Gibson is the only guy in Hollywood who can market his products to both right-wing Christian audiences and a presumably foul-smelling room packed with anime-loving geeks who haven't showered for eons. What a contrast, when you think about it.

Click here if you want to spoil the teaser's subliminal surprise. :" border="0" alt="twisted.gif" />

Apocalypto teaser had a different cinematographer from the actual film -- does this mean none of the footage in the teaser will end up in the actual movie?

Here's an article from Time magazine (found through JO's blog) on Apocalypto and Gibson. The "liberal vs. conservative" angle gets played up a bit much for my taste, but it's still an interesting article.

And the conservative disillusionment with Mel Gibson has begun...

I think this film definitely has a lot of potential. We really need a new, big epic (hopefully it wont be overdone with useful crap like king kong ). I dont really like the whole Mayan language idea...at all. Still, The Passion was good and put lots of faith in Gibson as a director.

FWIW, the release date has been given a major push. The film will now be out on December 8 instead of next month...hmm. Will Mel be able to garner those end-of-year nominations, given his outlaw status among the Hollywood elite?

Yeah, the release has apparently moved from April to August to December. (One of my editors assigned this film to me back when it was supposed to come out in April; I don't recall ever hearing about a June release date.) I hear the weather is holding things up on the set (and I hear the sets are MASSIVE).

I don't think Mel Gibson cares too much about the awards. He's ALREADY an Oscar-winning director, after all.

Shouldn't that be "No one can outrun HIS destiny"?

Other grammatical alternatives:

"No one can outrun destiny."
"You can't outrun your destiny."
"People can't outrun their destiny."
"Outrunning destiny? Fuggetabbatit."

etc.

Destiny.
When you try to run but you can't go on
It's Destiny
When your race has died and you wonder why...
It's hard to bear when the folks all around you
Are goin' nowhere

In ancient Mayan history, no one can hear you scream.

Your destiny will be with you, always.

My destiny will go on.

You will believe a man can't outrun destiny.

He'll never get caught. He's on a mission from (Mel Gibson's) God.

Destiny is a dish best served cold.

Nothing on earth cold come between them, except a big freakin' Mayan army.

English nerd alert.

Well, the truth is that grammatically it should be "No one can outrun HIS OR HER destiny" (Gender inclusive language is considered the norm now in academia).

In fact, the awkwardness of such a pronoun arrangement (HIS OR HER), is causing THEIR to be accepted in some circles as a non-gendered singularpronoun. While it is incorrect from a strict sense, I wouldn't be surprised to see it enter into grammar books pretty soon.

Oh, and that poster is pretty cool. Can't wait to see this one.

Actually, "his" has been and in many circles continues to be perfectly acceptable.

people can't outrun their destinies?

SDG wrote:
: Shouldn't that be "No one can outrun HIS destiny"?

From Merriam-Webster's definition of "their":

2 : his or her : HIS, HER, ITS -- used with an indefinite third person singular antecedent <anyone in their senses -- W. H. Auden>

The poster would seem to be in the clear, grammatically.

Bah. Auden was mistaken, whatever M-W says. "Their" is clearly plural. Bah I say.

Don't want to totally derail this into a grammar thread, but just out of curiosity, what circles still accept non-gender inclusive language? Because working in the Writing Centre at University of Victoria this past year, it seems almost all disciplines have moved to avoiding the use of the masculine as the default singular pronoun.

SDG wrote:
: Bah. Auden was mistaken, whatever M-W says. "Their" is clearly plural. Bah I say.

Well, it ain't just Auden. Someone at Jeff's blog posted a link to this:

The singular "they"/"their"/"them"/"themselves" construction

These files contain a list of over 75 occurrences of the words "they"/"their"/"them"/"themselves" referring to a singular antecedent with indefinite or generic meaning in Jane Austen's writings (mainly in her six novels), as well as further examples of singular "their" etc. from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and elsewhere. While your high-school English teacher may have told you not to use this construction, it actually dates back to at least the 14th century, and was used by the following authors (among others) in addition to Jane Austen: Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare, the King James Bible, The Spectator, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Frances Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith, Henry Fielding, Maria Edgeworth, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, William Makepeace Thackeray, Sir Walter Scott, George Eliot [Mary Anne Evans], Charles Dickens, Mrs. Gaskell, Anthony Trollope, John Ruskin, Robert Louis Stevenson, Walt Whitman, George Bernard Shaw, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edith Wharton, W. H. Auden, Lord Dunsany, George Orwell, and C. S. Lewis.

Singular "their" etc., was an accepted part of the English language before the 18th-century grammarians started making arbitrary judgements as to what is "good English" and "bad English", based on a kind of pseudo-"logic" deduced from the Latin language, that has nothing whatever to do with English. (See the 1975 journal article by Anne Bodine in the bibliography.) And even after the old-line grammarians put it under their ban, this anathematized singular "their" construction never stopped being used by English-speakers, both orally and by serious literary writers. So it's time for anyone who still thinks that singular "their" is so-called "bad grammar" to get rid of their prejudices and pedantry! . . .

It's those darn Latins again, I tell ya!

Oh, and apparently the King James Bible's version of Philippians 2:3 also uses the third-person plural following a singular antecedent ("let each esteem other better than themselves").

I'm talking in actual use. In official use, even my employer's style guide calls for avoiding it. But "his/her" "s/he" and even "he or she" are also forbidden as being just unworkable. But as I hear people talk, vendors present, etc., it's very clear that "he" is still frequently used for unspecified gender.

Well, if the non-use of the singular "their" is contrary to 18th-century Latin-derived English norms, shouldn't the poster for a Mel Gibson film avoid it??!!!

Heh. I did think about that, but then I figured maybe Mel Gibson's traditional use of Latin was more about the "traditional use" than about the "Latin". And since "their" as a singular is traditional ...

Surely our destinies lie in front of us? In that case, instead of trying to outrun it, the smart move, is to turn round and run in another direction?

Matt

No one can outflank their destiny.

No one can outrank their destiny.

No one can outthink their density.

You are my density.

Buckeye wins!

You are my density...

Both of you have the quote wrong (assuming you're quoting what I think you are). It's "I'm your density," not "You are my density."

And Buckeye still wins.

I am your dense

(Hello? Anybody home?)

I am Hortense.

From Roxanne?

Back to the Future

You sure are tense.

My 80's childhood memories have been forever tarnished.

I hate it when I defend people against charges of anti-semitism, only to be made to look a fool.

Shameful. I'll stop speaking up for the guy if this is true. I don't know how reputable the source is.

UPDATE: He's an alcoholic, and very apologetic. But there are some things you can never live down, especially when you've been a juicy target for several years.

I've never seen The Passion of the Christ, but now I don't think I ever will. All those charges of anti-semitism that I might otherwise have explained away now loom large, and I wouldn't be able to watch the film with an open mind. It's a shame that this blight will now extend beyond Gibson to the passion story itself -- given such reportedly powerful, widely seen treatment in recent years by this guy.

"After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the LA County Sheriffs. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person. I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said, and I apologize to anyone who I have offended. Also, I take this opportunity to apologize to the deputies involved for my belligerent behavior. They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health.”

I feel just like you, Christian. I... can't believe it. Not that he's an alcoholic, only that he really is a bigot. Years later, after all the talk... After I saw him at Willow promoting the film...

I hate bigotry, but was really touched by TPoTC. It makes me wonder (again) how far off I am in how I interpret films compared to the rest.

-s.

The content of the police report has been confirmed by the malibu PD:

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/excl...ing-dui-arrest/

His now-revealed antisemitism isn't the main thing in my mind -- he was insensitive to those who were upset by the portrayals of non-Christian Jews in film, including Jewish Christians. At the time he just defended it, denying that he was antisemitic, as if it were that simple.

His apology seems a bit weak on this point (but not at all on the drunkenness), as if he somehow became a different person when he was drunk, a la "the alcohol made me say all those things I don't believe." Out of the abundance of the heart, brother. That there may have been some kind of subconscious thing going on behind the problems in TPOTC just explains the mechanism of delivery, it doesn't excuse him from not seeing it was there.

So now he'll get 'treatment' for the alcoholism, which is terrific--but I doubt he'll get much help to increase his sensitivity to the antisemitic issues. And that will be OK with many Christians.

My two bits.

But surely we should be discussing this in the Passion thread, where Gibson's DUI arrest was first mentioned here?

Holy cow -- that picture makes me think Mel is converting to Orthodoxy!

Is Disney trying to unload the movie on a smaller distributor?