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You know, Gibson's a really, really good actor. Do you think being mentally unbalanced helps with that?

When I started posting my reply I thought I knew the answer to your question, Dustytits...But as soon as I started typing I started re-thinking, and now I honestly don't know. Will I watch Polanski's next movie? Will I watch Mel Gibson or Jon Voigt? Is there a line, and if so, where is it: somewhere between shitbrained opinions and the actual rape of a child? Or...headache now, owie.

Fortunately this type of movie doesn't ring any of my bells, so for me it's still an academic question.

Is it compelling enough to overlook Gibson’s Antisemitism? Are we willing to take a stand against Gibson’s work only so long as he’s making bad films? Or will we avoid a credible thriller out of protest?

As long as someone can redeem themselves through art, bad behavior can be forgiven to an extent. Hell, Ike Turner beat the shit out of Tina, but he may have invented rock and roll, Elvis Costello called Ray Charles a stupid, blind nigger, but he still made great music, and Dr. Dre is by all accounts a sociopath, but the guy gave us Eminem and the N.W.A.

They're all shitty human beings, and deserve a good punch to the kisser, but I wont knock an ability just because someone sucks as a human being.

It looks like they're capitalizing on that Taken formula, right down to the January release date. This looks like a solid modern noir flick, and Gibson + Winstone + Huston = must see. Consider my ticket bought.

Also, when an actor/actress goes off the deep end, I usually try to separate their personal life from their professional life. It works for the most part, but I've only ever really had to do it for Cruise, and now Gibson. I'll enjoy Gibson the Actor, but will continue to mock Gibson the Douchebag.

One last thing...did anyone else get a sick chuckle out of the Jesus analogy he tosses out there at the end of the trailer?

No one does a revenge flick like Mel. They are his speciality.

I'm in...

I was going to comment about how I just realized Mel used to have an Australian accent but then I watched that trailer and all was erased in a wave of "What the Fuck? WAS THAT A NINJA!?"

George, you best get to steppin' before Jay gets here and reads that.

Meh. I wasn't really into the trailer so I don't think I'll feel a great loss if I don't see this the minute it comes out.

As for Gibson himself, well… you can't help crazy. Doesn't excuse what he has done or will do but I've got a lot of crazy floating around my family so I'm willing to accept crazy a lot more readily than I'll accept otherwise rational people committing criminal actions.

If I worried about the personal lives of those who make movies, play football, write books, build cars, etc, etc I'd be stuck doing puppet theater for my kids and traveling around like a barefoot Aborigine on walkabout.

I'm perfectly willing to separate an actor/director/writer/whatever's life from their artistic output. If I didn't, my hatred would prevent me from seeing works by a ton of people, from Alfred Hitchcock (pompous ass who claims the thing he hated the most about filmmaking was working with actors; also my second favorite director of all time) to Patti Lupone (total unadulterated bitch in real life and notoriously rude during productions; also my favorite working theater actress).

That said, I'm not the target audience for "I want my [insert relation here] back" films even when they're Oscar bait. I don't like The Changeling. I really don't like Mystic River. I even dislike Flight Plan for the same fundamental reason, though for once the lead performance makes gives me something to like. I think Don't Look Now is the only film I can think of with this kind of material that I actually enjoy.

So, will this make me forget about the Sugartits incident? Nope. I'll probably never even see the film.

George, Here's a tip that will serve you well in college:
If you are going to make a really provocative statement that may incite discord,
Cite your source.
Linky-linky, no more stinky.

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM!!!!

...to hate on the Jews...

Okay, not as highbrow as the ongoing philosophical discussion of if the man can be seperate from his work, but...

Is it just me, or does Gibson look an awful lot like Robert DeNiro now? Right down to the scrunched face brow furrow, and especially the hair?

my problem is not with what he thinks but that he uses his money to make other people think the same thing.

By seeing his movies that I may like I am helping him earn money that he then uses to make movies I really don't like or to build an enormous antisemitic church.

I'll wait for the review, sweetcheeks.

Also: I caught a few minutes of Letterman the other night, so I guess I'm in a forgive and forget mood. As long as a guy is a dick to someone else and not to me personally, you rude little pig.

Listen, just because the rest of Hollywood (and I'm sure plenty of regular people) haven't outed their prejudices, or been caught red-mouthed, doesn't mean they don't have them. Does it suck? Yes. Will I stop seeing anything by someone who is prejudiced or affiliated with anyone who is prejudiced or committed a crime? Honestly, I doubt it - I mean, that criteria could exclude a good portion of the industry.

I have to admit, while I'm not a big fan of Mel's personal escapades, the trailer does look good.

This looks good. Count me in. I don't give a rat's ass about Gibson's personal belief's and they have no bearing on whether or not I see a movie that he's in.

Jerce, what did Jon Voight do? Is there some scandal I missed?

Voight is openly conservative, amberlark.

The best actors are and have always been batshit crazy and Mel is no exception.

No, no boycott here.

Also, I'm so upset that I thought I was commenting on Pajiba Love. I think I need a drink.

Whoa, wait a minute. I love Elvis, both in regular form and Costello, but the guy made a dick move right there, and you can't deny that.
Posted by: George at October 15, 2009 12:01 PM

In defense of Mr. Costello, the incident you mentioned took place in a hotel bar. He was being harrassed and intimidated by raging alcoholics Steven Stills and Bonnie Bramlett, who were defaming the British music scene and everyone in it, tossing insult after insult. Finally, in his own fit of drunken pique, Costello fired off the single most insulting thing he could think to say and paid the price.
Mr. Costello THEN went on television, to the major music publications and radio stations, where he apologized profusely and sincerely to anyone and everyone and especially to Mr. Charles.
It took a very long time to live it down and make amends but he did acquit himself in the end.
I have never heard an honest apology from Mr. Gibson and Mr. Voight is simply an
complete and total whore for the right wing conservative movement.

That is all.

I thought Night Rally was about fascism, not racism...

Anyway, my point isn't anything against Elvis Costello, it was that "obviously he's not racist" seemed like a strange statement. I think the list of things that someone can be "obviously not" is pretty short, and prejudiced is nowhere near that list. People have hidden love slaves in their backyards, you don't think that they can hide feelings about race in the backs of their minds?

People have hidden love slaves in their backyards, you don't think that they can hide feelings about race in the backs of their minds?

Weak sauce, Eep, unless you seriously want to start a discussion about what celebrities are harboring "hidden" evil that we should want to boycott...because that would make us...moral?

Closer to topic: Current gossip has painted John Cusack, a hero to many of us here, as an arrogant and unpleasant douchebag. Should we turn up our noses at his artistic output because of his reputed personality? What about his sister Joan? Since she has not gone on the public record repudiating her brother's douchebagginess, should we punish her by not seeing her movies?

I finally saw Valkyrie this weekend and Tom Cruise was really, really good in it. I know Tom Cruise is bugshit crazy, but should that matter to me? Maybe it should, because by paying for Valkyrie in even the smallest way (Netflix subscription), am I not enriching Tom Cruise; and will he not use his riches to further the agenda of Scientology?

Is this like that "buying a dime bag gives money to Al Quaeda to buy bombs" PSA stuff from a few years ago?

I have a simple method to avoid being 'let down' by celebrity's:
I have very low expectations of their personal behavior.
Works for politicians too.

I'm not interested in which stars harbor hidden evil, or in pointing fingers at who's moral and who isn't. It just bothers me when people trust someone so much because of who they think they are (particularly one they don't even know personally) that they can say that person is obviously not ___________. That's been used for evil so many times (again, I'm not talking about Elvis Costello here, he probably isn't a racist by the modern understanding of the term, which is a whole other can of worms, I'm talking about the broader issue). You think the lower-level fascists have grand plans to oppress, or that they're completely ignorant of the evils their governments are doing? Of course not, but they forgive because they that's obviously not what the movement is really about.

ANOTHER movie remake of British mini-series?

I'm guessing that the movie won't hold a candle to the original, nor will Gibson be as good as Bob Peck.

:?

The vast majority of musicians and actors live so far up their own ass you could punch them in the stomach and break their nose. I learned a long time ago that if you refused to partake in the art of people you disagree with you are going to be left with very few choices.

Refusing to patronize a Mel Gibson movie (or any actor) because you disagree with their views is disrespectful to everyone else involved in the project and quite honestly hurts innocent people.

As for this movie, it looks good. I like Martin Campbell, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, and Gibson plays over-the-edge-obsessed-with-revenge pretty damn well. Looks solid to me.

Does Gibson have the right to spout antisemitic garbage and pose as a pious Catholic while cheating on his wife? Of course he does. Does that mean I'm going to give him any of my money or time? No way.

From the 1st comment...

"You know, Gibson's a really, really good actor. Do you think being mentally unbalanced helps with that?"

I absolutely think that helps. I bet if all the best actors were 'put on the couch', whatever, I think we'd find that Pacino, Deniro, Penn, etc were all slightly skewed as far as the mental balance equation is concerned.

I dont care one good goddamn about his views or his personal beliefs. I can divorce personal views from a movie or an album. I aint a damn socialist, but I love Rise Against. I'm no bleeding heart liberal, but I will watch Sean penn and Tim Robbins in whatever movie theyre in. So why should this be any different? I want to be entertained, and based on his track record, Mel will at least fucking entertain me, regardless.

And it'll be good to have him back, at the very least for nostalgias sake.

See, here's the other thing, though... I don't know the majority of my favorite artists' (actors, directors, musicians, authors) personal beliefs or opinions about anything. For all I know, Nathan Fillion could be a raging homophobe. So should I stop watching anything he does because that *could* be the case? Most people on the planet probably have some kind of differing belief from me on how human beings should be treated with regard to race, ethnicity, creed, gender, or sexual orientation, or all of the above. Does that mean I should shun every single person I come into contact with because they might be a racist? Do you see where I'm going with this?

Mel Gibson, to my knowledge, has never murdered anyone because they were a Jew. He has shot his mouth off, and is clearly dumber than the average bear, but if I ignored anyone on Earth who's done that in their lifetime, I'd have a very solitary existence.

I may or may not see this, mostly because of my memories of the original series, which was very good. I don't want to see the story ruined.
As for Mel, actors often say and do stupid shit. I don't let that stop me watching their work if it's any good. There are actors the mere sight of whose face always makes me stabby, Sean Penn for instance. I can't watch him. But that's nothing to do with his personal life.

Guy got drunk, stopped by a cop, said some stupid shit...so what? He left his wife and publicly said that it was his fault--wish that more public figures would be that blunt about their own failings. Bottom line? Gibson's a nice guy with some problems. I'm going to the movie even if it sucks, just to support him.

And people need to lighten the hell up.

To all those who have highlighted the original, and sincerely feckin' AWESOME TV series, thank you, and, yes, I'm worried about the film as well.

Points in its favour: Gibson is allegedly a huge fan of the series, and can do buttoned-down anger (see "Ransom" and the first "Mad Max."), the director directed the original series, and it has Ray "the Daddy!" Winstone in the Joe Don Baker role (not a bad fit.)

Points against:the trailer suggests another shouty, shooty Mel performance, and trying to divide 6 hours' worth of quality, intelligent drama into two hours (see also "State of Play.")

Re the matter of his extracurricular habits affecting whether I watch his movies or not...I would put my hands up to the same hypocrisy as others: depends on what he has done, and what the film is. Getting very drunk and being appallingly abusive to a WPC is not big nor clever, but it won't stop me watching his films necessarily.