The Nativity Story

" December the 1st marks the release date for "The Nativity Story," a movie that tells the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus, with Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary. This is a major Hollywood production of the Christmas story that depends upon the Gospels for the narrative. " (Townhall.com)

This made me think back to the last blockbuster religious reality movie: Mel anti-Semitic-diatribe Gibson's 'Passion'.

Here is a critique of that movie, written at the time of its release, by the remarkable 'Spengler' of the Asia Times:

Mel Gibson's Lethal Religion
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FC09Aa01.html

".. Mel Gibson has laid a cuckoo's egg in the nest of American Christianity. What he has hatched in US cinemas is a quasi-pagan throwback to the sepulchral old-world cult that the United States was set up to oppose. The US is a by-product of the Protestant Reformation's purge of pagan elements in Christianity, and the enthusiasm for The Passion of the Christ among Protestant evangelicals suggests that they have forgotten more than they have learned. .."