Tomorrow evening at 6:30pm, tune into KGO TV to watch Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper's Exclusive Early Review of Mel Gibson's controversial new movie The Passion of The Christ.
Here's what Ebert and Roeper have said in print:
ROEPER: "This is the most powerful, important and by far the most graphic interpretation of Christ's final hours ever put on film. Mel Gibson is a masterful storyteller, and he has created a 2,000-year-old world brimming with authentic details."
EBERT: "I was also deeply moved by The Passion of the Christ, which in excruciating details does follow the blood-soaked Stations of the Cross. Christianity has focused on the physical wounds of Jesus to show that he suffered, as well as died, for man's sins, and this movie makes it real."
ROEPER: "As for concerns of anti-Semitism: Ciaphas does lead the call for Jesus to die, and Pontius Pilate is depicted as more conflicted than most historical records indicate. But other temple leaders question the rush to condemn Jesus, and it's the Roman soldiers who are portrayed as sadistic animals throughout this film. This movie does not blame all Jews past and present for the death of Jesus, a descendant of Judah."
EBERT: "It's a very great film. It's the only religious film I've seen with the exception of The Gospel According to Matthew, by Pasolini, that really seems to deal directly with what happened instead of with all kinds of sentimental eyes, cleaned up, post card versions of it."
ROEPER: "With The Passion of the Christ, I know there'll be protest groups in front of the theater. I hope they at least go into the theater and see the movie first, and then decide if they want to protest the actual film."
EBERT: "I think the controversy was very premature and was based on people that hadn't see the film, and who are going to be a little surprised at what's actually in the film."
Five theaters in San Francisco and one in Emeryville will be showing The Passion beginning Wednesday, February 25th. They are:
UA Galaxy 4
1285 Sutter Street
1pm, 1:45pm, 4pm, 4:45pm, 7pm, 7:45pm, 10pm, 10:30 pm
Loews Metreon Theatres & IMAX
101 Fourth Street
12:40pm, 4pm, 7:20pm, 10:40pm
CinéArts at Empire
85 West Portal Avenue
12:40pm, 3:35pm, 6:30pm, 9:25pm
Century 20 Daly City
1901 Junipero Serra Blvd., Daly City
10:15am, 1:10pm, 4:05pm, 7pm, 9:55pm
UA Emery Bay Stadium 10
6330 Christie Avenue, Emeryville
12:30pm, 3:45pm, 7pm, 10:15pm
To reserve tickets ahead of time, go to: Fandango.com
To see a trailer of the Mel Gibson's film, go to Icon Productions web site at: ThePassionTheMovie.com