Boston – Friday, September 5

Berman ‘not a rational lad’

INTERVIEW. Published poet and unofficial lyrical laureate of the indie rock community David Berman is best known as the founder and sole constant of the band Silver Jews. Formed in 1990 along with a pre-Pavement Stephen Malkmus, Berman has gone on to release six records with a constantly changing cast of musicians.

All in a day's Cirque

Cirque du Soleil’s latest production, “KOOZA,” comes to Boston for a month-long run. Metro caught up with general manager Scott Wallace, 42, a Boston native, who worked for the Boston Ballet before joining the Cirque almost 10 years ago

Weighing in on what’s real talent

GOSSIP. “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria would like to set the record straight about something, you nosy, nosy entertainment reporters: She is not in a family way. She is not comparing paint samples for a nursery. She is not with child. Actually, we’ll let Longoria tell you, since she puts it best: “I’m not pregnant. I’m just fat.”

The evolution of Turtle

“I need comfort food." says Jerry Ferrara hours before the New York premiere of “Entourage” Season 5. “I’m excited, but I’m very nervous, also, ’cause all my family and all my really good friends are going to be there. I want to make sure everyone has a really good time.”

Published 2008-06-23 04:01

Films that stir it up

‘The Love Guru’ is hardly the first film to face controversy

‘The Love Guru’, opening this past weekend, has a lot of buzz surrounding it. But more because of the controversy it has spurred rather than it, uh, looking very good. Here are a few movies that caused a stir and how they fared.

	“A Clockwork Orange” (1971)	Dogma (1999)	“The Passion of the Christ” (2004)	“The Love Guru” (2008)
Conflict	Where to begin. Stanley Kubrick’s brutal and sometimes sickening critique of youth culture caused many an uproar when England’s youngsters began to mimic the crimes featured in the movie. The irony of the younger generation fulfilling Kubrick’s harrowing prophecy about them was lost on all.	The Catholic church took issue with Kevin Smith’s comedic action flick about two fallen angels on a mission to regain entrance to heaven while God sits trapped inside the body of a vagrant. Apparently, having Alanis Morrisette play the one true deity was offensive to church goers, as well as a poor casting stunt.	For once, a movie about Jesus where evangelical Christians aren’t the ones picketing. This time it was the Jewish community who complained about the way Mel Gibson depicted them in the film. And if history has shown us anything, it’s that Mel Gibson loves the Jews. Oh, wait ...	Months before its release date, Hindu leaders across the world began decrying Mike Myers’ depiction of their religion in “The Love Guru.” Wait, you mean Hinduism isn’t a wacky, fun-filled way to get laid? Ack! All those years of devotion to Shiva for nothing!
Results	Under pressure from, oh, everyone, Kubrick requested the film’s distribution be cut off in England, only making about two million pounds. The film wasn’t widely shown in the U.K. again until after Kubrick’s death. During the 28-year gap, there was nary a crime in all of England.	The movie went on to make three times its $10 million budget and opened to generally positive reviews. This happened despite picket lines at theaters across the country, which Smith — a practicing Catholic himself — participated in, unbeknownst to his fellow angry Catholics.	Jewish protesters picketed various theaters and created a huge media stir. But the anti-Semitic fallout didn’t stop the film from grossing $200 million.	If this weekend’s box office numbers are any indication (see story on page 12), it looks like the “The Love Guru” might have bigger problems — like the script and cast, for example.

[Flyers by PaperG]