Here We Code Again

As has been rumored for quite some time, Sony is dipping into the Dan Brown well of silly, anti-Catholic cinematic sludge once again, as EW.com reports:

Hanks' Da Vinci Code sequel fast-tracked
Sony Pictures has officially set a February 2008 start date for production on Angels & Demons, the Da Vinci Code sequel, which is slated to hit theaters in December 2008. The quick decision is one of the biggest to transpire amid Hollywood's current deal-making frenzy due to the looming writers strike. Tom Hanks is reprising his role as religious conspiracy investigator Robert Langdon, and director Ron Howard, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, and producer Brian Grazer are all back for the second movie adapted from Dan Brown's mystery novels. Casting is now underway. Although The Da Vinci Code grossed a relatively disappointing $217.5 million domestically in 2006, it was a smash hit overseas where it banked a jaw-dropping $540.7 mil. Due to the success of that film, Sony greenlit Angels & Demons, whose 2000 book Brown had actually written before 2003's The Da Vinci Code became an runaway bestseller.

Yippee. I can't wait to hear Hanks utter lines such as these, from the paperback edition of A&D:

• "Unfortunately, the unification of science and religion was not what the church wanted." [p. 33. But if you think that is bad, you should consider how vigorously Dan Brown fights the unification of his novels with basic historical facts. Or decent English, for that matter.]

• "The Nazis took the swastika from the Hindus, the Christians adopted the cruciform from the Egyptians, the—" [p. 40. Yep. And the Romans got the idea of killing lots of Jews from the Nazis, so it all ties together. Somehow. Only in Dan Land.]

• "I'm sorry? You say the Big Bang was a Catholic idea?" [p. 69. Well, yeah, Robby Langdon; the Church has to fund its nefarious deeds somehow. And dabbling in astronomy is quite the cash cow, as Carl Sagan demonstrated.]

And my favorite passage from A&D:

"Since the beginning of history," Langdon explained, "a deep rift has existed between science and religion. Outspoken scientists like Copernicus—"

"Were murdered," Kohler interjected. "Murdered by the church for revealing scientific truths. Religion has always persecuted science."

"Yes..." [p. 31]

That's right, the Catholic Church killed Copernicus, a devout Catholic and canon lawyer, with the deadliest trick of all: natural causes. Which is, of course, how the Church has been killing people for thousands of years, even though hard evidence has been difficult to come by.

More objective and scientific analysis to come in the days and weeks to come. Unless, of course, the Vatican gets word of my interest in anything scientific...

Comments

[Ed Peters]

Carl, OF COURSE evidence of Church killing by natural causes is hard to come by--that's the whole point. Now, pipe down before word gets out and we all have a lot of explaining to do...

btw, our family had a blast with DVC which we "rented" on a free coupon (I will not give them money). It was uproariously funny stuff, although we all had distinct hang-over like feelings afterward. it was sooooooo stupid, we might have damgaed brain cells watching it.

but it really was funny in an Ed Wood way: Hanks et al thought they were being serious, when they were just being stupid. really, we got several belly laughs, hit pause til you stop laughing, moments out of it. A la Mel Brooks (sorry, Mel).

I look forward to the next installment (and will wait to get a free showing).

[Dan]

An argument can be made that these sorts of attacks on the Church have the unintended effect of increasing the Church's appeal. It both creates the "Banned in Cleveland!" effect and puts the Church's message in sharper relief. The neutral observer must wonder why the Church provokes such vehemence. When the neutral observer investigates and finds that the Church proclaims love and holiness and that the attacks are baseless, must he not suspect that the attacks are evil and a sign of the truth that sustains the Church? This process may not often happen explicitly on the conscious level, but I do believe it happens at the subconscious level in many people.

[Cristina A. Montes]

"The Nazis took the swastika from the Hindus"

Um...I thought it was from the Zoroastrians?

Anyway, with the reviews of Tom Hanks' acting during the TDVC movie, we will have reason to hope if they're planning to cast Tom Hanks again as Robert Langdon in A&D.

[mj]

• "I'm sorry? You say the Big Bang was a Catholic idea?" [p. 69. Well, yeah, Robby Langdon; the Church has to fund its nefarious deeds somehow. And dabbling in astronomy is quite the cash cow, as Carl Sagan demonstrated.]

Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lema%C3%AEtre

[Carl Olson]

MJ: Yep, Fr. Lemaître, like so many other Catholic priests (many of them Jesuits), was a fine scientist (and he studied at a Jesuit school). My comment was meant as a mockery of the character of Robert Langdon, who surely is one of the most stupid and arrogant fictional PhDs to ever be created.

[padraighh]

Wait a minute, the planets orbiting around the sun was a Catholic idea?

Yeah but the Church killed Copernicus by natural causes.

Wait a minute, disease is caused by tiny microbes is a Catholic idea?

Yeah but the Church killed Pasteur by natural causes.

Wait a minute, inherited traits are passed on by genes is a Catholic idea?

Yeah but the Church killed Mendel by natural causes.

Are you pulling my leg? heck yeah -just because a
Catholic proves something doesn't make it a "Catholic idea".

[MJ]

It might surprise you that western science is a product of Catholic philosophy. Our science therefore is a Catholic idea! I would recommend the book "How the Catholic Church built the Western Civilization".

[MJ]

It might surprise you that western science is a product of Catholic philosophy. Our science therefore is a Catholic idea! I would recommend the book "How the Catholic Church built the Western Civilization".

[Gail]

I have never seen the movie of DVC, but if it's anything like the book it must be hilarious. When I finally read it, I regaled my family with long bits of it that I found particularly funny and there was chortling aplenty.

However, I read "Angels and Demons" long before TDVC, because a neighbor gave me her copy and said I "HAD to red it," and I don't remember it as funny, just incredibly, and I mean incredibly, stupid. I could not believe the man ever got a book contract.

Gail Finke

[Brian Schuettler]

" I could not believe the man ever got a book contract "

yeah,
it's almost like he sold his soul or something.