JPod, I am disappointed. I had heard Mel’s next pic was going to be the story of Judah Maccabee, giving my family and I a three-hour mega-violent Hannukah-themed action treat. Meanwhile, Mel’s self-financing thing is audacious, to say the least. Yes, he’s got it to spend (and then some) after “Passion,” but still one imagines him overlooking a vast plain filled with extras in full battle array, asked by an assistant director, “Should we go again, Mel? We’re about to go into overtime.” Mel checks his watch, does some quick math in his head, and says, “I think that last one was just fine.”