Mel Gibson is doing with Apocalypto what he did with The Passion of the Christ  – traveling around to odd little places here and there, showing a cut of the film. The emphasis this times seems to be with Native American groups. (in Oklahoma, for example)

Harry Knowles of Aint-it-Cool-News watched it twice – including once at a screening at a convention called "Fantastic Fest" – surprising everyone who was there.

Another blogger was there, with a brief (positive) reaction.

Another blogger reports with the quote that’s making news today.

During the Q&A, Gibson shared "I just wanna draw the parallels. I just looked at it, and thought, we display that stuff here. I don’t wanna be a doomsayer, but the Mayan calendar ends in 2012," he said, musing with a grin, "So have fun!" It’s quite clear that certain characters in the film could be compared to various world leaders, as the Mayan city is run by self-righteous men convinced they are doing the will of the gods. There’s even a parallel to the grizzly sacrifice scene, Gibson shared Saturday night, "What’s human sacrifice if not sending a bunch of kids off to Iraq for no reason?"

When chatting about his casting choices, Gibson noted that all of the actors were first-timers from the around the globe. In finding his Jaguar Paw, the selection process was down to about six folks and he liked Youngblood, particularly because he wasn’t "too pretty," and resembled a normal person. But, in addition, Gibson requested that each finalist run around the coference room in which he was casting. And, it was quite clear that Youngblood had the physical chops for such a demanding role. Youngblood, who was charming if not seemingly nervous at the screening, manages a great presence in the film.

Apocalypto is not perfect. It’s also not complete (in fact, some of the finished effects will greatly improve some of the Mayan city scenes). What it is though, no matter what, is a fine adventure film with a charismatic lead character and some wonderfully choreographed action sequences. It’s Bravheart, with subtitles. Some of the social and political commentary may get lost beneath the massive amounts of blood and body parts, but that echoed throughout the entire evening: At the end of the day, audiences want to be entertained, and Apocalypto does the trick. It’s tough, but I was able to separate the Mel Gibson scandal from my viewing of the film, as disgusting as his statements during his arrest were. Was I able to block it from my mind during the Q&A? Not at all. It’s an interesting situation for an artist and for the audience. I’ll be curious to see other reactions from the 200 others sitting around me tonight.

One more:

The film wasn’t in reviewable form: Sound effects and score have yet to be added, many special effects aren’t complete, and at two-plus hours, it can still use some trimming. But sections of it already work quite well, and about a third of the full house rose to give the director a standing ovation once the lights went up.

Looking substantially better groomed than he was in photos taken on set in Veracruz, Gibson was candid about wanting to make further trims; he had sat in the audience for half the film in order to gauge how the film played to virgin eyes.

Though he was modest in assessing his work, he admitted to having more on his mind than the tale of one man on the run from warriors bent on killing his tribe: “The precursors to a civilization that’s going under are the same, time and time again,” he said, drawing parallels between a Mayan civilization on the brink of collapse and America’s present situation.

“What’s human sacrifice,” he asked, “if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?”

(Quote repeated so the story citation would make sense.)

I’ve already a blogger or two accusing Gibson of "selling out" to the HollywoodAntiWarMoonbat crowd in order to get approval for his film after his anti-Semitic drunken performance. Fact is, while Gibson hasn’t talked much about the war in Iraq, what he’s said over the past few years made his skepticism of the enterprise clear and I do think I’ve heard him say a disparaging word or two about George Bush. Interesting stuff for those who were all hepped up at the prospect that the prime analogy Gibson was intending was that of the present child-sacrifice practice of abortion.