Mel Sixth of Thirteen top Stars, Cruise is Thirteenth

Mel Gibson may have had a bad moment, which TMZ and the Hollyweirdo peanut gallery, tried to parlay into a career wrecker. But the Grinches who are trying to steal Christmas fell far short. Mel is still a must-see for 26% in a poll of a thousand, and only a never-see for 15%.

Tom Cruise is just beneath Angelina Jolie in dead last in the negativity, with 34% avoiding all Cruise films, and 18% avoiding Jolie's as a never-see. Only 12% will must-see Cruise.

There is a subtle Catholic subtext at work here. Tom Cruise's original resume had him as a member of the "12th Grade St. Francis Seminary Choir." Unless there is a Scientology seminary named after the friar of Assisi, Tommy boy was studying to be an RC cleric before he went for the limelight. A self-defrocked and now flamboyantly heretical outcast from Holy Roman writ!

Angelina's father Jon Voight had a stint in the Catholic seminary before his stage and screen career, and AJ's mom is a French Canadian [just like Madonna, another very un-Roman ex-Catholic]. AJ now spurns her daddy, although he got her into films early on, and she is making a run for secular-humanist Uber-ogress of the planet.

Mel Gibson is very much more Catholic than the Pope, if that's possible. His gig on Jay Leno's a short while ago was good, as Jay raved about Apocalypto in great detail. Mel has not mellowed much and seemed a bit hyper, verging on the manic, as Jay grilled him on how his AA rehab had gone. But Mel's aware of his shortcomings, and I don't think his long-term career has foundered, but we'll get another indication of that question by the returns on his movie opening this weekend.