Biblicals and Theologicals

[Notwisconsin]

Exodus: Gods and Kings just came out. It didn't follow the original book all that well, and the building of the Pyramids in the background just took me out of the story. The CGI plagues were done really well, but Scott didn't seem to get what the whole thing was really about.

 

There were a lot of Biblical epics that came out this year, and there are some Greek mythology films and Exorcist/ end of the world stuff too. In india they call them "Theologicals.

 

I figure we can talk about all that kind of stuff.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Notwisconsin

[bluvelvet]

Just saw Exodus, it was definitely a different take in comparison to other movies with the military component

In the scene where Ramses asks if they worship a God that kills children I wanted Moses to say that Ramses has murdered children and he considers himself a god.

[Jeebus Cripes]

Yeah, I just saw it today and was bugged by certain things. Apparently, Ridley Scott didn't have a grasp on who the Hittites were or just didn't care? These didn't look like sophisticated, seafaring, mediterranean people at all. I wasn't keen on making Ramses look like an incompetent fool, in order to prop Moses up. Moses can stand just fine on his own accomplishments. I refuse to believe that Egypt's greatest Pharaoh could be so dimwitted. All that said, gorgeous film, visually. I enjoyed Bale as Moses. Great costume porn, too. 

[ChelseaNH]

Not a traditional Bible movie, but Godspell was very influential in my teenage years.  It was the right movie to "speak" to my generation, I guess.

 

Also not a traditional movie at all:  Dogma.  For me, not so much funny as audacious, and very, very smart.

[Princess Sparkle]

Not a traditional Bible movie, but Godspell was very influential in my teenage years.  It was the right movie to "speak" to my generation, I guess.

 

Also not a traditional movie at all:  Dogma.  For me, not so much funny as audacious, and very, very smart.

I'm a Kevin Smith fan in general, but Dogma is my favorite movie of his.  I think, because of what his movies are normally about, he gets written off, but based on that movie, he very clearly has some biblical knowledge, and he really nails some good ideas in there about religion.  It's actually more "pro-religion" than most people would assume, I think.

 

Every Easter, I have to watch Jesus Christ Superstar, even with the random scenes of tanks chasing Judas.  I could listen to Carl Anderson sing for hours on end.  Plus, I think that's one telling of the Passion that actually portrays the confusion and bewilderment that the apostles felt towards Jesus, and does a good job of explaining why Judas thought he was, initially, doing a good thing by turning in Jesus.  

Edited December 18, 2014 by Princess Sparkle

[Sharpie66]

JCS and Godspell are both staples of my childhood, both the films and the soundtrack albums (my sister and I would argue over who got to sing along with Judas, and who was stuck with Jesus!). For my tenth birthday, I asked for tickets to see JCS in Chicago, which my mom thought was an odd request for a 10 year old, but she went along with it--it was my first Broadway musical production, and I looooooved it! I was also lucky enough to see another production in the early '90s that starred both Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson, along with Styx's Dennis DeYoung as Pontius Pilate, when it was on tour and stopped in Chicago. 

 

And I love seeing both Victor Garber and Lynne Thigpen as fresh-faced newbies in Godspell. (BTW, there's a good behind-the-scenes tv documentary of the filming of Godspell that I only recently stumbled across while browsing YouTube; it's really interesting to watch for the film's fans. I remember seeing a Thankgiving TV special starring the cast singing songs from the movie the year it was released, but I can't find any mention of it on YT--I really should check it out on IMDB to make sure I'm not imagining things.)

 

I've posted about my fascination with another religiously-themed film over in the horror movie thread, but I'll bring it up here, too. If you haven't seen the late-'90s movie The Prophecy, you really should. It's a Miltonian take on angels fighting over who gets to get into heaven, and a "newly discovered" chapter ending Revelation is the key plot point to the movie. The heroic leads are all right (Elias Koteas and Virginia Madsen), but the heavies are the ones who take over the screen--Christopher Walken as Gabriel is at his scenery-chewing best, but Viggo Mortensen, in his 10 minutes on screen as Lucifer, manages to out-creep Walken completely. I am not a horror film fan normally, but this one's religious themes just resonate with me, even though I am agnostic at best, leaning towards atheistic.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Sharpie66

[Spartan Girl]

How about The Nativity Story?  I thought it was pretty retelling of Mary and Joseph without getting overly religious or preachy.  Plus the three wise men were funny.

[BatmanBeatles]

I want to see it because Doctor Bashir from DS9 plays Gabriel.

[roamyn]

Every Easter, I have to watch Jesus Christ Superstar, even with the random scenes of tanks chasing Judas. I could listen to Carl Anderson sing for hours on end. Plus, I think that's one telling of the Passion that actually portrays the confusion and bewilderment that the apostles felt towards Jesus, and does a good job of explaining why Judas thought he was, initially, doing a good thing by turning in Jesus.

i have to agree 100%. I've always had a soft spot for Judas and i think this movie / musical is why - along w/a progressive minister growing up as a teen who could've been also influenced by tge nusical.

RIP Mr. Anderson.

[BizBuzz]

Saw Exodus: Gods and Kings over the weekend.  My 15 year old summed it up best ... Mom, it was like Ridley Scott was the last person in a Telephone Game to get the story of Moses and the Plagues, and that is what he used to put the movie together. 

 

::giggle::

 

The film on it's own as a story was ok.  It was just a tad too militaristic for me, and I have to say I was disappointed in the plagues.  The 10 Commandments with Charlton Heston and even the Dream Works Animated Prince of Egypt had way better depictions of the plagues, at least on the feel factor.  Grouping all the plagues in a short sequence was a little anticlimactic.  And the Passover plague ... which to me was the most important plague of them all since it was the plague that changed the mind of the Pharaoh, well ... the best rendition so far for me was Prince of Egypt. 

 

I am not disappointed that I went, the costume porn was well done ... the scenery was outstanding ... although Ridley seemed to have this preoccupation with heights, which I imagine would have been better served in 3D, but we chose 2D.

 

Would I recommend?  Yes ... but with a caveat ... don't go thinking you are going to see an updated version of The 10 Commandments.  HA!

[BatmanBeatles]

 

My 15 year old summed it up best ... Mom, it was like Ridley Scott was the last person in a Telephone Game to get the story of Moses and the Plagues, and that is what he used to put the movie together.

That is the best comment I read about this movie.

[Jeebus Cripes]

Viggo Mortensen, in his 10 minutes on screen as Lucifer, manages to out-creep Walken completely. 

 

His lucifer is absolutely my favorite on-screen interpretation. I remember that being the first thing I really noticed him in. Outstanding performance.

 

I've been hitting the religious films pretty hard this year. Saw two Jesus movies a day apart; Jesus of Nazareth and King of Kings. I missed the first part of Jesus of Nazareth, but this is the film I remembered from childhood. I enjoyed Robert Powell as Jesus. He had a preternatural beauty and way of carrying himself that was otherworldly. The rest of the cast was good, too. King of Kings was visual eye-candy. The costume porn was out of control (Herod's wife looked stunning). All that said, Jeffrey Hunter was stinking up the joint as Jesus. Gorgeous guy, bad actor. Too gorgeous, by the way. Supermodel Jesus was distracting to me.

[ennui]

I didn't find a topic for Revelation, on the History Channel. I was hoping someone could comment. I only watched the first hour, but it's on again tonight so I might try again.

[Bruinsfan]

And the Passover plague ... which to me was the most important plague of them all since it was the plague that changed the mind of the Pharaoh, well ... the best rendition so far for me was Prince of Egypt.

Crap, forget Drag Me to Hell and My Bloody Valentine, that scene was the scariest thing to hit theaters in 2009!

[Rick Kitchen]

I didn't find a topic for Revelation, on the History Channel. I was hoping someone could comment. I only watched the first hour, but it's on again tonight so I might try again.

 

I watched about the last half hour of the first half last night.  Doubt I'll watch any more.

[Trini]

And the Passover plague ... which to me was the most important plague of them all since it was the plague that changed the mind of the Pharaoh, well ... the best rendition so far for me was Prince of Egypt.

 

Crap, forget Drag Me to Hell and My Bloody Valentine, that scene was the scariest thing to hit theaters in 2009!

 

You mean the animated one, right? That came out in 1998. (I still have the VHS!)

[ennui]

I watched about the last half hour of the first half last night.  Doubt I'll watch any more.

I watched the whole thing. I was really tired but forced myself to watch to the end to see how they would handle the Second Coming. There were some aspects that I liked (I don't believe in The Rapture, but I liked that it was the children who were taken early). It was an interesting use of electricity, I thought.

I really hate the style of camera work they used. One of the characters even said, this feels like Blair Witch Project, and I thought, that's it! 

[Bruinsfan]

You mean the animated one, right? That came out in 1998. (I still have the VHS!)

Wait, it was that long ago? I thought 2009 seemed a little recent but had no idea it had been a decade and a half.

[vibeology]

Without a doubt The Prince of Egypt is the most beautiful 2d animated film ever made. It is stunning in a way that I doubt could ever be matched. The colours, the landscapes, the character designs are all so thoughtful and detailed. Dreamworks never got enough credit for what is a visual masterpiece. 

[Spartan Girl]

Watched Passion of the Christ last night. When I was a kid I was such a baby that I couldn't even handle when our church did the Stations of the Cross play. So you can imagine how I reacted watching this version...

I get why Jewish communities were offended by the portayal of the rabbi leaders in this movie. People have been using the story of Jesus' death as an excuse for antisemitism for centuries. It's disgusting. Not to mention way off base. Even if you aren't a Catholic/Christian, the story goes that Jesus' death was part of God's plan. He knew it was going to happen, it was supposed to happen. So why blame the people for something that was preordained?!

Also get why these same idiots get so upset about over films about Jesus where he is "less than perfect" like Last Temptation of Christ. There's nothing wrong with showing him wanting love and family. The point was that it was a TEST, and he wound up passing. With flying colors.

Sorry, I didn't mean to get all preachy. I just hate how people twist religion into an excuse for bigotry.

Edited March 31, 2018 by Spartan Girl

[Blergh]

22 hours ago, vibeology said:

Without a doubt The Prince of Egypt is the most beautiful 2d animated film ever made. It is stunning in a way that I doubt could ever be matched. The colours, the landscapes, the character designs are all so thoughtful and detailed. Dreamworks never got enough credit for what is a visual masterpiece. 

 It had its moments,true! Yet, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the younger Pharaoh who'd considered Moses his brother AND had lost his own firstborn son.  He was a far more sympathetic Pharaoh than Yul Brynner's downright intimidating rendition in Ten Commandments!

 

BTW, speaking of Yul Brynner, despite the fact that he  wore heavy makeup, head dresses, bracelets, skirts and sandals for the role, he somehow IMO was downright the most magnetically appealing man in the movie - even more than Charlston Heston who himself was ruggedly handsome, played the hero and  clearly taller than Brynner. Oh, and, believe it or not ,Mr. Brynner's role as the Pharaoh was a contributing factor in Mohammad Ali hiring the former's son called Rock to be his bodyguard!

Edited April 1, 2018 by Blergh
addendum re Yul Brynner's Pharaoh