creekland Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 It's really, really rare that I absolutely don't care for a movie we go to see. Exodus is in that rare group. At least we just went to a matinee, but I really wish we'd skipped it entirely. That's about 2 1/2 hours of my life and $20 gone... (Youngest wanted to see it for his birthday today. We should have checked reviews first.) Not only did it not come remotely close to being Biblically accurate for the small parts that are in the Bible, it also kept the blue eyes on some of the actors, had European accents, had only so-so special effects, and just overall - boring and yuck. Some people in the theater with us left early. It sure was tempting, but I kept thinking it HAD to get better. It doesn't. I think War of the Worlds II is the only other one as low on my list as this one, but at least that one we just watched on TV. Hopefully Annie will be better later this month. Or The Hobbit. My poor birthday boy was quite bummed... but we laughed it off afterward and I think the rest of the day turned out ok for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Oh really? Guess Im not surprised, but I am ever hopeful. I skipped Noah, but this year I'm in a year long study of the Pentateuch, so I plan to see this. DH and I will go to the $5 show at 10am, so it won't be such a loss. Even if it's not great, it will generate discussion for my study mates and I'd like to be able to participate in the conversation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Well that's a bummer of a review. I didn't expect it to be Biblically accurate much (I mean, Hollywood), but was hoping it would at least be entertaining. The 10 Commandments is my most favorite movie of all time. I was hoping it would be more like that- but with the amazing CG effects and better acting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 After Noah (good acting, excellent CGI, awful script/story)earlier this year, I have little hope for Exodus. Christian Bale has made some remarks about God I'm not fond of either. I think we will wait for the DVD. Really isn't the story of Noah and Exodus pretty exciting all by themselves? Why all the embellishment? Tell the story or take the elements you like and turn it into another story and film that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasperstone Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I have a friend that said she loved it and wanted to see is again! She wanted me to come next time. Me thinks I'll give it a miss, lol. She also loved the Transformers! The positive thing though is that she now is inspired to read the bible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I haven't seen it, but in the promo shots, the Pharaoh is wearing the queen's vulture headdress. Really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Oh really? Guess Im not surprised, but I am ever hopeful. I skipped Noah, but this year I'm in a year long study of the Pentateuch, so I plan to see this. DH and I will go to the $5 show at 10am, so it won't be such a loss. Even if it's not great, it will generate discussion for my study mates and I'd like to be able to participate in the conversation. It did generate a bit of discussion for us - both Biblically and Egyptian history/culture, but we discuss all movies after we see them - usually picking out pros and cons. ;) I didn't expect it to be Biblically accurate much (I mean, Hollywood), but was hoping it would at least be entertaining. This is what we were hoping for too. We like decent special effects, etc, in our movies. There may have been a couple of things they did well with those, but they were drowned out with the rest. Many action movies are far, far, better with their SE. I have a friend that said she loved it and wanted to see is again! ... The positive thing though is that she now is inspired to read the bible. She's going to be in for a big surprise when she reads what it came from. They couldn't even get it right that Moses had two sons. If one doesn't know the story and thinks they are getting the accurate story (or even a reasonable close-ness to the story), that would take off a ton of the disappointment. A good part of our problem might be that we know the book version first. I expected them to take the bits and pieces from the Bible and fill in with decent poetic license. They rewrote the Bible part almost in its entirety (God being depicted as a young boy, the whole burning bush bit being portrayed as a scene in which Moses lost consciousness due to a storm and mudslide he got caught in, the whole relationship between the two, etc). I haven't seen it, but in the promo shots, the Pharaoh is wearing the queen's vulture headdress. Really? See, these types of details get to me too. I guess I get picky about the details. For parts of it I couldn't get over the blue eyes... have they never heard of contacts or just fixing the color via CGI or something? I've also wondered if ancient Egypt did public hangings (old west or European style). I haven't googled that detail yet, but I have my doubts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Thank you for the heads up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 We don't see a lot of films but during out last visit to a theater we saw the trailer for Exodus. I giggled because the film looked so wretched! How disappointing the Ridley Scott is doing this nonsense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 It's really, really rare that I absolutely don't care for a movie we go to see. Exodus is in that rare group. At least we just went to a matinee, but I really wish we'd skipped it entirely. That's about 2 1/2 hours of my life and $20 gone... (Youngest wanted to see it for his birthday today. We should have checked reviews first.) Not only did it not come remotely close to being Biblically accurate for the small parts that are in the Bible, it also kept the blue eyes on some of the actors, had European accents, had only so-so special effects, and just overall - boring and yuck. Some people in the theater with us left early. It sure was tempting, but I kept thinking it HAD to get better. It doesn't. I think War of the Worlds II is the only other one as low on my list as this one, but at least that one we just watched on TV. Hopefully Annie will be better later this month. Or The Hobbit. My poor birthday boy was quite bummed... but we laughed it off afterward and I think the rest of the day turned out ok for him. That is so disappointing! I was considering taking the whole family to see it! I think Annie looks adorable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I'd go see it just to stare at Christian Bale's eyes. And face. No, wait, never mind. I can just watch Newsies and do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I'm not a movie watcher in general, but I have real issues with movies about events from the Bible in which the actors' looks aren't realistic. And from what I've heard Exodus is particularly bad in that regard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 I'm not a movie watcher in general, but I have real issues with movies about events from the Bible in which the actors' looks aren't realistic. And from what I've heard Exodus is particularly bad in that regard. I like actors from any "set in history or geographical location" film to look as they should. There's no real reason they can't IMO. We definitely should have looked up more about Exodus before we went and we would have skipped it. We were just out enjoying youngest's birthday meal selection and he mentioned wanting to see a movie, so we did (his choice, of course). We'll learn from the experience! Some movies really aren't worth wasting money on and this is one of those for us. Hindsight is useless, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 That's too bad. I guess I would not have expected a blockbuster Bible-type movie to be even remotely Biblically accurate. We're going to see Big Hero 6 today. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 From the trailer alone, I was already prepared to hate it. I actually don't mind that they leave things out, add things, make it more "Hollywood"...because I expect that. But I don't like the *character* of someone from the Bible being messed with. Now, with only the trailer to go on, it's a limited criticism, but I don't see Moses as this confident, heroic leader. I think he was made strong and assertive and maybe even charismatic at times by God, but wasn't that way on his own. I did not see the Bible series (movie? Can't remember. Roma Downey thing.) because of the one line in the commercial where Jesus says to come with him and "change the world!" Yes. Motivational Speaker Jesus. Blech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 My husband and I just returned from a walk during which I told him about this thread. He said, "So Exodus is not just the name of the film--it is what the audience did too!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 From the trailer alone, I was already prepared to hate it. I actually don't mind that they leave things out, add things, make it more "Hollywood"...because I expect that. But I don't like the *character* of someone from the Bible being messed with. Now, with only the trailer to go on, it's a limited criticism, but I don't see Moses as this confident, heroic leader. I think he was made strong and assertive and maybe even charismatic at times by God, but wasn't that way on his own. They really, really messed with Moses' character from the very beginning until the end. Tons of his issues got left out (speech, uncertainty, etc) - and replaced by some that were never there (in the scenes we have that were supposed to be Biblical). The rest, of course, is always conjecture, but still had many "huh?" moments even if I draw upon my liberal (God isn't real) teachings from college. My husband and I just returned from a walk during which I told him about this thread. He said, "So Exodus is not just the name of the film--it is what the audience did too!" Cute! Yes, some left our theater early starting after the first hour. We really should have joined them, but I kept hoping... It was tough (for me) to remain awake to be honest. Later I looked it up on Rotten Tomatoes and saw that we really should have looked it up first. It's not just our thoughts. A few like it, but they definitely have different thoughts about what makes a good movie than we do. Most diss the same things we did (not just the story straying). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 It's really, really rare that I absolutely don't care for a movie we go to see. Exodus is in that rare group. At least we just went to a matinee, but I really wish we'd skipped it entirely. That's about 2 1/2 hours of my life and $20 gone... (Youngest wanted to see it for his birthday today. We should have checked reviews first.) Not only did it not come remotely close to being Biblically accurate for the small parts that are in the Bible, it also kept the blue eyes on some of the actors, had European accents, had only so-so special effects, and just overall - boring and yuck. Some people in the theater with us left early. It sure was tempting, but I kept thinking it HAD to get better. It doesn't. I think War of the Worlds II is the only other one as low on my list as this one, but at least that one we just watched on TV. Hopefully Annie will be better later this month. Or The Hobbit. My poor birthday boy was quite bummed... but we laughed it off afterward and I think the rest of the day turned out ok for him. Ice cream... Ice cream AND cake, fixes almost everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Ice cream... Ice cream AND cake, fixes almost everything. Vanilla bean ice cream and triple chocolate cake from the bakery. Check and check! (Then add presents...) :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 It looked like heretical crud - with good cinematography. I'm getting really tired of Hollywood putting out bad movies to try and separate Christians from their money, which is what this screamed of to me. I'll even take some artistic liberties for a good story, but this looked out there (as did Noah). I'm sorry you wasted your time and money. I'm totally holding out for the Hobbit, though! I agree. I am not really interested in seeing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Thank you for letting us know. Dh were considering seeing it tonight, but were hesitant. The Noah movie was ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Those spiral 20 cent notebooks that we buy on sale every fall? You'd need a few of those to document the variances from the Biblical narrative. Generally, the light eyes and accents didn't bother me. The exceptions to that were Joshua's crazed blue eyes and Sigourney Weaver's distinct American accent. She was awful. I have a serious question, though. I remember hearing that, for Noah, the director used extra canonical books such as Enoch, and included those details (at least providing some reasoning for directions that film took). Has anyone here heard if Scott did something similar? Or are the variances strictly from the writers' imagination? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Well that's a bummer of a review. I didn't expect it to be Biblically accurate much (I mean, Hollywood), but was hoping it would at least be entertaining. The 10 Commandments is my most favorite movie of all time. I was hoping it would be more like that- but with the amazing CG effects and better acting. The 10 Commandments is terribly inaccurate, Biblically speaking. I can't watch it, not even for Yul Brynner, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Oh, I forgot to mention the best part! The movie trailer for Into the Heart of the Sea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Nyssa Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 I haven't seen Noah & don't plan to, but I think the way to approach it would be that it's not the Biblical story, but a meditation on the Biblical story by a brilliant yet unusual and exasperating mind. [i know one of the people who made it-- not the director but one of his team--was my high school sweetheart! So I know that it's not anything I would be interested in seeing. Oh, first love!] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 Oh, I forgot to mention the best part! The movie trailer for Into the Heart of the Sea! We weren't so fortunate! We only saw a trailer for the next Halo movie and tons of concession stand advertisements and cell phone no-nos. I haven't seen Noah & don't plan to, but I think the way to approach it would be that it's not the Biblical story, but a meditation on the Biblical story by a brilliant yet unusual and exasperating mind. We really weren't expecting anything to be too Biblical with Exodus since it's over 2 hours long and there are only so many chapters/verses dealing with the real story. I'm not even sure what we saw was a meditation on the story itself as much as the producers view of how it should have happened from a very, very basic outline (rather than reading the original). Then there was the rest that none of us were fond of - all the stuff we expected to be filled in with artistic license. It was just very underwhelming - we didn't connect with the characters, the setting, the special effects, or the preaching. Usually we can talk about pros and cons of any movie after we watch it. Not this time. None of us came out with pros. Never saw Noah and don't really plan to even via Netflix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 I just heard a story on this movie on NPR the other day. People talking about how it was a surprise, at best, to see a movie where all the Egyptians were played by white people, except for slaves and bandits and such, who were played by people of color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 If we go see it, there will not be any expectations of biblical accuracy; just an action adventure movie with an exciting water scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 If we go see it, there will not be any expectations of biblical accuracy; just an action adventure movie with an exciting water scene. Don't get your hopes too high with that exciting water scene. It is probably one of the better SE in the movie, but that's not really saying much. It was a bonus realizing that we were very near the end of the movie at that point! ;) Action/adventure might be an over statement too compared to other movies we've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 I haven't seen the movie and have no intention of doing so, but the NYT reviewer wrote a great pan: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/12/movies/exodus-gods-and-kings-ridley-scotts-biblical-drama.html Quote: "Strangest of all is Christian Bale as Moses, raised in the Egyptian royal court as a brother to Ramses and blind to his true heritage. Eventually, of course, Moses discovers his Jewish roots, which means that he stops shaving, starts herding goats and, unless my ears deceive me, takes to peppering his speech with stagy old-man Yiddish inflections, as though preparing to lead his people from the fleshpots of Egypt into a borscht belt Canaan. You think this desert is dry? You should try my wife’s brisket." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 I just heard a story on this movie on NPR the other day. People talking about how it was a surprise, at best, to see a movie where all the Egyptians were played by white people, except for slaves and bandits and such, who were played by people of color. :cursing: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 I just heard a story on this movie on NPR the other day. People talking about how it was a surprise, at best, to see a movie where all the Egyptians were played by white people, except for slaves and bandits and such, who were played by people of color. As mentioned before, we couldn't come up with any pros for this movie and this is one of the things that bugged us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanitaL Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 If we go see it, there will not be any expectations of biblical accuracy; just an action adventure movie with an exciting water scene. And Batmoses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 I didn't read all the replies but I felt the same way about Noah. Like the story wasn't amazing as told in the Bible without the "monster" angels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary in VA Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 That is so disappointing! I was considering taking the whole family to see it! I think Annie looks adorable. Unfortunately it looks like they ruined Annie too! The first reviews are not looking good, http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-annie-1201377921/ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/annie/review/757491 http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/163175/Annie-film-review-starring-Cameron-Diaz-and-Jamie-Foxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Unfortunately it looks like they ruined Annie too! The first reviews are not looking good, http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-annie-1201377921/ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/annie/review/757491 http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/163175/Annie-film-review-starring-Cameron-Diaz-and-Jamie-Foxx That would be a bummer. Rather than watching it opening weekend I think we'll wait and see what the public thinks. (sigh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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