Festive Turkey
According to this report from the BBC the latest Hollywood Biblical epic 'Exodus' has been banned in certain Muslim countries because of alleged historical inaccuracies which offended religious censors in Egypt and elsewhere.
I haven't seen Exodus and, between us, I'll probably give the movie a miss, but I did watch 'Noah' on TV over the festive season, another blockbuster starring Russell Crowe, which was truly awful, not in the least entertaining and so boring that I have still not managed to view the film all the way to the end.
I haven't seen Exodus and, between us, I'll probably give the movie a miss, but I did watch 'Noah' on TV over the festive season, another blockbuster starring Russell Crowe, which was truly awful, not in the least entertaining and so boring that I have still not managed to view the film all the way to the end.
According to the Bible (and the movie), Noah was a direct descendant of Adam and Eve who was called upon to build a huge 'Ark' which became a refuge for Noah, his family and all other forms of animal life - from the great flood that God was about to unleash on the world because humankind had become sinful and had lost its way.
Now setting aside the fact that none of this makes any sense when you consider the fossil record or the geology of Planet Earth, two of the sillier things that happen in the film are that mysterious 'angels' (resembling the boulder creature from Galaxy Quest) decide to help Noah build his Ark and then, even more bizarrely, a Cockney warlord in the shape of Ray Winstone manages to get on board before the floodwaters break, killing all the wayward humans who had left God's chosen path (Ray Winstone's former chums) and everything else into the bargain.
Now setting aside the fact that none of this makes any sense when you consider the fossil record or the geology of Planet Earth, two of the sillier things that happen in the film are that mysterious 'angels' (resembling the boulder creature from Galaxy Quest) decide to help Noah build his Ark and then, even more bizarrely, a Cockney warlord in the shape of Ray Winstone manages to get on board before the floodwaters break, killing all the wayward humans who had left God's chosen path (Ray Winstone's former chums) and everything else into the bargain.
To say that I lost the will to live watching this nonsense is the understatement of the year, so far at least, and if I were you, I'd give Noah a very wide berth - thank God I didn't pay good money to watch the movie at the cinema.
Egypt bans 'inaccurate' Exodus film
Joel Edgerton and Christian Bale play Ramses and Moses respectively in the film
Egypt has banned a Hollywood film based on the Biblical book of Exodus because of what censors described as "historical inaccuracies".
The head of the censorship board said these included the film's depiction of Jews as having built the Pyramids, and that an earthquake, not a miracle by Moses, caused the Red Sea to part.
Exodus: Gods and Kings stars Christian Bale as Moses.
There have also been reports that the film is banned in Morocco.
Although the state-run Moroccan Cinema Centre (CCM) had given the film the green light, Moroccan business website Medias24.com said that officials had decided to ban the movie from being screened the day before its premiere.
According to the book of Exodus, Jewish slaves were led to freedom by Moses after God inflicted a series of plagues on Egypt.
The Pyramids are believed to have been built about 1,000 years before the story of the Exodus.
The Biblical story tells how the Red Sea was parted by a miracle performed by God through Moses, allowing the Jewish people to escape from the pursuing Egyptian army.
Exodus: Gods and Kings, which cost a reported $140m (£89m) to make, took $24.5m on its debut weekend.
Egypt has banned a Hollywood film based on the Biblical book of Exodus because of what censors described as "historical inaccuracies".
The head of the censorship board said these included the film's depiction of Jews as having built the Pyramids, and that an earthquake, not a miracle by Moses, caused the Red Sea to part.
Exodus: Gods and Kings stars Christian Bale as Moses.
There have also been reports that the film is banned in Morocco.
Although the state-run Moroccan Cinema Centre (CCM) had given the film the green light, Moroccan business website Medias24.com said that officials had decided to ban the movie from being screened the day before its premiere.
According to the book of Exodus, Jewish slaves were led to freedom by Moses after God inflicted a series of plagues on Egypt.
The Pyramids are believed to have been built about 1,000 years before the story of the Exodus.
The Biblical story tells how the Red Sea was parted by a miracle performed by God through Moses, allowing the Jewish people to escape from the pursuing Egyptian army.
Exodus: Gods and Kings, which cost a reported $140m (£89m) to make, took $24.5m on its debut weekend.
The biblical epic has had mixed reviews and has had smaller takings than rival films on its opening weekend
Mixed reviews
The Biblical epic overtook the third instalment of The Hunger Games, following three weeks at number one. However, it has had mixed reviews.
Time called it a "cinematically uninspired retelling of the Moses story", Vulture said it was "as uneven as Ridley Scott's career", while the New York Times described it as "both woefully insufficient and much too much".
The film's opening fell well short of other modern Biblical films, including Darren Aronofsky's Noah which took $43.7m on its opening weekend in March and 2004's The Passion of the Christ, which took $83.3m.
Mixed reviews
The Biblical epic overtook the third instalment of The Hunger Games, following three weeks at number one. However, it has had mixed reviews.
Time called it a "cinematically uninspired retelling of the Moses story", Vulture said it was "as uneven as Ridley Scott's career", while the New York Times described it as "both woefully insufficient and much too much".
The film's opening fell well short of other modern Biblical films, including Darren Aronofsky's Noah which took $43.7m on its opening weekend in March and 2004's The Passion of the Christ, which took $83.3m.
