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Exodus: Gods and Kings (Ridley Scott)
necromancer20
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Ridley Scott's take on the Exodus starring Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh6Hj4XJXH8
It's always worth checking out a Ridley Scott film IMO, whether he's on form or off form. I don't think there's a director out there who's a better world creator than him. I'm a sucker for biblical epics and Ridley Scott movies so this is one of my most anticipated films for the rest of the year.
It's always worth checking out a Ridley Scott film IMO, whether he's on form or off form. I don't think there's a director out there who's a better world creator than him. I'm a sucker for biblical epics and Ridley Scott movies so this is one of my most anticipated films for the rest of the year.
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God alone knows he's overdue for a decent one. Fingers crossed, eh?
It would have worked better if all the cast were native Africans because that's how it was.
I do think he's produced more good than bad over the last 14 years. It's a mixed bag but unfortunately for him, every film he now produces is in some way compared to his Best Picture winning Gladiator and the game changing Alien and Blade Runner. And it sure doesn't help that he's now making a film a year. His last film The Counsellor was a genuine turkey though but then again I liked Prometheus, warts and all.
And let it commence, the 'Hollywood whitewashing!' and 'religuuuuuun!' comments
I know there''s a general excuse for casting like Bale/Edgerton that there are no famous middle eastern or Egyptian actors for a huge budget Hollywod, but I feel it's generally accepted that Ancient Egyptians were mostly likely Nubians (black) than Arabs. of modern Egypt who came later during invasions.
What makes it worse is that Scott has worked with Denzel once already (American Gangster) and Idris Elba twice (American Gangster and Prometheus). He could have avoided this controversy simply by picking up the phone and offering them the roles. And these guys are plenty famous enough to carry a multi-million dollar Hollywood epic
lol yes.
Even that's not an excuse because every actor is unknown until they're known. Christian Bale was at some point an unknown. But like you've said, Edris Elba and Denzel Washington are established and could have easily done this. There's no excuse. This Hollywood's attempt to once again take the rich histories of blacks and Asians and give it to white people. Whilst black and Asians are relegated to slave roles and gangster movies.
Thanks for the info. That does seem to put a different spin on the movie. Very unusual.
Not Moses, surely? He was a Jew from the Israeli background, hidden during the massacre of Jewish male babies, and eventually adopted by Ramses's family, wasn't he?
Putting the whitewashing issue aside, Bale and Edgerton are technically still wrong for their roles, anyway, because Moses and Ramses were apparently in their 80s or 90s when the messin'-with-your-head antics happened. Not much fun in watching two old men squabbling, I suppose.
I won't be watching this film at cinema, anyway. Scott lost his mojo a long time ago. So much that he tends to make a miss than a hit. His recent films - The Counselor, Prometheus, Robin Hood and blah blah - are forgettable and occasionally, downright awful. I think the problem is with him being more focused on design and the latest advance in cinema technology than the spine of a film: a good story.
Even if Washington and Elba weren't available, there is a significant increase of recognisable and highly marketable black actors, which makes the tired old 'no one famous enough' excuse BS and frankly, an embarrassment.
That's true but even then a Jewish man back then wouldn't look like Christian Bale they would have been much, much darker. You've actually highlighted yet another reason why the white washing really doesn't make sense: the entire point of Moses is about the Egyptians persecuting the Jews. The story is actively about race so to white wash in this instance would be like having a white man playing Martin Luther King lol
Kingdom of Heaven was a beautiful film (if only ruined by the fatal flaw of Orlando Bloom) and Black Hawk Down has its fans. And whatever the script problems of the film, Prometheus is visually stunning and a masterclass on how to blend CGI with practical effects. Hell I even liked Body of Lies. IMO because of his increased output over the years, people find it easy to dismiss his films.
As for the whitewashing thing, I don't know if I can get worked up about it (and I'm an ethnic minority). We are talking about a myth after all, not a true historical event. Ramses here won't even resemble the real Ramses II character wise.
And a slew of mediocrity since. The most you can hope from Scott these days is okay-ish, and this doesn't look like it'll buck the trend.
True but either way these myths are based on actual things that exist such as the Egyptian race - which isn't white.
I usually feel like I'm in a great minority when I say I liked Prometheus so I'm always glad to see other posters expressing similar feelings.
Anyway, I'll be checking this out for sure.
Tbh I'd rather see a 'mediocre' Ridley Scott film than most director's work. But then again I do hold Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator in the extremely high regard.
OK but maybe they wanted the best possible name to play Ramses. Christian Bale is one of my favourite actors but his box office returns suggest he can't carry a film on his own. The best supporting actor they found (Edgerton who's a rising star) happens to be white. So they've sacrificed racial authenticity for a big name cast. I will agree with some of the minor characters though (played by Aaron Paul and Sigourney Weaver) where maybe they should've gone for ethnic actors.
In two minds about this now since since I really want to see this, what with the talent behind the camera and on screen. But yeah, the whitewashing of some of the characters is just an unecessary thing to do (which I kinda ignored before). Edgerton stills looks entertaining as hell though, I'm not going to lie
Yes... except he wasn't the best possible actor to play Ramses because he's miscast. They could have got two time academy award winner Denzel Washington or Idris Elba or chiwetel ejiofor . There is only so far a person can act a role before people are or are not going to believe you in that role and you cannot pretend to play another race. Not without prosthetics. Furthermore, blue eyed boy is not even a household name; nobody knows who he is.
As for Christian Bale not being a box office draw:
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=darkknight.htm
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=batman3.htm
I laugh every time it pans to Sigourney Weaver and Joel what'shisface. I just can't take it seriously. It's embarrassing.
You really think that is down to Bale, or more that people wanted to see a Batman film.
Joel Edgerton is a respectable and talented actor. He's no star granted but he's talented (stole the show from Leo in The Great Gatsby). But fair enough, it is inexcusable but I guess they wanted to find someone who'd fit the spirit of Ramses rather than just going for someone like Denzel for the sake of it. I'm actually won over by him from what I've seen from the trailers.
As for Bale, yes he's a hugely respectable name but he's no star. As talented as he is, he can't sell a movie on his name alone. Bale is a method/character actor who just so happens to have been in popular blockbusters. He doesn't sell movies like Tom Cruise and Bale himself would admit this.
To be fair, there are very few actors out there who are genuinely movie stars these days. The age of the movie star isn't what it was. The director of TDK movies praised Bale for his devotion to character rather than just turning up. He has this mentality that people should see his characters rather than himself in these movies.
Yes, and those are what you call false portrayals. And contemporary art is not "evidence" since it's not drawn by actual Ancient Egyptians. Egyptians were not and are white. This is Ancient Africa. Africa is a natural habitat for black people because their skin is able to withstand the sun at high temperatures (without the use of sun screen). Africa has always traditionally been a black continent before the invasion from Arabs and Caucasians, and one of the things they did once they invaded was break of the noses and lips of sculptures so that people wouldn't know they were black. These are the direct descendants of Egyptians: http://www.egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=006994 Yeah, not white.
Even the traditional looking make-up Sigourney Weaver and Joel Edgerton are wearing looks wrong because it's clearly tailored for those with darker skin.