Exodus – Gods and Kings: Naïve & Devoid of Content

This movie was selected by our Patreon Supporters over at the Cinematic Doctrine Patreon. Support as little as $3 a month and have your voice heard! 

Shirleon joins Melvin to discuss our latest Patron-Selected movie, Exodus: Gods and Kings! Can Ridley Scott give this paramount Bible story the Gladiator treatment? Does it play fast and loose with the historical account? Was it, at the very least, enjoyable? Tune in to find out!

Topics:

• (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 33-minutes discussing the various drama leading up to Snow White (2025)’s release as well as it’s Rotten Tomato Score debut. (PATREON EXCLUSIVE)
• Shirleon, “I hated it. I hated the direction that it went.”
• Melvin, “It’s super rare to find movies that feel like they’re devoid of content.”
• What deflates the material is how remedial it is compared to the rich complexities of the Biblical text.
• A follow-up to criticism’s mentioned in the Journey to Bethlehem episode regarding bible-reading statistics.
• The film doesn’t just mischaracterize historical figures, it mischaracterizes biblical figures, texts, and God Himself, all in ways that can’t be considered concessions of the medium.
• Melvin talks about the one scene in the movie he liked.
• The two agree: It’s not just a bad biblical adaptation, it’s also a bad movie.

Recommendations:

• Read Exodus from the Bible
• The Prince of Egypt (1998) (Movie) (Cinematic Doctrine Episode)
• The Ten Commandments (1956) (Movie)
• The Midnight Meat Train (2008) (Movie)

Exodus: Gods and Kings is Rated PG-13 for violence including battle sequences and intense images. It features Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley, Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro, Aaron Paul, Ben Mendelsohn, Zipporah, Isaac Andrews, Hiam Abbass, and Indira Varma. Directed by Ridley Scott. Exodus: Gods and Kings is available here.

Consider supporting Cinematic Doctrine on Patreon! As a bonus, you can gain access to a once-a-month movie poll where you decide a movie we discuss on the podcast, early unedited episodes of the podcast, and merch!!

Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. Whether it’s a movie, show, game, comic, or novel, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s rich, he’s ready and willing to give it a try! His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!

Cinematic Doctrine is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and other major podcast apps.

Bottle Rocket – Talking Wes Anderson – Cinematic Doctrine: A Movie Review Podcast Hosted by Christians

Send us a Question!MOVIE DISCUSSION: Kathryn joins Melvin to discuss Bottle Rocket, Wes Anderson's first feature-length film! The vibes are cozy and the dramedy is light, and the two get into discussions about classism (go figure!), easy-to-watch films, and what it is about Wes Anderson that makes him so mainstream. Topics: (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 23-minutes discussing Darren Aronofsky's AI-Slop studio "Primordial Soup" which specializes in producing "stories" and "art" through AI programs (LLMs and AGIs a la Chat-GPT and Midjourney) and how this endeavor is actually anti-art. (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) Kathryn has stated that Bottle Rocket is her favorite Wes Anderson movie. Is this still true?It's nice to watch a Wes Anderson movie where he isn't overly controlling everything.Talking classism, adulthood, maturity, & empathy.Melvin isn't so sure he likes Wes Anderson's movies as much as everyone else, and he spends some time thinking what it is others see in them.Talking about Dignan, Anthony, and the unique characters therein.The climax of the film feels like a great representation of what Wes Anderson does best.Recommendations:Brick (2006) (Movie)Amnesia: The Dark Descent (2010) (Video Game)Support the showSupport on Patreon for Unique Perks! Early access to uncut episodes Vote on a movie/show we review One-time reward of two Cinematic Doctrine Stickers & Pins Social Links: Threads Website Instagram Letterboxd Facebook Group

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