But the movie also brought a tinge of sadness to me. For years, growing up, my family used to love watching the Ten Commandments. It was an annual comedy show, with classics such as Moses wearing a watch and the like. Who knew they had watches?! How does that affect history, O Wise Men? Who didn't enjoy watching the green smoke cause people to grab their own necks and choke themselves? And you had to love that "hail" - that was just incredible special effects.
Best of all was the favorite line of our family, particularly my brother OD. Bathya, upon finding Moses in the river, proclaims:
I shall call him Moses, for I drew him from the water!Um, no offense and all, but... why not just call him "Drew"?
I'm going to miss the old version.
Drew! Ha. That's really funny.
ReplyDeletehaha that's so funny.
ReplyDeletedon't know if they are showing the new version of the movie here but they ALWAYS show the old version which is always a fun diversion from cooking/last minute cleaning!
didn't Moshe have something like 9 names? Maybe Drew was one of them! lol
ReplyDeleteLOL ... I actually used that once as the opening joke for my drasha on parshat breishit about how Hebrew was the original, and according to medrash, only "authentic" - language. That's why his "real" name is the Hebrew Mosheh, even if she called him something else in Egyptian (Ibn Ezra) or English (Ten Commandments!).
ReplyDeleteI watched it tonight...
ReplyDeleteIt was... interesting. Definitely dramatic license took in a few places.
Anyway, they're showing the original on Sunday, as per usual.
Ezzie, we watch it every year, so...
ReplyDeleteRobbie: thanks for that info. I never miss it...No one says MOOOSES the way Anne Baxter does. And, really, could anyone be a better Moses that Chuck Heston? I don't think so.
I watched it too. They included some stuff left out from the original, but also took out some stuff. The meeting between Moses and the bush was horrible. God sounded silly and grouchy. What can I tell you, so far, Val Kilmer has been the best burning bush in "Prince of Egypt."
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was funny when God asks Moses "Do you trust me?" at the red-sea.
Ayelet - thought you'd like that one. :)
ReplyDeleteSarah - Exactly!
Rafi G - Mazel Tov!! You can call him, "Drew".
LR - You seem to speak about everything! :)
Robbie - Thanks! Good to know!
CM - NOBODY is better than Heston. Nobody.
HH - LOL. Wish I'd seen that. The good news is, maybe the new one has enough new things to make fun of!
You know, a while back, there was a movie called "moses" with Ben Kingsley. It was also a TV movie (or cable). It was good too. Heston is too over dramatic for a Moses.
ReplyDeleteI'm a ben Noach and I watched some parts of this with my parents, who aren't so Bible savy and don't like the fact that I'm not Catholic, like they. It was a bit sickening to see them watch it as if it was an historical documentary. It reminded me of Mel Gibson's "The Passion". This ABC rendition of the Ten Commandments made Moshe look psychotic, where he only received instructions from the Almighty during severe migraine attacks. Also, when people questioned Moshe about why they are doing what they're doing..."it's His will" was his response, with a crazed Jihadist look in his eye. My mom even said, "They made Moses look like he is in Al-qaida". I'd really like to hear other's thoughts on this.
ReplyDeleteHH - But the over dramatic is what made it so funny! :)
ReplyDeleteTT - Welcome! That's a really interesting portrayal. I didn't see it myself, so I can't really comment too much, but I wonder if that may have been done purposely. Perhaps the makers view religion as craziness? I believe there are those who say prophesy was the imagination of people with severe mental issues; perhaps this is a manifestation of that?
(Heh - I'm not usually the type who thinks 'agenda' off the bat, but your points were interesting...)
I don't think they made him look like Al-qaida (more like Jesus I think). I think they were trying to make him appear human, and not some mythical character. Humans go through the doubt, hurt, etc. and Moses was probably no exception. Who knows, perhaps Moses did get weird pains in the head when God talked to him,
ReplyDeletethey are showing the new version here. i have to say i'm not impressed so far! the special effects and acting, even the script, just not quite at the standard one would expect for a modern remake of an old 'classic'.
ReplyDeletethink i might go to sleep, it's not like i don't know the ending!!
and a bit of an added lol: i can hear my dad downstairs quoting the relevant pesukim from the chumash!!
ReplyDeleteHH - Certainly possible.
ReplyDeleteSarah - LOL. I think Meryl Yourish made fun of when they left at a "cliffhanger" [it's 2 parts here I guess] with someone pointing a spear at Moshe... "I wonder if he'll get out of this and lead them to the Red Sea...!?"
it was two parts here as well. the 'cliffhanger' just didnt' grab me :P
ReplyDelete