Month: April 2015

AI featured

THIS is American Idol… Is it the Finale Yet?

Lily Finn Leave a comment

Firstly, let me apologize for taking a break last week. But honestly, the show was too boring to spend much energy on.  As it is, this show is becoming a little too stretched out for 2 hours of programming.  We could easily fit everything into an hour, and it would be so much more enjoyable.  I’m basically falling asleep by the end of the 2 hours… at this point, I’m reconsidering my commitment to watching this season in real time.  What I would give to fast forward through commercials and all the unnecessary mishegoss.

Quentin went home, which was expected, and Rayvon won the fan save, yet again…

Harry Idol XIVSo here we are this week, with our Top 5 being dwindled to the Top 4 (without the fan save this week).  Before we get into the contestants, let’s discuss our favorite judges.  First, let’s talk about J Lo’s outfit.  It’s a little rough with the glittery leopard print – but if anyone can do it, she can.  That is all.

The themes for this week are 1) songs from the Judges’ home state (even though this show is not about the judges) and 2) the contestant’s “soul” songs – or, as Harry likes to put it – their “gravy” song.

So, we have New York for J Lo, New Orleans for Harry, and, naturally, Nashville for Keith… really?  Don’t you think we should be bringing in some classic Australian anthems here?

Lastly, Harry this evening (yummm… so dreamy.)

Now for the AI go getters…

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Trailer of the Year Awards – Black Mass

Matt Edwards 4 Comments

I may have used my “Trailer of Year” card a wee bit early this year on Mad Max Fury Road back in January as I gushed over the pure enjoyment it brought me, because the latest trailer to drop on the scene is for the true crime film Black Mass starring Johnny Depp as notorious Boston mafia hitman Whitey Bulger.  This one sent chills down the spine, courtesy of the great chameleon that is Johnny Depp.  So I’m going to keep track of the trailers that stand out for me this year and declare a “Trailer of the Year” award at 2015’s end.  Consider Mad Max Fury Road as entry number one and Black Mass as entry number two.

Two observations: 1) It’s clear to me that Leonardo DiCaprio has been attempting to emulate Johnny Depp for the past 20 years.  2) The scene anchoring the trailer is a direct homage to the most famous scene in modern mafia film history – Joe Peschi and Ray Liotta’s “whatta mean I’m funny?” scene from Goodfellas.  The difference in scene depicted here is, the stakes are higher because it’s not personal, it’s about business and survival.  This is not a rip-off, this is a great example of being influenced by the greats and improving on it. We’ll see how it plays out in the feature.

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Spectator-less Baseball

Matt Edwards Leave a comment

SmashCut Talk thumbnailIf a home run is hit and there is no one around to cheer, did it really happen? We’ll soon find out. The Baltimore Orioles will host the Chicago White Sox in riot-torn Baltimore at Camden Yards sans fans in the seats. Because, even though the streets are on fire, people are getting hurt, and the police department continues to investigate another death-while-in-custody case, the game must go on!  I’d be interested in hearing from those that support this decision to play ball, and from those who would prefer a cancellation or change of venue during this time.

Exit question:  Will the call to keep out the public incite those with violence on their mind to target the Camden Yards?

F4

Trailer Tuesday: “Fantastic Four”

Patrick Lehe Leave a comment

F4-poster

What’s invisible, stretchy, rock hard and on fire? This trailer! Or at least the cast is…
Josh Trank’s “Fantastic Four” is about 3 months from theatrical release and with that impending doom (ha!) comes a new full-length trailer.

I’ve tackled this issue before, but to reiterate, I’ve been pretty stoked about this film since I heard Trank was first attached.  “Chronicle” was a great film with a dark edge that I thought would be great for a reboot of Marvel’s first family.  Then all the production nightmare stories started floating around about Trank trashing the set and the cast wanting to back out, etc.  But none of that would have ever crossed my mind having just viewed the second trailer!

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Remembering Jefferson: Beagle, Friend, Terror

James Harberson 1 Comment

April 25th marked one year since I lost Jefferson, beagle and beloved terror. I write to remember him. Doubtless some of you are thinking “It’s only his fourth column and he’s already eulogizing dead pets. Spiraling into narcissism are we?  And isn’t this supposed to be a culture blog?” Fair enough. One defense: My dogs have been an education in politics and economics:  When two dogs get new the exact same toy, each still wants the other’s; that a toy may be abandoned for months, but as soon as one rediscovers it, the other demands it; that the keeper’s love and attention are always a zero sum game; and that my basset hound, like a , can laze about while demanding my servitude. Another defense: Life is often hideous and crushing; appreciating its blessings softens its blows. Jefferson and I shared plenty of both, and I’m better for it.

Jefferson was a beagle’s beagle (with possibly a little foxhound mixed in): avid hunter, neurotic demander, chaos on four legs. A definitive anecdote: One afternoon, two dumb-dumb tourists picnicked in a favorite dog park upon ground perpetually befouled by urine and feces. They took a few minutes to retreat, but not before Jefferson indulged multiple drive-bys, snatching their food in perfect glee.

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Goodfellas at 25

Matt Edwards 1 Comment

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Martin Scorcese’s New York mafia masterpiece Goodfellas. Film critic Sonny Bunch over at the Free Beacon writes about the iconic film and points out, rightly so, the obsession with the shot. 

The tracking shots have been discussed to death—I defy you to find a listicle celebrating the “long shot” that doesn’t include Goodfellas’ Copacabana entrance, along with Touch of Evil’s first crane shot and Altman’s work on The Player—but Scorsese isn’t just showing off. These shots serve a purpose. My favorite is early on, when and are introduced to the guys in the crew, Jimmy Two Times and the rest. These new characters, several of whom we never see again, make eye contact with the camera (that is, the viewer), welcoming you into their world, insinuating you into their scams.

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wool cover

Reading for Writing – Wool

Mike Pauly Leave a comment

Wool hugh howeyby Hugh Howey

One of the first major success stories of the self-publishing revolution, Wool is the tale of a post nuclear war dystopia where what remains of the human race is confined underground in a giant silo stretching deep into the earth. The silo lives under strict protocols which begin to unravel when a new Sheriff investigates a recent series of murders.

A large part of what made this book compelling was its surprising twists, so SPOILERS AHEAD:

What I learned, Part 1 – Bold choices early in a story can give a reader a sense of uneasiness which can carry through the whole book. The first two main viewpoint characters, the original Sheriff and the original Mayor are both killed within the first 1/3 of the novel. Because they are both quite likable and resourceful, as a reader we can never be quite sure that our newest main character is going to survive. It was a risky choice because it may have alienated readers, but I found it to be very successful.

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When We Meet Again – 2014 Liberty Lab For Film

Smash Cut Culture 1 Comment

Jimmy Lui is one of 2014’s Taliesin Nexus Fellows.  He wrote and directed the short film thriller When We Meet Again.  His partner fellow Nevil Jackson was the cinematographer on the project.  The film is a sci-fi drama about a teacher visited by a time-traveller who tries to convince her that he knows what is best for her.  Smash Cut Culture asked Jimmy Lui a few questions about the project and on himself as a filmmaker.

SCC: What drew you to be a filmmaker?

JL: A charcoal pencil.  I find that movies have a certain power that other mediums do not.  I grew up an Asian kid in the deep South.  To say that I did not fit in with my peers is a bit of an understatement.  Yet, at the movies, we were all the same.  That is a pretty powerful idea.  Movies can be empowering and personal and communal and inspiring and entertaining and influential.The movies I was attracted to most growing up were the films of Bruce Lee, the action films from Hong Kong and Big Trouble In Little China.  Perhaps it was seeing heroes who looked like me on the screen, but I think it was more the beauty and power of the martial arts and action in those films.

When I was a teenager, I noticed that most of the movies that I loved were by the same few filmmakers.  That’s when I decided that I wanted to be a filmmaker.  Unlike most filmmakers of my age group who went to film school, I do not like the Star Wars films and I think Martin Scorcese is a hack.  I would rather make movies in the vein of Sammo Hung, John Carpenter, Buster Keaton, Paul Vehoeven, David Cronenberg and Mel Gibson.

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liblab

2015 Liberty Lab For Film & Calliope Authors Workshop

Smash Cut Culture 2 Comments

Taliesin Nexus is proud to announce that applications have launched for two more of their 2015 programs.

Liberty Lab For Film

Get a $10,000 Grant to Make a Short Film in the Liberty Lab Program!

Taliesin Nexus is seeking applications for the Liberty Lab for Film program, which provides grants of $10,000 to seven teams of filmmakers to create a short film or web series with a liberty-related theme.  Each team of two filmmakers will be assigned a mentor from among our faculty of seasoned Hollywood professionals, screenwriters and producers whose credits include hit TV shows like The Blacklist and Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and hit movies like American Pie II and Liar Liar (with Jim Carrey).

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cutbank

Film Review – Cut Bank (2015)

Matt Edwards Leave a comment

cut_bank_ver2_xlgCut Bank is an original story made up of equal parts Fargo, A Simple Plan and Psycho.  Long time television director Matt Shakman  (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) takes his first jab at feature film directing with a small-town murder mystery titled Cut Bank, set in the poetically named real-life town of Cut Bank, Montana.  The town boasts a large display at it’s border declaring it as the coldest place  in the lower 48, however the film takes place during a not-unusual summer heat wave.  That my friends, is real honest to goodness nature-made climate change.  I imagine one of the reasons why the filmmakers chose to film in the summer is to remain as far removed from the look and feel of the classic Cohen Brothers’ film Fargo, which this almost certainly is inspired by.

While the film starts off as a murder mystery of whodunnits, after about 15 min, we quickly know who did done it, and more importantly why.  The why in this case is about what it usually always is, money.  And the who seems to be more about, who isn’t involved.  So then why even bother watching?  Well, this is one of those rare stories in film nowadays, where the audience is allowed to know everything and is left to simply watch and relish as these characters play catch-up.  (Gone Girl was another recent example of this, although for me, the ending ruined the entire experience.)  With a terrific veteran cast, as an audience member, all I want to do is watch these actors do their thing.

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RESTAURANT TEASER STILL003r

The Restaurant Kickstarter Wrap-Up

Eric T. Ford Leave a comment

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hayridefilms/the-restaurant-a-supernatural-horror-comedy

Three weeks ago I wrote about my horror comedy feature, The Restaurant. We embarked on a Kickstarter campaign to secure funding, and today marks the final day of that endeavor. Today is also the beginning: the beginning of pre-production as we move to the next phase of the journey.

We have a few hours left. Funding doesn’t close until 2:00 eastern time tonight, which means if you’re reading this from the west coast, you have until 11:00 to back the film.

The Restaurant - Teaser Poster500h

Kickstarter incurs a 5% fee plus a 3% payment processing fee, and the more distance we can put between ourselves and the 18,000 mark, the more we can offset those fees. The more we can raise, the more resources we’ll have for makeup and effects, location use, taking care of our cast and crew, and unanticipated expenses. In exchange for your backing, we offer a wide selection of perks. At the $15 backer level, you get a digital copy of the film. $50 gets you a Kickstarter Edition disc with exclusive special features and content, including the soundtrack and pre-production materials (one of our most popular rewards).

My team is excited and happy to have come this far, and we’re eager to get to the fun part: making the movie. I’ve learned a lot from the crowdfunding experience and it’s given me a new respect for entrepreneurship and what goes into starting a business — because that’s essentially what we are doing.

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AI featured

THIS is American Idol…Down to 6

Lily Finn Leave a comment

“The American Classics”

We’re back for another riveting American Idol this week – not only do we have the (now standard) “Idol fan save,” but each contestant sings 2 songs!  Yikes!

AI14_Tyanna-Jones_MB0010-whiteTyanna

She started off the show with “Why Do Fools Fall in Love.” I thought this was a killer song choice for her, and a great one to open the show, even though Keith questioned if America wanted to hear this song.  She sang it with such ease and grace.  As much as she wants to be a singing star, if she can act, I totally see her on Broadway.  She has the type of voice that makes one walk out of a theater singing show tunes for the next week.

For the second round she busted out some CCR with “Proud Mary,” and she definitely nailed it.  Her voice with her sparkly outfit was definitely a wow factor for everyone.

AI14_Clark-Beckham_MB0004Clark began his first of two performances with a little Stevie Wonder – jammin his guitar and killer vocals with the band to “Superstition,“ and lookin damn good while at it.  Overall a great start, as he received zero negative critiques from the judges (although Keith Urban did suggest how he could become a tad sexier, a la a pretty australian country singer we all know too well, by letting the guitar hang a little bit lower on his body) and he practically got a standing ovation from all the girls (and some guys) in the room.

He came back with a little Frank Sinatra’s “Moon River,” ditching his guitar for a spot at the piano.  But, I feel I almost don’t need to spend too much time here, because there is no doubt he is running away with this competition.

And then Keith comes back with a call back to round one… and it was pretty funny. With his only suggestion being to have the piano dropped a little lower and closer to the ground.

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Every Modern Doctor Who Episode Ranked From Worst To Best, Part 4: “Fantastic!”

Daniel Sherrier 1 Comment

[Updated with Season 9 episodes]

And here we are at last—the top episodes of modern Doctor Who. If you missed the earlier installments, you can start at the bottom with “I’m Sorry, I’m So Sorry,” then progress up through “Are These Good Episodes?” and “These Episodes Are Cool.” Or, if you want to focus on the positive, see below.

Remember: Spoilers!

Without further ado, Geronimo!

“Fantastic!”

DoctorWho_AmysChoice#28 Amy’s Choice: A dream-based episode where the stakes feel real. The set-up is intriguing with the characters not knowing which of the two realities is the dream, and it’s all grounded by a strong emotional core. I’m not sure how Amy fell in love with Rory back in these pre–Hitler-punching days, and that does mar the episode just a tad, but great stuff otherwise.

#27 Last Christmas: Another dreamy episode, but a totally different one: Doctor Who does Inception, guest starring Santa Claus. It’s one of those ideas that could easily have gone so wrong and yet somehow finds the sweet intersection of Christmas and sci-fi.

#26 Midnight: I wouldn’t want every episode to be like this, but this is a wonderfully tense change of pace, and one of very, very few Doctor Who episodes that could conceivably be staged as a play. All that repetition is unsettling, but it’s a good unsettling. (more…)

WWC

The 2015 World Cup Starts Soon: Who Cares?

Crystal Hubbard Leave a comment
Certainly not FIFA.  And maybe not even the Canadian Soccer Association.  Probably a few corporate sponsors including the upstart carbonated beverage maker known as the Coca-Cola Company; some plucky airbnb users for sure; and definitely Fox Sports.  But after three decades of international play and an on-again / off-again romance with the beautiful game, is it possible to defend an American cultural interest in soccer as played by the most successful national team in U.S. history (sorry, Dream Team)?
uswnt wwc15
The 2015 Women’s World Cup Roster (USA)
Here’s how I see it.

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bighero6

Big Hero 6 and Green Technology

Tara Clark Leave a comment

Big Hero 6 screen shot

I was immediately taken with the movie Big Hero 6 the first time I saw it.  Actually, I was completely on board from the first I saw for the film.  The movie is fun, compelling, beautiful animated, and involves Alan Tudyk. But, it took several viewings for one of the most visually striking elements of San Fransokyo to really register. I’m referring to the brightly painted, floating wind turbines that hover above the city.

It turns out that, like a lot of the technology in the film, these wind turbines are based on science fact, not fiction. These turbines, referred to as BATs for Buoyant Air Turbine, are already in small scale production.  Their use in the film is both obvious, and non-intrusive; a subtle way to start normalizing the idea of renewable energy in our modern, everyday lives.

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Scream-TVposter

Trailer Tuesday: “Scream: The TV Series”

Patrick Lehe Leave a comment

What’s your favorite scary movie? Well, in this case, TV show?

Horror on television has famously become more and more popular with the rise in quality of TV in general.  Shows like “The Walking Dead” and “American Horror Story” have seen huge success, which obviously leads to producers thinking that they can make ANYTHING work.  Well, I hope that’s true!
The latest company to join the bandwagon is MTV, with its’ reboot of the “Scream” franchise…in TV form.

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Everything about the ‘new’ you need to know about ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’

Dave Huber Leave a comment

With the second installment of The Avengers less than a month away, and with it clearly the favorite to be the summer blockbuster of 2015, it behooves us to be aware of that which came before — or, at least, from where the new characters to which we’ll be introduced come, as well as various needed plot elements.

Print comics is a dying medium, yes, but naturally, without ’em, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy our heroes on the silver screen.

THE VILLAIN
Ultron was created by Hank Pym, aka Giant Man as shown in Avengers #58. The robot quickly “evolves,” going from monosyllabic to complex speech in mere moments. He quickly frees himself from any concept of robotic servitude, immobilizing and then brain-wiping Pym, and escaping into the night.

Soon disguised as the Crimson Cowl, Ultron recruits a new Masters of Evil to assist him against the Avengers, and follows this with the creation of the Vision (Avengers #57), whom he also sends against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The Vision, however, betrays Ultron and helps the Avengers to defeat the mechanoid. But unknown to all, the robot’s “braincase” remains intact.

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LairWhiteWorm

My Bloody Easter Basket: Appreciating Lair of the White Worm

James Harberson Leave a comment

lotww

It’s Eastertide, so I’m thinking about human sacrifice. Feeding monsters virgins is for primitives and pagans. We Westerners are above all that. Except we’re not.

Human sacrifice centers Christian identity. Forget the Jesus-loves-you sentimentality churches retail to smooth their theological edges. At bottom, Easter is about filicide. God murdered his only son (incarnated for that purpose) to save people from the hellfire God himself prescribed (because Eve talked to the wrong snake). Of course, everything’s cocaine and cream cakes because God’s sacrifice saves the world and Jesus comes back to life. So it’s human sacrifice, but with a Hollywood ending.

Yet, “human kind/[c]annot bear very much reality[,]” so we’ve turned Easter into egg hunts and . Easter reminds us that God kills. A lot: the Great Flood (so much for that beta test), the Midianites (except for female virgins kept as war spoils), Passover (which somehow reminds me of ), and finally Jesus (sort of). Maybe it’s marketing for kids. Try explaining to a child that God murder/suicide loves you. Or maybe it’s because dying for something is what we pay other people to do.

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Every Modern Doctor Who Episode Ranked From Worst To Best, Part 3: “These Episodes Are Cool”

Daniel Sherrier 3 Comments

[Updated with Season 9 episodes]

Now we’re getting into the good stuff, and we still have the best stuff to look forward to. How lovely. For anyone just tuning in, I started this worst-to-best ranking of modern Doctor Who two weeks ago with the weakest episodes in “I’m Sorry. I’m So Sorry,” continued with the middling ones in “Are These Good Episodes?” and here we are now in the penultimate entry:

(Spoilers!)

“These Episodes Are Cool”

Doctor Who 42#56 42: What should’ve been a wonderfully tense, 24-style thriller winds up being merely pretty good. Trivia as security questions? What?

#55 Tooth and Claw: A decent romp with a werewolf, ninja monks, and Queen Elizabeth. Not an all-time classic, but kind of fun.

#54 The Vampires of Venice: One that falls squarely in the “good dumb fun” category. The plot about fish aliens wanting to repopulate their species (while coincidentally resembling vampires) is kind of so-so, but the episode’s high on adventure and the Doctor makes a memorable entrance at Rory’s bachelor party.

#53 Deep Breath: Victorian society is awfully nonchalant about the sudden appearance of a dinosaur, isn’t it? Honestly, I’m getting tired of the Paternoster Gang by this point. The Sontaran is just too dense. But Peter Capaldi has some great scenes that save what’s otherwise the weakest introduction of a modern Doctor to date. And Clara starts to evolve into an actual character, thank goodness.

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Borges

Borges’ Utopia

Gabriel Caprav Leave a comment

Argentine writer, Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) was especially known for his collections of short fictions such as The Aleph and Ficciones, where he generally dealt with metaphysical ideas about time and identity.  Furthermore, to a certain extent, his work evidences the series of political and ideological transformations he went throughout the course of his life.

In his late teens, circa 1918, while he was living in Europe, he identified with the communist ideals of the Bolshevik Revolution, an experience that encouraged him to pen the poem called Red Rythms, a poem that in his old age he was only too happy to have lost and forgotten.  In the early twenties, when he finally returned to Buenos Aires, he went through a period of nationalistic fervor to the extent of supporting the populist caudillo, Hipólito Yrigoyen, whom many consider as a forerunner of the famed authoritarian demagogue, Juan Domino Perón.  Many of his poems and essays celebrate everything Argentine, from the mythological stature of the gauchos to the slang of the suburbs of Buenos Aires.

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AI featured

THIS is American Idol…and then there were 7

Lily Finn Leave a comment

Here we are! Our Top 8 performing this week, with one going home, revealing the top 7.  After Daniel Seavey’s departure last week (thank the Lord), things were lookin up on our favorite singing competition show!  However, with the “Idol Fan Save” back again this week, I’m not convinced that unless a contestant has a vocal mishap or wardrobe malfunction that America can be trusted with these important decisions… though I hope so.

AI top 8

The Idol Fan Save (more like the East Coast Fan Save) puts me in a difficult position being in Los Angeles, and watching this “live”, because there is really no live involved, and this live fan vote already happened 3 hours ago!  So, I feel completely helpless sitting on my couch behind the screen of my laptop.  America: Please represent!

With two co-mentors this week (one country and one hip hop), the contestants were broken up into teams to work on their individual performances.  But in addition to the contestant performances, we have a lot of pros guest starring here as well… I’m predicting that as the contestant pool dwindles, the show will become more about over produced guest performances. So let’s get to it:

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pawn

Reading for Writing – Story Trumps Structure

Mike Pauly Leave a comment

the pawhThe Pawn by Steven James

Having read 50+ books on writing I feel this book is the third most useful I have read, after only Scriptshadow Secrets by Carson Reeves and Story by Robert McKee. It examines even basic material in a memorable way which makes you more likely to use the ideas in your work. I highly recommend it. The following ideas are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the insights the book contains.

What I learned, Part 1 – An example of Mr. James’s memorable phrasing is: “the ceiling fan principle.” Obviously any story needs to have tension, but the author posits that “things going wrong” is the prime mover of narrative. He uses as an example the common children’s assignment of “what did you do last summer?” Most children’s lists are mind-numbingly boring, because they are just that, lists. But one student in the author’s class said that “me and by cousins were having a contest jumping off my bunk bed to see who could get farthest. And there was this ceiling fan…” So if any scene you are writing feels flat, find the ceiling fan and you’ll be well on your way to improving it.

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dictionary

20 Words That Once Meant Something Different

Matt Edwards Leave a comment

This is an pretty silly list. And by silly I of course mean worthy. Check it out the first five here from Anne Curzan.

  1. Nice: This word used to mean “silly, foolish, simple.” Far from the compliment it is today!

  2. Silly: Meanwhile, silly went in the opposite direction: in its earliest uses, it referred to things worthy or blessed; from there it came to refer to the weak and vulnerable, and more recently to those who are foolish.

  3. Awful: Awful things used to be “worthy of awe” for a variety of reasons, which is how we get expressions like “the awful majesty of God.”

  4. Fizzle: The verb fizzle once referred to the act of producing quiet flatulence (think “SBD”); American college slang flipped the word’s meaning to refer to failing at things.

  5. Wench: A shortened form of the Old English word wenchel (which referred to children of either sex), the word wench used to mean “female child” before it came to be used to refer to female servants — and more pejoratively to wanton women.

  6. Fathom: It can be hard to fathom how this verb moved from meaning “to encircle with one’s arms” to meaning “to understand after much thought.” Here’s the scoop: One’s outstretched arms can be used as a measurement (a fathom), and once you have fathoms, you can use a fathom line to measure the depth of water. Think metaphorically and fathoming becomes about getting to the bottom of things.

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biblepost

Literature You Should Know: The Bible

Elisabeth G. Wolfe Leave a comment

Charlton-Heston-as-Moses-The-Ten-Commandments-1956-ParamountIt’s the #1 best-seller of all time, translated in whole or in part into over two thousand languages.  It’s been banned and burned but never totally destroyed; in fact, despite Diocletian’s best efforts, it’s the best-attested book that survives from antiquity, with Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars a distant second.  It contains practically every genre you can think of—comedy, tragedy, archetypal narrative, lyric poetry, wisdom literature, dream-vision and allegory, family drama, courtroom drama, political thriller, history, genealogy, epistle, biography and autobiography.  An anthology of sixty-six books written over thousands of years in three different languages by kings, priests, prophets, shepherds, and fishermen, it nonetheless tells a single metanarrative story of redemption:  the history of the people of Israel, the coming of Jesus of Nazareth, and the way a simple Jewish carpenter changed the world.  And nearly two thousand years after the last words were penned, authors and filmmakers continue to grapple with its content, with mixed success.  Exodus: Gods and Kings is just the latest example proving that the Book is always better than the movie.

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