[e-mail] Reviews

The Prince of Egypt (1998)

The secularists will try and fail to bury this movie

[10/10 · 23 September 2019]

Since The Prince of Egypt was first released in 1998, it has received very little attention from the lists of great animated films. Despite the incredible songs by Stephen Schwartz, the fascinating and relatable characters, the timeless story, and the overall magnitude of the film despite its short running time, it almost seems as though there are many who want to see this movie forgotten. But why? Why should such an inspired piece of art be met with such hostility? The simple answer is hostility toward religion. Or to be more exact, cultural Marxism.

No matter what any "authoritative" critic may try to claim, The Prince of Egypt is one of the greatest animated films of all time and will almost certainly rise from the ashes to be recognized as such forever. Anyone with an open mind can watch this movie and see within the first scene how powerful this film really is. Those who are hostile toward Christianity, Judaism, or religion in general, however, may complain that the film is off-putting to non-believers, which film-aficionados often are. To answer this, yes, it does appear to be a film made by believers. But does this really diminish everything that makes it so powerful as a piece of cinema, to the point that it should be forgotten? Few animated movie musicals have ever achieved such a powerful, lasting effect as The Prince of Egypt, and there is no good reason why this movie should not top every list of great animated films, as well as movie musicals. Even such beloved Disney classics as The Lion King, Beauty & the Beast, and Aladdin could arguably be eclipsed in some ways by this film.

Perhaps the most powerful part of the movie is the music. Stephen Schwartz, the composer and lyricist of Wicked, Godspell, and Pippin, as well as the lyricist for Disney's Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, delivers some of his best work in The Prince of Egypt. Although all his music is thrilling, this seems to have been a very personal and important project to Mr. Schwartz. The film was just recently re-adapted into a stage musical, so the songs will now have a much better chance of achieving immortality. Schwartz's gift for using music to tell stories rivals that of such greats as Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, and Sondheim, and he more than deserves to be counted among them. His work on this film only assures that. Furthermore, Hans Zimmer's score is just as great as his work in Lion King or anything else he's done.

Those who hate religion and Christianity will continue to ridicule and try to diminish this film, but they will never be able to change the fact that true, genuine inspiration was behind its creation. The Exodus is one of the most spiritual and inspiring stories in all of human history, and Dreamworks has captured it here beautifully in the form of an animated movie musical. The hostility received by The Prince of Egypt may actually be an indication of how exceptional it truly is; a truly world-changing work of art is likely to have its detractors, and this is a film whose nay-sayers are definitely not destined to prevail. For those who do believe in God or who are simply open to the idea of a good movie with a Biblical story as its source material, The Prince of Egypt is sure to be a spiritual experience to carry within one's heart forever. It is a spectacular movie, and despite the resistance from the secular left that seeks to destroy everything about the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is too inspired a work of art to be lost to obscurity.

Touched with Fire (2015)

The only way to truly understand and appreciate this movie is if you are bipolar

[8/10 · 9 April 2017]

As much as I wish I could, it would not be fair to give this film a higher rating than I have, the reason being that I understand why it is completely impossible for the vast majority of viewers to ever find this film as moving as I do. Those of us who are members of the elite craft that Marco mentions all see this movie through a completely different lens than those who do not live every day of our lives with this thing that can be just as accurately categorized as an illness as a gift.

Paul Dalio, writer, director, editor and composer of this film, has been through the experience of being hospitalized with a manic episode and subsequently diagnosed and medicated. Using his artistic gift for film making, he has created a story that attempts to show the world what it's like to experience life with bipolar disorder. It is a very nice story that does a good job of deeply exploring the subject matter. However, although he clearly has a gift for storytelling, Dalio's attempt creates something that may be difficult or impossible for most of his audience to relate to. Those of us with bipolar have the same experience when watching this movie as the boomer generation has when watching Forrest Gump - constantly saying to ourselves, "Wow, yeah, I remember that." Everyone else sees something very different, and I could easily understand if the majority of people who see this movie either don't understand it or find it mediocre.

It may be a while before the world is really ready for this movie. Psychology is still a fairly new subject that has only been studied in depth by more than just a few people for the last sixty years or so. I do hope the day will soon come when bipolar disorder will be much better understood by everybody. If that day ever does arrive, then and only then will this movie ever become the classic that I believe it deserves to be.

Crash (I) (2004)

One of the worst movies I have EVER seen

[1/10 · 3 January 2009]

I have no remorse whatsoever in saying this is one of the most ridiculous, pretentious, un-entertaining pieces of film work I have encountered in my short life. Sure, the cinematography is beautiful, but other than that, I despise this film with every fiber of my being. The whole time, I was slowly shaking my head with a grimace on my face, fighting the urge to stop the disc, take it out of the player, and snap it in half.

All of this movie has are film elements added into a script that should be underscored by real meaning and point, none of which it has. Every other word is "f*ck", almost every scene is two or more people shouting in anger in each other's faces, unnecessary violence sprouts up like dandelions on a clean lawn, and just to see if they couldn't make it worse, they add a sex scene with no meaning behind it in an attempt to ensnare people who love nudity. There is absolutely no character development. Ever character in this movie is portrayed the same - someone frustrated or angry at someone else with a serious need for therapy. There really isn't even any plot line. It's all just a bunch of events of people being d-bags to each other with no connection between them at all. It's like emotion attempted to be shoved down one's throat with no real justification for why it should even be there.

On top of all that, things like this movie are the very reason for all the social troubles depicted therein. Racism is definitely the predominant theme, which is blown way out of proportion in this movie anyway, and the only thing this movie is likely to do is make minorities want to hold themselves more proud so that more hatred and tension will be created in today's society. Though I'm sure not all are like this, minorities in this movie are shown to hate white people and have every reason to steal and murder them with no moral obligation not to. It is even indirectly said by one African-American character that there is no moral reason at all why a black man should not rob or shoot a white person. People don't seem to realize that if these problems in our society are to be ended, people should learn to live and get along with each other rather than making utter crap like this which will cause more hatred between people, or maybe just make others feel bad or guilty for reasons they should not.

Essentially, nothing but a movie about people being a--holes to each other with no meaning behind it at all. I sure hope no one's going to pull the if-you-hate-this-movie-it-means-you're-a-racist-prick card on me, though I wouldn't be surprised, as that kind of attitude is exactly what this movie promotes. How this won Best Picture, I cannot imagine, because it is without a doubt one of the worst things ever put on a screen. This movie is a very bad influence on people, and I would not recommend anyone seeing it.