Exodus: Gods and Kings

Ridley Scott's take on the story of Moses is suitably epic and it would be hard to compare it to his last two movies. But if we go back and look at other historical epics he's done, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven, we know there's precedent for him to be better.

Exodus tells the story of Moses (Christian Bale) and how he gathered the Hebrews to escape the Egyptians. We see his exile from Egypt by the Pharaoh Ramesses II (Joel Edgerton), the plagues of Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea. Depending on your background, this is probably a familiar tale and will be easy to follow, even guess what is going to happen next.

As stated above, Scott is fairly adept at making an epic film and this movie certainly does tick all the boxes. While it doesn't necessarily push the envelope in the storytelling department, it makes up for it with some amazing visuals and action set pieces. The sets of Memphis, the capital of Ancient Egypt are amazing and are backed up with some wonderful CGI images of the pyramids under construction. The deserts of Spain make a fantastic substitute for Egypt and match all the rocky crags that one might imagine from biblical myths. There are some amazing battles scattered throughout that display the amazing numbers that the armies of the time would have had.

In terms of acting, this really is a two-horse show for both Bale and Edgerton. Their performances aren't great, but that has to do with limited character development and that's alarming given the amount of supporting characters in the film. The stars playing the minor characters (Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro and Sir Ben Kingsley) are all given remarkably little to do but display a seemingly talented backdrop. The only person who I thought tried with his character a little was Ben Mendelsohn, who plays a slightly effete Egyptian viceroy.

Verdict: An overall good and suitably epic tale, but doesn't push the boundaries or throw you anything that you wouldn't have expected.

Fading Gigolo

I can see how this film could be perceived as Woody Allen film. The familiar Manhattan setting, the insecure characters, (not to mention that it also stars Allen) are all the elements that make up one of his movies. However, it is not, and if you look closely it differs from an Allen film just slightly.

This has to do with director John Turturro, who should be familiar with audiences of all ages having been in over sixty films. The film has a sort of faster pace than I originally thought it would have. In the first scene, we get straight to the action, there's no messing around introducing characters. Murray (Allen) gets straight to the point and asks his friend Fioravante (Turturro) whether or not he would be interested in the idea of being a male escort.

It happens just like that and we the audience are just as confronted by the idea as Fioravante. As he contemplates the idea, we get to see into Fioravante's life. Very soon he accepts and starts to do his duties as gigolo with a number of women, including Dr. Parker (Sharon Stone) and Selima (Sofia Vergara).

Allen of course plays his old role as always. There are some very funny scenes where he is out and about trying to find women in his role as pimp. He soon comes along Avigal (Vanessa Paradis), a Jewish widow living in Brooklyn. She is watched over by Dovi (Liev Schreiber), a neighbourhood watch officer, who believes himself to be a suitor of Avigal.

Schreiber is a great foil to Turturro and could be menacing if his character wasn't such a wet rag. There was one scene that he was involved in where I was confused and this involved an underground Jewish court trial.

Verdict: Turturro has made a very funny film that features some very beautiful women. I don't know if I would like to be picked up by four burly Jewish guys in an SUV.