It's Oscar season in Hollywood! That means studios are releasing the films they think are most likely to pick up awards next year before the eligibility cut off. Movies like Boyhood, Selma, The Imitation Game, and Birdman are getting wide acclaim from critics, with many viewing them as "locks" for the Best Picture nomination. And there there are the films that seemed to have the perfect pedigree - award winning director and actor, timeless story, incredible effects - that end up being absolutely terrible. Glenn believes Exodus: Gods and Kings falls into the latter category. But is it really the most dangerous movie of the year?
As Glenn explained in his review of the film on radio, Exodus is dangerous because it will become THE Moses story for the next generation. For decades, people have been raised on Cecil B. Demil's The Ten Commandments, a much more faithful telling of the story that placed God and faith at the center. The new one? Not so much.
"We all had Charlton Heston as our Moses icon and so we have the story right. This is going to become the story that your kids will see if you watch it on Netflix. You don't have to go to the movie theater. People will just go, I'm curious, I want to see it. They'll watch it and they'll watch it with their kids. And this will be the story of Moses that will embed in their head," Glenn said.
"I don't think it's the worst movie I've seen. I think it's one of the more dangerous movies I've seen religiously speaking because it's all screwed up," he added. "I think this is a very subversive movie for religion. If you're holding out hope that this was going to be good, it's not. Don't give them any money. Don't give them any money. Don't rent it on Netflix. Don't do anything. Avoid this one literally like the plague that it is."
Glenn took issue with several plot points, including the portrayal of God as a petulant child and Moses as a terrorist.
"As I'm watching it, I'm thinking to myself, who are they appealing to? Because as a religious person, as somebody who believes in Moses, somebody who believes in God, somebody who believes in the Ten Commandments, somebody who believes in Exodus, I'm offended. I'm like deeply offended. That you are taking a prophet of the Lord, one of the most humble men of all time and you're making him an al Qaeda member. It makes absolutely no sense."
Front page image courtesy of the AP.