the ten commandments Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Before our generation comes to a close, all of ancient history and mythology will have been filmed through a Zack Snyder / Frank Miller lens. Variety reports that the next ancient text to get the green-screened sepia treatment is the tale of Moses. Yes, Ten Commandments Moses.

20th Century Fox and its new big dog, Peter Chernin, have snapped up a pitch to retell "Let my people go!" in 300 fashion, and put Adam Cooper and Bill Collage to work penning a script. You might not remember their names now, but they're also pairing up with Timur Bekmambetov to remake the story of Moby Dick in a 300 "graphic novel style." Variety notes that all the elements you know and love from the story of Moses will be there (the Red Sea, the plague of locusts, the golden calf) but they will also incorporate "brand new elements" drawn from Midrashic sources. I wonder if they'll also find a way to include the scene with Zipporah rescues their son from the Lord by circumcising him? Because they could do some slow motion blood splatter with that.

Being an irreligious sort, I find the idea silly instead of offensive but it's possible that a lot of moviegoers could find this very disrespectful to their faith. Will it spur on copycat projects? Will other studios go "Why didn't we think of the Bible?", abandon Greek texts, and start producing 300 versions of Maccabees? Judges? 1 and 2 Kings? There's a lot of gory tales just waiting to be revamped with green screen.

• Larry Pizer (1925-2008) - Cinematographer who shot Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise and the director's music video for Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark", James Ivory's The Europeans, Ismael Merchant's The Proprietor and In Custody, Karl Reisz' Isadora and Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment, as well as Timerider, Folks! and Mannequin 2: On the Move. He died of cancer February 27, in New York. (Variety)

• Iris Burton (1930-2008) - Dancer-turned-agent who appears in The Ten Commandments and Top Banana and who helped launch the careers of River Phoenix and Henry Thomas. Other child stars she represented include Joaquin Phoenix, Drew Barrymore, Kirk Cameron, the Olsen twins and Fred Savage. She died after suffering from pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease April 5, in Woodland Hills, California. (Variety)

I remember back when I was very young I used to beg my parents to stay up late and watch movies. For some reason back then I was a big fan of "sword and sandal" epics like Cleopatra and The Ten Commandments. Their stories of life and death filled with action, drama, suspense and spectacle really appealed to me. As I grew older I still enjoyed watching these classics occasionally on TV or on DVD -- their splendor somewhat diminished by the passage of time but still a very entertaining way to spend a few hours.

Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, I am going to get a chance to enjoy The Ten Commandments all over again -- in the form of a new 3-D CGI animated feature film from Promenade Pictures and producer Frank Yablans. The new film, which will reportedly be the first in a 12-picture series called "Epic Stories From the Bible," is being animated in both New Zealand and Singapore and features the voices of actors Ben Kingsley, Elliott Gould and Christian Slater as Moses. Other projects in the series are expected to be announced shortly and will be part of the series of four to six films a year comprised of a mixture of wide releases and more niche platform titles.

In truth, I'm not sure exactly how I feel about a new version of this classic film. I guess its invertible that films with this kind of popularity will keep getting remade. After all, we did have to suffer through the less-than-stellar ABC mini-series from a few years ago. With any luck, this new film will be far superior to that one. Plus, I do have a soft spot for animation so that's a plus as well. However it all turns out, we'll all get a chance to find out when the film gets released on October 26.

We say goodbye to another funny woman today. Yvonne De Carlo died of natural causes Monday at the age of 84. If you're not sure who she is just remember the briefly-aired show The Munsters and you'll remember immediately her portrayal as the wife of the Frankenstein-type character Herman Munster. This role not only encapsulated her beauty (despite the large white streaks set across her coal black hair) but also showed the world that she was funny. This role expanded her future choices in films, diversifying her from former ingénue and film siren to more comedic roles.

Not that there is anything wrong with her dramatic roles: She had plenty, in films like The Ten Commandments, Criss Cross and Band of Angels. This means she played opposite some of the hunkiest men in Hollywood -- Charlton Heston, Clark Gable, and Burt Lancaster. I digress. I'm not at all demeaning any of the wonderful serious roles Yvonne De Carlo, played but find it more important to wave in the face of fans and cinefiles that she is considered a comedic ingénue with a strong career.

It's these types of women who paved the way for other funny women to thrive in lead comedic roles. Clara Bow was darling and funny dating us all the way to the silent film era. Imogene Coca -- my personal comedic icon -- was just as responsible for the success of Sid Caesar as he was. She continued to perform right up to her death, memorably as the wildly over the top and hysterically funny Grandmother in National Lampoon's Vacation. At about the same time as Carlo's comedic appearances Mary Tyler Moore was doing her part on the Dick Van Dyke Show, later getting her own show and paving the way for an even more impressive film career.

Yvonne De Carlo started out as another Hollywood starlet but developed her career into a powerful mix of drama and comedy. We not only pay tribute to this woman's life work but also her contribution to making it a little easier for funny women to make the world laugh through film.