2 Interesting movies you might have missed

The Physician
2013, with Ben Kingsley

For those who miss the substance and scope of films like “Lawrence of Arabia” and “The Man Who Would Be King,” Philipp Stoelzl’s “The Physician” restores one’s faith in the medium — if not necessarily one’s faith in faith. A hearty historical epic that pits intellectual progress against the stifling influence of world religions, this absorbing adaptation of Noah Gordon’s international bestseller — better known abroad, where the film has earned more than 3.5 million admissions, airing on German television in its full four-hour form — tells of a lowly English urchin who travels halfway around the globe to study under Persian thinker Ibn Sina.

Agora
2009, with Rachel Weisz

Alexandria, 391 AD: Hypatia teaches astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy. Her student Orestes is in love with her, as is Davus, her personal slave. As the city's Christians, led by Ammonius and Cyril, gain political power, the institutions of learning may crumble along with the governance of slavery. Jump ahead 20 years: Orestes, the city's prefect, has an uneasy peace with Christians, led by Cyril. A group from the newly empowered Christians has now taken to enforce their cultural hegemony zealously; first they see the Jews as their obstacle, then nonbelievers. Hypatia has no interest in faith; she's concerned about the movement of celestial bodies and "the brotherhood of all". Although her former slave doesn't see it that way..

I like both movies. I like the historical era, the themes : history, religion, science, philosophy, lost or collapsing empires, etc.. Also good acting in both. Tell me what you think.

Never heard of either, Agora looks right up my alley! Thank you will report back ifI enjoyed it or not.

"The Little Prince" is a pretty awesome animated film based on a children’s novella especially if you have kids...

It’s already been released in several countries overseas but won't be released in the US until March due to the popularity of the French children’s book it's based on in Europe.

The story is told in two parts in a very unique way. The film contains an original storyline with a little girl, she is literally named "The Little Girl," whose mother has her entire life planned out so that she is properly prepared to be an adult. However, her neighbor, The Aviator, begins to tell her the story of The Little Prince.

This is where the film becomes unique as the parts of the film that are based on the original story, are done as stop motion animation, in a completely different style than the computer animation of the rest of the film. It gives that aspect a much more surreal feeling. We assume that the story that The Aviator tells is "true" within the context of the film, but the change in style makes you wonder if it is, real or just a story within a story.

The Little Prince Trailer Is Magical And Moving

To be fair, every film with Jeff Bridges is a magical journey, but perhaps none more enchanting than The Little Prince. Jeff Bridges lends his voice to the upcoming animated film, which has taken its sweet time coming to North America. From Kung Fu Panda director Mark Osborne, the story follows a girl as she comes of age, taking on new, more adult responsibilities at the urging of her mother. But before she leaves childhood behind, her eccentric old neighbor (Bridges) introduces her to a magical world, where she learns some very poignant truths:

The Little Prince also features the voices of Mackenzie Foy (Interstellar) as The Little Girl, Rachel McAdams as her mom and Riley Osborne as The Little Prince, along with Benicio Del Toro, Marion Cotillard, Albert Brooks, Paul Giamatti, Ricky Gervais and Bud Cort. The film finally hits U.S. theaters on March 18, 2016.

‘The Little Prince’ Trailer: A Beloved Classic Returns

Agora could have been good....on a great topic...horrible movie. Didnt see the other

a reply to: gosseyn

I agree, both are very good movies... I've watched them more than once.

They're both a great watch for anyone who's a history buff.

"The Physician" is also known as "El Medico". It gives a really nice historical tasting of how science (in this case medicine) fought to progress forward during a time in human history when religious fervor was the rule of the day.

Actually "Agora" and the story of Hypatia is pretty much an historical account of the same idea... science fighting to move forward. Although I wish the movie Agora would have delved a little deeper into the build up leading to the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.

Looks and sounds like the producers and directors of both films are making a statement about modern society. We like to think we have progressed far beyond what these films portray. But have we? Maybe not near as much as we like to tell ourselves. We may be on the verge of another rerun of history right now. We certainly have all the elements, and key players.

Agora might be interesting to see. I'm curious as to how detailed they get with the events they are addressing. If they really get down to the "brass tacks" of what happened during that moment in history, Christianity is going to come out looking the villain by the end of the movie.

originally posted by: odinsway
Agora could have been good....on a great topic...horrible movie. Didnt see the other

I felt as if I was in the shoes of Hypatia all along, I think her acting was spot on. How it must have felt to live in a world like that when you want to be a free electron, and how she stayed true to her convictions until the end.

The worst thing is that none of her works have survived..

originally posted by: Klassified
Looks and sounds like the producers and directors of both films are making a statement about modern society. We like to think we have progressed far beyond what these films portray. But have we? Maybe not near as much as we like to tell ourselves. We may be on the verge of another rerun of history right now. We certainly have all the elements, and key players.

Agora might be interesting to see. I'm curious as to how detailed they get with the events they are addressing. If they really get down to the "brass tacks" of what happened during that moment in history, Christianity is going to come out looking the villain by the end of the movie.

Yes. Those who hate Islam are going to hate "the physician", and those who love Christianity are going to hate "Agora".

So, who has watched both movies because of this thread and what is your opinion ?

a reply to: Murgatroid

Love the Little Prince. Have recently watched it.
However this is a fairy taile,it works really good for adults.
I would even say that this is a fairy taile for adults.

a reply to: gosseyn

Gotta watch these two, thanks for posting.

originally posted by: gosseyn
So, who has watched both movies because of this thread and what is your opinion ?

I did see one of them, thanks much for making the thread...

I am a big Ben Kingsley fan so I watched 'The Physician'...

I had never heard of Ibn Sina before so I did learn a few things.

After I read some of the reviews on Agora, I decided against watching it at least for now.

The impression I got was that it was nothing more than a blatant anti-Christian propaganda hit piece.

Considering the fact that Hollywood is run by a bunch of people who hate Christianity with a passion, I wasn't one bit surprised.

The Gnostic agenda has now become all too obvious.

Below are a few of the reviews I read:

AGORA is a well-made attack on Christianity that falsely claims that Christians burned down the great ancient library in Alexandria in 391 A.D.

AGORA | Movie Reviews for Christians

So this film is nothing less than CGI heavy anti-Christian propaganda. The only difference between Agora and the Da Vinci Code is that the assassins in Agora aren't albinos. Yet it was the most popular film of 2009 in traditionally Catholic Spain.

For you who are really busy, here’s the short version of the real history: The destruction of the Library of Alexandria was 1) probably the result of an accident rather than a plot 2) done by pagans, not Christians and 3) occurred 40 years before Jesus was born and 418 years before Hypatia was born.

The part of the Library's collection that survived Julius Caesar was kept in a branch library in a pagan temple in Alexandria but had almost certainly vanished before that building was destroyed in 391 AD, 24 years before Hypatia was killed and 21 years before Cyril became Bishop of Alexandria. The destruction of the Library of Alexandria had nothing to do with Hypatia or Christianity or Cyril of Alexandria. This is an anti-Christian 18th century urban legend.

As critic David Edlestein of New York Magazine put it:

"Agora doesn’t merely exalt the empirical outlook of Hypatia, it portrays religious faith—all religious faith—as monomaniacal superstition, a fount of anti-truth."

Agora and the Dangerous Silliness of Really Bad Film History

Christians did not burn the library at Alexandria and other things “Agora” gets wrong

The historical inaccuracies of the movie "AGORA"

"Agora" and Hypatia - Hollywood Strikes Again

Hypatia and "Agora" Redux

Agora, the Gift that Keeps on Giving

originally posted by: LeoNa1
Love the Little Prince. Have recently watched it.
However this is a fairy tail,it works really good for adults.
I would even say that this is a fairy tail for adults.

Agree, I really enjoyed watching that film.

I haven't enjoyed an animated film that much since "Iron Giant" came out years ago (also HIGHLY recommended as well).