The story of Moses liberating his people from the oppressive Ramses and leading them out of Egypt to freedom is arguably one of the most famous, familiar stories of all time. It’s been told who-knows-how-many times in every medium there is, with movies being no exception (there have been at least a dozen screen adaptations). What is the purpose, then, of Ridley Scott bringing the burning bush, the plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea back to the big screen in Exodus: Gods and Kings? Does he bring anything new to the table?

Exodus‘ biggest selling point, without question, is the deluge of digital effects you’d naturally expect from a big-budget biblical epic in 2014. Never have the Plagues of Egypt looked so dazzling: millions of frogs hop and tumble over each other in the moonlight; swarms of locusts and flies are nightmarish and gross; rivers of blood look really, really…um, red. Honestly, the visuals are staggering, and the bravura plague scenes are totally convincing (especially the frogs–yuck). But it doesn’t really matter because the rest of the movie, the vessel that ferries all the CGI extravagance, is so hole-y (see what I did there?) that it sinks before the visuals can make a real impression. Scott’s retelling of the classic story simply doesn’t work, and unfortunately for the talented effects teams, it’s the difference between the film being spectacular-looking, and the film being merely expensive-looking.

The problems begin with the film’s most egregious failure, the borderline offensive casting of white people with bad spray tans as Egyptians. (I say borderline because I’ve been so numbed to these kinds of injustices by Hollywood that all I can do now is chuckle as a single tear runs down my cheek.) Christian Bale plays Moses, who was raised as a brother to the petulant, preening Ramses (Joel Edgerton), Egypt’s oppressive Pharaoh. They speak to each other in vaguely British accents because…why the hell not? Ramses’ father is played by John Turturro, and his mother is played by Sigourney Weaver. Sigourney Weaver. Sigourney freaking Weaver. And she speaks with an American accent. Wonderful.

To be fair, the blow is softened because the actors do a solid job with what they’re given here. Bale and Edgerton have a dynamic rapport, volleying chest-puffing machismo and brotherly empathy with equal intensity and fire. Bale’s Moses is, by and large, the same shepherding, wise, long-haired Jew Charlton Heston’s was, though Heston’s brio is replaced by Bale’s signature brooding and weariness. It’s one of Bale’s more rigid performances, and he perhaps shows too much restraint. Scott claims that if he had cast an actor named “Mohammed so-and-so” (his words, not mine) in the lead role, the film would have never been financed. Sad thing is, I believe him. If he was forced to plug white men into the lead roles, Bale and Edgerton were good choices. Still, it doesn’t make the white-centric casting any less wrong.

All that aside, the fundamental issue with the script is that it feels emotionally disengaged. When Moses is exiled by Ramses and finds the love of his life (María Valverde) in a small peasant village, we hardly see the couple interact. They meet and, in a blink, they’re married with child. More screen time between Bale and Valverde would have been welcome (they’re sweet together) but…dammit! We’ve got a sea to part! No time for silly things like love and tenderness! Move along, move along. That’s the thing: every time the film begins to reveal a bit of humanity in its characters, we get ripped away by the plot’s current.

The way Scott portrays Moses’ conversations with God is unique, and one of the more compelling things Exodus has going for it. God is embodied by a mischievous British preteen (Isaac Andrews) who antagonizes Moses with cryptic messages, insults, and nasty snarls. These exchanges are shot in a queasy, fever-dream haze and benefit from Scott’s acuity for existential sci-fi. To portray God as an irritable child is fascinating to me, but it’ll probably ruffle the feathers of folks dedicated to 1-for-1 bible literalness. It’s a bold move, and a good one artistically.

The Red Sea isn’t cleaved in the same way it always has been in every previous Moses movie; here, the water is displaced in a more spherical shape, like God sticks his giant thumb down into the seabed and then removes it, causing the water to rush back to the center. Other than mild deviations from scripture like this, Exodus is mostly concerned with going through the biblical motions and battering us with extravagant set pieces that, while impressive looking, aren’t supported by enough character work to be stirring. Scott probably fancies his film an insightful, radical play on the classic liberation tale, but it winds up feeling pretty unnecessary and trite, though you’ll still be wowed by the light show.

The opening of Red Lights immediately sets it apart from the usual crop of horror films and thrillers that get dumped out into multiplexes almost every week. Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and her assistant Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy) drive out to a haunted house in Vermont. Matheson is a psychologist specializing in the paranormal who, with Tom, go around the country debunking people’s claims of “supernatural events.” After an eerie séance at the house in Vermont, Matheson quickly figures out the real cause of the haunting and then heads back to her teaching job in Ohio.

It’s these kinds of sequences that make the first hour of Red Lights a compelling and original take on supernatural thrillers. Matheson, Buckley and one of their students (Elizabeth Olsen) go around disproving the existence of spirits and expose psychics as frauds. Not too long after one of their biggest busts, news gets out that Simon Silver (Robert De Niro) is coming out of retirement. Silver, a blind medium who has never been debunked, is so good at what he does that Matheson won’t go near him. “He’s dangerous,” she tells Buckley, who’s enraged at her for not wanting to pursue Silver. Tom tries to work on exposing Silver behind Matheson’s back, and then all hell breaks loose.

It’s at this point that Red Lights veers off course straight into a ditch (more sensitive readers be warned: minor spoilers follow). Weaver, who shows how woefully underused she’s been over the years, is suddenly taken out of the picture. Suddenly Murphy becomes the focus as he encounters more and more strange phenomena while looking for evidence of Silver deceiving the public. Rodrigo Cortés is able to keep things compelling as he introduces more mysterious elements into the story, but once he shows his hand everything falls apart. Ludicrous events pile on top of each other, leading to a climax that makes one wish for the fun low-key first half of the film to return.

That feeling doesn’t end up returning though as Cortés decides to double down on the stupidity. Almost every review or comment about Red Lights eventually brings up its ending. Cortés tries to go for a big “A-ha!” moment and falls flat on his face. The final twist goes for a more profound conclusion, but its execution is jarring with the sensational events that came before it. It’s undeniable that Red Lights has plenty going for it with its strong cast and excellent first half, but Cortés comes dangerously close to tanking the whole thing by the end. Red Lights remains interesting throughout, but by the end it’s appealing in the same way a train wreck is.

Cedar Rapids is a comedy that shares some similarities to The Hangover aside from just Ed Helms, who seems a lot like Steve Carell in The 40 Year Old Virgin. It is about a man who must come out of his shell to stand up for what he believes is the right thing to do. Always raunchy, often funny, but rarely more than bland.

Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) is a simple man from Brown Valley, Wisconsin who is easily entertained by the little things in life and clearly has not ventured far from home. Case in point when he rents a car he is ecstatic to find out it is a shiny red Chevrolet Cobalt, a fairly basic family sedan. He has never flown in an airplane nor stayed in a hotel before.

Perhaps one of the reasons why Tim is so sheltered is because of how socially awkward the guy is or at the very least it does not help matters. He does not have much of a sense of humor and is the type that probably can count his sins on one hand. Although, it is not a sin to have regular intercourse with your junior high school teacher (Sigourney Weaver), it is a bit odd.

Selling insurance is something that he excels in because his clients know they can trust him. He takes a lot of pride in working for Brown Star Insurance, so when an opportunity to win the prestigious Two Diamond Award arises, his boss Bill (Stephen Root) assigns him to go.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa is where the convention is held for this award so that is where Tim must travel to. Cedar Rapids to Tim is like Las Vegas to most people; it is where people from this convention go to get away from their daily problems via partying because regret does not exist there. One even says, “What happens in Cedar Rapids stays in Cedar Rapids.”

For guidance purposes, Bill gives Tim a list of who to avoid and who to stick with at this convention. The list of people to stick with is plentiful while only one person is labeled to avoid and his name is Dean Ziegler (John C. Reilly). He is known as a poacher, known in the insurance industry as someone who steals clients.

When Tim arrives in Cedar Rapids he thinks the two-star hotel’s lobby is incredible and thinks the chlorine smell of the pool is a luxury. Tim is very leery about given his credit card to the front desk even though it is a standard procedure among all hotels. When he arrives at his room he is taken aback when someone is in there. Although, he seems he is more uncomfortable about the man being African American than simply a person in his room.

This man turns out to be his roommate. He is a “straight-shooter” named Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) from the St. Cloud, Minnesota area. Ronald was on Bill’s list as someone to stick with so Tim knows he is no threat. Ronald informs Tim of some good and bad news. The good news is that they got a junior suite upgrade because the hotel was running out of rooms. The bad news is they will be getting another roommate. I bet it would only take you one guess to figure out who it will be. That is correct, Dean Ziegler.

Dean Ziegler best describes his own self, “What isn’t wrong with me? I talk too much, I drink too much, I weigh too much. I piss people off.” That in a nutshell is Dean Ziegler. A true rebel who likes to party and can easily talk you into something you do not want to do. He is everything that Tim is not, a dangerous man that easily influences people like Tim.

Tim wants the relationship with his old teacher to continue but she is fresh off a divorce. They want two completely different things, she wants to have some fun and he wants to settle down. It is when she uses a metaphor of a bird nudging her young birds to fly away from the nest does he finally understand he needs to let go of her.

That seems to be a turning point for Tim’s character, no longer is he tied down, instead he realizes he is free. But it would not be the last time he has to question is morals. Tim finds out the real way the award is won and must rely on help from people he least expected.

The film’s director, Miguel Arteta, embellishes the portrayal of the Midwest like films such as Fargo have done in the past. However, that is expected in movies to do so. For the most part Arteta does a good job at showing stereotypical rural living Midwestern personality traits; trustworthy, simple, and friendly.

Ed Helms does an excellent job in his first major leading role in film. He plays the sheltered and reserved guy well and does a good job showing his other side when the film calls for it. As for John C. Reilly, I personally think he is best when serious, despite mostly playing wacky roles as of late. It is not to say he does not do funny well, because he does, I just think his serious work is superior. If you liked his roles in Step Brothers, Walk Hard and Talladega Nights, you will love him here.

Cedar Rapids receives most of its humor from crude one-liners that are sure you make you crack a smile more than once. Looking at the whole picture, the funny scenes and great characters are slightly overshadowed by the poor storyline. Even by typical comedy standards it felt too straight forward. Even though there were some funny scenes throughout, there were not enough to cover up for the lack of story.

Unfortunately, I was rather unimpressed with the 3D effect in the theater. Being that this was my first 3D experience, I was imagining the 3D parts to be a little better. I think I would have enjoyed the film just as much without the 3D. After about 20 minutes, I nearly forgot about the 3D, except for a few scenes. So if anything don’t let that be the only reason you watch this film, believe it or not, it has a story too.

Avatar is about a paraplegic war veteran, Jake, who is brought in to learn the culture of another planet, Pandora. Our military has greedy corporate intentions of mining for precious materials which happens to be loaded on Pandora. While trying to dig up information about the local customs of the Na’vi race, he begins to fall in love with one of them. This forces him to choose between carry out the mission or to take the side of the Na’vi and fight for their land.

The concept behind Avatar was very interesting. I saw metaphors of racial issues, environmentalism, and even religion. Somewhat similar to District 9. Looking at the big picture, the film was well written and imaginative. Which is what a film that is the highest grossing film in history should consist of. It was also one of the most expensive movies ever made up to this date with an estimated budget of US $280 million.

It was by no means perfect though. First off, on more than a couple occasions, the film was fairly predictable and typical. There were some minor flaws too such as, how did the Na’vi get guns in the battle towards the end?

Some of the things I enjoyed best were the little details, such as: the interfaces of the computers they used, the way monitors were curved and transparent, how a tablet computer should really function, those jellyfish looking creatures and the way you had to “connect” to the animals. I thought the CGI was top notch and Oscar worthy. It’s pretty incredible that 60% of the film is actually photo-realistic CGI.

Bottom line, I thought the film was worth watching, especially for the broad concepts, technologies and metaphors. The subtle details. It did a lot of things pretty well but it didn’t get too far from the stereotypical Hollywood formula for a blockbuster film. Perhaps it didn’t want or need to though.

Update: It did end up winning Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction at the Oscars.