Kingdom of Heaven - 1 Star (Terrible)

Unfortunately for the "Kingdom of Heaven", what started out as an ambitious epic film about a little known time in history, became an almost disaster at its release and was only average at best. There is enough blame to spread around.

First, there is a reason why the immortal "Gone with the Wind", which involved a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction, took almost 4 hours to see. You apparently cannot make a quality, classic film about the Civil War in less time. Ken Burns' acclaimed documentary film "The Civil War" consisted of 9 episodes and took 11 hours to view.

Second, there may be a market for a film in the Middle Ages about the Christian Crusades, a series of military expeditions by Europeans to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims in the 11th, 12th and 13th Centuries. That market, regrettably, is very small compared to an epic about the Civil War, World War I or World War II.

Third, when 3-time, Best Director Oscar-nominee Ridley Scott ("Black Hawk Down", "Gladiator" and "Thelma and Louise") presented the film to the studio at 194 minutes (3 hours and 14 minutes), the studio execs demanded that it be cut to two hours, believing that moviegoers would not sit through a 3-hour film.

This proved to be a critical mistake in judgment. It was nearly impossible for Scott to tell the Kingdom of Heaven story in 2 hours, and when the movie received really mixed reviews and proved to be a financial disappointment in the United States, the error was clearly noticeable.

Fourth, not only was this film to be an epic story, its production cost was enormous. Most of the filming was in Morocco, and Mohammad VI, King of Morocco, provided 1,500 of his military personnel with accompanying equipment to help in the filming.

In addition, there were apparently 15,000 handmade costumes for the film that also required helmets, boots, gloves, chainmail, belts and scabbards. The flag budget for the film was $250,000. There were 7,500 weapons, 3,000 shields and 20,000 arrows used in the film. In one scene alone, there were 143 extras, 60 military personnel, 125 horses and 60 camels.

A massive replica of Jerusalem was constructed in the Sahara Desert, containing 28,000 square meters of wall that required 6,000 tons of plaster. The front set was 1,200 feet long and the walls were 56 feet tall. Good grief.

Fifth, writer William Monahan's first draft of the script was 186 pages. Executive producer Lisa Ellzey thought Fox would never approve the script because of its length, so she cut it to only 20 pages before submitting it.

Sixth, Orlando Bloom was not ready to play the leading role as Balian of Ibelin, and his performance did not reflect the kind of command and presence necessary to pull it off.

Seventh, I had great difficulty as a moviegoer following the story as its presentation required much more help in context, or from a narrator, to understand what was happening when and why it was important.

Eighth, the sound in the film was terrible. There were times when it was impossible to understand the dialog and, without this essential element, there is no way the film would be rated good by my standards. Sound is too basic of a need to succeed and, when it goes unnoticed because it is well done, it is not an issue.

Ninth, this whole project was sad from start to finish. What could have become a good film could not overcome the obstacles along the way. Two bright spots in the film were the performances of Liam Neeson as Godfrey de Ibelin and Ghassan Massoud as Saladin, the great Muslim leader.

In his quest to be noble, Liam Neeson was able to deliver this dialog as Godfrey de Ibelin: "Be without fear in the face of our enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath." (Spoken to his son, Balian, when making him a knight.)

History records that Saladin and his Muslim troops did recapture Jerusalem after defeating the King of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin near the Lake of Galilee. When Saladin's soldiers enter the City of Jerusalem, they were not allowed to kill civilians, rob people, or damage the city.

In many ways, the Muslims come out looking better than the Christians in Kingdom of Heaven, and historically, they were.

Spicy Roast Chicken

I did something very similar to this a few months ago on a turkey, and it was outstanding. My whole family loved it. It's a particularly very simple dish. All you do is prepare a rub ( more of a spice and flavoring paste, actually, and cover the chicken in it. It really is basic dutching at its finest. That is the sweetness of it!

I'm especially happy with this one. More than anything, I'm happy with it because it is my very own combination.

Dutch Oven Spicy Roast Chicken

12' deep Dutch Oven 14-15 coals, each, above and below

1 5lb Chicken, thawed, patted dry.
4-5 green onions, cut
Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
Tbsp Pepper
Tbsp Cumin Powder
Cup cut Fresh Cilantro
Juice of 1 Lemon

OK, here's how you do it! Follow these steps in this chicken recipe and you'll really stun them on how talented of a cook you really are!

One thing I really like to do with chickens is to take a fork or pointy knife and poke holes in the skin, to permit more of the spice flavor to seep into the meat. I put the chicken, breast side up, in the bottom of the 12' deep dutch oven. I do not know if it would have slot in a shallow.

Then I took the onions and the green onions and scattered them round the sides.

It's simple to do, actually. I just mixed all the ingredients in the second set, except the oil. You can adjust them to taste. If you like yours to be a little hotter, with added bite, add more Cayenne, etc... Do it how you love it, or follow what I've got here. Once those ingredients are all mixed in, and fired up, I just gradually added a little bit of oil, while stirring, just enough to make it like a paste.

Then, I took a fork and smeared that paste all over the top surfaces of the chicken. I covered as much as I could, but I didn't want it to finish up on the bottom of the dutch oven.

Now, you have got to keep a side fire going, some extra coals. The ones you begin with on your dutch oven are going to go out long before the chicken is done. So, about every 20 mins or so, you add another 5-10 coals into the side fire. Doing this, you can keep your heat on just about indefinitely.

This chicken took roughly an hour and a half to reach the internal temperature of about 180. It is the easiest method to determine if it's done.

Since it's done in the Dutch Oven, it comes out wet and steamed. The spices seep down in, and man, you will find out real quick why dutch oven cooking is so great! Probably my favourite roast chicken recipe ever! Follow the directions laid out for you and then make sure we know how you liked it!

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