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 This is a low-budget, 2007 science fiction film that is my all time favorite movie, and which only intrigues me more the more I watch it. The premise is deceptively simple: a retiring professor, John Oldman, has some colleagues over to say goodbye. While they're partaking in fine wine, he drops a bombshell on them: he's 14,000 years old. How can he prove it? Do they believe him? The film is essentially an hour and a half of them talking with him and trying to prove or disprove his story. Things take an interesting turn, and...well, I won't spoil it for you. What really amazes me is how this film captivated me with so little. It kind of reminded me of 12 Angry Men, in that I completely forgot I was essentially watching a bunch of people talk to each other. It's really a good example of the "less is more" approach to filmmaking. It is on Netflix, and can be (legally) viewed for free on YouTube if you live in the US. Anyone else seen it? Did you like it as much as I did? Dislike it? Why or why not?
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Apr 19, 2014 07:59
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AYC posted:What really amazes me is how this film captivated me with so little. It kind of reminded me of 12 Angry Men, in that I completely forgot I was essentially watching a bunch of people talk to each other. It's really a good example of the "less is more" approach to filmmaking. I thought the movie was fantastic up until the reveal that he was also the old guy's dad. I'm not entirely sure why, but that moment completely fell flat for me.
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Apr 19, 2014 22:07
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DFu4ever posted:I thought the movie was fantastic up until the reveal that he was also the old guy's dad. I'm not entirely sure why, but that moment completely fell flat for me. Yeah, I caught it last night on the OP's recommendation and that was my same feeling. Interesting discussion on religion, though (I hope that's not spoilery?).
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Apr 19, 2014 22:15
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It's an interesting premise and intriguing as a thought experiment, but it definitely plays like it should be on the stage. It's been a while since I watched it, but I remember thinking that there was some conflict that felt shoehorned in, for example the guy pulling a gun and going nuts. And despite how into it I was, it really strained my willingness to accept the premise right around the time he reveals he was Jesus. Not a bad movie but flawed enough to keep it from being great.
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Apr 19, 2014 23:05
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The religious woman was super annoying.
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Apr 20, 2014 05:14
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DFu4ever posted:I thought the movie was fantastic up until the reveal that he was also the old guy's dad. I'm not entirely sure why, but that moment completely fell flat for me. Was he? It's been years since I saw it, but I remember the old walrus looking guy realising that he was a teacher when he was a student , but I don't remember hm being someone's father. I also found the jesus reveal a bit of a tone changer and didn't really gel for me. Although the annoying religious woman randomly chipping in with "you're NOT Jesus" made me chuckle more than it should. Some terrible acting and odd, contrived character moments - but it's one of those films I just had to keep watching for some reason. I loved the concept and would love to see a version with flashbacks, etc. But there's something to be said for the simple stage production feel.
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Apr 20, 2014 18:29
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Dog_Meat posted:Some terrible acting and odd, contrived character moments - but it's one of those films I just had to keep watching for some reason. I loved the concept and would love to see a version with flashbacks, etc. But there's something to be said for the simple stage production feel. Yeah I watched this a few years ago and that's what I remember about it - I shouldn't have kept watching it after the first 10 minutes but I just couldn't stop. The idea behind it is really interesting and it almost delivers but something in the execution is lacking.
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Apr 21, 2014 00:22
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I got tired of the movie the same time most people did but It wasn't the fact that the protagonist was Jesus that really annoyed me. It was the fact that the film also had to be  as hell and make it turn out that Jesus was just spreading the teachings of Buddha. At that point it felt like the filmmakers were just trying to show off how clever they perceive themselves to be.
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Apr 21, 2014 01:35
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IShallRiseAgain posted:I got tired of the movie the same time most people did but It wasn't the fact that the protagonist was Jesus that really annoyed me. It was the fact that the film also had to be There's an odd contrast between humanizing Jesus by making it so that he's not spreading directly received divine wisdom but instead the teachings of another religion, while simultaneously undoing that by making him a guy who's magically been alive for millions of years. It's also the height of the oddity that he's been friends with some of the most famous people in history, people who would have been hard to identify at the time, while in the present isn't exactly hanging out with people who are going to make the history books. In general, it doesn't really dig into the character or psychology of John Oldman and how those might reflect his condition. Still, a fun watch.
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Apr 21, 2014 06:06
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A dull, poorly-crafted movie that rests entirely on its high-concept premise. Regret buying this. e: scratch that, not true, it doesn't rest completely on its premise because it feels obliged to make the main character Jesus, as though being thousands of years old just wasn't interesting enough
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Apr 21, 2014 10:17
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Yeah, I was really interested in the premise going in, but they hardly did anything interesting with the idea. It basically boiled down to "oh, I knew this famous person, and this famous person, and saw this important thing. And also I'm Jesus. Oh, and I'm also your father. Oh no you died of the shock. WHAT A TWIST!. Could have done a lot more. I understand it was more of a theater/stage setup, but it just fell flat. I kept waiting for it to get really interesting but it never got there.
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Apr 21, 2014 12:01
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Funny this thread popped up. I've only just found a few people who have seen this over the last week or so and have been talking about it with them. Good timing.DFu4ever posted:I thought the movie was fantastic up until the reveal that he was also the old guy's dad. I'm not entirely sure why, but that moment completely fell flat for me. This is how I felt about it. I really enjoyed the way it was written, it had an interesting premise, but the end felt tacked on and unnecessary. Had they have just left it open say if to say "He could be his father... but maybe he isn't?" I think it would have felt less forced and hollow. But I enjoyed the film regardless. I was surprised how engrossed I was with it. I do really need to go back and watch it again, though. As I only saw it when it came out, so its been a while.
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Apr 21, 2014 14:34
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This is all downhill from the beginning the end being a real low note. Good premise that is wasted on something that feels almost soapy in it's unimaginativeness and bad drama.
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Apr 21, 2014 14:40
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IIRC the writer pretty much wrote the script on his actual deathbed, so I can forgive it getting a bit sloppy towards the end.
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Apr 21, 2014 16:49
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IShallRiseAgain posted:I got tired of the movie the same time most people did but It wasn't the fact that the protagonist was Jesus that really annoyed me. It was the fact that the film also had to be
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Aug 20, 2014 17:03
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The script is about as film school as it gets.
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Aug 21, 2014 20:39
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This movie is not very good. Vaguely interesting premise, one or two good actors, several bad actors and a terribly sophomoric script.
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Aug 21, 2014 20:41
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Synonamess Botch posted:It's an interesting premise and intriguing as a thought experiment, but it definitely plays like it should be on the stage. I got this vibe as well. I liked it well enough, but I thought it would've been a much better stage play. Also, Tony Todd's in it, and Tony Todd rules.
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Aug 21, 2014 22:17
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The Man From Earth is my favorite low/no-budget film ever. I give it a re-watch fairly frequently. My only major issue with it is the same as what most have already commented on. John actually being Jesus. They could have kept the entire core argument almost entirely intact, and just changed it to John having known Jesus personally and use the opportunity to explain who he really was in life, and avoided a lot of the shark-jumping that took place after that revelation.
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Aug 22, 2014 04:11
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AYC posted:
I'm really not trying to be a dick but your all time favorite movie?. Really? I'm not even saying its bad, but all time favorite? Have you seen any of go-to science fiction classics like 2001, Brazil, Alien, Blade Runner etc? Or some of the great all-time dramas like Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, North by Northwest, Vertigo, The Godfather movies, Taxi Driver, the list goes on and on. Its just a strange movie to claim as your all time favorite.
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Aug 22, 2014 16:10
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At least when someone says Strange Brew is their favorite movie you can see why someone would say it... I liked that he was Jesus, I just wish they would have handled it a little more creatively. In the hands of some really talented writers this concept would be mind blowing. LloydDobler fucked around with this message at 06:48 on Aug 26, 2014 |
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Aug 22, 2014 18:13
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LloydDobler posted:I liked that he was Jesus, I just wish they would have handled it a little more creatively. In the hands of some really talented writers this concept would be mind blowing.
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Aug 22, 2014 18:36
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The Jesus thing wasn't even the worst part, my eyes were rolling pretty hard by that point but when he goes "oh yeah and everything i (jesus) was teaching i learned from buddha lol" I was like gimme a fuckin break
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Aug 22, 2014 18:51
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So are we just casually ignoring spoilers now or what?  Esroc posted:The Man From Earth is my favorite low/no-budget film ever. I give it a re-watch fairly frequently. I thought it made sense, personally. He has to move around every few years and change his identity, people don't understand the truth so they make up myths, and he downplays the legends when talking to people. Him just being like "Yeah we were totally bros and he wasn't really that cool" has far less narrative effect on the characters he's telling the story. If anything I wished he went into MORE detail about it, explaining away specific myths and stories and why people were led to believe them - and also why he's done nothing to prevent the spread. If they were going to go that route, they didn't go far enough with it. Although, it would've taken a much more interesting turn in that story if it turned out he was actually Judas instead.
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Aug 25, 2014 20:09
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sticklefifer posted:So are we just casually ignoring spoilers now or what? Oh poo poo that was me wasn't it? Sorry, I'm usually better about that. I've edited my post, all I can do.
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Aug 26, 2014 06:50
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LogisticEarth posted:Could have done a lot more. I understand it was more of a theater/stage setup, but it just fell flat. Nothing about it is cinematic in the least. As a slush-pile pickup for Aasimov's Science Fiction Monthly it would be fine. poo poo, Passing Strange is a better movie, and it is literally just cameras filming a stage production.
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Aug 26, 2014 22:44
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Basebf555 posted:I'm really not trying to be a dick but your all time favorite movie?. Really? I'm not even saying its bad, but all time favorite? Have you seen any of go-to science fiction classics like 2001, Brazil, Alien, Blade Runner etc? Or some of the great all-time dramas like Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, North by Northwest, Vertigo, The Godfather movies, Taxi Driver, the list goes on and on. Someone here said the Night of the Living Dead remake was their favorite movie of all time. Gotta roll with that one.
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Aug 27, 2014 01:08
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MANIFEST DESTINY posted:The script is about as film school as it gets. This script is by a guy who wrote tons of tv sci-fi scripts, including an episode of Star Trek which is basically this story exactly taken down to four characters on a bare soundstage. He also did the Twilight Zone where Billy Mumy wishes people into the cornfield.
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Aug 27, 2014 01:44
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The film is worth a second watch since there are some insightful moments in the script that you guys aren't mentioning, for example when he discusses his perception of the passage of time, the experience of transitioning to being modern man from caveman, is all pretty imaginative and well concieved - and some of the plot holes and criticisms y'all are making, especially about the ending stuff, might fade away with a second watch. But the delivery, cinematography, score and character development for all but John is just awful and won't improve no matter how many times you watch it. Also itt just imagine every spoiler in posts like this: Esroc posted:
just says "gay"
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Nov 16, 2014 05:17
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I felt like this movie is a great illustration of how important the Director is - I really like all of the actors that star in this film in just about everything else they've ever done, but somehow all of them come across as wooden and flat in this. The pacing between lines of dialogue is like 200 milliseconds too long for nearly every line, it gradually becomes excruciating. Since it's a character study that takes place in a super boring environment (a tiny living room) there isn't really anything to do but scrutinize the character performances and welp. The story didn't even bother me too much, it was reasonably OK, it's really just ruined by the oddly dragged-out dialogue pacing.
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Nov 16, 2014 08:01
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