The Man from Earth: Hollow, Pretentious, and Poorly Directed

This movie was selected by our Patreon Supporters over at the Cinematic Doctrine Patreon. Support as little as $3 a month and have your voice heard!  

Shirleon joins Melvin to discuss a movie neither of them had heard of before: The Man From Earth! John Oldman says he’s lived for 14,000 years, but his coworkers aren’t so sure. So ensues a film of debate regarding time, materialism, and spirituality. Philosophical pretention abounds! Strap yourself in and tune in now!

Topics:

• (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 34-minutes discussing a series of Summer Blockbusters that may or may not be – as Melvin puts it – “Not”busters, or films that flopped at the box office in contrast to their exorbitant budgets, and why that may be. (PATREON EXCLUSIVE)
• Shirleon, “There [are] a few moments where, like, it’s charming.”
• Melvin, “Let’s just get out of the gate. Like, this is a poorly directed film.”
• There are many interesting things within the film, but the package fails to bring anything together.
• Shirleon and Melvin discuss other movies set in one room that are more visually stimulating and offer better performances.
• Pretentious is a weighty word to use in art criticism, so Melvin first colors what he considers “pretentious” as it relates to film-making before, then, calling The Man From Earth pretentious.
• Discussing the depiction of materialism in the film, and Shirleon does some live fact-checking.
• How the film dives into religious concepts but continues to have nothing to say about humanity, truth, or anything of importance.
• Melvin shares his one note-header, “Athiests make bad movies to!”.

Recommendations:

• The Fast & Furious Franchise
• Stopmotion (2023) (Movie)

The Man From Earth is Not Rated. It features David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley, Ellen Crawford, Annika Peterson, William Katt, Alexis Thorpe, and Richard Riehle. Directed by Richard Schenkman. The Man From Earth is available here.

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Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. Whether it’s a movie, show, game, comic, or novel, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s rich, he’s ready and willing to give it a try! His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!

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Superman (2025) – Curtains for Comic Book Movies? – Cinematic Doctrine

Send us a Question!MOVIE DISCUSSION: Shirleon joins Melvin to discuss Superman (2025), James Gunn's latest superhero feature and first of the new DC Studios flicks! The two explore what they like, what they didn't like, how there's an earnest hope in this modern, live-action iteration of Clark Kent/Superman, and if they're excited for any upcoming DC Studios projects. And, because he likes numbers, Melvin breaks down the finances for 2025's comic book movies. Topics: (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 30-minutes discussing McDonald's entirely "AI" produced Christmas-themed commercial, how it was taken down after receiving intense backlash, and the many philosophical issues regarding "art" made by AI. (PATREON EXCLUSIVE)Shirleon feels pretty mid-to-good about Superman (2025).Melvin keeps it simple and starts with what he likes followed by his dislikes.There's a nostalgia that feels imbued within the style of the film.Are comic-book movies washed? Let's look at some numbers.Adjusting for inflation, Iron Man nearly cost the same to make as Superman (2025), yet the former outpaces the latter in being a "franchise starter" by a wide margin.Superman (2025) is the most profitable superhero movie of 2025, but it still didn't do crazy numbers at the box-office. Has the "superhero fatigue" officially set in?Why it's nice to watch a protagonist who is kind and hopeful.Discussing the ending and if they're interested in future DC Studios films.Recommendations: R.E.P.O. (2025) (Video Game)Rewatch a movie you love!Support the showSupport on Patreon for Unique Perks! Early access to uncut episodes Vote on a movie/show we review One-time reward of two Cinematic Doctrine Stickers & Pins Social Links: Threads Website Instagram Letterboxd Facebook Group

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