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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Tomie – Toxic Femininity Explored – Cinematic Doctrine: A Movie Review Podcast Hosted by Christians

Send us a Question!MOVIE DISCUSSION: Kathryn joins Melvin to discuss Tomie, another early Junji Ito live-action adaptation! The two talk about the film's varying quality, constantly curious ideas, and toxic-femininity; something they've rarely seen explored in film. Topics:(PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 24-minutes discussing about Zach Cregger's Resident Evil movie teaser trailer as well as responding to the surprisingly divisive online reaction. (PATREON EXCLUSIVE)Kathryn & Melvin have both read the Tomie manga, but only Kathryn has finished reading it, and the two share their thoughts.Kathryn, "[Tomie] is a good highlight reel of Tomie the manga."Tomie is playing with a lot of ideas, but very few feel fully realized.Perhaps the main idea explored in Tomie, which is inherent to the character, is toxic femininity, and a woman's ability to use their feminine power for their own desires.Toxic gender ideologies deny the truth of image-bearing; that both man AND woman bear God's image when in healthy relationship (platonic and/or romantic).Talking about Tomie as a character.Talking about flowers, and the choice to reveal Tomie's face later in the film.Trying to understand the ending, which introduces some complex ideas to an already layered film.Cross-examining Tomie and Tsukiko; what they share, how they differ, and forgiveness (or, the lack thereof). Recommendations:Black Paradox (2007-2008) (Manga)Hauntress (Zashiki Onna) (1993) (Manga) 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 & PinsSocial Links: ThreadsWebsiteInstagramLetterboxdFacebook Group 

1. Tomie – Toxic Femininity Explored 01:16:36
2. My Neighbor Totoro – w/ Paryss Bryanne on Childhood Whimsy as Adults 01:08:27
3. Rear Window – The Voyeurism Episode 59:12
4. Exit 8 – Notice Your Neighbor 01:00:53
5. IT: Welcome to Derry – w/ Dreadful Digest on Not-Your-Dad's-Stranger-Things 01:14:23