9.6 (23K) - That's artificially/impossibly too high, but bad Christian movies get knocked down quickly so there's something to it.
RT is garbage, as you can see from the fact reviewers simply are not reviewing what is obviously something important to a lot of people and that would be their job bringing new things to the average person, but it scores well for what it has - https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_chosen
The Last Temptation of Christ is, mildly speaking, complete garbage when it comes to theology. It actively subverts the gospels and tries to lower Jesus into the realm of natural man. The film has a few nuggets that might be interesting for those learned in religion, but it serves more as a reflection of Paul Shrader's personal struggles with faith at that point in his life. The latter point isn't all that unusual; Kevin Smith (Dogma) and Trey Parker/Matt Stone (South Park, Book of Mormon (musical)) likewise do the same.
The Chosen takes a reverent interpretation. It makes no apologies for having creative license, the Bible isn't meant to be a screen play after all, but it does so in a manner consistent with the character of Jesus both in the Bible and as believers understand him to be. He is fully human and fully God. He weaves the qualities of both throughout the show with the way he handles emotions, miracles, passing down wisdom, and so forth.
I think it's wonderful this show is happening, and I'm an atheist. It's also wonderful to see, on this techie platform, people aren't afraid to call themselves a "believing Christian."
I'm going to check The Chosen out. The bulk of Christian movies or Old Testament bible stories are unwatchable, as a lot of people have noted.
I went to Israel four years ago [1], and there was something really special about actually seeing the Jordan, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, the sites of the loaves and fishes, and the Sermon on the Mount. Places I grew up hearing about. (Yes, I know those last two are only the conventionally believed sites, and no one knows for sure.) I've gotten really interested in the rise of Christianity since going there.
Swimming in the Dead Sea was worth doing once. You come out feeling all oily and you have to take a shower. But you can float on your back and raise both arms up in the air, and you don't sink. Getting lost in the Old City and having to ask directions was fun, too. Google Maps was no help.
By the way, I think the best genetic estimate of what Jesus looked like is: what people in Syria and Lebanon look like now. Darker skin than, say, Swedes, but not black.
I concur. As a believing Christian, if somebody comes along and says “hey do you want to watch this Jesus show/movie?” my honest answer is…not really! I went into the Chosen expecting it to be awful and have been very impressed by the story telling and production quality . You pinpoint part of the problem: in an attempt to be reverent, shows or movies will make it all so pious as to remove anything earthly or real about it. And, surprise surprise, that’s dreadfully boring. Or if there is some grit/problem, there’s a “once saved always saved” bent to it where the problem is fixed and then the movie ends…as of life isn’t full of hardships after baptism/whatever!
I think the second problem for Jesus films is due to the nature of the gospels themselves: outside of the Passion narratives, they are strung together stories with little narrative connection. (I know, I know, it’s more nuanced than that…but the point being that a film director just can’t make a film about the gospels without making it seem like a random string of events with largely different people/places). It is this problem that the Chosen so masterfully addresses: make the focus on the characters in the story, not Jesus, and thereby give a narrative form to what are otherwise brief, well-known stories. The healing at the well, whose brother is made to be a militant apostle, is a great example.
There have also been some flourishes in the show that have indicated some real artistic meditation/thought by the writers, for example when Jesus and John discuss the Torah and John is given the first insights into his eventual theology.
Hacker Cinema
5 comments on Hacker News
Hard work and/or luck. Usually both, but not always.
Occasionally you hear of someone (Rodriguez in Searching for Sugar Man) who makes it big despite doing nothing at all to promote himself.
And hard working folks who go nowhere.
I'm watching a documentary right now about Jonathan Ramie, who plays Jesus in The Chosen. He struggled for 20 years, not even having health insurance.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9471404/
9.6 (23K) - That's artificially/impossibly too high, but bad Christian movies get knocked down quickly so there's something to it.
RT is garbage, as you can see from the fact reviewers simply are not reviewing what is obviously something important to a lot of people and that would be their job bringing new things to the average person, but it scores well for what it has - https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_chosen
The Last Temptation of Christ is, mildly speaking, complete garbage when it comes to theology. It actively subverts the gospels and tries to lower Jesus into the realm of natural man. The film has a few nuggets that might be interesting for those learned in religion, but it serves more as a reflection of Paul Shrader's personal struggles with faith at that point in his life. The latter point isn't all that unusual; Kevin Smith (Dogma) and Trey Parker/Matt Stone (South Park, Book of Mormon (musical)) likewise do the same.
The Chosen takes a reverent interpretation. It makes no apologies for having creative license, the Bible isn't meant to be a screen play after all, but it does so in a manner consistent with the character of Jesus both in the Bible and as believers understand him to be. He is fully human and fully God. He weaves the qualities of both throughout the show with the way he handles emotions, miracles, passing down wisdom, and so forth.
I think it's wonderful this show is happening, and I'm an atheist. It's also wonderful to see, on this techie platform, people aren't afraid to call themselves a "believing Christian."
I'm going to check The Chosen out. The bulk of Christian movies or Old Testament bible stories are unwatchable, as a lot of people have noted.
I went to Israel four years ago [1], and there was something really special about actually seeing the Jordan, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, the sites of the loaves and fishes, and the Sermon on the Mount. Places I grew up hearing about. (Yes, I know those last two are only the conventionally believed sites, and no one knows for sure.) I've gotten really interested in the rise of Christianity since going there.
Swimming in the Dead Sea was worth doing once. You come out feeling all oily and you have to take a shower. But you can float on your back and raise both arms up in the air, and you don't sink. Getting lost in the Old City and having to ask directions was fun, too. Google Maps was no help.
By the way, I think the best genetic estimate of what Jesus looked like is: what people in Syria and Lebanon look like now. Darker skin than, say, Swedes, but not black.
[1] https://photos.app.goo.gl/6RoCLQYmx9AAB4Ak8
I concur. As a believing Christian, if somebody comes along and says “hey do you want to watch this Jesus show/movie?” my honest answer is…not really! I went into the Chosen expecting it to be awful and have been very impressed by the story telling and production quality . You pinpoint part of the problem: in an attempt to be reverent, shows or movies will make it all so pious as to remove anything earthly or real about it. And, surprise surprise, that’s dreadfully boring. Or if there is some grit/problem, there’s a “once saved always saved” bent to it where the problem is fixed and then the movie ends…as of life isn’t full of hardships after baptism/whatever!
I think the second problem for Jesus films is due to the nature of the gospels themselves: outside of the Passion narratives, they are strung together stories with little narrative connection. (I know, I know, it’s more nuanced than that…but the point being that a film director just can’t make a film about the gospels without making it seem like a random string of events with largely different people/places). It is this problem that the Chosen so masterfully addresses: make the focus on the characters in the story, not Jesus, and thereby give a narrative form to what are otherwise brief, well-known stories. The healing at the well, whose brother is made to be a militant apostle, is a great example.
There have also been some flourishes in the show that have indicated some real artistic meditation/thought by the writers, for example when Jesus and John discuss the Torah and John is given the first insights into his eventual theology.