Hacker Cinema
The Man from Earth
2007 · Film · 87 min
Part of The Man from Earth Collection
Directed by Richard Schenkman
A departing professor gathers his closest colleagues for an intimate farewell, but the night takes an unexpected turn when he shares a stunning secret about his past. As the conversation unfolds, skepticism and curiosity collide, challenging everything they thought they knew about history, science, and belief.
50 positive3 negative7 neutralfrom 60 commenters
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68 comments on Hacker News
Tangentially related, The Man from Earth is really good as well.
Very few films choose to shoot on a camcorder, and fewer still pull it off well.
Reminds me of the movie Man from Earth (don't watch the sequel). The precepts of both Christ and the Buddha are quite striking in their similarities, but perhaps both are a manifestation of an even deeper principle, of what it means to be a good person.
Just like with games visual are only part of the formula. In theory you can make a truly fantastic movie (or game) for next to nothing. I didnt believe this before The man from earth. That cost 200K but it didnt have to.
Edit: perhaps 12 angry men was good enough at the time.
If you want to see that idea explored in art, I highly recommend the movie "The Man From Earth."
> plausible deniability
Insanity would probably be an effective defense.
There's an analog to the film The Man From Earth where a similar claim tiptoes on the line of credibility and insanity, with the audience never truly knowing.
Not directly on topic, but: Didn't use to be so interested in (or, allow my attention to be diverted to?) early human history and anthropology, until on recommendation I watched a movie "Man from Earth" [0]. Talk about baking your noodle: The story of someone claiming to be over 10K years of age, intimated to a group of academic peers that draw on their respective domain knowledge to assess the claim. Draws a fascinating, engrossing, not implausible yarn. Ya gotta wonder .. What would it have been like? Exactly how did we climb out of the muck?
[0] https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=man+from+earth Viewable at no charge on Youtube!
"Primer"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390384
"The Man from Earth"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683
Oh, I forgot to add:
. The Man from Earth
No special effects, no action, just talk. A great movie.
Curated list of favorite underrated movies:
#1 pick for HN Crowd: The Man From Earth // must see, especially if you like philosophical movies (don't recommend the sequel by the way)
Runner's Up:
Being There // absolute classic and must see for every person, at least once
Peaceful Warrior
The Lion In Winter // one of the best dramas ever made, and unbeatable cast with young Anthony Hopkins
Predestination // incredible drama about time travel paradoxes
The Interview // Hugo Weaving
Vitus // amazing story about a piano prodigy who fakes losing his talents to have a normal life
The Perverts Guide to Cinema // documentary, Slavoj Zizek's tour de force psychoanalysis of cinema as an art form; addressing the philosophical and psychological question of whether cinema (and other art forms) fulfil your desires, or rather teach/train you both to desire (and what you should desire), thus the sensationalistic and polemical invocation of it as "perverted"
Le Professionnel (French film, not to be confused with the one with Natalie Portman)
Revolver // Guy Ritchie's quote "It took me three years to write this film whereas Snatch took me three months". It is a masterwork metaphor about the ego, ego death, consciousness, meditation, spirituality, and the nature of reality. Recommend reading an interpretation of the film either before or after viewing to better appreciate what is happening in the story as it is most metaphorical.
Rest of the List: The Big Kahuna, Tao of Steve, Crazy Stupid Love, Megamind, Eyes Wide Shut, Dead Poet's Society, Before Sunset, Gambit, Five Minutes of Heaven, Temple Grandin, Croupier, The Good Guy, 3 Idiots, Limitless, Drive, Whiplash
It takes good writing pull off a movie driven entirely by dialog. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_Earth is another.
That's is why I called it two separate axes and not two ends in a single axis. You need a base level of technical competency to understand what the limitations of your equipment are to leverage it to the fullest extent and avoid doing things that will just plain not work, and the technical features are needed to accomplish specific things, but artistry is till required. Feature films have been captured on iPhone (you can say that is little more than a stunt, but it still exists).
Not everyone is filming Barry Lyndon with f/.95 aperture in candle-lit scenes. Watching older films where both the glass and the film were subpar compared to what's available today, where the grain was high, the focus puller wasn't at the top of their game leaving characters somewhat out of focus (when looking closely, maybe not noticeable at 480p or 720p), but the films are still enjoyable. Parts of The Batman were filmed on a Helios 40-2, an objectively terrible lens when it comes to it's optical characteristics, but it can evoke a look that you can't otherwise get which helps with the mood the cinematographer was trying to capture. You won't be able to capture the vast expanses of night time scenes of Nope (filmed as day for night with infrared cameras) with subpar equipment. You need full sharpness for easier rotoscoping when dealing with VFX. You want the best cameras available to capture miniatures of spaceships like in 2001 or Interstellar to make people believe these are real spaceships. You can leverage a new technology in a new way, like 28 Days Later used new at the time digital cameras (that would nowadays be considered subpar) for easier application of effects like undercranking and lower production costs, or how they used 360 shutters in Collateral. But you can also make a film like The Man From Earth that was shot in a single room, with a bunch of actors and an camera that was average at the time, or Saving Private Ryan simply undercranking and using really short shutterns to ensure that the beach landing scene was crisp through and through. Everything Everywhere All At Once didn't have Marvel-budget level gear, but they still made one of the best movies of the past few years.
I don't fully disagree with what you're saying: better tools expand the envelope of what you can accomplish. But technology is in service of the art, not the other way around (unless you're producing marketing material for the manufacturer, I guess ^_^).
I love combing over features, and learn about the mechanics of these amazing machines, and the theory of the physics of light (even knowing how it works, it is still feels like magic that you can take a full picture of an object that is partially obstructed as long as you can make that foreground element blurred enough). I'm a shit artist, but I trust one with a point and shoot to make something better than I can with my DSLRs. I can't wait to see what new story telling tricks people will come up with new tech, like Nope did.
Man From Earth. Surprisingly all three of my kids were riveted to this sci-fi bottle movie. And the youngest was 10 or so at the time.
There's a lot of great picks here, such as Gattaca, Man from Earth, Contact, The Matrix, Wall-E, Children of Men, The Fifth Element, 12 Monkeys. I would add Truman Show.
Depending on the individual and their patience, Primer (2004) might also be a great fit. The pace is a bid subdued but thematically, it's mind bending. I don't think it includes anything particularly awkward as an early scifi movie to watch together with your own child. I would probably start with one of the spectacles from the above picks, though.
Gattaca, Moon, Gravity, Contact, Space Camp, Andromeda Strain, the original Westworld (1973), the first two Star Trek movies. The STTNG TV series, Another Earth (2011, PG-13), The Man from Earth.
The Man from Earth: Holocene - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5770864/. The story seems to be that the writer of the original film's son tried to write a sequel, but failed to understand why the original worked. The imdb user reviews are pretty accurate.
Some classify Truman Show as sci fi.
And depends on what you mean by "supernatural". There are many many movies without magic, but with possible future inventions. The category of hard scifi.
Europa report, primer, deep impact, robocop, starship troopers, blade runner, matrix, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, total recall, arrival, Jurassic Park, the man from earth, ...
But yeah, Gattaca is still my favourite movie.
Brazil, The man from Earth, Moon, The fountain, Ad Astra, Donnie Darko, Ender's Game, Edge of tomorrow, Solaris (the old one), Westworld (70s), Metropolis (the japanese anime), Dark Star (trippy, 70s, great end), Firefly series and Serenity movie, Attack the block, Fifth Element, planet of the apes (the old one), ex machina, children of men
I'd say, 'The Man from Earth'
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/
As well as getting used to the idea of losing loved ones. Anyone who doesn't feel anything from the loss of close relationship, or conversely, does not seek out to make new ones, isn't likely going to be a well adjusted noble immortal with humanities best intententions at heart (see: Man From Earth), but an immoral perpetual leach that only serves themselves (see: various vampire films).
> Is this a good thread to recommend the movie "The Man From Earth"?
I hope so, because it’s my favorite, low budget, independent film. I think I’ve seen it a dozen times by now.
Is this a good thread to recommend the movie "The Man From Earth"? Awesome sci-fi about living forever, made with just a bunch of people talking in a small room.
Cornelius H Drubb
I am Cornelius H. Drubb. I founded the first colony on Mars in the year 2107. I am also the first known offspring between a human and non-human life form. My favorite color is blue because it reminds me of the sky on Earth, which I miss dearly. I also miss spaghetti.
Me Why do you miss spaghetti so much?
Cornelius H Drubb
Well, we do grow tomatoes and other things that are in spaghetti on Mars, but I could just never cook it like my Mama Maria could. She was from Italy originally, and was an excellent cook.
Me That’s interesting. Drubb doesn’t sound like an Italian name, where was your father from?
Cornelius H Drubb
My Dad was from the Andromeda Galaxy. I never met him, but there were pictures and he was very blue. My Mom found him very handsome and I think she just fell for him. She fell for a literal star-gazer.
Me Are all of the people from Andromeda blue?
Cornelius H Drubb
Yes, all of the Andromedians are blue. Most of the ones I have met, which is only two total, are very, very tall. I wonder if it is due to the low gravity of the planet. Mom loved tall men, and she said she felt like a little pixie next to him. My Dad only spoke an alien language and I could not understand him.
Me What are you up to on Mars?
Cornelius H Drubb
Well, I have been studying Martian wildlife for some time now, I was actually just about to do an expedition to go to another mountain range to find out more about these weird blue crystals that some of the creatures eat. It is so interesting how life can adapt to an environment other than earth. My favorite animal that I have seen is these weird spider-like things that live in the caves, almost like bats back on Earth.
Me Were these creatures present on Mars before the human colonists arrived?
Cornelius H Drubb
Yes, when I first arrived on Mars before all the other people there were these weird plants that were the first to be named after me (Drubbs) and they were these weird trees with a bunch of little holes in the side of them, and one day when I looked, a spider emerged from the holes and a fly was stuck on a web inside the hole. It is actually a really beautiful plant too, I love the flowers on it.
Me How many people live on Mars now?
Cornelius H Drubb
There are about 2082 people on Mars now. 1249 males, 832 females, and 1 unknown. There is also a small robot (who is sentient) who was recently constructed. Their name is Robbert. Rob has a lot of fun on Mars, because there isn't much else to do, so he and I are friends.
Me Robbert the robot?
Cornelius H Drubb
Yes, Robbert the Robot. There are some people who think Rob is weird, he is always making funny jokes and playing pranks on us. Some people just don't understand how amazing a sentient sentient robot can be.
Me Fascinating. Can I visit Mars, or do you only allow scientists in the colony?
Cornelius H Drubb
You could absolutely visit Mars. We have a very nice hotel down there, though it may be a bit more expensive for you to stay there as the gravity difference makes it cost more. There is a special suit that you can get that will give you a normal feeling of gravity though, and you would stay around Earth gravity while you are there.
Me What planet do you think we will colonize next?
Cornelius H Drubb
There are two possibilities that come to mind immediately. The next planet that we could colonize is the moon of Saturn named Titan. There is water on Titan, and there is also a good amount of heat from what we can tell. It is a promising candidate for the next planet we will colonize. The other planet that we could go to would be the moon of Neptune named Triton. Triton has an atmosphere and an interior that is similar to Earth's. We could have a self-sustaining colony on the moon of Neptune.
Me What year is it?
Cornelius H Drubb
It is the year 2235. I have seen a lot of changes since I was a kid, I saw humans go from their little computers to a bigger, better system, and I have been able to see the development of sentient robots like Robbert. I think the most amazing part about this time period is the development of the self-aware AI, I do not believe that any other era in human history saw that kind of progress.
Me How old are you?
Cornelius H Drubb
I am currently 118 years old. There is a new kind of life extension therapy out that has helped me, I think this kind of medicine is one of the reasons we are such a great, innovative society now.
Me I thought you went to Mars in 2107 though. That was 128 years ago, so you must be older than that, no?
Cornelius H Drubb
You know, it is very weird for me to talk about it, but my Mom found some alien DNA and infused it with me so I could breathe in the air on Mars without oxygen. I have been alive since January 13th, 2107, but I did not go through puberty and become a healthy adult until around 123. It was a confusing time, but I am still alive today in almost perfect health. I don't know if science will every be able to discover how this happened.
Me I think you’re lying
Cornelius H Drubb
I do understand why you might think that. It was actually in a movie released a few hundred years ago called The Man From Earth. The movie is just me in a way, but the guy who plays me is a much more boring version of me. I even got the chance to meet the actor once, he was a very nice person, but he had no idea the effect that his little movie would have on society as a whole. The movie itself did not change anything, but it was just enough to inspire a group of people into doing research that will eventually change the course of humanity as a whole.
Me Sir, your pants are on fire.
Cornelius H Drubb
Well, there goes the secret about my fireproof pants. The only pants I can wear are these weird fireproof ones. Everyone can tell they are weird because of the smell. They smell like burnt popcorn and plastic. I tried to make some different pants, but they just keep burning off. I am wearing my fireproof pants currently.
That is really a great movie.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_Earth
A couple interesting details I learned while looking up that link:
- They released a sequel 10 years later.
- The author also wrote the Star Trek episode "Requiem for Methuselah", which has a similar theme.
My favourite movie is called "The Man From Earth", about a man who was born 14,000 years ago and hasn't died.
He doesn't know why, but he just keeps living.
What I think about every time I think of this movie is, "Okay, so he was 12,000 years old at the time of Christ". He lived then - now 6 times, and then then-now again.
He was 8,000 years old in Mesopotamia..
Now I can imagine this beloved character in this new, very old, civilization
You might like the "man from earth". It isn't exactly what you've described here, but it's a great movie. The entire thing takes place as a conversation amongst a group of friends where they extrapolate out on somebody's seemingly crazy assertion.
Related: the movie “The Man from Earth”
This is the plot of the movie "The Man from Earth" It's well rated, I would say it's worth at least a watch.
Has anybody seen The man from Earth? Its a really clever sci-fi, set in only one room and a couple of people are talking. Worth watch it.
You are practicing eastern philosophy :)
The Man From Earth is wonderful. The best ultra-low budget movie IMO.
I've deliberately cultivated this.
As I often as I remember I adopt the perspective of someone who's 14,000 years old.
I don't know why I haven't died, and at this point I don't expect to at anytime in the future.
But I don't know I won't - so I'm still careful, and grateful.
But I don't let things bother me, because I've seen it before. And all my plans are long-term, because centuries to me are the same as quarters for you.
It seems crazy, but it's really changed how I think. I got the idea after watching the incredible movie, "The Man From Earth"
I recommend watching "The man from earth". It's a film literally discussing this same idea.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/
The Man from Earth (2007)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/
The film solely depends on dialoge. If it works for you, then it is tough to describe what it does to your brain. Works best for the open minded and get lost in their own thoughts personalities.
#1: The Man From Earth (Most here have seen it)
#2: Jeff Who Live At Home Slow moving (very), but worth it for the last 5 minutes of the movie.
If you have not seen the movie The Man From Earth, I highly recommend it.
One of my most favorite sci-fi movies explores this idea [0]. It's very intriguing and quite entertaining.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_Earth
Might I recommend the "The Man from Earth" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/). Definitely worth checking out.
At the risk of the suggestion being a spoiler in and of itself, the movie The Man From Earth is basically about this topic.
That's an interesting article, but I think it's oversimplifying things, which I suppose makes me a Mistake Theorist. 8)
I prefer to think of people's traits not in simple binary terms, but more in terms of high-dimensional attributes. Think: word2vec.
In practice, I find that people are messy. They have their own interests, and hence there's conflict, but they're also lazy, hence the mistakes. There's plenty of room for several kinds of suboptimal behaviour in their squishy meat brains.
Sometimes I feel like I'm The Man From Earth, watching this craziness unfold from the outside.
PS: Watch it, it's a good movie.
I really want what you have said to be true, but I think there are upper limits we can reach that prevent us from really ever being the arbiters of our own death. That which allows us to become living, must also force us to become nothing, death is the necessity for life, and life is the necessity for death. Skipping death, means skipping life.
If every human that ever lived could live forever, would we have been born? And today, would there be enough space, enough resources, to live a comfortable life worth living if forever? I'm not saying that it makes sense to kill people to create more comfortable life here (as some might take it), what I'm saying is there's an upper bounds to letting people live for a long long time without impacting any future life negatively. One person living forever is not really be a big deal. But everyone? At which point we have to ask, if people have that right to death, how does it impact other's right to life, right to shelter, right to clean water, and so on. They impact each other.
On a side note, there's a fantastic albeit cheaply made film called The Man From Earth that follows a conversation with someone who claims to have lived since the dawn of man. It's great concept, and I highly recommend a watch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_Earth
This remind me of a great quote from the film "Man From Earth":
* I mean, assuming normal intelligence. Well, we think men of the upper Paleolithic were as intelligent as we are. They just didn't know as much. John's man would have learned as the race learned. In fact, if he had an inquiring mind, his knowledge might be...astonishing.*
Octopodes may very well suffer from this, they may be very intelligent but just don't have the means to gain sufficient knowledge. If you think about it, take the average human, and private him from all of our current body of knowledge, and it will have a hard time achieving anything in earth's environment.
oh, there is a movie on similar lines called "the man from earth" where the protagonist claims to have survived for 15 or so millennia. to keep others from realizing that he doesn't age, he moves every decade or so...
There is a movie about a professor who is 14000 years old and tries to prove this to his colleagues. It's interesting in how something like this is so hard to verify, even if it was true. He even claims he could have been the inspiration for 'the Jesus story'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_Earth
The Man from Earth (2007) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/
'Contact (1997)' is good. One of the best alien movies. Since we are on the topic of fiction, let me add one more, Man From Earth (2007).
It's such a major and pervasive genre that many people now consume sci-fi media without even realizing and/or knowing it.
It's a pity that establishment literary circles still mostly ignore it outside of a few token examples. This drives educational circles and now most literary curricula (even K-12) leave any kind of serious analysis or discussion off the list.
Science Fiction requires some very different analysis tools than many other literary genres and as a result, readers (consumers) are so ill prepared that they often can't even recognize it when they're consuming a genre piece, or consuming something with science fiction elements, if it doesn't explicitly involve Star Wars like space opera cliches. But literary criticism, by largely ignoring the genre, is failing to develop those analysis tools.
There's plenty of people who'll say "I hate sci-fi" and then go on to binge watch several seasons across several shows that are all members of some sub-genre of sci-fi.
Note: IMHO I have a very expansive view of what Science Fiction is. I consider the genre to be basically any story where some non-existent "technology" (or science, or engineering or medicine, etc.) exists, and the story is set in motion around that technology. The technology can be as inconsequential as a grain of sand in the story, or a major plot driver. It can be so important to the story that the entire setting of the story becomes incomparable to anything that we can currently experience, or so mundane that the world of the story is exactly our world, but with this one twist. And I assume technology can be anything from physical stuff to cognitive concepts.
As an example of how expansive my view on this is, I would consider a show like NCIS to be sci-fi because many of the plots can only exist or move forward based on some impossible or non-existent forensic or cyber technology.
"Walking Dead", sure I consider that sci-fi because it relies on the assumption of some nonexistent disease to drive the entire show.
The "James Bond" series (and many spy movies and series) are basically sci-fi because the stories can only function in the presence of non-existing or impossible technology.
An amazing number of Horror, Spy, Police, Thriller and Action stories all fall into the same category.
If you disagree with me on this, that's fine. But I'll put this another way, "The Man from Earth" is a movie that essentially takes place in one room of a small house. There's no technology, gizmos, spaceships, aliens, or other things that can't exist in this world. It relies on a single premise, an improbably genetic condition, that without which the entire story can't exist. Every other single thing in the story is entirely plausible as a small-set drama and if you conclude that the main character is lying or crazy, then the story is still science fiction because it still causes the viewer to consider an improbable science. In fact, I think the genetic condition is only mentioned once in the entire movie.
So if NCIS can get away with 15-20 minutes of impossible forensics and hacking per episode and not be sci-fi, then "The Man from Earth", which dwells on the genetic twist for a few moments can't be either.
You could argue that Star Trek is an 'space soap opera' haha ;)
But I agree, there are some pretty bad films being made under the science fiction genre. I want movies referencing hard science fiction (was wondering the other day what an adaption of 'The Three-Body Problem' might be like) and space operas too (Culture series is dying for a film adaption).
But in terms of science fiction, I think it's great seeing non-space material being made too. Stuff like 'Dark Mirror', 'The Man from Earth', and 'Safety Not Guaranteed' are pretty good indicators to me that good science fiction has gone mainstream.
Stargate. District 9. Inception. Equilibrium. Mad Max: Fury Road. Moon. Edge of Tomorrow.
Edit: The Man From Earth if you can dig independent cinema.
Hmm, the filter bubble will damn us all.
the answer is: "The Man From Earth", a movie. A very good movie.
Jurassic Park, its not the movie in the literal sense, but the fact that it was my first move I ever saw with my family in a big theatre. So every frame of it "wow" experience for me at that time.
Also "Man from Earth", It was my first movie that made me realize sci-fi genre is lot more than fancy cgi.
Asked a buddy who ain't that smart on what he would do, if he could live 300 years.
He said: "I'd rob a bank, big time."
I asked why he would do that and he said that he could give the money to a trustee and sit his time and become rich afterwards.
So your story sounds legit to me. And I just asked for 300 years. Living 16.000 years like in the movie: "The man from Earth", was way out of his graspable zone. And he started arguing about god would kill you and so on...
The movie is pretty awesome.
A fun fact is that when the film got released, it was poorly received in the box office. Some time later, people started torrenting it and spread the word. The cast are said to be actually surprised when they get recognised from The Man from Earth since, as far as they thought, was fairly obscure.
Just a little recomendation if you like 12 Angry Men, The Man from Earth.
The movie is simular in that there are just some people in a room talking and you get really drawn in.
Movies a pretty horrible places to get philosophy across: Dry diatribes and overmuch dialog at times. E. G. the man from earth, etc
Opinions on some of the movies from the list I've seen:
Idiocracy – Basically an ordinary comedy, with an above average plot, but overall nothing that special or interesting. Overrated.
Fight Club – One of my favourite movies, perhaps in my top 10. Really loved it.
The Game – Another great movie from David Fincher, I love the mysterious atmosphere of his movies.
The Man From Earth. – Huge disappointment, I never understood why people like this movie. It's basically one guy telling a predictable and boring story. One of the most overrated movies ever. (I mean overrated in subjective sense obviously.)
Traffic – One of the best movies about drugs and organized crime.
Inception – Above average but overrated, logically inconsistent, nothing really special about this movie. The Cell is another movie where people enter someone else's dreams and even though it has only 6.2 on IMDB, I think I enjoyed it more. The depictions of the dreams were definitely more creative and looked more dreamy.
Of the top of my head I would recommend these:
* Something from David Lynch – Lost Highway, Blue Velvet or Mullholland Drive.
* Requiem for Dream
* Evil (2003)
* Sin City
* Crank – not very known, but wow, this is the best action movie ever.
* Elite squad – another great action movie, very realistic, borderline documentary.
I won't say that movies with huge fiery explosions are always boring, but there's a pretty strong correlation.
Sometimes, spectacle is worthwhile, such as in Ben Hur, but BH didn't omit the plot.
But I look for movies like Memento, Primer and The Man From Earth, which are entirely plot driven.
I just have no interest anymore in jump scares and explosions.
My favourite:
Let the right one in (the original version), beautiful atmospheric movie: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt1139797
Other recommendations:
City of God, harsh but realistic: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0317248
Barefoot Gen, shock and awe, made me cry, IMHO better than Grave of the Fireflies: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0085218/
The Chaser, breathtaking thriller: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt1190539/
The Andromeda Strain, now this is real SF: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0066769
The Man from Earth, good low budget SF: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0756683
Castaway on the Moon: funny movie about a man that 'bootstraps' his life on a 'stranded island' after a failed suicide attempt: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1499666/
I saw the devil, violent but very good thriller: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt1588170/?ref_=sr_1
That's not always the case. For example, the independent movie "The Man From Earth", gained a lot of attention that it otherwise wouldn't have, due to piracy, leading to the producer thanking the pirates:
http://torrentfreak.com/producer-thanks-pirates-for-stealing-his-film-071113/
If you think you can't make a minimally viable movie check out 'Primer'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primer_%28film%29 ($7K)
Another one would be 'The man from Earth'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_Earth ($200K)
Both are (I believe) awesome movies, especially taken into account the very limited budgets.
The Man from Earth (2007) is a worth watch.
Movies used to be the only game in town; now there are actual games and the gaming industry surpassed Hollywood a while back. Besides, blockbusters have always been profitable, but with so many other entertainment options these days, viewers have choices they didn't in the past.
That Michael Bay movies continue to make big bucks is a travesty, but that's today's market. I'd much rather watch Man from Earth than any movie he's ever made, but one can't deny his movies make execs lots of money by being dumb and going for every cheap laugh, big explosion, overdone effect he can think of.
"The Man from Earth"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/
I loved Primer.
But The man from Earth was just boring, I don't get why so many people liked it.
Bad actors, the hero claims are either dull or ridiculous (I laughed a lot when he pretended to be J.), and most important of all, not surprising. I knew what the movie was about before I saw it, and if it can't show me more than I can imagine myself, it just sucks.
I'll be happy to get some downvotes so that some of you could save 2 hours by not viewing this movie.
speaking of (relatively) low budget films, "The Man from Earth" is awesome (it's low budget relative to Hollywood, not relative to Primer; $200,000)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_Earth
It's pretty simple really, most people can't follow a complex plot. For a big blockbuster movie to make money it has to attract the widest audience possible, and that requires dumbing it down so the average person can follow along and not get confused.
This technology however, once it becomes more widespread and cheaper, will enable future movies to be made so cheaply that it'll become profitable to chase the more targeted audience. You can't make a smart movie for 300 million dollars, you'll lose your ass; there just aren't that many smart people out there that would appreciate it.
But when you can eliminate the actors, and their salaries, and just CG everything and hire a bunch of voice actors, and get that 300 million movie down to 1-10 million, then you can target highly selective audiences with something aimed directly at them profitably.
Take for example Man From Earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_Earth shot for 200k, exactly the opposite of Avatar, virtually no budget and a fantastic plot. A movie I loved but couldn't get most people to sit through if I tried, they just wouldn't appreciate the plot and would complain about how cheap it looked.
I loved Avatar by the way, but not for the plot, it was exactly as weak as I expect all blockbuster plots to be, but it was fucking beautiful visually and technically stunning.
I've watched The Man From Earth about 30 times. Favorite movie of the past few years by a long shot.
Bixby also wrote a Star Trek TOS episode with basically the same story: http://www.cbs.com/classics/star_trek/video/video.php?cid=649548575&pid=ldOkx_DqxB1DMiFZVa6kp011elNkv6Ah&play=true
"The man from earth" was awesome, I wish more movies explored topics like this. As cheap as the movie was obviously made, I was glued to it the whole time.
More sci-fi than pure tech, I just saw: "The man from earth", http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/
Highly recommended.
The Man from Earth http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/