Farewell Good Brothers

April 17, 2011 6:23 PM

Farewell Good Brothers "An off-beat, irreverant and often hilarious documentary about the making and the makers of a modern myth - the widespread belief in flying saucers and alien visitations. Combining strange and unusual archive footage from the 1950s with several contemporary interviews, the film focuses on a few people who helped to pioneer such beliefs; the so-called ‘contactees’ and on one leading researcher who believes in them." (1991, 77 mins.)
posted by puny human (13 comments total)

deeply funny film, mesmerizing at times, but always approaches it subjects, who would be easy to ridicule (most do a fine job of this on their own) with a humane, almost loving touch. For all the profound weirdness going on, you grow to like the characters, and enjoy spending time with them.
posted by puny human at 6:31 PM on April 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

She wants to "enjoy intercourse" with the higher civilizations from outer space. Heh.
posted by telstar at 6:56 PM on April 17, 2011

Is it just me but does it seem like the level of UFO/abduction claims have declined drastically in the last ten years or so?

If so, I blame the advent of the camera phone. It's a lot harder to have fantastic (fictional) encounters with alien beings with ubiquitous camera phones around.
posted by Avenger at 7:19 PM on April 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

What do you mean, "myth?"
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:34 PM on April 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Yes ...

(Steeples finger evilly)

... myth.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:48 PM on April 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Steeples is where I go to buy all my nefarious stationery.
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:27 PM on April 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

This is sort of the the standard of the day: AllNewsWeb. It shows more CG fakery than it does any footage which could be considered factual (or even novel).

Noteworthy, however, are the comments left on the YT page and the FB page. Most have a desperate tone, one of fear or confusion. In other words, the noise-to-signal ratio is rather high and typical of conditions of mental unwellness or distress. Because of this, the comments come across as sadly cliche.

Nonetheless, digging through the videos and the hubris there are some fun things.

Jerusalem UFO [video 1]

UFO seen above Oxfordshire

Giant UFO over Fukushima [at :55]

Still, after a while, the ever-present "aliens are HERE! Get the TRUTH OUT THERE!" and "This video is FAKE...everyone knows Zeebian ships are ORANGE NOT RED and less rounded!" commentary tends to become wearying.
posted by Mike Mongo at 8:30 PM on April 17, 2011

I love this sort of thing. Maybe it's just nostalgia for the X-Files but it seems a purer, simpler form of paranoia. There was a nice low-budget alien invasion style film i saw at a fest last year but i can't remember it, and Ben 10 has a few moments. It's all about backroads, the midwest, rural America and Australia, lurking parania, and the fact that what seems silly in the daytime is creepy when it's staring at you at night.

I was shooting a movie that was kinda about UFOs in Cootamundra, an Aussie country town. We went down to the pub and the locals said they kept seeing UFOs. The sky was clear, so there were thousands of more stars than I'm used to in the city. That plus boredom and booze must have accounted for it.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 9:06 PM on April 17, 2011

the story told around 36:00 min. is priceless
posted by mannequito at 10:15 PM on April 17, 2011

I've never heard of snagfilms before. I think its the most awesome thing ever.
posted by tempythethird at 6:23 AM on April 18, 2011

Mark Pilkington's recent book Mirage Men, tackles the UFO subject very well.
posted by Liquidwolf at 6:43 AM on April 18, 2011

Wait, Lowell Thomas was involved in describing the first incidents of 'flying saucers'? I'm a little surprised we don't have a myth that TE Lawrence was abducted by aliens, then.

(By the way, guys, have you heard that TE Lawrence didn't really die in a motorcycle accident? He was kidnapped by a bunch of sadomasochistic aliens and lived happily ever after.)
posted by WidgetAlley at 8:35 AM on April 18, 2011

By the way, guys, have you heard that TE Lawrence didn't really die in a motorcycle accident? He was kidnapped by a bunch of sadomasochistic aliens and lived happily ever after.

I misread it as "sand-omasochistic aliens" and pictured he went to live with a tribe of Tusken raiders.
posted by grubi at 8:45 AM on April 18, 2011