Comments on: Another bump against the apple cart

Another bump against the apple cart

Bora Horza Gobuchul — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 15:35:01 -0800

Dear torrent seeder: I am the producer of a motion picture. This is not a case-and-desist order. I am writing to thank you. Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth succeeds through sharing.

Jerome Bixby never quite achieved the recognition he deserved, despite writing a deeply chilling short story (lauded by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the 20 best SF stories ever written) that was turned into an episode of The Twilight Zone and, decades later, became a segment in the Twilight Zone movie itself, generating a sequel ... and spoofed in The Simpson's "Treehouse of Horror II" special. Bixby also created the Mirror Universe concept in Star Trek, co-wrote the screenplay for "Fantastic Voyage" (now itself being remade), and wrote "It! The Terror From Beyond Space", which became the inspiration for "Alien". On his deathbed in April of 1998 Bixby completed the screenplay for "The Man From Earth". Almost 20 years later, his son produced a small independent film of the work. Like most such films, distribution was small, and marketing low-key. The movie had a short run, and was quickly pulled from theaters. Inevitably, a torrent of an awards screener DVD of the film was released, spawning an interest in the movie that eluded it commercially.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 15:42:52 -0800

I thought about posting this myself earlier in the week. I'm glad someone else did so.

By: Orange Pamplemousse

Orange Pamplemousse — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:04:53 -0800

That story was a good thing.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:09:18 -0800

I hear the project was underwritten by the Cornfield Motel.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:23:25 -0800

Where's the actual torrent link?

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:27:33 -0800

Before this moment I didn't know this movie existed. Now because of the buzz generated through file sharing, I know to look into it. Commercial distributors want to keep the powers for themselves. File sharing let's people inform each other - and knowledge IS power.

By: afx237vi

afx237vi — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:28:56 -0800

Jerome Bixby never quite achieved the recognition he deserved, despite writing a deeply chilling short story... That was good.

By: jdfalk

jdfalk — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:30:51 -0800

torrents here (though I haven't tested any of 'em myself yet)

By: dhammond

dhammond — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:40:12 -0800

Commercial distributors want to keep the powers for themselves. Commercial distributors also don't need bittorrent to get the word out about their films.

By: Foci for Analysis

Foci for Analysis — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:40:37 -0800

The Man From Earth is, by the way, really good. Not everyday you see a philosophical movie that so successfully builds suspense without explosions, cheap scares, etc.

By: you

you — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:44:45 -0800

The Bart Zone (youtube)

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:52:28 -0800

Downloading now.

By: parki

parki — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:55:29 -0800

Great post. Real good post. A fine one.

By: yeti

yeti — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:58:52 -0800

Yes, yes. Good post.

By: DU

DU — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:00:45 -0800

Thanks, Time Traveller, for coming back to 2007, only 9 years after 1998, to tell us about this.

By: MythMaker

MythMaker — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 18:15:48 -0800

A good day for a great post. Yessir, a real swell post.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 18:20:28 -0800

The 30 years later update for "It's a Good Life" featured the same actors in the same roles whenever possible. It was excellent.

By: DU

DU — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 18:26:20 -0800

Also, Fantastic Voyage was already remade.

By: whir

whir — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 18:45:02 -0800

I gotta say, I watched the movie and thought it was a little bit awful. Too much talking, and characters that didn't seem like they existed except to be foils of various types. I do like Bixby's other work, though. /cornfield

By: JHarris

JHarris — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 18:53:26 -0800

The Man From Earth is, by the way, really good. Not everyday you see a philosophical movie that so successfully builds suspense without explosions, cheap scares, etc. Tell me about it. When the movie of Fellowship of the frickin' Ring used a cheap scare for the easily deceived Ringwraith's big empty bed stabbing scene, it nearly ruined the movie for me.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 18:59:54 -0800

very cool -- thanks!

By: kolophon

kolophon — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 19:10:06 -0800

Thanks for posting this. I'm only subscribing to the rlslog movie feed, so this story slipped by me. (Downloading now...)

By: bunnytricks

bunnytricks — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 20:19:47 -0800

Thanks for posting this. Upon downloading it my first thought was that the acting was awful but as soon as the story picked up it became exactly the sort of media I've been craving lately. I guess I'd give it a solid B, but when curved against every other film I've seen this year (save for Fay Grim) it gets an A++++++++++++BEST MOVIE EVAR WILL DL TORRENT AGAN!1!

By: synaesthetichaze

synaesthetichaze — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:08:04 -0800

SHIT, I forgot about Fay Grim! Thanks for reminding me that that exists, bunnytricks. Jeff Goldblum + Hal Hartley = <3

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 22:51:57 -0800

Christ! Happy birthday to me... happy bir-

By: empath

empath — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 01:50:06 -0800

I just downloaded the torrent and watched it. It was pretty good, though both twists were way hackneyed and obvious. I definitely see the parallels to 12 angry men.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 03:45:18 -0800

Where's the actual torrent link? What, seriously?

By: Bora Horza Gobuchul

Bora Horza Gobuchul — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 08:16:50 -0800

If you do download the film, you might want to throw the producers a little something - the film's website accepts Paypal donations.

By: lizzicide

lizzicide — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 10:10:45 -0800

I very much enjoyed the short story. Reminded me of Orson Scott Card meets Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

By: dr_dank

dr_dank — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:48:13 -0800

IIRC, an episode of Star Trek Deep Space 9 was dedicated to Jerome Bixby.

By: Onanist

Onanist — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 02:14:07 -0800

Downloaded and watched this when it was released and thoroughly enjoyed it.

By: vhsiv

vhsiv — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 05:08:17 -0800

Downloaded and watched this when it was released and thoroughly enjoyed it. That was good, wasn't it? So well written and performed that it could have been a Master Class demonstration on imrovisation, save for those beautiful shots where John stood apart from the group in the lower right-hand corner of the frame and the other characters quarreled among themselves like thought-bubbles. (And to see Tony Todd in another good dramatic role – 2nd time this month; something must be in the air. He's been literally *demonized* and underutilized by the Hollywood machine. Shame, that) Bravo to the Bixbys! Have any of the cable nets ponied-up to broadcast it? Showtime? IFC? Sundance Channel?