Year One Voted 43rd Worst Movie of All Time

Empire Magazine has just released it's list of the 50 Worst Movies Ever Made and in their at number 43 is Biblical comedy Year One. Whilst I'm pleased to say that I've only seen 4 of the films on the list (the others being Superman IV, Raise the Titanic and Matrix Revolutions) it does seem pretty harsh on Year One, which gave me a few good laughs. I can think of plenty of worse films.

Still it's often said in relation to best of lists that time changes how well films are perceived, with the flaws in films which were hugely popular/praised at the time becoming gradually more apparent. I'm not sure how this works in this case? Does it mean that Year One will ascend into mediocrity as time goes by or that it may well get to slide up the list to whole new levels of perceived awfulness?

Anthony Balducci on Year One

I've just come across a long article on Year One by Anthony Balducci. You have to scroll down whilst he talks about a few other films, but it's the most thorough discussion of the film I've seen so far. Not had time to read it yet, but hopefully will later this week.

Year One (2009)

With his beard and his stout figure Jack Black has often seemed a littel prehistoric compared to his liposuctionned, bodywaxed, Hollywood cohorts. So it was perhaps only a matter of time until someone offered him a role playing a caveman. Black plays the role of Zed alongside Michael Cerra's Oh in Year One, the latest film from producer Judd Apatow (Superbad, Knocked Up, Anchorman) and writer / director Harold Ramis (Analyze This, Groundhog Day).

Yes, this is gross-out comedy version of ancient history set largely in the Old Testament. There are characters eating poo, strange things happening at orgies and jokes about sex aplenty. The Carry On team never did the Bible, but if they had have done, it would probably look something like this. (And those films do appear to have been somewhat influential on Year One). Certainly Ramis’ loose approach to history has more in common with those films and Mel Brookes’ History of the World Part 1 than the relatively meticulous Life of Brian.

Yet in other ways, the film has much in common with Life of Brian - the benchmark for any historical/religious comedy. Both films feature a leading man who may or may not be the chosen one (in fact 'Messiah' simply means anointed or chosen one). Both films use the Bible, but in neither is it the primary focus of the story, and both films are keen to put across the idea that religious figures are unnecessary because we can make our own destiny. Yet whereas Life of Brian managed to make that point fairly effectively whilst still being funny, Year One puts the comedy on hold and brings in the crescendoing orchestra.

That said, as a comedy, Year One does manage to be reasonably amusing, and manages to find a good deal of original material from a subject that has been done many times before. Perhaps part of that is due to its structure. After Zed and Oh are thrown out of their tribe for eating the forbidden fruit, the first half of the film turns into a historical road movie, with the pair meeting a number of Jesus’ ancestors  (Cain and Abel, Adam and then Abraham and Isaac). But as they wander they discover their tribe has become enslaved and taken to Sodom. The second half of the movie is set in Sodom itself. It’s the quest to free the women they love, Maya and Eema, in the hope that such heroics will make the girls love them back.

Zed and Oh reject Adam’s family, with their murderous brother and their bizarre sleeping arrangements, and the tribe of the circumcision-obsessed Abraham, as well as the God that both families follow, but when they reach Sodom things become a bit more inconsistent. The idea of there being gods who require human sacrifice is rightly rejected, and at times any idea of god also seems to be disregarded. Yet eventually Zed prays and ultimately what he prays for does come to pass, in a way that at least suggests God’s approval of Zed’s new message. Some would call it providential timing, others pure coincidence, but at the very least, Zed’s “make your own destiny” message seems to rely on that coincidence in order to gain wider acceptance.

Jesus only mentioned Sodom a couple of times, but interestingly, he also suggests that had miracles occurred there, the city would have seen the errors of its ways. “If the miracles that were performed in you (Capernaum) had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.” (Matthew’s Gospel, 11:23). It’s perhaps not the message Black and co. were seeking to send, but it’s interesting that they can’t quite get away from the fact that there’s more to life to sex and fart jokes.

This article was originally published at rejesus.co.uk

Year One at ReJesus

My first review of Year One is now up at rejesus. I'll discuss the Biblical elements of the film in more detail here shortly.

Year One Opening Weekend: $20M

Box Office Mojo is reporting that Year One made just under $20 million at the US Box office on it's opening weekend and around $1.5 million internationally (though it has still to open in many countries such as the UK). Here's a snippet from the Box Office Mojo report:

Considering that audiences would have to be clubbed and dragged to similar movies of yore, Year One fared decently in its debut, plucking a $19.6 million debut on around 3,600 screens at 3,022 sites, though its status as a high profile summer release featuring Jack Black and Michael Cera would dampen its performance rating. Making more in a few hours than the combined totals of Being Human and Idiocracy, Year One's opening was better attended than The Love Guru and Meet the Spartans among recent titles and Wholly Moses and Caveman among older ones, though History of the World, Part I should ultimately remain the modern benchmark with the total gross equivalent of around $82 million adjusted for ticket price inflation. Year One's audience composition was 57 percent male and 47 percent under 21 years old, according to distributor Sony Pictures.

First Reviews for Year One

Year One doesn't open here until Friday (so say the posters on the buses in London), and I've not been sent a review copy, so my own review of this film will have to wait until the weekend (in what is the busiest couple of weeks ever). Meanwhile, Peter Chattaway's review is up at Christianity Today, as well as a brief piece on other films about Genesis (I wrote a longer article similar to this back in 2005). And on his blog Peter offers some points he "considered making in my review but, for whatever reason, didn't". Here's a snippet of Peter's review:

Along the way, people talk about God every now and then, but his role in the story is rather diminished; indeed, where the Bible ascribes certain actions to God, the film consistently ascribes them to regular people (except for one lightning bolt, the timing of which may point to a higher cause). It is not God but Zed's fellow villagers who expel him for eating the forbidden fruit; it is not God but Adam (Ramis) whose questions prompt Cain to complain that he isn't Abel's "keeper"; and it is not God who saves Isaac from being sacrificed at the last minute but Zed and Oh, who stumble onto the scene just as Abraham is raising his knife.
...
On a certain level, comedies like these can serve a valid purpose, inasmuch as they highlight the vast gulf in sensibilities between ancient cultures and our own; it is not a bad thing to realize just how "strange" the ancient world was, or how "strange" we would seem to them.
...
Occasionally amusing but not very funny, and far too coarse and stupid to be all that enlightening, Year One has to rank as the most disappointing Bible-themed movie by a major studio in decades

Peter's not alone in disliking this one. It's currently only got 5.5 at IMDb, 37% at Metacritic, and just 20% at Rotten Tomatoes. That said both Variety and The New York Times liked it, though the usually generous Roger Ebert is not a fan.

Coming Soon on Year One

Peter Chattaway has links to two on-set reports about Year One. Cinematical's article includes a couple of quotes from Michael Cera which, as with the whole piece, suggest that the filmmakers have pulled out all the stops with this one. A second Cinematical article is due out shortly.

Meanwhile, a similar length article is up at ComingSoon.net, but it is accompanied by interviews with the following members of cast and crew:

Director Harold Ramis
Jack Black (Zed)
Michael Cera (Oh)
David Cross (Cain)
Oliver Platt (The High Priest)

It seems David Cross's role will go far beyond that of the biblical Cain. i'm not sure what to make of his claim that Life of Brian "didn't really make much of a comment as much as this has". Anyway, there's plenty of reading material there for anyone who is interested, and I guess release of this film is now only 6 or so weeks away.

Edit: And now Peter has linked to the international trailer which features a glimpse of Abraham and Isaac.

Website Update for Year One

Ancient / Hebrew Bible comedy Year One has had a substantial amount of new material added to its official website including a synopsis, a gallery, an interactive stone-age game, and the trailer and sneak preview videos that have been released previously. There's also the above image to download.

Speaking of this film, Peter Chattaway also discusses the news from The Hollywood Reporter that the film has been given a PG-13 rating after making some cuts to the film. It will be interesting to see if similar cuts are made before the movie's release in the UK and Canada.

New Trailer for Year One

Following on from the clip from and trailer for Old Testament comedy Year One that were released last month, Columbia have now released a new, extended, trailer for the film. The new preview shows Jack Black eating an apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the previously excerpted take on the story of Cain and Abel, and a few more scenes from Sodom. The film, directed by Harold Ramis and produced by Judd Apatow, is due for release on June 19th.

Thanks to Peter Chattaway for the tip off.

Website and Clip for Year One

Ever since Sunday's Superbowl I've been meaning to post a link to crackle.com which is hosting an exclusive clip from Year One introduced by director Harold Ramis. I must admit that I'm fairly impressed by this. I laughed several times in this 2 minute clip, which is fairly good going, particularly as the clip features the tribesmen played by Jack Black and Michael Cera encountering Cain and Abel (David Cross and Paul Rudd).

There's now also an official website for the film, although there's not much there at the moment aside from a link to the above clip, details of release dates, a competition and the chance to register for updates. The movie debuts in North America and the UK on the 19th June 2009.

There's also a trailer for the film at the IMDb.

Your Chance to Star in The Year One

I was going to post this up last week, but, for some reason, decided against it. According to Glorioso Casting, extras are required for the re-shoots of The Year One. I have no idea whether the stars will be involved in these re-shoots, so you may not get to meet them, but for any Bible film lovers in the area it's a chance to grab yourself a claim to fame. Sadly, it's half the world away from me (and the call for 6'5" blond men is minimal in Bible films anyway - although clearly nobody told Dolph Lundgren), so I won't be involved...

On set photos for Year One

Quint at Ain't it Cool has posted some pictures from the set of Year One. There's not much to go on really (except that there will be real camels), but it's interesting seeing this film progress.

There's also a fuller cast list up at IMDb, which includes characters named Adam, Eve, Cain, Seth, Abraham and Isaac. So it's pretty much certain that this is a book of Genesis comedy, albeit from an unusual angle:

Jack Black - Zed
Michael Cera - Oh
Olivia Wilde - Princess Inanna
June Diane Raphael - Maya (as June Raphael)
David Cross - Cain
Juno Temple - Eema
Oliver Platt - High Priest
Christopher Mintz-Plasse - Isaac
Hank Azaria - Abraham
Gabriel Sunday - Seth
Vinnie Jones - TBA
Marshall Manesh - Slave Trader
Harold Ramis - Adam
Gia Carides - The Queen
Rhoda Griffis - Eve (rumored)
Eden Riegel - TBA
Rick Overton - Sodom Officer Rick
Paul Scheer - Bricklayer
Matthew Willig - Marlak (rumored)
Z. Ray Wakeman - Obidia
Ted Ferguson - Royal Acolyte
Chris Ranney - Merchant

Couple of Bits on Year One

I've been waiting for a quiet moment to do an update on The Year One which is currently filming in San Diego. There's not a huge amount to report but Peter Chattaway did pick up on a report from ComingSoon.net which notes that comedian David Cross will play Cain. Peter can't help but note the potential historical anachronism. I was under the impression that this might be something of a journey-through-time affair anyway so I'm not too concerned about this at this point (not that historical anachronisms in a Jack Black comedy are particularly concerning in the first place). Having said that I'm not sure where I got this impression from. A quick search through my other posts on this film failed to turn anything up, other than the fact that Jack Black mentioned Cain in an MTV interview.

Azaria to be Abraham in Year One

Photo by Kevinthoule, used under a Creative Commons Licence

It's been a while since I blogged anything about Year One - Judd Apatow's forthcoming historical comedy. Back in December I linked to a piece over at MTV where star Jack Black described it as "a funny look at biblical tales", but didn't reveal which one(s).

Peter Chattaway has made three more posts linking to other stories on the film which seem to indicate that the story of Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah will be (amongst those) covered. Certainly, at least according to the Hollywood Reporter, it will star Hank Azaria (pictured) as Abraham, and now Olivia Wilde has revealed to MTV that she'll play the princess of Sodom. She also repeats the points made elsewhere about Michael Cera and Jack Black's characters meeting "all these characters... from the bible" and that the film will have Monty Python-esque humour.

It'll be interesting to see how this film compares to that other episodic comedy featuring Abraham, The Real Old Testament.

More on Year One

There are a few more details emerging about Year One. Firstly, there's a good piece on the film over at MTV which contains a few interesting quotes from two of the film's stars, Jack Black and Michael Cera.

It's not prehistoric, it's just pre-Christ. It's like an old, biblical tale. Cane and Abel type of stuff. Just two dudes wandering through early civilization," Black explained. "It's kind of like 'The Meaning of Life' or 'Life of Brian' — a funny look at biblical tales."

"A lot of the humor comes from that — the fact that it's an adventure," Cera added. "We're walking across these mountains, and I think it's gonna look really cool. Hopefully it'll be kind of epic."

MTV also have a video of Black discussing the film, but unfortunately, it's not available to view outside of the US.

Peter Chattaway has also highlighted a third Hollywood Reporter article article on the film (here's one and two) which claims that June Diane Raphael will play the Jack Black's love interest, who also gets "involved" with "another man in her village".

It's difficult to work out whether this film will actually be "biblical" in any sense other than its setting, and, even then, the timing of these events might not coincide (strictly) with biblical times. There's obviously a bit of a contradiction between the film's title Year One and Black's description as "pre-Christ", but it might even fit into that inter-testamental period. So it will be interesting to see whether this film re-works some (or even just one) of the biblical narratives, or whether it's just comedy in funny costumes.

Columbia to Make Year One ComedyJack Black, Mintz-Plasse, Apatow, Platt, Ramis and Vinnie Jones

Photo by Mirka23, used under a Creative Commons Licence

Peter Chattaway has linked to a story at the Hollywood Reporter about a new comedy set in biblical times, to be called Year One. There's a whole range of stars associated with it: Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Judd Apatow (producer, pictured), Michael Cera (all from Superbad, Oliver Platt (Huff), Jack Black (King Kong), and Vinnie Jones (Leeds United). Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day) will be directing the film.

The Hollywood Reporter piece describes the film as "a comedy set in biblical times", and also adds:

Platt is in talks to play a platform-shoe-wearing high priest in the comedy, while Jones is on board to play a head palace guard named Sargon. Cross and Temple's roles are not known.

The studio is keeping mum on the story line, which is based on a story by Ramis who, along with Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, penned the screenplay.

There's also an earlier Hollywood Reporter piece on this film which lists Owen Wilson as an executive producer. I suspect the absence of Wilson's name from this latest piece suggests that he is no longer involved.