Pharyngula

Posted by: Raymond Luxury Yacht | April 9, 2008 10:22 AM

Pure huksterism:

According to the film's Web site, the producers are in a whopping 45 theaters in North Carolina, and a mere seven in Massachusetts, 35 in Georgia, 11 in New Jersey, four in Connecticut and one in Vermont. And so on. There are huge numbers of screens in Florida and Texas taking the film, particularly seven in San Antonio. If I lived in the Deep South, I'd boycott the filmmakers for thinking of me as this gullible and unsophisticated.

Posted by: Steve_C | April 9, 2008 10:30 AM

hehe... AWESOME.

Posted by: J-Dog | April 9, 2008 10:33 AM

Brilliant Review! Now if they could only do something about Total Turd Bill O'Reilly. Oh, and Sean Hannity. Coulter?

Well, it's a start.

Posted by: Missus Gumby | April 9, 2008 10:38 AM

Lol!

I'm wondering if this cinematic epic will achieve the status of 'Battlefield Earth'. The reviews for it (and there are many) are quite scathing and in the main, most hilarious.

Missus Gumby

Posted by: Duncan | April 9, 2008 10:51 AM

Ah, Battlefield Earth! Now THAT was a documentary!

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/02/colbert-romneys-not-a-mormonhes-a-scientologist/

Posted by: Todd | April 9, 2008 10:55 AM

Movie reviews from Fox News don't necessarily toe the party line. They did give Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 a glowing review.

Posted by: Ashley Moore | April 9, 2008 10:59 AM

It's like Christmas come early.

Every one together:

O schadenfreude
O schadenfruede...

Posted by: Seamyst | April 9, 2008 11:03 AM

Heh. I like the review. *evil grin*

Also, somewhat unrelated: Why can't my state decide on how many theaters (and where) are showing Expelled? First it was one in one city, then it was one in another, now it's eight - including both of the first two cities, but in different theaters.

Posted by: Quidam | April 9, 2008 11:08 AM

Hallelujah indeed!

Lovely quotes:

"The whole idea of Stein, a Jew, jumping on the intelligent design bandwagon of the theory of evolution begetting the Nazis is so distasteful you wonder what in -- sorry -- God's name -- he was thinking when he got into this. Who cares, really, if "Expelled" is anti-Semitic? It will come and go without much fanfare."

"Urgggh. Suddenly Stein is not so amusing anymore. I want my eye drops from someone else."

"Following "The Passion" release pattern, "Expelled" will open wide on the 18th but mostly in rural and poor neighborhoods. It's got just one theater in all of New York City, in Times Square, none in places like Beverly Hills or wealthier, better-educated urban neighborhoods where more "evolved" people might live"
"If I lived in the Deep South, I'd boycott the filmmakers for thinking of me as this gullible and unsophisticated."

Love it :)

Posted by: ellazimm | April 9, 2008 11:10 AM

So, what does the Expelled team think of the Fox review? Mr Stein? Mr Stein? Mr Mathis? Mr Mathis? Mr Miller? Mr Kevin Miller? Anyone? Anyone?

Posted by: BlueIndependent | April 9, 2008 11:30 AM

Wow. This swings my morning pendulum of pessimism back toward the good side for sure. It's enough to outweigh that car I saw on the way to work with a GetExpelled.com sticker in the rear window...

BTW, I don't know about other cities but here in the Phoenix area the Expelled crowd has taken to using Ron Paul-style campaigning to get their word out...ya know, using fences around contruction sites to hang their crap, and the like.

Posted by: negentropyeater | April 9, 2008 11:37 AM

And the winner is..... SAN ANTONIO, TX

It wins with 10 theaters screening Expelled. Only 1 in New York City and Washington DC.
Gee, I'm sure some San Antonians (not sure if that's correct) feel proud about this.

Posted by: Glen Davidson | April 9, 2008 11:44 AM

Wow, that's almost as bad as any of the reviews so far.

True, they're not big on pointing out the lies. But that's we care about, not what your average movie-goer is concerned over.

The fact that it's not well-done (we didn't really expect it to be so poorly done, initially), not funny, not interesting, and ineffectual as an "expose," is the focus, and from what I hear, it's all correct.

Stein really is going to pay for this. Money-wise, I don't know, but he's wanted more than just money, he's wanted to be right and to be seen as intelligent. In this movie he appears to be neither, he just looks either really eager to sell his soul, or too damn stupid to know better than to promote pseudoscience, or to recognize a visibly poorly-done film. That his ego gets in the way of his judgment I don't doubt, but it's hard to not believe that his ability to judge must be very small, or even his enormous ego wouldn't completely blot out all thought (I still can't believe he's actually as stupid as that film).

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7

Posted by: Mystyk | April 9, 2008 12:01 PM

mothra @19:

When the reviews came out for 'Battlefield Earth' many said it would be the worst movie of the millennium and I agreed, until NOW.

Posted by: revulo | April 9, 2008 12:07 PM

"Oh, snap!" is right. I was honestly going "WOW..." the entire time that I was reading. I knew from reading on this blog that it was bad, but I had no idea that it was THAT bad...

WOW.

Posted by: DanioPhD | April 9, 2008 12:10 PM

With Bill O and Rush et all still squawking loudly about the dreaded 'secular progressives' I'm afraid this movie will still gain some traction with the real wingnuts. However, it's extremely encouraging to know that a measure of objectivity still exists, even at Faux News, such that pernicious dreck like 'Expelled'* can be called out. Woohoooo!

*Jazz hands

Posted by: Brownian, OM | April 9, 2008 12:31 PM

Something's wrong here. I don't recall Darwinian HQ authorising the infiltration of Fox News.

We might be dealing with a rogue operative here, and dammit, as Darwinists, we cannot abide dissent.

Quick, to the Spencermobile!

Posted by: Tim Van Haitsma | April 9, 2008 12:40 PM

OMG. I agree with Fox News. Other than the temp in Chicago, I never agree with anything they say. This shakes my world view to the core.

Posted by: Hugh Slaman | April 9, 2008 1:01 PM

The review was evidently written by a Darwinist.

Posted by: Fire Ant | April 9, 2008 1:17 PM

"I want my eyedrops from someone else?" Cue the coffee spewing out of my nose! That's a great line. Well, now playing a Pixie on "Fairly Oddparents" is moving to the top of Stein's future resume...............

Posted by: Deepsix | April 9, 2008 1:35 PM

Any word on if the reviewer is still employed by Fox News?

Posted by: J | April 9, 2008 2:11 PM

Look at the ad that comes up:

ADVERTISEMENTS
"Teeth Whiteners Exposed"
7 Teeth Whitening Products Tested, Rated, and Reviewed. A Must Read!

It's a Darwinist anti-Clear Eyes plot!

Posted by: Bad | April 9, 2008 2:18 PM

The goose people are getting out of this is a little unwarranted. There are no conservatives or Fox fans are going to be surprised by this. Fox's entertainment section and Roger Friedman in general are well known to NOT toe the party line of the rest of the network: sort of in a light, contrarian way. This is nothing new from that perspective.

Friedman, for instance, gave Fahrenheit 9/11 a positive review, and panned Passion of the Christ. So, honestly, the "wow, if even Fox didn't like it!" or "omg I agree with FoxNews" talk here is very overblown. It's just one more reviewer who didn't like it, not someone going against type.

Posted by: Glen Davidson | April 9, 2008 2:28 PM

Amanda Gefter wrote a review for New Scientist:

Film review: Expelled: No intelligence allowed 12 April 2008 Amanda Gefter Magazine issue 2651 THE highly controversial documentary Expelled: No intelligence allowed, is full of surprises, not least of which are endless clips of Nazis from the second world war.

Nazis? What have Nazis to do with a film about the "conflict" between evolution and intelligent design? Everything, apparently. The film-makers' logic is that by teaching evolution, the US public school system is telling children that there is no God, morality or free will. And this can lead to only one thing: Holocaust.

But fear not, Ben Stein is here. Those who love 1980s teen cult films will remember him as the monotone economics teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Stein was also a game-show host and speech-writer for Richard Nixon. Even more oddly, Stein, a Jew, is now a shining star among evangelical Christians who argue that intelligent design (ID) is a scientific theory. Maybe the film-makers thought they would get away with ...

www.newscientist.com/channel/life/evolution/mg19826512.100-film-review-iexpelled-no-intelligence-allowedi.html

And that's it without a subscription to New Scientist. This is just their teaser.

Gefter already discussed her movie experience at an Expelled showing, but I have the feeling that it will be worth reading this latest review of hers, whether by paying, or by finding it in the library some time.

Glen Davidson
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7

Posted by: Bill | April 9, 2008 3:23 PM

Wow. First MSNBC and now Fox news!
I mean, FOX NEWS!!
I felt dirty browsing their site to read the article, but it was worth it.
I was getting so depressed the last couple days. I really needed a little good news.

So. Given how few theaters this is going to be shown in, has anyone thought of putting together a flyer that can be handed out to everyone walking out of the movie? Something the exposes the lies and directs people to expelledexposed.com, etc?

Posted by: Glen Davidson | April 9, 2008 3:33 PM

Susan, here's a short discussion of the "700 scientists":

700 scientists (also over 700 scientists, etc.) - The Discovery Institute has compiled a list, called "A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism," of scientists who, according to the DI, see grave inadequacies in "Darwinian evolution" (entry forthcoming). [Ex: "New Scientific Evidence Convinces Over 400 Scientists That Darwinian Evolution is Deficient." - Staff, Discovery Institute News] Unfortunately, the facts in this matter suffer from the DI's casual relationship with the truth. Most crucial is the content of the phrases to which these scientists lent their assent. This short statement - "We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged." - is wholly uncontroversial and could have been signed by the staunchest of evolutionary scientists. The first sentence is trivially true, as few, if any, biologists believe that mutation and selection alone can account for the entirety of evolution. The second is nothing more than a description of the professional attitude any scientist should adopt. Indeed many legitimate scientists have commented that, had they been unaware of the ulterior motives underlying the DI's usage of this document, they would have been willing to sign it themselves. Other factors to be aware of are that many of the signatories are not scientists, only about 20% of the 400 or so listed are biologists, and few of those could be considered evolutionary biologists (presumably the group familiar enough with mutation and selection to offer authoritative comment).

Nutshell: The Discovery Institute's list of [700] scientists who question evolution is a non-controversial document dressed up to look like a repudiation of evolution. It was signed by many who are not scientists. And of those who are, most are not biologists. It is a molehill, bolstered by DI hyperbole, made to appear mountainous.

litcandle.blogspot.com/2005/05/intelligent-design-glossary.html

Note that the 700 are not claiming that ID is science. And do we really care if chemists, neurologists like Egnor, or physicists "see grave inadequacies" in evolutionary theory? That 20% of them could be counted as biologists is probably generous, since they're probably counting biochemists such as Behe as biologists (it's in the ballpark, but one could be almost entirely ignorant of evolution and be a biochemist--Behe's not almost entirely ignorant of evolution, but it's clear that he knows relatively little about it).

The truth is that very few scientists who deal with evolutionary matters find great problems with current theory (a few do, and as long as they're dealing with science, as ID does not, they get by--Behe admitted as much in a meeting I attended, but whined that his magic is not so respected).

Most importantly, they can't answer our questions, or adequately question our answers to them. It really wouldn't matter to the issue at hand if 50% of biologists were somehow so prejudiced as to believe in ID. It would still be bogus science, only it would be a lot harder for the courts to determine that it is in that case.

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7

Posted by: nic nicholson | April 9, 2008 3:47 PM

The absolutely hilarious irony of this is, what if, by stupidly appearing in this film as he has, Ben Stein's advertising/movie/television career comes to a screeching halt?

In a sense, he'll have been "expelled" by a movie of the same name! Hoisted on his own petard, so to speak!

What delicious irony that would be!

Posted by: Immunologist | April 9, 2008 4:00 PM

This is probably a surprise no one, but yesterday Mr. Limbaugh came out strongly supporting the film--it reveals the career-wrecking, anti-American (1st Amendment, presumably), socialist/liberal evil darwinist hegemony.

Posted by: Bad | April 9, 2008 4:28 PM

"This is probably a surprise no one, but yesterday Mr. Limbaugh came out strongly supporting the film--it reveals the career-wrecking, anti-American (1st Amendment, presumably), socialist/liberal evil darwinist hegemony."

He's been pumping it for a while now from what I understand. I can't wait until Michael Medved, Discovery Institute fellow, comes out with his celebratory review. I wonder if he'll even bother to mention who he works for and their connections to the film.

By the way: there was a 30minute promo for the film on some Southern Baptist cable network, FAMNET this past weekend. Anyone happen to Tivo it?

Posted by: MH | April 9, 2008 4:42 PM

Grumpy #43 wrote: "I've got a theater showing it right across the street from my office. I can't picket it all day long, but does anyone have some good flyers I can hand out to anyone waiting in line, or other good protest advice?"

How about this?

Posted by: blf | April 9, 2008 5:20 PM

MH@60: Not to belabour the obvious, but I suspect that would go right over the heads of Teh Trve BeLivers™.

Posted by: jeh | April 9, 2008 6:08 PM

Ow! That'll leave a mark.

Posted by: Kseniya | April 9, 2008 6:32 PM

If Stein's career grinds to a halt as a result of his involvement with this turkey, you just know the that fact will be used as "proof" that he's been blackballed solely due to his association with the ID movement.

Posted by: James F | April 9, 2008 7:29 PM

#63

Susan,

Wow, Glen D beat me to it - although the signers are probably pro-ID since they didn't remove their names from the list, the fact remains, as he said, that the statement is hardly a ringing denial of evolution.

I suggest you mention "expelledexposed.com," which will be a one-stop place to find all the reviews, info, and point-by-point rebuttal to the film.

Posted by: Aquaria | April 10, 2008 2:03 AM

And the winner is..... SAN ANTONIO, TX It wins with 10 theaters screening Expelled. Only 1 in New York City and Washington DC. Gee, I'm sure some San Antonians (not sure if that's correct) feel proud about this.

This San Antonian is utterly ashamed, but not surprised. We have a ton of megachurches here, especially the infamous Cornerstone, bloated, repulsive shrine of infamy of the equally bloated and repulsive, John Hagee (aka John McCain's new BFF). He can pack a few theaters here with his zombie followers, but not for long. But that doesn't matter. He'll do enough to give the Expelled folks ONE city where the film did well. So to speak. It will prove his cred with the fundies, so that he can take over the spot left by Jerry Falwell. One disgusting religious swine for another. Literally.

I wish somebody would catch Hagee getting blown in a truck stop bathroom, so we can rid an otherwise great city of his foul presence, but none of the gay men here are that desperate. Or ever will be. They can't even bring themselves to consider it, even to ruin the man. He's that damned icky. Or, as one of my gay friends put it, "Not even with someone else's tongue!"

Posted by: negentropyeater | April 10, 2008 6:47 AM

Aquaria,

but how is Hagee (who blames the Catholic church for Nazism) going to support Expelled (who blames Darwinism for Nazism) ?
Ah well, I guess contradictions are not a problem for these Evangelical bigots. Catholicism and Darwinism are probably all in one camp, that of the "Anti-Christ" who will cause the apocalypse so that Jesus Christ can come back...

Posted by: khan | April 10, 2008 11:50 AM

-Catholicism /= evangelical fundamentalist Protestantism

-Darwinism /= evangelical fundamentalist Protestantism

thus, Catholicism=Darwinism, and ergo, there is no contradiction in their logic.

*rolleyes*

So:

A /= B
A /= C
therefore
B = C

Is there a name for this bit of 'logic'?
The anti-associative principle?

Posted by: illinoisfrank | April 10, 2008 12:21 PM

This link works better (sorry)
http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=33833

Posted by: duncan | April 10, 2008 4:54 PM

Wow, that review was great! I assume it was written on Opposite Day, right?

Speaking of which, this article from the same site must have been as well:

http://www.illinoisfamily.org/informed/contentview.asp?c=33339

What else could possibly explain the findings?

Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | April 11, 2008 3:23 PM

Is there a name for this bit of 'logic'?
The anti-associative principle?

It's called "you're either with_us, or you're with_the terrrists", only genuine with the triple r.

Posted by: Daddy29 | October 22, 2009 7:33 PM

In larger amounts, I doubt it can hold. ,