Even its promoters haven’t seen it


The horrible Expelled is now available on DVD. I have no plans to view it. However, you can get it from a site called redbox, which has a bizarre synopsis.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Who better to interview fanatics than the hilariously deadpan Ben Stein? Here, the former host of “Win Ben Stein’s Money” (and, it should mentioned, trusted Nixon advisor) hosts a documentary in which he sets out to ask the hard questions about the Intelligent Design theory to its most fervent believers.

I don’t know what they were thinking when they wrote that.

Comments

  1. James F says

    What comes after “epic fail?” “Monumental fail?” “Gargantuan fail?” “Astronomical fail?”

  2. Schmeer says

    Well, since it bombed as a pro-ID film you might trick a few people into watching it if they think it is anti-ID.

  3. Alex Besogonov says

    James F:

    “Black hole fail” – it’s so large, it collapses into a singularity, threatening to suck everything with it.

  4. says

    Were they thinking: “Oh just imagine the looks on those godless liberals’ faces when they pop this in the DVD player and discover…”?

  5. Hap says

    I think at least one of the reviewers watched it, but their brains dribbled out their ears, and left them in their chair drooling and saying “Gah! Gah! Gah!” (sort of like one of the occurrences in Infinite Jest). At that point, having bought lots of it, they decided to rent it out anyway, but couldn’t spare any more reviewers, so they made a “best guess” on its content.

    I could have suggested some people who could have watched it without apparent harm, but they are likely not be able to review it. Oh, well.

  6. says

    In Iowa City, we have a saying, “There is drunk…then there is T-Bone drunk!” To make a long story short, T-Bone could drink Otis from Mayberry and a Catholic Church hosting an AA meeting under the table.

    This is T-Bone Fail.

  7. Stephen Maxwell says

    That’s got to be a joke right?

    trusted Nixon advisor?

    I didn’t know such a thing existed…

  8. John says

    After epic fail comes fractal fail. Fail at every conceivable scale of resolution. Zooming in on any part of your epic fail finds fails every bit as epic as your initial epic fail.

  9. says

    PZ, you must stop posting these things, my side cannot take much more, between you and Fox News having the “terrorist fist pound” thing, I really don’t know how long my ribs will last…

  10. says

    Well, it’s clear that the premise of a global conspiracy of meanies conspiring to silence honest and curious scientists who think And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good is the title of a peer-reviewed journal article is so ludicrous on its face that they rejected it in favour of the much more reasonable and likely hypothesis that Expelled is an anti-ID film.

    Even Occam’s razor gets rusty sometimes.

  11. says

    Sweet, it’s available to download. Time to grab it, take some form of mild-altering substance and laugh it up.

  12. Hap says

    Why is “trusted Nixon advisor” an endorsement of anything? Kind of like advertising financial management “brought to you by the accountants at Enron” or male enhancement “brought to you by the scientistsXXXXXXXXXXsalespeople who brought you Enzyte”?

    I guess it was better than “brought to you by the man who can tell lies faster than a Bush press secretary”.

  13. Phil says

    When you click on the title, the description of the movies genre is: Comedy, drama, documentary.

    Comedy? That’s the first description of this? In a way, fitting, I suppose.

  14. says

    Have you folks seen the TV commercials yet? I saw one the other night that describes it as, to paraphrase, “Ben Stein goes to college – and get EXPELLED!” Not a word about Evolution/Creationism/Design – Intelligent or Otherwise. Makes it sound kinda like Ferris Bueller Takes a Day Off College or something.

  15. Magnus says

    The poll on the expelled website is rigged. Check out erv’s blog.

    This propaganda movie really is alot like a black hole of stupidity and failure.

  16. student_b says

    After epic fail comes fractal fail. Fail at every conceivable scale of resolution. Zooming in on any part of your epic fail finds fails every bit as epic as your initial epic fail.

    And this is an epic win.

  17. llewelly says

    Remember kids, although Ben Stein was a proud Nixon speechwriter, he did not write the line ‘I am not a crook’.
    At least, that’s what his bio tells us.

  18. Sauceress says

    Comments on the blog indicate comments there shaping up to be just as hilarious as the first time round!

    Example

    As a scientist myself, it’s noce to remind people in the industry that they are not the “be-all” and “end-all” of things. Just because we believe something doesn’t make it so. Nice to see this movie do well and it’s about to make a killing at the box-office.

    “about to make a killing at the box office” ???

  19. Karley says

    I noticed when I was watching BBC America last Saturday, every commercial break had a commercial for Expelled. Guess that’s the “America” part. I already watch Primeval, that’s all the bad science I need.

  20. says

    Religulous vs. Expelled, courtesy of Box Office Mojo.

    Well sure, Religulous made 19% more money, but it’s a longer film by 11 minutes.

    If you divide the domestic gross by running time, the two movies are a lot closer in earnings, with Religulous making only 6.2% more than Expelled.

    I understand that cdesign proponentsists use similar statistical methodologies when they calculate exactly how prokaryotic flagella confirm Jehovah’s existence but not Kukulkan’s.

  21. Hans says

    It’s available on The Pirate Bay. Not that I’m condoning or promoting piracy, I’m just reporting on the spreading of the movie.

  22. Arb says

    Well PZ – you DID have plans to see the movie, but you were – well – expelled. They had their chance to convert you and they blew it!

  23. Chris Krolczyk says

    Shorter, more accurate review:

    “I couldn’t watch any more of this pile of guano posing as a ‘documentary’, so I wrote a review that gets everything wrong, and in spades – even down to basic grammar. It’s a great film if your idea of killing brain cells without the pleasantries of alcohol poisoning is your idea of a fun time.”

  24. Lago says

    I was trying to watch Primeval on BBC America (yes, they guy who bad-mouths British TV watches BBC America regularly) and in every single commercial break I had to put up with Ben Steins face, with them referring to him as , “An American Icon.” Yes, they were putting the DVD into promotional circulation on BBC America big time.

    I do not grasp the logic, … are they thinking people that watch BBC America are more-likely, or less likely, to fall for their crap?

    Someone explain?

  25. Steve says

    Just torrent it. It’s only 90 minutes long and despite what Richard Dawkins says it’s not that boring.

  26. Andrew says

    Umm… That’s not the review on the Redbox website.

    Here it is, sounding like it was copied straight from the case:

    His heroic and, at times, shocking journey confronting the world’s top scientists, educators and philosophers, regarding the persecution of the many by an elite few. Ben travels the world on his quest, and learns an awe-inspiring truth…that bewilders him, then angers him…and then spurs him to action! Ben realizes that he has been “Expelled,” and that educators and scientists are being ridiculed, denied tenure and even fired – for the “crime” of merely believing that there might be evidence of “design” in nature, and that perhaps life is not just the result of accidental, random chance.

  27. Randall says

    #14: “fractal fail”
    #21: “irreducible fail”

    Clearly, the answer is both, despite their being mutually exclusive.

  28. Brian D says

    Didn’t Feynman determine the proper term to be “economical” fail?

    I’ll be “securing” a copy through the Devil’s means; I’d been joking about holding a screening for my local atheists/agnostics club (yes, that one) in the same spirit I saw it in: Drinking game material. (I maintain: If you can separate yourself from the content and focus on the rhetoric, you will leave the showing laughing rather than screaming. Taking a shot every time Stein Godwins or non-sequitors also helps.)

  29. skyotter says

    interestingly, when i visited my local video-rental franchise this morning to buy a copy of the new Hulk movie, i noticed a blank space in the “E” section of new releases. i asked the manager, with whom i’ve been flirting for years, and she said with a wink that the copies they ordered mysteriously vanished, and probably won’t be replaced. i’d like to take credit, but i can’t

  30. andyo says

    Redbox have been spamming me. I’d never heard of them, and I started getting emails to RENEW my account. Shady tactics.

  31. Nerd of Redhead says

    Sweet, it’s available to download. Time to grab it, take some form of mild-altering substance and laugh it up.

    Already grabbed it off the intertubes. No money for that bunch of liars. Now waiting for some vacation time to recover from the alcohol needed to watch the dreck.

  32. MikeM says

    This POS is back up to 3 stars on amazon.com, with 1-star reviews just ahead of 5-star reviews…

    I’m pretty sure we know what to do about that.

    Also, look at its sales rank:

    #1 in Movies & TV > Documentary
    #4 in Movies & TV > Comedy
    #5 in Movies & TV > Kids & Family

    I guess child-abuse is still popular in this country.

  33. SEF says

    Umm… That’s not the review on the Redbox website.

    Hmm… a two-faced intelligently designed website which presents different reviews according to which IP address etc is looking at it? Has it been programmed to recognised PZ – and will they have forgotten to include Richard Dawkins identity again? :-D

  34. says

    Already grabbed it off the intertubes. No money for that bunch of liars. Now waiting for some vacation time to recover from the alcohol needed to watch the dreck.

    Yeah, I’m thinking the same. I’m going to have to get really wrecked, either I need to abstain from alcohol so my tolerance goes down or try something harder.

  35. Chris says

    I just watched it, out of sheer curiosity. I’d read about how terribly dull and utterly bizarre it is, but I’m not sure it is possible to imagine without seeing it. The first half: terribly dull and utterly bizarre. Most of the second half…well, you’ll need a shower afterwards.

  36. Qwerty says

    “[Ben Stein] sets out to ask the hard questions about the Intelligent Design theory to its most fervent believers.”

    FERVENT BELIEVERS! You’d have to be a believer to buy into intelligen design. I guffawed (well, I am at work; so I really laughted to myself) when I read this!!!

  37. says

    Presumably they read something Premise put out, and some ill-informed copywriter was told to cut it down. Reading about fanatics, said copywriter probably just thought Stein was skewering the IDiots.

    It’s the oddest thing, though, because its English is so fractured. “…and it should mentioned,” and “…ask the hard questions…to its most fervent believers.”

    The thing is fun, in its way, casually maligning the very morons to whom it is supposed to appeal.

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

  38. catta says

    Is it really that easy to mistake “tragically braindead” for “hilariously deadpan”? Damn.

  39. craig says

    Just an FYI. The “company called Redbox” was started and funded by McDonald’s, which still owns 47 percent of it.

  40. Patricia says

    Kel – I went to the theater to see it, and didn’t miss a minute.
    Trust me, alcohol alone isn’t enough. Ace Bandage your ribs, for the groaning your going to do, helmet, depends undergarment, hide your firearms and power tools, put your dog in his kennel, and of course, have a barf bucket and chamber pot handy.
    If I’ve forgotten any safety measures, I apologize. No one will tell on you if you start goosestepping with glazed over eyes, and blood running out of your ears.

  41. says

    Trust me, alcohol alone isn’t enough. Ace Bandage your ribs, for the groaning your going to do, helmet, depends undergarment, hide your firearms and power tools, put your dog in his kennel, and of course, have a barf bucket and chamber pot handy.

    Will a bottle of Absinthe and some pot cookies suffice?

  42. qedpro says

    So they are billing expelled as a dark comedy about ID. Its really a spoof to show just how fucking ignorant the IDIOTs are? Is that their spin now. JFC these people must walk around dizzy all day.

  43. Nerd of Redhead says

    Patricia, you forgot to hide any rope strong enough to hang oneself.

    Sounds like welder’s goggles and airport rated earphones are also appropriate.

  44. mcow says

    I wonder if Richard Dawkins is aware that he’s listed second under “starring” on the Amazon page for Expelled. If it were me, I’d find that very irritating, to say the least.

  45. says

    I happened to be in my neighborhood Best Buy tonight, and I saw Expelled in the new arrivals section. There must have been a dozen copies of that DVD right there. How many of them do they think they’ll be selling?

  46. says

    Oh thank goodness the stupid thing is on Google Video already, so I don’t even have to rent it. What a ridiculous piece of trash it was too, but at least all I wasted on it was time.

    I could have been reading The Watchmen. :P

  47. JohnnieCanuck, FCD says

    Go have a look at their awful ad for the DVD, if you haven’t been hit with it yet.

    http://getexpelled.com/codelanding.html You’ll get a discount! 10%!

    There’s something about that smirk that bothers me. “Trust me to lie 100% of the time”, he seems to be saying.

    And then there’s the claim to “#1 documentary of 2008”. Yecch.

    Note: It was Jason Rosenhaus’ fault that I was looking at blog.beliefnet.com and got ‘Exposed’ to the ad.

  48. Quiet_Desperation says

    That’s actually not that uncommon in the industry according the a television writer acquaintance of mine.

  49. Animavore says

    To be fair to Redbox and, judging by the glowing synopsis of the criminally dreadful Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull it’s reasonable to say that they are not responsible for writing them. It’s probably just copied from the back of the DVD box.

  50. says

    “Now out on video — the shambling, growling, foundationless juggernaut, the thing that just wouldn’t die — ID: Benstein’s monster!”

    “Remember: if you want chills, if you want a slight feeling of nausea, if you want to be terrified — remember, it’s spelled with an ‘EX’!”

    “As previously only in theaters… Now only on DVD… soon only in TV… and pretty soon only available in the church yard sale… buy Expelled: No intelligence allowed, presented by Ben Stein, intelligent design’s seeing eye dog!*”

    * ‘rottweiler’ and ‘bulldog’ were taken already.

  51. David Marjanović, OM says

    I misread this headline as: Dinosaur Graveyard Yields Fossil Bunny.

    Link doesn’t work.

  52. NoNamePlease says

    And a useful suggestion for those wishing to obtain a copy via the file-sharing route, be sure to run Peer Guardian to limit your ‘exposure’.

    Good grief, why would anyone toss any money their way?

  53. Chris Krolczyk says

    Andrew (quoting the authentic Redbox review, I suppose)

    His heroic and, at times, shocking journey confronting the world’s top scientists, educators and philosophers, regarding the persecution of the many by an elite few.

    You have got to be fucking kidding me.

    Karen Ann Quinlan braindeath-level Fail.

    Animavore:

    To be fair to Redbox and, judging by the glowing synopsis of the criminally dreadful Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull it’s reasonable to say that they are not responsible for writing them. It’s probably just copied from the back of the DVD box.

    One would hope they were copying it from something; otherwise, Michael Medved would have to be pointing a .44 magnum at your head and feeding you quotes for anyone to write that drek.

  54. BobC says

    Anyone here think the movie Expelled is bullshit?

    You can complain about it here and accomplish nothing.

    Or you leave some comments here and talk directly to the Christian retards who like the movie Expelled.

  55. Scott says

    Haha, my dad listens to talk radio (he’s a major conservative ugh) and an ad for Expelled came on claiming it was a “hit” in theaters. I burst out laughing after hearing that.

  56. says

    Or you leave some comments here and talk directly to the Christian retards who like the movie Expelled.

    How’s it working out for you?

  57. BobC says

    Kel, I just think a major invasion of atheists into a Christian blog is more effective than a bunch of atheists talking to each other. Christians should at least know atheists exist and they should know there’s millions of us. They’re never going to know that if atheists hide in atheist blogs.

  58. says

    Kel, I just think a major invasion of atheists into a Christian blog is more effective than a bunch of atheists talking to each other.

    I’m aware of your sentiments Bob, and while I agree that something needs to be done, I’m just not sure that going onto a place where people have a huge base of positive affirmation is going to actually achieve anything – and may actually be negative in the scheme of things. That’s why I’m wondering how much success you have had doing it in order to evaluate the consequences of the proposed methodology.

  59. BobC says

    Kel, let’s say there’s a Christian blog and the subject of the thread is evolution. The Christian retards talk to each other and agree that evolution has zero evidence. Now what if 100 biologists suddenly appear and each one of them explains some of the massive evidence for evolution. Wouldn’t that make a big impression? I think it would at least convince the Christian retards they can’t expect to lie about science and get away with it.

    I’m not 100 scientists. I’m just one non-scientist. So I can’t say what would happen if 100 biologists visited a Christian blog and explained why evolution is a fact. I sure would like to see this happen but biologists would rather not bother with it. They prefer to talk to each other and nobody else. What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.

  60. says

    Now what if 100 biologists suddenly appear and each one of them explains some of the massive evidence for evolution. Wouldn’t that make a big impression?

    I suppose so, but I suffer from the same problem as you as being a non-biologist. My degree was in computer science.

    What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.

    Or a resignation to the futility of the concept. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn’t. Inevitably if you took people from here, the argument would then descend into a science vs religion debate where belief in God and belief in evolution are polar opposites. I don’t know how a theist can resolve God and science, how would I be able to communicate with them? I’m just an atheist persecuting their religion to them.

  61. Patricia says

    Kel – No honey, pot cookies will not see you through it. You’ll need your poor little ol’ hand held by a finely corseted, highly scented lady, well versed in applying cool, lavender scented cloths to your forehead.
    This ain’t a picnic or a snipe hunt, it’s down right vulgar. Why you couldn’t even get anyone in Hazard County to believe this stuff. That terrifian bo-hemoth Warren Sapp would find it hard to charge through the bullshit Stien lays out.
    PZ does make mother Myers proud though.

  62. mothra says

    I like fractal fail, but offer ‘brane fail’ (finally, something useful comes out of string ‘theory’)

    On talking to christians about evolution. A Baptist christian handed me a cobbled together page as to why DNA evidence disproves that Amerindians are a lost tribe of Israel, ala Mormon christian beliefs. I immediately pointed out that to accept such DNA evidence means he must also accept the existence and and extinction of another species of Human, H. neanderthalis. He replied, “oh, no, we don’t accept the dating. I said, this is simple base substitution, we do not even need to consider molecular clocks. “I’ll have to think about it.” I may have made some headway.

  63. windy says

    the criminally dreadful Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

    Finally got around to seeing that. Talk about mixed messages – “Knowledge was their treasure” but knowledge will destroy you and the aliens will take their ball and go home and destroy all traces of that knowledge. Huh?

  64. says

    Kel – No honey, pot cookies will not see you through it. You’ll need your poor little ol’ hand held by a finely corseted, highly scented lady, well versed in applying cool, lavender scented cloths to your forehead.

    Fuck, I don’t have one of those. Guess I’ll just have to risk it with a cocktail of different alcohols.

  65. Doctorb says

    Reminds me of the blurb on the DVD cover for Superbabies (Baby Geniuses 2):

    “Superbabies has no redeeming qualities”