Frequent readers may or may not be familiar with Movieguide, the so-called "Christian" film review site from whence activist Dr. Ted Baehr issues his reviews/political pronouncements. If you're unfamiliar, check out my previous expose on the organization and their misinformation-spreading during the Oscar season here:
http://moviebob.blogspot.com/2005/03/movieguide-misinforms-on-oscars.html
Well, Dr. Baehr is at it again in his review of the South Korean smash-hit "Oldboy." Check it out:
http://www.movieguide.org/index.php?s=reviews&id=6831
Now, it would be wrong of me to proceed with this post without mentioning one of the elements of real praise I can offer to Movieguide. That is to say, while I'm largely opposed to almost everything they stand for and use their reviews to promote, credit must be given to Movieguide for frequently turning their attention to non-mainstream releases like this that most such sites otherwise ignore. Yes, I'm pretty much in disagreement with everything Movieguide has to say about the film, but it's still worth noting that they are making the film known to an audience that probably wasn't otherwise aware of it.
But then we come to a small... problem.
Right in the midst of calling the film "abhorrent," Baehr takes a totally out-of-left-field shot at Aint-It-Cool-News web guru Harry Knowles. From Baehr's review:
"No wonder so many secular, politically correct movie critics, like Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool, like this movie."
Um... huh?
Okay, first, for those who don't speak fluent Fundamentalist, "secular" means "anti-Christian" and "politically correct" means "liberal." Their usual definitions, not mine :)
What's WRONG here is that Baehr and company are taking a cheap and unwarranted shot at Knowles, and for no better reason as far as I can see than to make Movieguide look more "hip" by referencing a more "sub-celebrity" critic than Roger Ebert etc.
What's kinda FUNNY is, it's obvious that they're doing so without much research, or they'd find that Knowles' criticism (whatever else it may be) is so easy to categorize. In fact, not only did Knowles and his site host what turned out to be the public debut screening of Movieguide's beloved "The Passion of The Christ," but the "secular" and "politically correct" Knowles gave the film a GUSHINGLY positive review! Don't believe me?...
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=17152
Ahem.
The lesson here is not to rush to judgement. If I wanted to be coy, I think there's a couple of passages in a certain old, popular book that I think Movieguide's staff is pretty familiar with that has some choice things to say about judgement I could quote...
If I wanted to be coy, that is :)
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