Comments on: Film Reviews: 'Wanted' and 'Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed'

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:15:27 +0000

To Jeff: I don’t think anyone would disagree with your description of how a scientific hypothesis becomes a theory (re: “observation and inquiry->hypothesis testing->rejection or failure to reject hypotheses”). But the concern that Expelled brings up is what exists before “observation and inquiry”, namely the worldview of the observer. If the observer already has a prejudice against the notion of a higher being, than it is possible that the understanding of the evidence is skewered.

By: Chris mankey

Chris mankey — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:02:21 +0000

“The theory of evolution is just that – a theory.”

Of course a “theory ” in science is a diffent and more certain thing than the common usage of the word theory in day to day life. So all evolution is “In science a theory is a testable model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise verified through empirical observation”

Is that all. Clearly you just parrot creationist nonsense!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:29:50 +0000

I just wanted to follow up to apologize to L. Nickel about assuming gender.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:10:35 +0000

Once again, Canadians show their greater common sense. With all due respect to Mr. Nickel, it’s too bad he didn’t get training in science, or he would know what a scientific theory is. The process goes like this:observation and inquiry->hypothesis testing->rejection or failure to reject hypotheses, and after many, many rounds of failing to reject, e.g., Darwin’s and Wallace’s hypothesis (which had predecessors) it becomes a theory. Eventually it becomes an axiom, like: “there is gravity.” The problem is non-scientific people confuse a hypothesis, like “my keys fell out of the hole in my pocket when I was at the store” with a scientific theory. The vast majority of scientists consider evolution axiomatic, although they will disagree on details, just like any other field of study or area of expertise. That’s not to say that scientists pretend to know the answer to everything; indeed, what got most of us into this was a sense of mystery, wonder, and awe.

By: Aredeant

Aredeant — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:28:36 +0000

Actually. most people don’t really care about believing in “God”, but will answer a poll to the affirmative. Expelled is simply a propaganda piece put out by the discovery institute. If I made up my own garbage and promoted it with a bunch of sciency words, I, too, could make my own whiny documentary when the science establishment rejected it as unfounded. The only people that think ID it is a legit alternative view of science are the ones that think that you get to pet lions after you die. Expelled made about $7.5M in the states – not much, but I think you Canucks are probably smarter than that.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:29:45 +0000

I saw Expelled on Friday evening and enjoyed it enormously. It never ceases to amaze and amuse me that the left immediately resorts to personal, pubescent attack when challenged. Tolerance, it seems, only applies to what they deem correct.

By: Dr. L. Nickel

Dr. L. Nickel — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:17:41 +0000

Isn’t it interesting that 94% of the North American population – people from every walk in life, believe in God? “Expelled” makes many good points. In the world of academia, people sometimes keep that opinion to themselves – but universities are swarming with God believers. The theory of evolution is just that – a theory.

By: Toby

Toby — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:49:20 +0000

I think we should get uneasy when all thoughts and ideas are treated equally when some are clearly disingenuous and idiotic. Freedom of expression does not mean that some expression is not stupid.

By: jiriz

jiriz — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:19:15 +0000

We all should get uneasy each time a thought or an opinion gets shouted down and ridiculed.

I don’t believe in intelligent design and never did. But – unlike some more rabid posters here, I never knew for sure.

Because he or she, who “knows for sure” is surely a bigot.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:25:36 +0000

Actually Gary I think the person who is protesting to much is you. The reviewer said it was a crappy film that said stupid things. That seems pretty straight forward to me. Could it be you’re actually a supporter trying to drum up interest in a sucky film?

By: Lola

Lola — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:18:12 +0000

How is Wanted misogynistic? If the protagonist had been a woman, with a bullying male boss and a cheating boyfriend, and gets beaten up by a male mentor would that be misandristic? Nonsense. Angie’s character was one of the few assassins in the movie with integrity. If you can’t see that then you’ve been blinded by too much PC bs.

By: Gary Colwell

Gary Colwell — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:58:07 +0000

With a film like this, the first duty of a reviewer is to explain the scope and the argumentative content of the work she is reviewing; and then, secondly, to explain why she does or does not agree with the work’s argument. Not having seen the documentary, “Expelled”, I had hoped to learn something substantial about the film’s content. But alas, I was denied, for the review is practically contentless. It consists largely of mean spirited irrelevancies. There is one positive feature of the review, however, that I want to acknowledge: It has motivated me to see the film; the reason being, “the lady she doth protest too much”.

By: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed not a hit with Canadian reviewers at Bene Diction Blogs On

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:22:37 +0000

[...] review Macleans gave it a few sentences The Vancouver Sun wasn’t highly complimentary [...]

By: The stupid - it’s coming! « Mild Opinons

The stupid - it’s coming! « Mild Opinons — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:36:16 +0000

[...] Laura Secord. Thankfully, I’m not the only one who feels this way: check out the Macleans review of the movie, which is gratifyingly [...]

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:24:56 +0000

Anyone considering seeing Expelled movie should first check out http://www.expelledexposed.com
Every major point of the vile documentary is debunked.

By: Jacques

Jacques — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:25:40 +0000

Holy jumpin’ jeebus, I’m pretty amazed that a right wing rag like Macleans would savage a right wing propoganda film like Expelled like this. Most excellent review. Thanks for being honest.

By: unclejeffie

unclejeffie — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:02:04 +0000

Expelled is a poorly made piece of propaganda full of lies and misrepresentations. It shows the ignorance of the Intelligent Design (ID) advocates. I found it repulsive. As for Ben Stein – well, he’s not the brightest cookie.

By: imagine

imagine — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:46:34 +0000

You got the lyrics for “Imagine” wrong.

By: Physicalist

Physicalist — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:14:24 +0000

Your review of Expelled is spot on! (Typo: apostrophe in “and it’s argument consists of vile innuendo.”)

By: Just Visiting

Just Visiting — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:47:19 +0000

Very interesting reviews. “Wanted” seems like an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. However, although I enjoy horror flicks, “Expelled” sounds far too scary for me.

- JV