the god who was n't there is a 2005 independent documentary written and directed by brian flemming .

the documentary questions the existence of jesus , examining evidence that supports the christ myth theory against the existence of a historical jesus , as well as other aspects of christianity .

the god who wasn ' t there

for more information about
the god who wasn ' t there ,
visit urltoken .
as i was walking up the stairs i met a man who wasn’t there . he wasn’t there again today god ! i wish he’d go away !
critical notes on the movie the god who wasn ' t there ; researched and compiled by richard c . carrier
i wasn’t singling anyone out with my comments–there would be too many to mention .
three years ago , i promoted and appeared in the atheist documentary “the god who wasn’t there , ” dedicated to the proposition that jesus never existed .
there wasn ' t a single voice of opposition . there wasn ' t any mention of how the state government is giving answers in genesis up to $ 18 million in tax breaks . and there wasn ' t even a mention of how the whole noah ' s ark story is fiction .
the god who wasn ' t there is a documentary film , released in june 2005 . it was written and directed by former fundamentalist christian brian flemming .
the god who wasn ' t there by brian flemming , scott butcher , alan dundes , david p . mikkelson | 837101074865 | dvd | barnes & noble®
so you want to debate me . . . so you would like to challenge me about the claims i make in the god who wasn ' t there ?
there are lots of people who aren ' t aware of the existence of a loving god . therefore such a god does not exist
we think of god as a perfect being . if god didn ' t exist he wouldn ' t be perfect . god is perfect , therefore god exists .
i wanted to like the new film until i realized it wasn’t based on the bible .
from the rational response squad to the blasphemy challenge . from the god delusion to the end of faith and the god who wasn ' t there , atheists are on the move and in the news . richard dawkins , sam
going back to the beginning of the universe . . . i wasn’t there to observe how it happened ( thankfully – i’d probably be bedridden at this point ) . you weren’t there . nobody was there !
remember the the blasphemy challenge , sponsored by the rational response squad , who were giving away 1001 copies of the movie the god who wasn’t there to people who will create a video of themselves denying the existence of god , and especially , the holy spirit ? they posted their videos on youtube .
you ' re talking about the god who wasn ' t there . it goes past atheism , which merely denies the resurrection as improbable without the existence of god , and examines all the documentation presented as evidence for even a historical man named jesus .
bilbo baggins the hobbit was as just as real as jesus . he wasn’t an authentic hobbit , just a kid with pointy ears . it wasn’t long ago when most people thought moses was historical too .
“sex wasn’t the only thing stolen from them . it wasn’t even the biggest thing , ” james la matterly , a member in the early 1970s , told the san francisco chronicle in 2005 . “their spirituality was stolen . god was stolen from them . ”
in his film
the god who wasn ' t there ,
brian flemming questions the very existence of jesus christ , a premise that might leave some hard - core christians convinced this former christian is going to hell .
it says that we should assume that god does not exist , and put the onus on people who believe in god to to prove that god does exist .
afraid not . aquinas simply assumes the existence of his god and goes from there .
you believe now , i don’t believe . i believe you don’t believe . you don’t believe i believe . i don’t believe , i believe .
trapped in our atheist bias , it is too easy to dismiss paul as just another frothing - at - the - mouth crazy preacher who got lucky… . he wasn’t .
niv : therefore , there is no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus .
rsv : there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus .
a notorious christian apologist named j . p . holding has admitted that the case made in the god who wasn ' t there is so solid that he could not refute it in a debate . he has backed out of a former debate challenge by stating :
as long as god wants me in public service , and the people want a man who honors god serving in . . .
melissa “only god could change his heart , and only god can change yours . ”
agreed . i certainly don’t claim to know there was not a historical jesus .
the author of revelation was a follower of jesus , but he wasn’t what some people would call a christian today , pagels says .
[ … ] see no reason hide this . i ' m willing to bet that the documentary you ' re referring to is either the god who wasn ' t there or zeitgeist . neither movie is actually a documentary . both are works of pure fiction presented as [ … ]
[ … ] from the basic assumption of “first , there is no god” , this man has now declared “first , there is a god” . raving atheist has converted ! [ … ]
but in his century he wasn ' t breaking the rule named after him . 14th century science knew nothing about evolution or how the universe came into being . god was the only explanation available .
there is no point in discussing the existence of jesus if no one can even prove the existence of god . so , i don’t care !
obviously there are mean - spirited people in the atheist community just like there are mean - spirited people in the believing - in - god community .
i am an agnostic / athiest who is looking to follow . i am not there yet .
those who participate at the flemming site , urltoken , receive a free dvd of the documentary “the god who wasn’t there , ” which mr . flemming wrote , directed and produced . mr . flemming , a former evangelical christian turned atheist , said the dvds cost him about $ 25 , 000 . so far , more than 1 , 000 people have turned on their cameras to deny the existence of god .
nkjv : there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus who do not walk according to the flesh , but according to the spirit .
i don’t agree with atheism , but i don’t viciously attack people who don’t believe in god , in fact i enjoy talking with them and debating them . it can get heated , but i don’t question the validity or sanity of my opponents when they disagree with me .
108 there is no point in discussing the existence of jesus if no one can even prove the existence of god . so , i don’t care !
science and faith aren ' t at odds . god created the big - bang .
there is still no evidence for a god of any kind , and even less for any particular religion’s god , as far as i know .
“in the same way , i tell you , there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of god over one sinner who repents . ”” luke 15 : 10
and so there is no being that is completely good , knows everything , and is all powerful . and so , there is no god .
there’s this way that thomas jefferson is represented as the one bad founding father who did participate in slavery .
where is the one who is wise ? where is the scribe ? where is the debater of this age ? has not god made foolish the wisdom of the world ? for since , in the wisdom of god , the world did not know god through wisdom , it pleased god through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe .
this documentary argues the “mythicist” case in the historical jesus debate . this position says that jesus of nazareth wasn’t a real person but a fiction based on jewish scriptures and mystery religions of the roman empire . it doesn’t make sense to talk about a “real” jesus – there wasn’t any . this documentary has good information but could have been better produced – any high school student could have done a better job .
my point is those who have faith in the one true god of jesus have faith and all others don’t have faith but faith . therefore “without faith it is impossible to please god” comes into play .
all right then ; if the existence of a complex thing is evidence of a creator , who created god ? surely god is more complex than his creations .
for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing , but to us who are being saved it is the power of god . for it is written ,
the existence of evil seems inconsistent with the existence of a god who is wholly good , and can do anything .
just because hunger is generated in the brain by physical processes doesn’t mean that food doesn’t exist .
william of occam would not have agreed ; he was a franciscan monk who never doubted the existence of god .
there’s no other book in the bible quite like revelation , but there are plenty of books like revelation that didn’t make it into the bible , pagels says .
“ i am an agnostic / athiest who is looking to follow . i am not there yet . ”
some philosophers think that religious language doesn ' t mean anything at all , and therefore that there ' s no point in asking whether god exists .
there was even another “secret revelation of john . ” in this one , jesus wasn’t a divine warrior , but someone who first appeared to the apostle paul as a blazing light , then as a child , an old man and , some scholars say , a woman .
neb : the conclusion of the matter is this : there is no condemnation for those who are united with christ jesus .
there’s a common perception that there was a golden age of christianity , when most christians agreed on an uncontaminated version of the faith . yet there was never one agreed - upon christianity . there were always clashing visions .
shocking footage shows u . s . military forcibly removing christian so he can ' t talk about god
nevertheless , there are obvious differences between the resurrections of jesus and krishna’s appearance to the hunter who killed him . these are :
thanks for your comment . i think you may have misunderstood my introductory paragraph , which mentions the current popular controversy surrounding the da vinci code . i merely mentioned it to introduce the god who wasn’t there , a privately produced documentary which takes a much more radical approach to jesus ‘scholarship’ than dan brown did in his research for the da vinci code . other than the introduction , there are no other comparisons between the two projects .
social support is not an argument for god . good feeling are not an argument for god . nice christians are not an argument for god . mean atheists are not an argument for god . shoddy history is not an argument for god . saying you have arguments but not presenting them is , obviously , not an argument for god .
most atheists would offer some of the following arguments as their reason for deciding that god doesn ' t exist .
first , there is no god . in fact , all definitions of the word “god” are either self - contradictory , incoherent , meaningless or refuted by empirical , scientific evidence .
according to edwin yamauchi “there’s no resurrection of marduk or dionysus …… there was no real resurrection of tammuz . ”
afraid not . aquinas simply assumes the existence of his god and goes from there . circular reasoning , to say the least .
atheists argue that because everything in the universe can be explained in a satisfactory way without using god as part of the explanation , then there is no point in saying that god exists .
. . . there can be no way of proving that the existence of a god . . . is even probable .
the single statement from josephus simply states there was somebody called jesus who was the brother of james . what exactly does that prove ?
it is the participants who may have made the antireligion videos on a lark who worry mr . mickey , who feels that a young person who makes such a video now may choose not to become a christian later for fear of having committed an unforgivable sin .
and , let us not forget , that there is almost no evidence for 99 . 99 % of us who exist today of our ancestors who lived a few thousand years ago .
1 . noah wasn’t distant from god . in aronofsky’s film , noah ( played by russell crowe ) is a tortured soul who senses through a dream that the mysterious “creator” ( he is never called god ) plans to destroy the world with a flood . but in genesis 6 - 8 , much of the account involves direct communication from god to noah ( see 6 : 13 ; 7 : 1 ; 8 : 15 ) . noah was god’s close friend , and he understood him .
294 argument from ignorance is not an argument for god . argument from complexity is not an argument for god . *
for the ancients , god provided the power that made the universe work , and god provided the structure within which the universe worked and human beings lived .
since we theists get swept into a pile in many cases it’s simply a reaction to those who lump me in with everyone else who professes to believe in a god . however , how many nicknames are there for theists in the nonbelieving community ? theists don’t really have an atheist equivalent for “fundy” or worse
a group called the rational response squad–inspired , they say , by dawkins–has offered the blasphemy challenge : film yourself blaspheming against the holy spirit , post the video on youtube , and receive a free dvd of their documentary , “the god who wasn’t there . ” ( this video “proves” that not only was jesus not divine , but he also didn’t exist at all–which latter point will take some proving , given the overwhelming evidence for jesus’ existence from the ancient world . )
jesus is not pagan - all things are possibe with god . god has , and will preserve his truth for the faithful .
disc # 1 - - the god that wasn ' t there play movie chapters features extended interviews play all scott butcher richard carrier alan dundes sam harris barbara & david p . mikkelson robert m . price ronald sipus commentaries the scholar : commentary on the
christ myth
theory from scholar earl doherty , author of
the jesus puzzle
the atheists : godless commentary from scientist richard dawkins , the world ' s most famous atheist ; blogger the raving atheist , the web ' s most famous atheist ; and others
explore the myth
begin slide show cast & crew bios view bios music play
is this the real thing ?
play
the god who wasn ' t there
play
blood sacrifice ritual
play
the price
no problem . but please understand that i get a lot of these requests , and i can ' t waste my time arguing with people who are not open to changing their minds or who haven ' t developed enough familiarity with the material .
“there were always debates about it , ” she says . “some people said a heretic wrote it . some said a disciple . there were always people who loved and championed it . ”
stephen hawking has declared that his latest work shows there was no creator of the universe . but we shouldn ' t imagine that will settle the god vs science debate , says graham farmelo .
and if god had decided to organise the universe in such a hierarchy , this provided a strong argument against anyone who wanted to suggest that society could be organised in a fairer and more equal way - god had shown us the perfect way to organise things , and those who were ruling did so by a right given by god .
some contend , however , that there is a related unpardonable sin , committed by those who once believed and no longer do .
some people think that religions and belief in god fulfil functions in human society , rather than being the result of god actually existing .
the film has been criticized by conservative christian groups like focus on the family , which has taken issue with its scholarship , and praised by religious skeptics as an antidote to blind faith . following a limited theatrical run ,
the god who wasn ' t there
has been screening at venues around the country , including many showings sponsored by atheist groups . the dvd went on sale in stores jan . 31 .
the prosperity gospel is much like all other religions in that it uses faith , it uses doing good things to leverage material blessings from god . essentially , use god to get things from god .
atheists say that these explain the world so much better than the existence of god . they also say that far from god being a good explanation for the world , it ' s god that now requires explaining .
this half - way house between religion and science still had problems for the faithful , since it didn ' t seem to leave much room for god to intervene in the universe - and certainly it didn ' t need god to keep things ticking over .
since you couldn ' t verify the existence of god by any sort of
sense experience
, and it wasn ' t true by definition ( eg in the way
a triangle has 3 sides
is true ) , the logical positivists argued that it was pointless asking the question since it could not be answered true or false .
the idea that god steered everything in the universe as he saw fit was demolished by the discovery that there were natural laws obeyed by objects in the universe .
nice to see you put the reason that god provided you toward the eminently just and rational act of submitting , worshipping , and adoring the one , true , living god . it’s as it should be . who’s next ?
for jews demand signs and greeks seek wisdom , but we preach christ crucified , a stumbling block to jews and folly to gentiles , but to those who are called , both jews and greeks , christ the power of god and the wisdom of god . for the foolishness of god is wiser than men , and the weakness of god is stronger than men .
here ' s the core of the problem : even if atheists are wrong , christians are not necessarily right . if there is indeed a god , out of the thousands of gods humans have worshipped and the infinite number of gods we haven ' t even thought of yet , the chances that the real god is the christian god exactly as described are not just miniscule but negligible .
luke 12 : 8 - 10 ( see also mark 3 : 28 - 29 ) and i tell you , everyone who acknowledges me before men , the son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of god , but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of god .
in other words , men who purposely harden themselves to god have made an informed choice , and god will not force himself into such a heart . they know the deal , and refuse it . does that mean all who understand the gospel , become “believers” and then turn away are doomed ?
an atheist might respond by asking what caused god . ( and what caused the cause of god , and so on . ) the argument might proceed that if god didn ' t need a cause , then maybe the universe didn ' t need a cause either . if god was already perfect before he created the universe , why did he create it ? how did it benefit him ? why would he bother ? and if the universe was caused , perhaps something other than god caused it ?
calling other people a “dick” , fine , do it . at least they don’t have to call themselves cherry - picking morons who yap on topics they don’t appear to have the slightest clue about .
but debunking claims about the existence of gods is just showing those who make such claims that they can’t assert what they’re trying to assert .
believers , who uphold the implausible and more easily - dismissed “christ of faith” ( the divine jesus who walked on water ) , ought not to get involved .
there are plenty of conflicting gospels with similar false claims about who their authors were , but none were written within decades of supposed events .
greetings from another ex - atheist who had to change her mind after processing all the evidence that my point of view didn’t agree with the facts .
on the other hand , someone who thinks you’re reprobate , who thinks an all - powerful deity is on their side , someone who thinks you’re an affront to that deity ( who happens to be their bestest invisible friend in the whole world ) … now that’s the kind of person you have to watch out for .
there are a number of traditional arguments used to prove that god exists ; however , none of them convinces atheists . here they are :
to me , an atheist is someone who has looked at the argument for god and found it extremely wanting . i consider the chance that god exists to be vanishingly small , to the point where it ' s not worth thinking about .
you are correct in saying that there are millions who’s existence we can not prove . but , it doesn’t matter if their existence and legacy are not based on extraordinary claims that defy the laws of nature . hitchens clearly stated this his analogy of the existence of socrates . there’s is very little evidence that he did exist . no matter . his contributions to western civilization are not dependent on the validity of his claims , or even his existence . not so for jc . if his mother wasn’t impregnated by god , if he didn’t really walk on water , or he didn’t rise from his grave after three days , the religion is invalid . what are they to believe in then ? you see my point ?
welcome home rt . may the lord our god bless you now and always .
i believe there are no written eyewitness accounts of the existence of jesus christ .
for the umpteenth time , atheism does not presuppose nihilism . that is a misconception – a lie , actually – promulgated by religionists who can’t see any reason for morality unless there’s a sky daddy making them be moral .
“if god is all - good and all - powerful , then he wouldn’t will for evil to exist . but clearly evil exists . therefore god cannot be both all - good and all - powerful . ”
saying “i found jesus but i can’t explain , it’s personal” holds absolutely no appeal to anyone who isn’t given to credulity by default . i do understand how others among the credulous might find it appealing though . ”
emily henochowicz , an 18 - year - old who denied god with a wry smile in her video , is among those who find the videos an interesting way to talk through the issues of religion and faith . but others are deeply offended .
may you find your path of enlightenment through your time of darkness . for no god will be there when you die and become one with the abyss .
i’m not sure who to goad on more , the statistics battlers or the brewing interfaith warriors .
what is indisputably a big deal , however , is the terrifying situation of those who encourage such actions , and those , such as dawkins , who inspire them .
by throwing in with any god , including him , one has a far greater chance of offending some other god who happens to be the real one , and being forced to explain one ' s worship of a popular , well - liked but still false god . atheists wouldn ' t have that problem , and might even receive credit for combating belief in false gods .
revelation was an anti - roman tract and a piece of war propaganda wrapped in one . the message : god would return and destroy the romans who had destroyed jerusalem .
the people who wrote the story existed , but that does not make the characters in it real people .
romans 8 : 1 kjv : there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in christ jesus , who walk not after the flesh , but after the spirit .
we have an interesting investigation in process from one of our readers who was a student of the late alan dundes , who was featured in the film . we now have a
jesus exists it is no doubt , flavius wrote about jesus , he wrote the person who was strong in talk . the real question is jesus the son of god , messiash ?
follow god on the most fulfilling journey of your life with encounter the holy spirit ! break away from past hurts and press into the one who wants a personal encounter with you .
if you abandon god , you don’t lose all your friends and commenters – they simply pray for you and hope you come back to the truth .
this is a bit puzzling : wasn ' t world war ii supposed to have been
the good war ,
one of the few in history in which there was relative moral clarity ? and didn ' t ambrose write band of brothers for spielberg , a script that was realistic about war but not anti - war . we were seeking to defeat adolf hitler after all .
i don’t think the author is trying to prove that he did not exist . he’s not making any claims actually . the title of this post clearly says it all : there is essential no credible evidence for his existence . so , it’s the believers who are making extraordinary claims . the onus to prove something is there’s alone .
this question is nonsense like this : “does god exists ? ” no , there is no proof , so talking about it means talking about nothing .
i can name at least half a dozen scholars who disagree with her view .
there may have been an actual rabble rouser with the specific name jesus . but that doesn’t give credence at all to the “story” of his existence and life .
prophetic messages from respected leaders & news of how god is moving throughout the world .
why
is god real ?
is the most boring question you can ask .
as to the theistic contention that if our actions are determined , life has no ultimate meaning – yeah , so what ? life’s what you make it . sky daddy isn’t there and doesn’t care . get over it .
the theory of evolution explains the variety of life forms on earth without any reference to god .
a documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next billy graham .
you don’t have to be a student of religion to recognize references from the book of revelation . the last book in the bible has fascinated readers for centuries . people who don’t even follow religion are nonetheless familiar with figures and images from revelation .
for most of human history god was the best explanation for the existence and nature of the physical universe .
ahh the power of religion . or is it the draw of a certain person who is religious ?
can’t you just make the rational case for god here in the comments ? even one or two paragraphs to get us started and we can see how things go .
if we were called to be silent , jesus wouldn’t have told us to make disciples of all nations . you can’t very well make disciples if you never speak your faith to anyone . you also make another assumption about god based on your ignorance . god works in many ways ; through people , events , etc . just because you aren’t open to hearing anything i have to say about god doesn’t mean that someone else won’t reach you in another way . maybe you aren’t one who will be reached through a blog . maybe it will happen face to face with someone . i don’t know . all i know is that i am not ashamed of my lord and savior , and i am not afraid to speak about him and all he has done for me . you don’t have to like it or believe it , but i care enough for you to share my heart because hell isn’t something i would wish on anyone !
bowling for columbine did it to the gun culture . super size me did it to fast food . now the god who wasn ' t there does it to religion . holding modern christianity up to a bright spotlight , this bold and often hilarious new film asks the questions few dare to ask . your guide through the world of christendom is former fundamentalist brian flemming , joined by such luminaries as jesus seminar fellow robert m . price , professor richard dawkins , author sam harris and historian richard carrier . urltoken
the universe is such a beautiful and orderly thing that it must have been designed . only god could have designed it . therefore since the universe exists , god must exist .
we catholics define hell as separation from god for eternity . if you died and met god , would you want to go to heaven if he asked you ? or would you persist in your denial and separate yourself voluntarily from god ?
ok sorry i forgot to mention that that the phrase sandwiched in the middle “who was called christ” is the bit that it is thought to have been later interdicted by a christian scholar . but even if it does refer to a jesus who was considered a messiah that doesn’t mean he existed or if he did who he was . like john frum
you want to give god all the credit but none of the blame , shifting it to satan , who is , evidently from all these unchallenged natural horrors , significantly more powerful .
he makes this extremely daring , radically blasphemous argument—essentially that god is , if not evil , then hopelessly incompetent—most explicitly in the chapter about the soldier who
sees everything twice .
beneath the popular current of the davinci code controversy ( which i have addressed in several articles ) is another attack on the christian faith , this one more of a grassroots effort , not sheltered by the guise of fiction , but overtly labeling itself as a factual documentary which exposes the “truth” about the christian faith . this “documentary” is called the god who wasn’t there , and was produced by brian flemming and distributed through a network of “guerilla - style” operatives who attempt to plant the dvd and other literature on church grounds and other christian gathering places ( i mentioned this project briefly in an earlier post called ‘ the war on easter ’ ) .
while there is negligible historical evidence of an individual jesus character , there is quite a lot of evidence of the evolution of the meme of an abrahamic god from earlier and geographically local deities . ( as linked to canaanite religions on my comment ; ) urltoken
at any rate , congrats . i trust that you – just as i have – won’t give up on thinking about and fighting in your mind whether or not god exists . read aquinas and you can’t go wrong .
merry christmas and god bless you ! i somehow knew this would happen eventually .
religion without god : alain de botton on
atheism 2 . 0 .
and for scorpy1 up there , which sheep are you talking about ? the ones who are bleating “welcome back” or the ones who are bleating “you suck and i’ll never talk to you again” ? because they’re both funny , and the funniest sheep are the ones thinking they’re smarter than the other sheep .
exactly , it was called “hiring out . ” and it was super common , particularly in cities , for people who owned surplus slaves to rent them out by the year , or by the job , to people who didn’t own slaves . and so hamilton totally did that . he’s absolutely documented to have done that . so it’s not like he was like oh my god ! don’t let me touch slavery !
reach your full potential and be led by his spirit . in his presence takes you to a deeper understanding of who god is and how he communicates with us .
i happen to strongly believe the evidence points toward creation , and god , and jesus .
this is an argument about where to begin the discussion of whether or not god exists .
no , no one really does that . you know why ? because their own souls witness to the fact that god exists . maybe not the christian god specifically , but the moral law is written on our hearts , and all of creation screams that a god exists .
5 . modern scholars who claim to have uncovered the real historical jesus depict wildly different persons .
5 . the jewish were a people who refrained from allowing pagan myths to invade their culture .
please tell me how a vote for a man who would stand for the life of the . . .
i ' m targeting a sort of person who thinks believing in religion has never really been an option and who isn’t particularly interested in attacking religion , declaring it stupid , seeing its errors and flaws and cruelties . all of which , to my mind , clearly exist , but this person isn’t exercised by this .
i think this discussion is about proof . everybody wants proof that what they believe is correct , because what we believe shapes our lives . going back to the beginning of the universe . . . i wasn’t there to observe how it happened ( thankfully – i’d probably be bedridden at this point ) . you weren’t there . nobody was there ! evolution and creation are both beliefs that require a measure of faith . when it comes to proof , as you mentioned , both beliefs are impossible to prove because we don’t have all the facts . but we do have a lot of evidence , so it’s a matter of weighing the evidence and seeing where it points .
and yet , the responses i heard from many of my theist friends were hardly better : “we don’t understand it , but it’s part of god’s will . ” really ? the holocaust was god’s will ? purposeless suffering of children in famine struck regions , is that god’s will too ? on second thought , the atheist position is sounding like the better of the two .
merry christmas to you trt ! ! i am thankful to god for you ! i have only known you a short while but cannot deny the presence of god in your life . i pray that you have the most memorable christmas yet ! god bless you ! !
for it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened , who have tasted the heavenly gift , and have shared in the holy spirit , and have tasted the goodness of the word of god and the powers of the age to come , if they then fall away , since they are crucifying once again the son of god to their own harm and holding him up to contempt .
i ' m not interested in directly preserving anything , because i don’t believe that you can go to church if you don’t believe in it .
[ man’s speech bubble says “why do you need to prove god doesn’t exist ? ” to which woman responds “i’m just exposing your flawed reasoning . ” ]
psalm 19 : 1 - 3 the heavens declare the glory of god , and the sky above proclaims his handiwork . day to day pours out speech , and night to night reveals knowledge . there is no speech , nor are there words , whose voice is not heard .
you can’t because they don’t exist because while the romans were fairly good by ancient standards at keeping records the things they kept records about were the things that they cared about .
he’s going to have a hard time appealing to anyone who isn’t already credulous without offering up some sort of explanation . but you’re right , it’s his prerogative .
< strong > luke 6 : 20 - 21 < / strong > then he looked up at his disciples and said : ' blessed are you who are poor , for yours is the kingdom of god . ' blessed are you who are hungry now , for you will be filled . ' blessed are you who weep now , for you will laugh .
those who have been able reach the site explain in their own posts why the church isn ' t able to function as a shelter at the moment . it ' s also partially underwater :
fortunately , there’s third explanation . enter the biblical meta - narrative of the great controversy between good and evil . the problem of evil raises concerns about god’s character ; the great controversy addresses those head on .
don’t be at all surprised if the bubble isn’t eventually pricked and your man - god doesn’t turn out to be a complete work of fiction after all . and considering how fallacious so much of the bible truly is why is it so difficult to imagine that the character , jesus of nazareth was simply a ”vehicle” to drive a plot ?
i guess there’s not much point in trying to explain it to someone who thinks that the only possible morality comes from a made - up being . if you think most atheists are nihilistic , you aren’t paying attention . google “humanism” to find out more .
note as well the supposition inherent here : that if you disagree with his views , it must be because you
haven ' t developed enough familiarity with the material
. there is no conception that someone who is thoroughly familiar with the material could possibly disagree with him .
as atheists our interests are advanced by finding the man who wasn’t there . we should admit our bias at the outset . raphael lataster conceals his bias in the guise of a “fair and reasonable rule” which would effectively exclude anyone who is not an atheist from the discussion . in the u . s . ( and australia i imagine ) atheists comprise less than 5 % of the population . lataster welcomes himself , his imaginary twin brother and their imaginary friend - atheists to the bone - to the dialogue . he spends too much time talking to himself at the expense of free open inquiry and intellectual integrity .
author and evangelist joel osteen , senior pastor of houston ' s enormous lakewood church , came in for criticism in the early days of hurricane harvey aftermath , with many including fellow clergymen demanding to know why the facility wasn ' t turned into a shelter for storm refugees .
logical positivists argued that a sentence was meaningless if it wasn ' t either true or false , and they said that a sentence would only be true or false if it could be tested by an experiment , or if it was true by definition .
300 the size of the gospel’s print run is not an argument for god . the existence of self - appointed holy men is not an argument for god ( indeed it is entirely too common ) .
praise god that his arms of grace are long enough to embrace even the most abominable sinner .
huh ? please provide the quote from the united states constitution . i certainly can’t find it .
nobody will read this 295th comment – if you do , god help us all .
312 arguing that i would not believe you anyway is not an argument for god .
god talks to her and reveals new information to her . . . a lot !
after much consideration , she decided to stop believing in “mysticism , ” including god .
3 . even the new testament stories don’t claim to be first - hand accounts .
your post gave no indication of what caused you to switch to a religious worldview , could you please give some information on what led you down this road and if you now believe in a theistic god ( who answers prayers , meddles in human affairs etc . ) or a deistic god ( who set the parameters for the universe and took no further part in it )
some people like to tie the “blasphemy against the holy spirit” scriptures with others that discuss believers who fall away . but let me say clearly , t hat is an entirely different matter .
we are no more rude nor less polite than are the jesus freaks who infest our web sites .
the point appears ,
there are no roman records of pontius pilate ordering the execution of jesus .
it seems that no matter what side of the argument one takes there is simply no proof .
or are you suggesting that we should trust the author of such a bestselling book ? ok , fair enough . who is the author ? or rather , authors ? i guess they could tell a relatively ok story , even if their characterization wasn’t so great and the story was extremely inconsistent and had various contradictions of theme , as well as characters changing their personalities at random .
steveg , with all due respect , i wasn’t asking you , i was asking gail f . . i don’t imagine that you would presume to speak for all christians on what they think the afterlife is like , would you ? . i realize that nobody has specifically stated that atheists are going to hell , which is why i asked the question .
with all due respect ( and there isn’t much left after your condescending drivel ) , you don’t have the first fucking clue what i have experienced . if praying makes you feel good , by all means , waste some more of your precious time .
i should mention that the above essay merely skims some conclusions that i have reached in my own research . this essay is by no means a comprehensive representation of the mythicist case , nor is the god who wasn ' t there , which is merely an introduction to the case . earl doherty , robert m . price , richard carrier and others ( none of whom i speak for here ) have made the case and various facets of it more comprehensively and far better than i can . i would encourage readers of the debateblog to experience these works directly , especially if you fear them .
receive the power and gifts that come through the holy spirit baptism . don’t go empty - handed ; accept all that he has for you ! his power is available to those who ask .
gp : if you’d stick your head outside the atheist echo chamber , you’d discover that you simply don’t know what you are talking about . before taking up the question “does god exist ? ” thomas takes up the question of whether the existence of god is self - evident . he answers in the negative :
in any event , the
eternal happiness / tempermental sky god
phrase doesn ' t describe our beleif system , though it reflects no doubt the caricatured system flemming held to as a former believer . call ours the system of the predictable patron / suzerain god responsible for the honor ratings of his subjects .
but what is at the core of it is between you and god and absolutely personal to you .
two hundred and ninety comments , and i have yet to hear any actual reasons or evidence why one should believe in any god , let alone the specific god many here seem to prefer .
therefore atheists might argue that since the entire universe , and all of creation can be explained by evolution and scientific cosmology , we don ' t need the existence of another entity called god .
i guess not . oh , by the way , there is more abuse among teachers that in the priesthood .
flemming apparently thinks the
three
magi are in the bible ( it nowhere says there were three ) .
referring to those who have denied the existence of god , mr . mickey , a baptist , said , “i pray for their souls’ salvation and that they will repent for what they’ve done . ”
there is no way that this is for real . just like that , huh ? on the same day that you posted an atheist related topic ? no transition whatever . still have the basic assumptions beginning with “there is no god” up on top right . nope . once again an atheist proves personally and morally unattractive by jerking the chains of other people who are basically decent and want the best for you .
303 excremental metaphors and a thesaurus , even together , are not an argument for god .
religion without god : alain de botton on
atheism 2 . 0 .
- vox
did historical jesus really exist ? the evidence just doesn’t add up . | richard dawkins foundation
trump thinks immigration is his party’s winning issue in midterms . the polls aren’t so sure .
if this person truly believes that hell is a fiery pit of suffering , and is condemning me , in the name of their god , to burn there forever , i think that’s pertinent .
we had to replace three local actors , including one who was to play . . .
rick henderson is a pastor who blogs at urltoken . this post first appeared on his blog .
there is not much of a scientific argument ! there is the chemistry of self replicating molecules , and there is the claim that some ( evolved ? created ? ) magician did - it - by - mysterious - magic . one version is a scientific hypothesis , the other is a children’s fairy story !
for example , as soon as you say ‘god x’ is non - physical , you’ve proposed a being that can’t be quantified , tested , or perceived even in principle . you literally have nothing to work with . when trying to justify non - physical entities people will often point out that we can’t see the wind but we still know it’s there .
if jesus existed he sure as hell didn’t have blond hair and blue eyes .


boy meets girl is a 2014 american romance film directed by eric schaeffer .

it stars michelle hendley as a transgender woman living in a small town in kentucky , looking for love .

boy meets girl ( 2014 film )

click through to the next page for more from hendley , including some boy meets girl spoilers .
30 years late , or timeless ? leos carax’s ‘boy meets girl’ finally hits u . s . screens
boy meets girl is a funny and touching comedy / drama boasting a superlative debut performance by michelle hendley .
visit carlotta films’ site to find out where boy meets girl will be playing in the u . s .
the young leos carax , er , denis lavant ( r ) in boy meets girl . copyright carlotta films .
on 31st may 2014 at 2 . 30pm . find out more at the official festival
boy meets girl feels fresh and direct even if it ' s full of explanations that should have happened years earlier .
the second season of boy meets girl will commence on bbc two on wednesday 6th july at 10pm for six weeks .
2015 . she appeared on two panels about the making of
boy meets girl ,
the pilot for which was a highlight of the 2014 festival , leading to the commissioning of the show ' s first series .
30 years late , or timeless ? leos carax’s ‘boy meets girl’ finally hits u . s . screens | the same cinema every night
rebecca appeared alongside boy meets girl creator elliott kerrigan on the sofa of bbc breakfast with louise minchin and jon kay on 3rd september .
she discussed her work on
boy meets girl
and
the danish girl
as well as aspects of her transition and off - screen life . you can read the art
ricky ( michelle hendley ) and francesca ( alexandra turshen ) explore new worlds with each other in “boy meets girl . ” ( wolfe releasing )
boy meets girl takes its cue from the laid - back drawl of michelle hendley , whose unaffected performance provides a baseline of truth and humor .
quirky romantic comedy boy meets girl has just finished its run on the independent film circuit and racked up an impressive amount of critical acclaim while sweeping the 2014 filmout festival . now , this poignant film starring out transgender actress michelle hendley is ready to hit the big screen in early 2015 , and will begin streaming online later in the year .
the advocate : i watched boy meets girl this week and i have to say ,
wow that was incredibly real .
michelle hendley : i ' m so glad the film rang true for you ! it was of the utmost importance to the boy meets girl crew to create a story that felt authentic to the trans experience .
a formidable young cast bring potent emotional power to boy meets girl , a rom - com with a refreshing premise that too often settles for formula .
the pilot for girl meets world was made available earlier this month for online streaming . one college - aged former boy meets world fan who checked it out said , according to fizziology , that it is “too disney . ”
in january , 2015 , davey and gage were copanelists , along with the director , after a screening of boy meets girl . we had been asked to respond to the film from our perspectives as trans community members .
boy meets girl is a movie starring michael welch , michelle hendley , and alexandra turshen . boy meets girl is a funny , tender , sex positive romantic comedy that explores what it means to be a real man or woman , and how important it is to live a courageous life not letting fear stand in the way of going after your dreams .
boy meets girl is the type of coming - of - age love story we don’t get to see very often : super queer , with a trans lead and a happy ending . it’s like a magical little unicorn of a film .
rebecca completed shooting
boy meets girl
in late february . transmission is expected to be sometime in the autumn of 2015 . meanwhile a season trailer for bbc2 was recently released by the channel ' s controller , kim shillinglaw . a sneak preview clip of boy meets girl is at around the 05 : 56 time mark . you can watch the full trailer here .
filming has now begun on
boy meets girl
and a press release from tiger aspect productions , who are making the show for the bbc , produced a flurry of articles on the internet .
but the series disney channel made isn’t for those people . instead , and logically , it’s for the disney channel audience , a group as young as we were when we first watched boy meets world and who may not even have any idea what boy meets world is . girl meets world is simply a tween show with tween humor and loose ties to a series that grown ups used to love .
she spoke about her voice coaching for transgendered clients and her experiences as a transwoman and actor . she also confirmed she would be starring in the forthcoming bbc2 sitcom
boy meets girl
in 2015 .
boy meets girl has been a major success at numerous film festivals , particularly of the lgbt variety , and it ' s easy to see why . it presents a moving and honest depiction of transgender issues that should be seen by any young person struggling with his or her identity .
2014 . casting is yet to be confirmed . rapid and widespread coverage of what ' s being hailed as
britain ' s first transgender comedy
has been very favourable .
steven soderbergh ' s atmospheric , film - noirish and experimental b / w film was a mystery - thriller tale of sad romance .
end prologue . the carax story really gets going with 1986’s mauvais sang , a movie even more capricious and self - consciously romantic than boy meets girl . you can read about that movie here — or better yet , watch it .
the disney channel’s follow - up to the tgif sitcom classic ‘boy meets world’ is perfect for a new generation . and that’s going to really piss the old generation off .
boy meets girl is a funny , tender , sex positive romantic comedy that explores what it means to be a real man or woman , and how important it is to live a courageous life not letting fear stand in the way of going after your dreams .
platform . in her talk she spoke about the increasing visibility of trans people in the entertainment industry and her role in boy meets girl . the session may be viewed on the festival ' s youtube page ; rebecca ' s talk is at around the 37 minute mark .
enjoying girl meets world on its own merits , however , requires us to age in reverse and go back to the mindset of the first episodes of the boy meets world , which were , frankly , far more juvenile than the series grew to be . a major plot point in the girl meets world pilot has riley leading a “no homework ! more freedom ! ” rebellion in her father’s classroom . it ' s funny , but not to us . because we ' re not 12 years old anymore . but the disney channel ' s audience is .
here’s the peculiar issue with girl meets world : it’s a show that’s been created for a certain demographic , but it’s also a show that’s been created because of a certain , different demographic .
movie news , screening invitations and reviews from the world of independent film and beyond .
this is all to say that , aside from the initial flutters of glee you’ll get from seeing ben savage’s and danielle fishel’s first entrances , there’s little for boy meets world fans to get excited about in girl meets world . in all likelihood , the millennials who couldn’t wait for it to begin are the ones who aren’t going to bother to watch a second episode . but we shouldn’t really be surprised .
for boy meets girl is a movie of much greater , and more subtle , appeal than its plot summary would indicate . plot is hardly what’s important here . like a lot of first features , the film is meandering but filled with incident , colorful details , bits of business obviously drawn from real life . carax has a ready supply of little jokes to keep the wayward narrative lively .
boy meets girl scooped the trans media award at the annual stonewall award ceremony on 5th november at the v & a . sir ian mckellen presented the trophy to the show ' s creator elliott kerrigan , the writing team of simon carlyle and andrew mettam , producer margot gavan duffy , and rebecca root .
on 25th march 2015 as part of their lgbt movies series . she introduced the film that
the alex of boy meets girl rises above his cruddy boho milieu through the force of his imagination . as the primeval bowie number “when i live my dream” plays on the soundtrack , alex walks along the seine at night framing shots with his hands just like a director would , and a viewer seeing the film today can only wonder if this “alex” isn’t already mentally composing shots for les amants du pont - neuf .
the cool thing about boy meets world is that it grew up with us . what started as a kids show about first crushes and dog - ate - my - homework schoolyard hijinx eventually developed into a thoughtful series that ( lightheartedly and humorously ) explored what happens after the boy meets the world and becomes familiar with its more mature , sometimes darker realities : heartbreak , loss , sex , alcohol , and , in one infamous episode , cults .
it’s a feel - good film that gives a voice to characters who most heartily deserve one .
rebecca attended the los angeles premiere of the danish girl at the regency westwood theater on november 21st . also in attendance were the film ' s director , tom hooper , stars eddie redmayne , alicia vikander
girl , citing declining viewing figures and a
natural conclusion
to judy and leo ' s storyline .
rebecca root and eddie redmayne at the la premiere of the danish girl . photo ( c ) jaimie stevens
the topside test is , obviously , inspired by the bechdel test , and boy meets girl fails here too . the bechdel test requires a ) two named women characters b ) who talk to each other c ) about something other than a man . even though much of the film focuses on ricky’s relationship with her new friend francesca ( alexandra turshen ) , they never make it through a whole conversation without talking about the men in their lives .
girl meets world is a perfectly pleasant disney channel show . newcomer rowan blanchard plays riley , cory and topanga’s oldest daughter . it was mentioned before , but the point needs to be made again : riley is the star of girl meets world . the series is told through her eyes , which is frustrating for people who wanted to exclusively see what married life’s like for cory and topanga , but completely understandable for a network that has young kids to entertain .
we want to be careful not to present any one opinion as “the voice of the trans community . ” so rather than either of us reviewing the film , we’re doing it together . below are some questions we have asked ourselves and each other , and each of our responses , which together provide a critical trans and queer perspective on boy meets girl . ( note : this review absolutely contains spoilers , as well as slightly graphic sexual language . )
boy meets girl is your first feature film . how did you get involved in the project ? eric [ schaefer , the director ] found me via youtube and told me about his project . at first i thought he was just some dude on the internet with creepy intentions , but after checking out his [ page on ] internet movie database and skyping with him i realized he was a real deal director . i was very excited to be a part of the movie .
the film is due for release in the us in november 2015 and in the uk in january 2016 .
the oft - used expression
love is love
is given a thorough and quite beautiful workout by writer - director eric schaeffer in the captivating
boy meets girl .
the profoundly sensitive , often wryly funny look at friendship , romance , sexual attraction and gender identity carries themes and dynamics that feel as timeless as they do up - to - the - minute .
boy meets girl concluded its first season on 8th october . the show premiered on bbc2 on 3rd september to critical and public acclaim . visit the programme ' s page on the bbc website here for details of latest episodes and how to watch past episodes on the bbc iplayer . the dvd was released on 12th october and is available to buy directly from acorn media here .
rebecca was interviewed by the bfi as part of the 2015 bfi flare festival . she discussed the neil jordan film
the film ' s potentially most affecting moments are too often smothered by the hackneyed characters and setups that surround them .
in anticipation of friday’s girl meets world premiere , social media research firm fizziology scoured twitter , facebook , tumblr , and other popular social media platforms to gauge opinion on the show’s revival . it found that more that 80 percent of the people talking positively about the show’s upcoming premiere were over the age of 18 . of the people who were interested in watching the premiere , 70 percent indicated that they grew up on boy meets world and would be watching the show nostalgically . only 30 percent were younger disney channel fans—problematic , considering they’re who this show is for .
the girl with the dragon tattoo ( 2009 , swe . ) ( aka man som hatar kvinnor , or men who hate women )
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about 18 months ago , word got out that the disney channel would be developing a follow - up series to the long - running , beloved - by - millennials tgif sitcom boy meets world . the original series wrapped in 2000 after airing 158 episodes and aging its precocious lead characters—ben savage’s cory matthews and danielle fishel’s topanga lawrence—all the way from sixth - grade sweethearts to married college graduates . the planned follow - up was a tv fan’s dream : girl meets world would insert us right back into cory and topanga’s married lives as if we never left , 14 years later .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
the film ' s theme tied together puberty with blood , sexual desire and metamorphic body changes ( including possession and infection ) .
“boy meets girl” comes across not just as an emotional story , but also an earnestly instructive one . the director wants to make sure the audience walks away with no questions about life as transgender , which can be entertaining — as when ricky and robby have conversations about what it feels like to bed a woman — and deeply affecting , such as when ricky literally lays herself bare , emerging from a lake entirely naked . often , it feels conspicuously educational .
leos carax , france’s most interesting director of the last few decades , has made just five features in the last 30 years ( boy meets girl , 1984 ; mauvais sang , ’86 ; les amants du pont - neuf , ’91 ; pola x , ’99 , and of course holy motors , 2012 ) , and yet his films make up a formidable body of work . taken together , his five movies chart his progression from charming enfant terrible to maestro of deranged spectacles .
now in its eighth year , new frontier is the sundance film festival’s series highlighting innovation and experimentation in modern storytelling . read more here .
stuffed with earnest speeches and “did that feel good ? ” post - mortems — and a cloying montage at the end — “boy meets girl” can feel like a too - pointed , simplistic lesson in acceptance . even so , mr . schaeffer doesn’t shy from the darkness at the edge of difference , using the social - media confessions of ricky’s younger self to deepen the narrative and deliver his most critical message : that no matter what our equipment says , we don’t have to agree .
craving more trans actors playing trans roles ? meet michelle hendley , whose debut as charming small - town trans girl ricky has viewers and critics wanting more .
gage : i don’t really have grand ideas about the role of art or its responsibility to society or anything . i will say however that the current situation in this moment means that putting trans characters , and especially trans women , into movies is a way to make the film “edgy” and get much more attention than it otherwise would receive . we’ve seen this with dallas buyer’s club , transparent , and now also with boy meets girl . keeping this in mind i think that films which are using trans women and benefiting merely from including a trans women as a character have an obligation to at least do a good job with their representations .
gage : the topside test was created to highlight a problem in mainstream media , where trans characters are always portrayed in isolation , even though in reality , most trans people are part of trans community or have relationships with other trans people . the test requires a ) two trans characters b ) who know each other and c ) talk about something other than a transition - related medical procedure . boy meets girl has only one trans character , so it fails the topside test on the first criterion .
the title “ boy meets girl ” suggests a run - of - the - mill romantic comedy , and at first the movie appears to be just that . a 20 - something man and woman , longtime best friends , hang out at a coffee shop and give each other a hard time . he’s an avowed lothario and she’s lamenting the dearth of relationship - focused guys . both are beautiful , so of course you set your stopwatch for how long it’ll take these two to just fall for each other already .
rebecca appeared at the uk premiere of the danish girl at london ' s odeon leicester square cinema on 8th december 2015 . the event was attended by the film ' s stars eddie redmayne , alicia vikander , sebastian koch and matthias schoenaerts as well as director tom hooper , screenwriter lucinda coxon , and producer gail mutrux .
davey : with regard to feminism , my biggest critique of boy meets girl is that , like most romantic films , it uncritically buys into the romance myth – the idea that falling in love solves all of life’s problems . there are many well - documented feminist critiques pointing out the problems with the romance myth ( see e . g . all about love : new visions by bell hooks , and this by dean spade ) . the fact that in this case one of the characters is trans does not fix any of those problems .
special thanks to hb lozito and green mountain crossroads for hosting our local screening and for making space for trans people to share their perspectives on the film .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
rebecca will attend the london premiere on december 8th at the odeon leicester square ; the film ' s general uk release follows on january 1st , 2016 .
union high school student over 40 years ago , and his family still resides in the area . viewers will recognize many of the film’s vermont locations and actors ,
with a couple of big twists on the romantic - comedy genre , this gorgeous little film is almost impossible to resist . and that ' s precisely the point .
the panel did not go as planned , so we decided to write this article together as a forum to say what we would have liked to say then about the film .
a play about
artistic temperaments , film making , composing and how one woman overcame fear and prejudice to live as the person she ' d always wanted to be .
its mere existence is owed to the legions of boy meets world fans , most of whom are grown adults now , reminiscing about how much they loved it on social media and devouring remembrances of it on sites like buzzfeed . the hoopla surrounding the nostalgia hinted that those people would be beside themselves with excitement over a reboot of the show . disney was right . when the show was announced , they flipped for the news .
on the surface , the film sounds like richard linklater ' s
before sunrise
or any number of other meet - cute - in - a - foreign - city stories . but very quickly , other things start to come to the surface , things that don ' t quite fit . the tension between the expectations that arise due to the familiar genre and what is actually happening onscreen makes
copenhagen
special , and a bit strange . there ' s also the undeniable fact that the girl in the film is , in actuality , a girl . she ' s half the age of william , the lead character . so any possibility of romance is distinctly illegal in nature .
copenhagen
doesn ' t shy away from that , and is unafraid to allow that queasy reality to come to the surface . the film doesn ' t entirely work , but sometimes things that don ' t entirely work are interesting , bringing tension and unresolved issues that start to take over the film , almost by stealth . it ' s nice to watch something that isn ' t neat , that doesn ' t play it safe .
during the beginning of his search ( conducted like the film blow - up ( 1966 ) ) , mikael became suspicious that he was being tracked and someone had hacked into his computer .
before the film’s published show time or we reserve the right to sell your seat in the event of a sell - out . all programs are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances .
on november 23rd , rebecca was a guest at the white house champions of change event and dc premiere of the danish girl . guests included the cast and creative team of the popular amazon prime series transparent .
gage : i’m a trans woman in my early 20’s . i’m approaching this film from my perspective of a young trans woman , for whom one would hope a young trans woman character might resonate .
tickets are not available online on the day of the show . tickets may be purchased today at the theatre box office where the film is screening . info : ( 773 ) 293 - 1447 .
gage : trans women are telling our own stories and have been for decades . but these stories are rarely heard by cis folks ( and especially straight cis folks ) . beyond funding , i think we need to examine the cis audience’s attitudes . we need cisgender audiences who are excited to see movies ( including in straight / mainstream theaters ) in which they’re not centered or the intended viewer . trans women who have interesting stories to tell are writing them with other trans women in mind as the audience . plenty of other people can also get a lot out of these stories , but the stories won’t pander to a simplistic straight cisgender understanding of gender and sexuality like boy meets girl does .
we’re all primed for the joy of the idea a pop - culture revival . but we’re never prepared for the sorrows of its disappointing reality . maybe , then , there’s something to be learned from the message of this girl meets world pilot . the crux of the episode follows maya and riley’s discovery of who they truly are and learning to embrace it . maybe we should do the same with this show , instead of wishing that it was something else .
ben affleck ' s directorial debut film was an adaptation of dennis lehane ' s novel gone , baby , gone . in the film ' s opening voice - over narration during the credits , private investigator patrick kenzie ( casey affleck ) spoke about how his job was to find missing people because of his connections in the tough neighborhood where he grew up ( in the working class area of dorchester near boston ) :
until then , ricky is stuck in her home town , somewhere in kentucky , working as a barista and perpetually shooting the breeze with her best buddy since first grade , robby ( michael welch ) , an easygoing , good - old - boy mechanic .
but something wild happened in those 14 years . cory and topanga had a daughter . she’s in middle school . now , she’s also the star of girl meets world . and those of use who were clamoring for more of the cory - and - topanga story we fell in love with over a decade ago ? well , we don’t want her to be . in fact , we—if i could be a bit of pop - culture lorax for the moment and speak for all of us—are kind of annoyed that she is .
what are your thoughts on the differences between the ideal and the reality of language around trans folks . many of us might cringe when ricky uses terms “biological girl” or “the full surgery , ” and there are also trans folks who would use that language .
a ground - breaking coming - of - age romantic comedy , the film explores how falling in love transcends gender and how important it is to live a courageous life without fear standing in the way of your dreams . ( c )
great movie , really liked it . the girl is so pretty as well , would really not pick her as transgendered aside from her voice . really a sweet story about how you can fall in love with a person and not a gender and to follow your dreams .
a childhood acquaintance from simon ' s past , gordon moseley , was actually the victim of simon ' s bullying and torment - and simon was revealed as the real villain of the film . in high school , simon had spread the lie that gordon was gay and had been seen being molested by an older boy in a car . afterwards , the accusation ruined gordon ' s life . gordon set up an elaborate scheme to get payback revenge over 20 years later , including possibly impregnating simon ' s drugged - up wife robyn during an alleged rape
carax was born alex dupont in 1960 . the boy wonder wasn’t one to shy away from pretension : his assumed name is an anagram of “alex oscar , ” alluding to his childhood dream of winning an academy award . he dropped out of school while still a teenager , which isn’t surprising given his early work . to judge by his first two features , engaging affairs bursting with precocious talent , carax had already assimilated 70 years of filmmaking technique at an age when most would - be directors are struggling to get approval for their final film - school projects .
the ' ghostwriter ' wrote the sentence on a piece of paper , passed through a number of hands to ruth , and shortly after , as he stepped outside with the original manuscript , he was run - down ( off - screen ) in the street ( the same thoroughfare in the film ' s opening ) . he was murdered like mcara , in order to silence him - or were both deaths just an accident ? his manuscript papers blew down the street in the wind as the film faded to white before the credits .
what one may expect to happen does not exactly go down as planned .
copenhagen
remains true to its own original and somewhat prickly course . there are moments when it is not clear at all why effy is even choosing to hang out with william , who is rude and combative ( in moments big and small ) . but she wants to know what happened to william ' s grandfather . over the course of the film an interesting thing starts happening . william starts to take responsibility for the words he uses . he starts to actually listen to himself and do his best to change course . a lifetime of being a rude rage - boy will not vanish overnight , and a lesser film would have made it effy ' s job to show him the better way . but
copenhagen
isn ' t really about that . nobody can save you . you have to save yourself .
along the rocky path of his career , carax has been celebrated as a boy genius and jeered and derided as a fraud . the director has won awards , bankrupted producers , conducted affairs with his leading actresses , and in general shown a stubborn willingness to suffer for his art . what more romantic trajectory could there be for a virtuoso auteur ?
ricky ' s life takes a dramatic turn when she meets francesca ( alexandra turshen ) , the sort of refined debutante who uses the expression
charmed , i ' m sure
upon being introduced to someone . despite being engaged to a marine serving in afghanistan , francesca finds herself attracted to ricky , and the two begin a relationship .
the general was court - martialed and found guilty for failing to report and concealing the west point gang - rape . he subsequently withdrew from public life . the film ' s ending title :
today , nearly 200 , 000 women serve on active duty in the military services .
there was only one twin - elias . the other identical twin lukas was killed in an
accident
( probably one that also disfigured the face of the mother ) before the events of the film . experiencing deep denial and guilt , elias was only imagining that lukas was alive .
“the voices , ” the new horroresque dark comedy from celebrated “persepolis” director marjane satrapi , ought to be a major career moment for star ryan reynolds . he plays jerry hickfang , an apparently normal man who works in a bathtub factory in a charming little town called milton . jerry lives in an apartment over a bowling alley with his cat , mr . whiskers , and his dog , bosco . he’s got a crush on fiona ( gemma arterton ) , the pretty british girl who works in accounting , and he meets regularly with a sweet and understanding therapist ( jacki weaver ) . in other words , he seems like an average guy . read more here .
our family doesn ' t go to the movies until we go online and check out your assessment of a given film . i think this is the best christian media review website that i ' ve found , and i recommend it to my family and friends . keep up the good work !
“even if you care little about him as a politician — and i’ll confess to that myself — ‘mitt’ offers up a fascinating divide between the private man and the public image . it’s a divide the film is unable to account for on screen , which is understandable and frustrating . ” read more here .
gage : another part of the movie’s depiction of ricky that i found unrealistic and offensive is during the climactic events after robby ( ricky’s best friend since childhood ) tells ricky , in an angry outburst , that ricky has never really been a girl . this obviously upsets ricky , and she runs off distraught , but what happened next was unbelievable to me . robby chases after ricky and when he finds her ( naked by the swimming hole ) she is super ready to have sex with him ! telling a trans woman she isn’t really a girl / woman is really hurtful , and i can’t believe ricky being ready to fuck robby almost immediately after he said that to her .
in the film ' s tense conclusion , the two agents engaged in a fight - to - the - death combat atop his destroyed control center - lair in cuba . bond raced to disarm the transmitter - antenna of a large satellite dish communicating with a second , deadly rogue goldeneye satellite nuclear - weapon .
with “ping pong summer , ” director michael tully ( “cocaine angel , ” “septien” ) gives us a film about the childhood he remembers : summers in ocean city , maryland ( where the film was shot ) , cheesy arcade games , pastels , nike , and hip hop . caught up in it all , radford miracle ( marcello conte ) searches for the confidence that promises adulthood . it’s the 1980s : these are harsh times in bland , touristy coast towns . with an exuberant eye for period details , tully presents an ode to a time many recall fondly or its flare and schlock alike . read more here .
in the brilliant first two - thirds of the film , the focus was on the strange and random behavior of the mother ( a
bait - and - switch
directorial technique ) , not on what the twins were doing . they went to extremes to test and torment her - changing the film ' s mood to torture - porn . elias let a giant pet madagascar hissing cockroach squirm from his sleeping mother ' s chest into her mouth . in a ghastly and brutal torture sequence , the two twins tied their mother to her bed and demanded that she prove her identity , or tell them where their real mother was .
talented cinematographer alan poon gives us dreamy beautiful shots of the city , its buildings , canals , cobblestone alleyways , crowded nightclubs . his work helps ground the film .
copenhagen
knows life is complex , and knows that most of us are messes most of the time . hopefully we all do our best and try not to hurt one another ; try to be kind . william doesn ' t quite get that , not yet , because he ' s too self - righteous and pissed off . but the film is , in many ways , his lurching journey towards starting to understand that his character is up to him and him alone .
read between the lies
was the intriguing tagline for roman polanski ' s taut and increasingly - claustrophobic film about paranoia and power struggles . it had similarities to real - life political figures , including british prime minister tony blair and his wife claire , us sec . of state condoleeza rice , and the halliburton corporation .
“the film’s biggest shortcoming is its inability to trust the enormous power of its subjects . the magic that comes out of watching patients’ rediscoveries works best when shown uninterrupted . too often , however , these moments get relegated to part of a longer montage or used merely to enforce an industry professional’s point . ” read more here .
“finding fela , ” prolific documentarian alex gibney’s latest work , faces the challenge of depicting a contradictory artist . but that’s not to say it isn’t entertaining . on the contrary , the film — about the life , times and music of afrobeat superstar and nigerian revolutionary fela kuti — is exceptionally watchable . kuti’s wild life never loses its surprise ingredients : from the time he married 27 girls in one ceremony to his involvement with a “spiritual guru” who slit throats for party demonstrations . the film’s challenge lays in its difficult hero , an enormously talented and charismatic man who was also troubled , stubborn , unpredictable , and probably not entirely sane . read more here .
the three main sections of the film were told from different viewpoints : first tully , then jake , and finally lena . jake was warned not to get involved by various competing interests , and clearly cautioned by american colonel muller ( beau bridges ) :
when i was at west point , we put a uniform on a mule .
carter smith’s “jamie marks is dead” is a spooky rendition of teenage passion and shame . it has requisite angst and melodrama , but they’re guided by the film’s immersive atmosphere and sense of place . it’s a gothic romance—a sort of coming out , bullying story that projects onto its world the moods and emotions of its characters . read more here .
with the sundance film festival concluding another 10 - day edition sunday , indiewire’s review coverage of the lineup came to an end as well . of the nearly 100 world premieres that screened in park city this year , indiewire reviewed 66 titles , including films from every section of the festival . links to all of them can be found below , divided by sundance’s categories .
previous to your acting career , you had a youtube channel where you shared your transition details . do you feel that helped you prepare to be in front of a camera as an actress ? yes ! it seems silly to think that a bunch of youtube videos would help prepare me for my film debut , but it definitely cut my nerves in front of the camera a bit .
by now , devoted cinephiles likely know what to expect going into a gregg araki movie : sex - crazed teens , an overabundance of nudity ( sometimes pretty , sometimes not ) , a dream - like story wrapped snugly in a nightmare and a killer soundtrack . however , it would be lazy for someone to call it trash cinema—there’s a lot of feeling in his films ( please watch “mysterious skin” now ) . araki is a brilliant director who finds a great deal of meaning in stories of teenage angst and sexual desire , and is perhaps the finest example of coming - of - rage cinema . his latest film , “white bird in a blizzard , ” is his most grownup film to date , but never deviates far from his comfort zone . read more here .
madame bovary begins when charles bovary is a young boy , unable to fit in at his new school and ridiculed by his new classmates . as a child , and later when he grows into a young man , charles is mediocre and dull . he fails his first medical exam and only barely manages to become a second - rate country doctor . his mother marries him off to a widow who dies soon afterward , leaving charles much less money than he expected .
thanks for the great job you do in posting movie and television reviews online . i’m a college freshman and i recently had a confrontational disagreement with my english professor regarding an r - rated film . it is her favorite movie and she wanted to show it in class . i went to your web site to research the film’s content . although i had not seen the movie myself , i was able to make an educated argument against it based on the concerns you outlined . the prof said that she was impressed by my stand and decided to poll the whole class and give us a choice . we overwhelmingly voted to watch a g - rated movie instead ! i’ve learned that i can trust your site and i will be using it a lot in the future . ”
but it ' s hendley ' s ricky who commands attention , thanks to the performer ' s utter naturalism in front of the camera and her willingness to bare herself both emotionally and , in one of the film ' s most affecting scenes , physically . the filmmaker , who sought out hendley after seeing her confessional videos on youtube , has done a superb job of shepherding her acting debut .
it was both a complex serial - killer procedural and a neo - noir , with themes of generational sexual abuse , sadistic violence against women , revenge , family secrets , corporate corruption , and nazi racism . it was the first adaptation of the millennium trilogy , a series of books by stieg larsson . there were a number of questions to be answered in the film as it told its story .
but the film largely concentrates on the relationships between ricky and the people in her life , including her supportive father and loving kid brother . the characterizations are drawn with an uncommon complexity : francesca proves far more open - minded than her upbringing would suggest ; robby ultimately realizes that his feelings for ricky extend far beyond friendship ; and even the bigoted michael turns out to have a reason for his explosive anger .
writer / director joel edgerton ' s twisting vengeance - based thriller ( his directorial debut film ) had some elements of fatal attraction ( 1987 ) , the hand that rocks the cradle ( 1992 ) , and michael haneke ' s cache ( 2005 ) . a suburban la couple had just relocated from chicago due to a change in the husband ' s work ( and after robyn had lost a pregnancy ) :
davey : i’m a genderqueer trans person . i’ve been “out” as genderqueer and trans since 1999 . i’m also a consultant who provides professional development training around trans inclusion to educators , service providers and community members . i’m approaching this film from my own perspective as a trans community member , and also from the perspective of someone who spends a lot of time with would - be allies who are new to trans issues .
in the film ' s conclusion , vengeful myra had been shot to death by lilly , and then myra ' s face - blasted and disfigured corpse was made to look like lilly ' s . roy was called upon , as next - of - kin , to identify his mother at the phoenix morgue - he concealed that he noticed lilly ' s right hand did not have its tell - tale cigar burn mark .
davey : for one thing , it would take funding . trans women are economically marginalized , and mostly lack the resources needed to launch artistic endeavors on the scale of a feature - length film with paid cast and crew . even before that point , discrimination in education and employment means that many trans women are excluded from opportunities to get the training and experience needed to create something on this scale . fund trans - led work !
lisbeth ( the
girl with the dragon tattoo
on her back ) was curious about mikael ' s quest into the vanger family , and provided him with an essential clue ( regarding some strange numbers ) . she soon after joined him on vangers ' remote island , exemplifying her advanced computer research skills and photographic memory . together , they pursued leads from photographs , news articles , harriet ' s belongings , unsolved police cases , and the vanger ' s own business records .
legend has it that charlie parker only became bird because jo jones furiously threw a cymbal at his head when he choked on stage . at least that’s the story fletcher ( j . k . simmons ) , the barbarous band conductor in damien chazelle’s “whiplash , ” uses to justify the emotional and physical abuse he subjects his students to during rehearsal . a feature - length reprise of chazelle’s award - winning short of the same name , the film also stars miles teller ( “the spectacular now” ) as andrew , a budding young drummer at the country’s top music school who thinks he’s the next buddy rich . this high - energy tale of blood , toil , tears and sweat feels especially apt given this year’s inclusion of the “free fail” panel at the festival , which , like the film itself , explores the notion of failure as integral to the creative process . read more here .
filmed and set in a rural kentucky town , the story follows ricky ( played by michelle hendley ) and robby ( played by michael welch , twilight series ) who have been friends since they were 6 - years - old . now in their early twenties , robby , the epitome of a rural southern car mechanic and ricky , a cute trans girl who works in a coffee shop and dreams of being a fashion designer , push through their mundane days and lament their limited dating possibilities .
in the pre - title credits sequence , nine years before the events of the film , british agent 007 james bond ( pierce brosnan ) was working alongside british secret agent 006 alec trevelyan ( sean bean ) . their assignment was to destroy a soviet nerve gas factory at the arkangel chemical weapons facility , but the mission went awry and trevelyan was executed . as he was shot by general ouromov ( gottfried john ) , trevelyan called out :
for england , james .
we have a history of doing this . we campaigned tirelessly for a revival of arrested development , and then whined when it wasn’t as good as the original series . ( because these things are never as good as the original . ) we even gave our own hard - earned money to a kickstarter campaign to produce a movie version of veronica mars —we literally put our money where our mouths are—and then didn’t bother to show up to watch the film once it was released in theaters .
a guy and a girl bicycle slowly through the streets of copenhagen , the colored buildings and wide canals their placid and beautiful backdrop . the sun is setting , the shadows lengthening , making the city seem less like an actual place than a dream space , one where truth can come out , where the regular rules of everyday life no longer apply , where something else is possible . in its best moments ,
copenhagen ,
the debut feature of mark raso , who also wrote the script , takes place in that dream space .
[ the film ' s plot twist hinged on the fact that lukas didn ' t exist , similar to m . night shyamalan ' s ending of the sixth sense ( 1999 ) , and numerous other films , such as carnival of souls ( 1962 ) , fight club ( 1999 ) , haute tension ( 2003 ) , identity ( 2003 ) , a tale of two sisters ( 2003 , s . korea ) , the machinist ( 2004 ) , and the uninvited ( 2009 ) . ]
outside , christine was getting in a taxi on her way to her next game ( or
gig
) assignment in australia ( with a small
walk - on
role ) . after she revealed her real name was claire (
you don ' t know anything about me
) , nicholas invited her to dinner . she counter - invited him to join her for coffee at the airport - the film ' s final line :
would you like to have a coffee with me at the airport ?
it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where does william eubank’s “the signal” goes from being an alluring and contained science fiction thriller into a full blown parade of slow - motion - driven visual effects . its irreverent stylistic choices range from found footage to romance tropes and a heavy dose of high - tech alien robotics . the director’s sophomore film , following his debut “love , ” is defined by immeasurable ambition . while that previous effort reached for existentially profound ideas , here the narrative and its numerous components suffer from a gratuitous , empty feel . read more here .
the first words to appear onscreen in “wetlands , ” director david wnendt’s cheerfully profane adaptation of charlotte roche’s german - language bestseller , immediately engage with its controversy . “this book shouldn’t be adapted to a film , ” reads a quote from a letter to the editor . wnendt not only proceeds to run against that advice but makes a solid case against it . anchored by a believable performance by carla juri , “wetlands” has the agreeable rhythms of a sleekly made teen angst dramedy…except that this one involves a young woman with an anal fissure . read more here .