Buzz Vinard

I've been a skeptical atheist for a while, now. It is great to have a show that, at the very least, confirms that I am not alone out here.

Penn and Teller are also skeptical atheists, so no one should be expecting an expose of religion to turn into an episode on the religious conversion of the duo. I don't understand many of the reviews here, suggesting that "thoughtful debate" should be the order of the day on this show. The show is called "Bullshit!" for a reason. You can count on any topic presented here as being something to be taken apart, limb by bloody limb.

The methodology they use is appropriate to their subjects. I personally hate PeTA and other extremist groups like them. The show about PeTA focused on the hypocrisy in their actions, since what they essentially offer is an extremist opinion, not science. PeTA euthanizes animals? PeTA gave financial support to convicted arsonist Rodney Cronado? PeTA vice-president Mary Beth Sweetland uses animal-based insulin, despite PeTAs firm stance that animals are "not ours to use—for food, clothing, entertainment, experimentation, or any other reason"? Holy cow!

The show about AA took a hard look at the success rate of the program, as well as focusing on the religious-based nature of the program itself, calling into question whether or not it is right for courts to order folks into it.

The debate on evolution vs. creationism being taught in public school was fascinating. The point being made, lost on many, was that creationism, "intelligent design", or any other theory that involves a divine creator is religious in nature, and therefore has no place being taught in public schools. What was seen as the outrage was that the prevailing majority religious viewpoint was being pushed to the front as a fact that all, regardless of religion, were going to be taught. This is as offensive as bizarre attempts to round off the value of pi by legislative coup.

Holistic/alternative medicine is a huge business in my home state. I know a lady who has used these remedies to help her back. I've known her for ten years, and she's been a strict adherent to these methods for at least that long. Her back has hurt for ten years, and it still does, today. There is no science at all on the side of the vast majority of these remedies. Some were even shown on this show to be aggravating to the conditions they were supposed to treat. Basic anatomy classes will show that there are no chakra points on the body, or any reflexology nerve pathways in the foot.

The main thing the guys want to get across is to use some common sense. Think critically about these kinds of things. Look at them from all angles. If a group of people offer an extremest and absolute point of view, but make exceptions for themselves, ASK WHY! If science is being trampled by religion, ASK WHY! If someone wanted your money to sell you a car, you'd have it checked out first, right? Do the same with anything holistic and/or psychic. Dig. Find some real answers. ASK WHY! And if someone wants to take your freedoms away, say NO!

When it comes to matters of opinion, Penn and Teller are not shy about their own. But they don't condescend the audience, telling what opinions they SHOULD have, just asking them to question the opinions and beliefs they DO have. Opinions and beliefs that can stand up to critical thinking deserve to be held on to. Those that can't are bullshit. That's the whole point of the show.

I do hope that the show returns soon. It's still at the top of my Tivo list, though an episode has not aired in months.

And if either of you guys read your own reviews, check it out: The two men who founded "Exodus International", a Christian "gay conversion" group ended up leaving the organization and their wives for each other. Please do a show about this!

I'm not native to Albuquerque, but I've lived here for eight years. The poor story and imbecillic plot contivances notwithstanding, I watched part of this a few days ago and wondered, "what happened to all the hispanic people?". I haven't seen a scene so white since the last time I opened a loaf of Wonder bread! Not to mention the utter implausibility of a non-corrupt New Mexico politician...

There's more faux western wear on display here than a Friday night at the Roundup. And what's with the cowboy lingo and hats? It looks and sounds like an Ann Richards campaign ad on steroids. If you are a New Mexican, you know what the waiter always asks after you order food: "red or green?". Does the mayor like red chile or green chile? She never says! The people want to know!

The area was settled by Spain, and first inhabited by Native Americans. White people came much later, but from this TV movie, you'd assume that we're the only ones who have been here. If the writing wasn't so bad, I'd call the misrepresentation of racial demographic to be the worst part of the film. Albuquerque is merely a backdrop, and a poorly represented one at that, for Victoria's faux-cultured silliness. When the FBI agent refers to a building as "the biggest lump of stucco", she corrects him by telling him that it's not stucco, it's "adob-ay". No, honey. It's "adob-ee". Sort of like hearing an actress do a fake southern drawl and give herself away by saying "you all", rather than the commonly used "y'all", the backdrop becomes meaningless and laughable. They should have used the more generic-looking Denver.

There's actually more drama in a week at the Albuquerque city council than in this movie. It's too bad that they didn't film THAT! And by the way Victoria, it really IS a lump of stucco...do you know what real adobe construction costs these days?

American cinema is known for some great achievements, and maybe more so for cheap thrill, popcorn munching joyrides.

"Blue Velvet", which should have won the best picture Oscar, and probably would have, had it followed "The Silence of the Lambs" to the voting table, falls into the "great achievements" category. Lynch takes wholesome Americana visions of mom and apple pie and focuses in close-up to show us that sometimes the apples in that pie are rotten.

More importantly, this is a film that transcends style to become a hellishly realistic vision of Americans, and how we view and interact with the world around us. We simultaneously fear and are fascinated by the dark elements of our society. Jeffrey Beaumont does what others wont: he steps clear of the tree-lined streets full of single-family homes built for nice people like him to explore the the monolithic apartment building on the corner, which contains stories both beautiful and grotesque. Literally and figuratively, he becomes part of one of those stories, as Lynch transforms Jeffrey as the voyeur to the camera as voyeur.

The specifics of Jeffrey's adventure are irrelevant, and the plot seems an overblown version of the film noir mom is watching on TV. What is important is Jeffrey dirtying himself in the hidden underbelly of the community he thought he knew, and how this changes him. Isabella Rossellini is a Mrs. Robinson from hell, enmeshing her protege in things Benjamin Braddock would have never dreamed of. Jeffrey's epiphany rivals that of Neo in "The Matrix": while Neo can finally understand the feelings he's had all of his life because reality wasn't real, Jeffrey's reality and his happy-go-lucky demeanor are called into question violently. He is forever changed not just by what he's seen, but by the new perceptions he has of reality, and the fact that what he has seen defies any explanation that would have been offered in his ordinary world.

The ending of the film is a constant source of debate for viewers. Does it represent the removal of those rotten apples, or just the bliss of choosing to ignore them and dig in? It's in the eye of the beholder, but either view can represent the same thing, depending on how badly the viewer wants to see this film world returned to its "normal" state.

Acting is dead-on for what Lynch wants to achieve. The story is solid, and the direction is beyond reproach. Some filming styles were considered experimental at the time, but are much more mainstream today (Fincher, etc.). Nevertheless, they are used to great effect and their impact is not lost with time.

This film ranks with Hitchcock's "Vertigo" as an all-time classic example of American storytelling on film. It is so much an American perspective, that I imagine that while not impossible for the rest of the world to appreciate, it is better understood by those of us who grew up in the Lumberton's of our country.

Must see.