As a filmmaker myself...

[regnaD kciN]

...I would like to issue a fatwa against the producer and director of The Innocence of Muslims, for desecration of the cinematic art.

Seriously, that's one of the most incompetent pieces of crap I've seen outside of student films by high-schoolers. Yes, I know that it's offensive to Muslims on many levels, but, if it hadn't been for the tragedy engendered by this thing, I'd have found it utterly hysterical.

Where to start? The acting, for one. I'm well aware of the problems in finding good film actors for low-budget movies (most are stage actors, who tend to "play to the back row," which looks dreadful on screen), but I've never seen any quite like this. Seriously, the main performances look like they came straight out of an '80s teen sex comedy, with the Prophet played by what would normally be the stoned-out surfer character, and his main assistant played by the couch-potato sidekick ("Yeah, whatever, dude.&quot . The dialog is not only offensive, but so badly written, it could have come out of a Chick Comic (well, except for the "put your head between my thighs" bit). But what elevates this to the level of truly awful filmmaking is the fact that the director apparently "solved" the location problem by shooting all the "exterior" scenes in front of a green-screen, then superimposing it over some stock desert footage. The visual results are hilarious: actors are front-lit, while the background is in late-afternoon sidelight. People "walk" through the desert sands without leaving footprints -- or, for that matter, having shadows. Seriously, if this hadn't offended the religious beliefs of hundreds of millions of people, it would be an ideal pick for Mystery Science Theater 3000.

There is one thing, though: the claims of actors (supposedly, the entire cast) that they were misled and had entirely new dialog dubbed over an initially-inoffensive script are wishful-thinking nonsense. While some lines are obviously looped (dubbed), there are enough instances in the trailers where the actors were clearly saying inflammatory lines themselves. I'm sure they would now like you to believe that they didn't know what they were filming, but I see no way that could be true, at least for the principals.

[left on green only]

1. I saw a movie called "The Monster That Ate Milpitas", totally made by....

...a high school teacher and his students that looked like "Gone With The Wind" compared to "The Innocence Of Muslims". The movie premiered at an indoor movie theater in the City Of Milpitas, and it was about how man made pollution is destroying the environment that we all have to live in. Except the story was told on an allegorical level with a monster that was spawned in the polluted waters of the south San Francisco Bay. And I sure as shit know that it didn't have a $5 mil budget.

[Buns_of_Fire]

2. Even ignoring the hateful propaganda, "Lawrence of Arabia" it ain't.

Assuming it was produced in California, you would have thought they could have found some real sand and desert to wander around in. I guess the sight of downtown L.A. in the distance would have spoiled the effect, though.

[Javaman]

3. I described the film as a "Crime against Cinema" to friend of mine. nt

[Bonobo]

4. Want to know how I knew the Director wasn't really Jewish?

Because if he had been Jewish, it would have been funnier.

True story.