Ben Stein Archives - The Playlist

Clash Of The Titans: ‘Religulous’ Soon To Beat ‘Expelled’ As the Top Grossing Doc Of 2008

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:46:00 +0000

So “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” the Ben Stein creationist-propaganda film that stole a John Lennon song from Yoko Ono was the highest grossing documentary this year, with a $7.7 million gross, right?

Well, Bill Maher and Larry Charles’ “Religulous” documentary looks like it will supersede that number shortly, as they’re not far behind with $7,049,342 cume so far according to Box-Office Mojo (via the L.A. Times).

And thank, ahem, God, for that.

Continue reading Clash Of The Titans: ‘Religulous’ Soon To Beat ‘Expelled’ As the Top Grossing Doc Of 2008 at The Playlist.

Yoko Ono Drops Suit Over Lennon Song Use In Creationist Doc, ‘Expelled’

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:18:00 +0000

Remember Yoko Ono’s long standing feud with Ben Stein and his creationist doc, “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” which used part of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” without consent from his estate?

Last we left off in this case, “Expelled” was being re-released for the summer (it did surprisingly well at the box-office for a documentary) and Ono had lost her initial lawsuit when Stein and Creation Media (the people behind ‘Expelled’) hid behind the fair-use doctrine.

Continue reading Yoko Ono Drops Suit Over Lennon Song Use In Creationist Doc, ‘Expelled’ at The Playlist.

Now That Yoko’s Out Of The Way, Ben Stein’s ‘Expelled’ Getting Re-Released This Summer

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:38:00 +0000

Man, Premise Media, Ben Stein and the filmmakers of the creationist propaganda documentary, “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” are really rubbing their victory over Yoko Ono in her and our noses.

You’ll remember that Yoko Ono sued the film for using John Lennon’s classic 1971 anthem “Imagine” in the documentary without her permission.
We expected her bulldog lawyers to sue them back into the stone ages, but somehow they won the case with their fair use doctrine defense (‘Expelled’ essentially tricked the Vegas rockers The Killers into signing over one of their songs as well).

Continue reading Now That Yoko’s Out Of The Way, Ben Stein’s ‘Expelled’ Getting Re-Released This Summer at The Playlist.

Yoko Ono Loses Lawsuit Against Ben Stein And ‘Expelled’ Creationist Cronies Over Use Of John Lennon’s “Imagine”

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:24:00 +0000

Does the blogosphere memory extend further than three weeks?

You’ll recall that Yoko Ono had sued Premise Media and the makers of the creationist propaganda documentary, ‘Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed’ for using John Lennon’s classic 1971 anthem “Imagine” in the documentary without her permission (the full use was 15-seconds).

The filmmakers said they would defend the use of the song under the fair-use doctrine. We assumed they would have no shot in hell given Ono’s litigious nature and surely Cerberus-like lawyers, but we were wrong.

Continue reading Yoko Ono Loses Lawsuit Against Ben Stein And ‘Expelled’ Creationist Cronies Over Use Of John Lennon’s “Imagine” at The Playlist.

Ben Stein Fires Back At Yoko Ono Lawsuit; This Will TOTALLY Hold Up In Court

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:11:00 +0000

Yoko Ono and her kin, along with privately held publisher EMI Blackwood Music Inc. are suing the pro-creationist film, “Expelled:No Intelligence Allowed,”and its producers (Premise Media) for the unlawful use of John Lennon’s 1971 classic song, “Imagine.”

They’re claiming the fair-use doctrine, but whatever Ono’s going to sue them into the stone age, wait, they probably don’t believe in that. Sue them back in to the B.C. days?

Either way, Ben Stein the star of the doc has shot back at Yoko via a damning press release.

Continue reading Ben Stein Fires Back At Yoko Ono Lawsuit; This Will TOTALLY Hold Up In Court at The Playlist.

Duped: ‘Expelled’ Film Creationist Producers Tricked The Killers Too

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:03:00 +0000

It’s nothing new to hear about dubious-sounding dealings from the producers of the “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” documentary, their misrepresentations about the film and their interviews allegedly done under false pretenses have been well-documented (there’s a whole website dedicated to debunking all their apparently “outrageous claims”). John Lennon’s music was used without Yoko’s permission and now it appears The Killers have been had as well.
From a post in our comments section:

Here is what the head administrator over at the official Killers message board just posted:

“I just spoke to the band’s manager, and adding to the confusion was the fact that they did authorize a project months ago with this request:

Quote: ‘The film is a satirical documentary with an estimated running time of 1 hour and 50 minutes, exploring academic freedom in public schools and government institutions with actor, comedian, economist, Ben Stein as the spokesperson.’

What they authorized was a documentary about ‘academic freedom in schools’, not the film that the producers produced.

Continue reading Duped: ‘Expelled’ Film Creationist Producers Tricked The Killers Too at The Playlist.

Yoko One Denies ‘Expelled’ Lennon Song, Filmmakers Use Track Regardless Under “Freespeech” Doctrine; Killers On The Otherhand Say ‘OK’

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:16:00 +0000

So after a little digging around on the whole imbroglio involving Ben Stein’s dubious pro-creationist film, “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” and the fact that two tracks by The Killers and John Lennon (“Imagine,” no less) may have been licensed for the film – which as many have pointed out would be an odd association for Yoko Ono, Lennon and the Killers to be a part of – we’ve found some answers.

Publicists for Ono, her lawyers and people have told us the the track was not licensed for the film and a statement on the matter would be forthcoming (see below).

Continue reading Yoko One Denies ‘Expelled’ Lennon Song, Filmmakers Use Track Regardless Under “Freespeech” Doctrine; Killers On The Otherhand Say ‘OK’ at The Playlist.

Hoodwinked? John Lennon & The Killers Songs Not Actually Licensed For Ben Stein Creationist Film ‘Expelled’?

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:33:00 +0000

So yesterday, a blog from the Huffington Post reported that a Killers song and a John Lennon song (“Imagine” no less) were licensed for the what they called, “creationist propaganda” film “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.” The article was called, “Yoko Ono Sells Out John Lennon To Creationist Manufactroversy,” and the author was duly outraged over the fact both Ono and the Sin-City mormons had given their musical consent.

Members of the blogosphere, including us, reported it as fact, or at least reported that “according to the Huffington Post, …” etc., etc.

Continue reading Hoodwinked? John Lennon & The Killers Songs Not Actually Licensed For Ben Stein Creationist Film ‘Expelled’? at The Playlist.

Random Bullshit: ‘Juno-cabulary,’ Yoko Licenses John Lennon Song To “Creationist Propaganda” Film, ‘Expelled’

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:43:00 +0000

Sometimes you just can’t find something to blog about cause every story out there is as dull as a butter knife. Welcome to this morning. We still haven’t found anything super great, but in lieu of something…

The “Juno” DVD features the “Juno-cabulary,” basically a compendium of all the cringe-worthy parts of the movie with the hip, teen-lingo in the film that made you want to walk out of the theater in the first 15 minutes (of course lots of it is delivered by the insufferably unfunny Rainn Wilson.

Continue reading Random Bullshit: ‘Juno-cabulary,’ Yoko Licenses John Lennon Song To “Creationist Propaganda” Film, ‘Expelled’ at The Playlist.