Jesus Camp - D

This is a documentary showing a pentecostal children's pastor and her ministry to children. The underlying theme of the film is that evangelical christians are out to control the country and are leading muslim-style 'learning camps' across the nation. The directors treat their subjects like aliens and it is painfully clear throughout the whole thing that they have no knowledge of middle America or evangelical culture. The best scenes are not the result of good filmmaking....they are with Ted Haggard prior to his downfall in all of his hypocritical glory.

Separate and apart from the extremely biased and inaccurate portayal of the film's subjects, it really is just a bad documentary. Clumsy usage of an Air America host to bookend the film and drive home its points, as well as multiple filler moments without adding any value to the overall product. Boring, dumb, and poorly made. I watched it Monday night...the next morning it got nominated for an Oscar for best documentary. Meanspirited portrayals of evangelical Christians is probably the new 'chic' for oscar voters. http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com

Another similar film premiered on HBO last night, I only caught a few minutes, but will TIVO up this weekend. It is entitled "Friends of God" and is directed by Alexandra Pelosi (daughter of Democratic House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi). http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/friends_of_god/index.html