A Christian movie site released a list of flicks that deserve a "Rotten Banana" award for their anti-Christian themes.
"There Will Be Blood" won a Rotten Banana for worst anti-Christian stereotype, according to a list of the 20 worst, most anti-Christian movies of the 2007 film season released by Movieguide, which publishes reviews on movies from a family and Christian perspective.
The movie, which won two Oscars, centers around Daniel Day-Lewis's evil character, Daniel Plainview, who relentlessly tries to acquire and control oil in a town. Plainview meets his match in a teenage preacher who exploits the situation.
"'There Will Be Blood' has one of the worst, most superficial stereotype of Christian preachers ever put on film," commented Ted Baehr, movie critic and founder of Movieguide.
"The acting in this movie is highly over-rated. It's much easier to play a villain like Daniel Day-Lewis's character than to play a hero, as Will Smith does so effectively in 'I Am Legend,' one of the best movies of the year," he added.
Making the pile of rotted messages, according to Movieguide, were "Lions for Lambs" for Worst Anti-Americanism, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" for Worst Anti-Biblical Rebellion and "Golden Compass" for Worst Atheist Role Model.
Baehr observed that a lot of movies, including "There Will Be Blood," attacked the United States military or American values. But he offered some consolation to like-minded critics.
"The Good News is that these movies didn't make much money, especially negative, anti-heroic movies like 'Redacted,' 'Lions for Lambs' and 'In the Valley of Elah,'" noted Baehr.
Movieguide recently celebrated the best movies of the year at its 16th Annual Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry on Feb. 12 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. At the gala, "Ratatouille" was named Best Family Film and "Amazing Grace" nabbed the Best Film for Mature Audiences in 2007.
Rotten Banana Award "winners":
• The Anti-Christian Bowling Award "There Will Be Blood" – Worst Anti-Christian Stereotype
• The Trashing Teenagers Award "Superbad" – Worst Comedy Aimed at Youth
• The Audience Torture Award "Hostel:II" – Worst Sadomasochism
• The Waiting for Judgment Day Award "The Ten" – Worst Anti-Semitic Blasphemy
• The Hugh Heffner Frankenstein Award "Good Luck Chuck" – Worst Sexual Insanity
• The Satan's Kitchen Award "Sweeney Todd" – Worst Cannibalism
• The Idiots for Life Award "Knocked Up" – Worst Vulgar Romance
• The Pathetic Perversion Award "LUST, Caution" – Worst Sadistic Sex
• The Osama Bin Laden Award "Lions for Lambs" – Worst Anti-Americanism
• The Reviling American GIs Award "Redacted" – Worst Anti-Military Stereotypes
• The Snake Oil Huckster Award "Sicko"– Worst Liberal Propaganda
• The Fools Gold Award "The Golden Compass" – Worst Atheist Role Model
• The Real Dark Ages Award "Across the Universe" – Worst LSD Trip
• The Unhappy Nymphomaniac Award "2 Days in Paris" – Worst Immoral Art
• The Greedy Guru Award "Milarepa: Magician, Murderer, Saint" – Worst Tibetan Revenge Story
• The Friendly Witch Award "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" – Worst Anti-Biblical Rebellion
• The Et Tu Brutus Directing Award "Charlie Wilson's War" – Worst Historical Fiction
• The Sodom & Gomorrah Award "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" – Worst Gender Bending Fantasy
• The Uncle Joe Stalin Award "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" – Worst Communist Propaganda
• The Senseless Stupidity Award "Epic Movie" – Worst Vulgar Satire
