Thank God -- Atheist Film Fest Coming To San Francisco

...Won't be attending

The Hollywood of yore may have been populated with any number of atheists -- you can't work closely with Lew Wasserman and still believe there is a just and benevolent God above. Yet the recent roaring success of The Passion of The Christ could be deemed bitterly ironic -- a movie about a man who abstained from earthly pleasure or wealth obscenely enriched an adulterous zealot. Yet it did get movie studios thinking about how to pander toward the God-fearing crowd.

But for movie fans who are adamant that we're all gonna be just dirt in the ground, San Francisco will be hosting the film festival for you. Next month marks the Atheist Film Festival, at the Roxie. We're thrilled, by the way, that the June 28 Godless festival sponsors chose a Monty Python film -- but how could they have gone with Meaning of Life over Life of Brian -- a wicked parody of religion and dogma that concludes with a troop of crucified men singing "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life"? It could be argued that this is what happens when you don't involve God in the decision-making process.

Other films to be shown include Deliver Us From Evil (documentary about pedophile Catholic priest, fittingly) and Submission, a critique of Muslim extremism by Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh -- that spurred a Muslim extremist to stab him to death.

At least three films have yet to be determined; you can make your pitch here, by the way.

Finally, the festival is scheduled concurrently with San Francisco's Gay Pride weekend. This is too bad -- a film festival for atheists is one thing, but a film fest for gay atheists could cause some red stater's head to explode.