4 months, 3 weeks and 2 theaters

While the pro-life themed movie "Juno" soared past the $100 million earnings milestone last weekend, its critically acclaimed anti-life counterpart, "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," opened in just two theaters nationwide.

"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" is not a "gripping portrayal of life" as review website Rotten Tomatoes described it. It is the blatant promotion of death, in this case a late-term baby in 1987 Romania, when front alley abortions there were illegal.

Four months, three weeks and two days refers to the length of time a promiscuous college student waited after conceiving before deciding to abort, in other words, the gestational age of her baby when killed.

Baby had no lines but merits commendation for giving a dead-on performance on that bathroom floor.

Mainstream media critics all loved "4 Months" – giving it 70 positive reviews to three negative – and have been promoting its American opening hard, also pushing for an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Both efforts failed. Reviews indicated critics braced for the former, since American moviegoers so lack appreciation for great movies.

But they were completely unprepared for the Academy snub, which I'll get to shortly.

Here is a sampling of movie reviewers' meritorious efforts to promote abortion in film.

New York Times critic A. O. Scott named "4 Months" the No. 1 movie of 2007.

Last week's People magazine not only gave "4 Months" four stars, it stamped the movie as its "Critic's Choice."

And awards? Here is just a partial list:

Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm, Golden Globe Awards 2007 Best Foreign Language Film, European Film Awards Best European Film, Hollywood Film Festival's Best Film, San Sebastian International Film Festival Film of the Year, Stockholm Film Festival Best Film, National Board of Review Top Five Foreign Films, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Foreign Film, Sight & Sound Films of 2007 Best Film, Chicago Film Critics Association Best Foreign Language Film, Toronto Film Critics Association Best Foreign Language Film, National Society of Film Critics Best Foreign Language Film, Australian Film Critics Association 2007 Best Overseas Film

Despite all that, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences spurned "4 Months."

Rubbing salt in the wound, the Academy nominated "4 Months"' nemesis, "Juno," for Best Picture, among others.

More evidence Hollywood has begun to bank on life? I think so.

Critics are steamed about the slight. Rolling Stone's Peter Travers said the cold shoulder was "one of the stupidest things that I've ever seen happen."

New York Times critic Manohla Dargis castigated the Academy as "philistines" before dashing off to find five smooth stones.

And Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, showing the height of hypocritical snob snubbery, wrote, "If the foreign-language Oscar is going to be saved from becoming a laughing-stock, measures need to be taken to ensure that its choices are at least within hailing distance of what the rest of the informed film world thinks."

That's the problem. The "informed film world" has lost touch with what makes a good movie, preferring the cinematic equivalent of crucifixes in urine to true art.

Good news for critics, though.

This week the number of theaters showing their beloved two-hour abortion promo jumped a whopping 750 percent to 17.

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"What Hollywood Believes"