Religolo

Not just a propaganda piece, and more accessible than most of Bill Maher's creative output, Religulous still preaches to the choir (please excuse this phrase). However, the film does not seek to convert; rather, Maher wants current agnostics to gather their courage and preach their doubts. Deeply atheist and deeply religious people who see the film will likely be offended or feel as though their time has been wasted.

While this film is not as funny as Borat, Religulous (which, at times is actually pretty scary) is a more powerful film because this film is true. For a project written by and starring Maher, the clips in the film are (for the most part) surprisingly fair. Maher does not try to make any of the people in the film look stupid (at least no more stupid than himself); in fact, he (usually) tries to help people consider the position not that their personal/religious beliefs are incorrect but that their personal beliefs may be incorrect. Most people in the film will not consider this possibility (these are the people Maher is warning us about), but several important and seemingly wise religious figures also featured in the film agree with Maher about the danger of certainty.

I recommend Frailty to anyone who would like to see a fictional, story-line illustration of the main theme of this documentary/propaganda film. I recommend Religulous to anyone who is comfortable enough with himself/herself to doubt their personal beliefs, to consider the possibility that (s)he might be wrong.

Maher is a hilarious and very smart dude, and his monologues in the movie are good. But overall, this documentary really missed the mark. My biggest problem was with the editing of the interviews he conducts, which are clearly cut on numerous occasions to make the interviewees look dumb, cutting to reactions that they almost certainly didn't make in response to the things Maher is made to seem as though he just asked or said to them.

Saw the world premier of this at the Traverse City Film Festival. I am a big Bill Maher fan and this was definitely the movie/documentary I was most looking forward to at the festival.

I was not disappointed, though I think it could have been developed a bit more. It seemed to play to the lowest common denominator in that a lot of issues were touched on, sometimes in rapid fashion, but none was examined closely for any length of time. Any astute viewer of Real Time already knows what Maher thinks about religion and many of his arguments with regard to the same. I was hoping for a more in depth analysis of some of the primary aspects of how religion can negatively affect our world in ways that people might not intend. The documentary did that only on the surface. I suppose that shouldn't be surprising as the need to draw people into contemplative thought in this area is probably more of a priority than retaining those that already are there (not to mention selling more tickets).

Subsequent to the showing, director Larry Charles had a discussion on stage with Michael Moore, with questions from the audience. Larry pointed out that he had many many more hours of footage that didn't make it into the final cut, and that he thought maybe a series could be released on cable of this material. I would very much like to see that happen as I think it would quell the thirst I had for more substance with less of the fluff.

However, kudos for Maher and Charles for doing this. If it is successful in getting people to think about religion in real world terms, then it has accomplished its goal.

I watched Bill Maher's new movie, Religulous at it's world premiere at the Traverse City Film Festival. It was one of the first films to sell out at the festival, selling out in just the first couple days of sales.

Okay... now for the movie review: for those of you who thought that Dawkin's "Root of all evil" or "Jesus Camp" were powerful statements, then you might want to wear diapers because you might just crap yourself. Religulous doesn't take prisoners. It addresses Christianity, Scientology, Mormonism,Islam, and other religions. Bill Maher travels around the word, visiting the Wailing Wall, USA Bible Belt, Salt Lake City, and other locations while interviewing a wide range of religious leaders and followers.

Throughout the interviews, Bill throws out zingers and the joke timing is impeccable. Like the pro-creationist movie "Expelled", Religulous cuts to a variety of old film stock when making jokes. Although it fails at times, I would say the vast majority of the cuts connect and generates hearty laughs.

The first third of the film deals with Christianity and several offshoots of it. Here, the movie shines. It is hilarious! Poking jab after jab into insane ideas by asking simple questions.

Unfortunately, the move starts to slow down after he lampoons Scientology. Dressed as a vagrant, he appears in Hyde Park's Speaker's Corner and runs through Scientology's belief structure... appearing as a raving lunatic while accurately describing what that religion teaches.

By the time it deals with Islam, a lot of inertia has been lost. Although it still delivers some funny bits, the movie is much more subdued. Granted, anytime you are dealing with a subject so inflammatory that people have been killed over it, you tread lightly, but I think Christians will criticize the movie for being softer on Islam than on Christianity. The sad thing is that it's true. Being the more dangerous religion, people seem to be treating Islam with kid gloves. I wonder how long before other religions start adopting that tactic as they become threatened by critics? The ending is a fiery call to action for freethinkers. Rousing music & inflammatory speech hammer the dangers of religion into the audience. Propaganda techniques? Yes. Pretty heavy-handed about it too. However, I think it's needed. The flow of the movie needed something to bring things together and although thick with images and rhetoric... it is a solid ending.

Is it worth seeing? Hell yes! Will people be offended? Most definitely. Will there be protesters? There should be, this is far more blasphemous than "Dogma", "Passion of the Christ", or "The DeVinci Code".

Comparing "Expelled" to "Religulous", it's pretty quickly apparent that Religulous is the better movie. Bill Maher, with his previous experience doing standup and conducting interviews shames Ben Stein. Nicely done Bill!

Yes, it is funny. Just like when Bill Maher is funny. Often but not always. One of the things I like about Maher is that behind every derogatory outburst there is, usually, a real thinking process. In his "Religulous" he commits a startling mistake. He doesn't allow the possibility of "faith" as a positive not even by mistake. Agree that organized religion has been monstrous in so many different instances that it is a bit of a miracle that it survives but there is also the other side, the positive strength that faith provides and it does in so many different and powerful ways. The one sided views are always annoying and "Religulous" sins of that. I did laugh though, God forgive me.