Cool News
Art Snob checks out RELIGULOUS at Toronto!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. You know my thoughts on Bill Maher and Larry Charles' flick, but we got another review from regular voice Art Snob. He seemed to enjoy the film as much as I did, but is concerned with the impact it's going to have. I won't speak for him any more, so without any further introing, here's Art Snob!
RELIGULOUS
(Note: the official pronunciation is with a hard “G” – the “lig” rhymes with “big”.)
It’s kind of moot to discuss Bill Maher’s RELIGULOUS on its considerable merits. U.S. right-wingers have carte blanche to make ANY accusation about a perceived “liberal” movie they want to without ever being gainsaid in the mainstream media and without ever actually seeing the movie. (Witness: Bill O’Reilly re BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, Charles Krauthammer re SYRIANNA, and some guy named John McCain re FAHRENHEIT 911.) Mark my words, they’re going to be going to town on this film in the same dishonest fashion, and it’s going to work. Michael Medved (the only right-winger who actually WILL admit to seeing the movie) will support everything they say while gleefully pointing out that it isn’t doing anywhere near the business of director Larry Charles’ previous effort, BORAT (theater counts and vast dissimilarities between the films be damned). Major theater chains will be intimidated from exhibiting it (I predict Regal will be the first to cave), newspapers will be intimidated from advertising it, and protestors will be present at every single independent theater that exhibits it. It will easily make a profit due to its limited production costs and free “forbidden fruit” publicity, but if Maher and Charles have any ideas of scoring political points with this film, they’re delusional. Americans don’t vote rationally – they vote viscerally.
(Note: I’d LOVE to be wrong, but I wish that I could make book on being right. If I was Howard Dean, I’d beg them NOT to release it during the campaign season as planned. This is going to be a lob serve to conservative opinion makers, providing a ripe campaign distraction that will help Rick Davis & co. ensure that this is not a campaign about issues. It can ONLY benefit the political right.)
OK, enough prognosticating. For the sake of formality, here is what a major Maher fan (I’ve been watching him regularly since “Politically Incorrect” was on Comedy Central, got HBO when “Real Time” began, and have found him to be a welcome “keeping it real” voice throughout the Bush era) thinks about the movie itself:
The premiere was on Saturday night, and it was a total sellout, with a more than three blocks long ticket holders line and a huge rush ticket line. Also, protestors (about 20) marching in a circle in a fenced area near the theater entrance with placards reading stuff like “Pray for Bill” and “Hate + Fear = Religulous.” (One of Maher’s best lines of the post-screening Q & A came when somebody asked him if he’d staged the protest as a publicity stunt: “No … if I’d of staged it, it wouldn’t have been so lame.” Funny for now, but this protest was NOTHING compared to what’s going to be happening in the States.) The enthusiastic crowd was particularly impressive considering that Maher’s show doesn’t air on HBO Canada – if you want to see him up here, your only options are YouTube or a friend in the States with a Slingbox.
I said in my previous post that the acid test for me was going to be whether or not the film made me laugh reflexively and often. The short answer: yes. In traveling to various religious sites around the Globe (the Vatican, Salt Lake City and the Creationism museum among them), Bill puts his congenial (never condescending or smug) demeanor and rapier wit to excellent use, gently and good-naturedly deconstructing the entrenched beliefs of the interviewees with probing, sincere questions occasionally punctuated by his trademark off-speed quips. He’s as non-confrontational as Michael Moore is in your face.
The editing of the film is outstanding, and there was genuine applause when Bill and Larry asked the editors to take a bow. There’s all kinds of archival footage (stuff like scenes from old religious movies, old Maher standup routines where he made religious jokes, statements from politicians, etc.) cleverly interwoven with the current material. Also clever: on-screen messages suggesting what people are thinking. There’s a scene where a Muslim official Bill is interviewing is interrupted by a cell phone call, excuses himself for a moment, and you see a hilarious suggestion as to what the official is text messaging.
I do have a legitimate cavil with the film that I’ve seen others mention as well: a few too many of the interviewees are just TOO easy to take apart – almost caricatures. The best interviews are the ones Bill has with conflicted intellectuals and professionals trying to reconcile their beliefs with their work. I got the last Q of the Q & A, and inquired as to whom the biggest names they tried to interview who turned them down were. Charles explained that they aimed high, but that there are simply too many layers in religious organizations to get to the top with the time and resources they had. There are plenty of famous faces in the interwoven clips, but a fundamentalist Senator, a Vatican astronomer, and a retired priest are about as high as you get up the theological ladder as far as the interviews go. Bill’s concluding statements are pretty strong stuff, but they’re undermined somewhat by some of the buffoons he interviews along the way, particularly a guy in a fancy suit who claims to be the second coming of Jesus.
Like FAHRENHEIT, the film makes clever use of popular music (the Doobie Brothers’ JESUS IS JUST ALRIGHT WITH ME, and the Talking Heads’ WE’RE ON A ROAD TO NOWHERE are among the numbers used). What I can’t understand (unless they haven’t heard it or couldn’t get the rights) is why they didn’t use Ozzy Osbourne’s I DON’T KNOW for the closing credits … it’s SUCH a perfect match for the film’s tone and POV; better than IRON MAN was for IRON MAN. (Any member of Bill’s staff or entourage reading this, PLEASE make sure that he’s heard it.)
One thing Bill said during the Q & A was very interesting, and set up a huge laugh. He said that of all the groups that hate him, the one he most fears are Australians -- they went ballistic over a Halloween costume of questionable taste he wore after Steve Irwin died a few years ago and have sent him his most toxic hate mail. After he explained this, a guy in the audience with a thick Aussie accent called out, “*I* still love you, Bill!” and the audience roared with laughter.
The bottom line is that your enjoyment of this film will be pretty much dependent on your enjoyment of Maher. Easy for me and another memorable TIFF viewing experience to chalk up, but I have to say that upon reflection, I’m very apprehensive about what the political fallout from this film is going to be. There was a poster for the film on a truck that circled the block while the lines were forming that showed three monkeys in Hassidic Jewish, Pope and Muslim garb doing the see no/hear no/speak no thing, and I shudder to think of what a provocation this strong is going to set off in America. I have visions of truckloads of red meat being delivered to Fox News, Clear Channel, the McCain camp, the RNC, etc.
Bill praised the independence of distributor Lionsgate Films (the same Canadian firm that distributed FAHRENHEIT in 2004 when it was too hot for any American distributor), saying “they’re one company that can’t be intimidated by people calling in saying, ‘if you don’t pull the film, we won’t buy your toothpaste.’”
Maybe so, but it isn’t going to stop there … not by a LONG shot. The tentative release date is October 3rd. Enjoy the calm before the storm.
-
+ Expand All
-
to seeing this. Hopefully it makes it early to one of our independent theaters here in Portland. This kind of thing plays well here.
-
Bill Maher (amongst others) gives me hope that US, the most powerful country on the planet is not all right wing, ignorant and fundamentalists, insert pic of Sarah Palin.
And Bill is a funny b@stard.
Thankfully Australia is not as yet religious as the US, but am always worried that could change, with the increasing fear and associated uncertainty in Australia. -
probably shouldn't have watched it. Live and learn.
But anyone who's offended by the mere existence of a movie, or the fact that someone else might see or enjoy it, is a god-damned 1st Amendment-hating idiot. -
That Westbro Baptist Church from Kansas.
Who were nice to enough condem Australian (Perth boy too)actor Heath Ledger and planned on protesting his funeral, cause he acted as a gay cowboy.
Some really special people there -
As in, not funny and coasting on the goodwill of his chosen group of political co-horts.
Seriously, Bill O'Reily is the only guy who laughs at Miller and that's pretty sad.
Now Maher makes a movie to piss on people who have different beliefs than himself, to give 'em the "Moore Special": find the weakest opponents he can, tackle 'em and then edit the fucking hell out of the results to make them appear and say whatever you want. As soon as I read that they were inserting "suggestions" of what people were thinking in this flick, I knew Moore is out somewhere kicking himself that he didn't think of that first. After all, everything else in his films is completely created and fabricated already....
Ah, such class acts.
I'm an atheist myself and yet hacks like Bill Maher (and fucking idiots like the guy who said he's "keeping in real") make me want to join a church and vote for McCain. -
Bill?
Dressing up for Halloween as a recently deceased Australian celeb to go for shock 'n black humor...can't see why that would offend anyone. No sir. And in such great taste, too.
Why didn't you find his daughter and get a nice snap shot?
Pretend to be her daddy and tell her you came back from the dead to tell her how special she was.
Aw, man! That would have been so classic and keeping with the spirit of your humor.
You stay classy, Maher.
-
Very funny, and at times offensive. But anyone who thinks this is definitive about religion probably also believe Borat was an honest expose about American life.
-
two big reasons: 1) they don't know who the fuck he is. really. no one hear knows anything about him. 2) look, that was in pretty bad taste but us aussies are thick skinned, and don't mind having a lend of ourselves. a lot of people were upset at irwin's death (and while i was never a fan of this fellow queenslander) he was a good bloke. unlike many celbs he put his money where his mouth was and put his hand in his pocket for conservation.anyway australians don't dislike maher and don't mind being made fun of. those westbro fucks deserve a kicking.
-
And Vise versa in movies like this. Do all reviews have to begin "Evil" politcal right, or "Wrong" liberals. And once again lets blame the polictical party for lose/win of our candidate. If you think all Americans are sheep to be swayed by a movie or commercial to vote for a candidate then the United States deserves to fail and to fall in to the pits of the third world.
-
Larry Charles said after the premier, during Q&A, that it's Relig-ulous (like Religous + ulous). The programmer was the guy using the pronounciation you stated.
-
only in america would you get a nutjob organisation like that
-
...= the lame Rush Limbaugh.
-
The right is just wrong. They're just wrong.
-
Remember Westboro Baptist Church is a group of 12 people who have somehow gottent the American media to cover every move they make to feed the intense anti-religion fanatics. You know how sports events don't show streakers because it only encourages the activity? It is like that. Quit playing into these nitwits hands and giving them any press coverage; they don't represent Christians.
-
Yeah, you're clearly not an idiot if hating some comedian can sway who you vote for the fucking presidency. They got it right in Family Guy: Swing voters are among the stupidest people alive.
-
...Those are the f**ks who were protesting at the funerals of our troops (Hey, I may be liberal, but anyone who'll go somewhere and have bombs lobbed at 'em is pretty f**kin' brave in my book and should have money thrown at 'em when they get back) but they all chickened out when the Hell's Angels started showing up at the funerals as security. Guess "Gaw-duh" don't have your back when your lookin' at 250 lbs of hairy greaseball on a Harley (any Angels out there... I mean that in a GOOD way... honest!). Those Westboro mutants are really just a bunch of pusses!
-
Why did I need to read the review? You seem to hate the right as much as they genuinely hate you.
I like Bill Maher, but being controversial does not equate to being wise.
This is a $1 rental from the 'Red Box'. -
Save it for your blog.
-
...and you can get the podcast version of the show on the Canadian iTunes store. Do your research.
-
Well, gosh, if you see Bill Maher as respectful and gentle, then yeah, i'm not surprised that you liked his work. A towering achievement in tolerance and creating a dialogue with those with which you disagree. And by the way, taylor, the point of the name is that it resembles "Ridiculous". Not that they're biased or anything. Heavens, no.
-
"for the record, O'Reilly did see Brokeback Mountain and thought it was fantastic"Really? Wow. For the record, I saw Brokeback Mountain and thought it was great . . . at putting me to sleep. I'm getting bored just be the tedium of remembering having seen it now. You get to see Anne Hathaway's boobs. Only good part of the movie.
-
He's softspoke when he condescends to you, tries to ask questions to make you sound stupid, and basically implies that your beliefs are garbage. Respect.
-
I know a lot of Christian liberals, have been to very liberal Christian churches, and my family is a large Catholic family of Democrats. I agree with Maher on a lot of things (including his stance on religion) but I wish someone would steal religion back from the Right because they have really warped anything good about it and made it look a like propaganda and extremism.
-
He has such a cartoonish unenlightened view of people who are 'conservative' and/or 'religious'. I always find it ironic when people who laud their compassion,tolerance and enlightened world view in turn show their own intolerance and paint certain groups of people with such a broad brush. That goes for the right too!
-
What the mother has done to turn her daughter into a media product pisses on the memory of Steve Irwin much more than Bill's tasteless costume.
-
There's a difference, Frank Black, between people who claim to be religious or Christians or whatever, and those who actually live their lives and allow their faith to affect how they live their lives. I submit that a lot of people, perhaps even the majority of Americans, who call themselves Christians and catholics are saying it solely because it's their heritage and because they have used it to enhance their identity in the socio-economic circles in which they orbit. I've known catholics, mormons, and christians who display very little difference in behavior from avowed atheists, taoists, homosexuals, etc. True faith creates different behavior in people than lip service. I'm curious, Frank Black. What parts of religion have the Right warped? What is the original intent of the Bible or whatever that has been changed to suit the politics of republicans?
-
People are still pretending torrent sites don't exist?
-
I pity his un-nuanced view of the world.
-
Thats gonna go over great with the fundamentalists in the Middle East. Probably make AL JAHERZA or whatever you call it and then the rioting in the streets, followed by some tastefully produced internet viginets in which some poor suckers of European descent are delicately parted from their cumbersome heads in living color.
-
Yep...and let's keep it that way!Bill is just one of the top 100 kewlest Bills on the planet. Number one being...of course...BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY!!!BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL! BILL!
-
If He isn't represented well in this film, there will be Hell to pay.
-
The man's politics clearly lean far to the left, but thank god he stands up to the loonies who still insist 911 was an "inside job." And kudos to the guy for keeping his show on air - along with South Park and Colbert/Stewart, it's one of the last bastions of common sense remaining in the media. Odd how comedians in the U.S. are the only ones willing to speak truth to power these days.
-
I agree with everything you said and since we agree, there isn't any point in making an argument. A lot of people on the right use religion (and specifically Christianity) as though it is specifically a right-wing belief system when in fact many liberals are Christians. In terms of warping it, I speak to the nature of hypocrisy where many conservative right-wing talking heads speak for God and religion and rail against homosexuality and liberal behavior and then get caught acting that way (Rev Ted Haggard, for example who had the direct line to the White House and preached a lot of hateful things about homosexuals while being one himself.) All sides are guilty of hypocrisy but the Right look worse when they get caught not practicing what they so strongly preach.
-
What Bill Maher have YOU been watching?
-
I LOVE Bill Maher, and I will love this movie...but all he is is condescending and smug. it's the inevitable byproduct of being right all the time...
-
funny shit. maher is criticizing a senator who dosn't know anything about evolution and he says (laughing) 'you don't have to pass an iq test to get into the senate though' thinking it is funny that there are stupid people in there. maher just looks at him and he get one of those classic george bush 'what have i just said' looks on his face. funny shit.and for the record agree with frank black. i feel my catholicism has pushed my political views to the left. my catholicism tell me that we must have a certain minimum standard of health care, that education is vital to working society (my family has a strong christain brothers association - the brothers run schools), that there must be an adequate level of social security for those who fall through the cracks. The great bastion family of the left in the US, the kennedy's are a devoutly catholic family. both my parents go to the park (in ispwich and brisbane) weekly to feed the homeless. these are seen as being vital aspects of being a good catholic. (though i would not say they are ONLY catholic ideals) lastly i believe the image of this all powerful catholic church is a fallacy. most australians are irish catholics. we were the fuckees not the fuckors. Irish catholics were persecuted for centuries by the english who invaded their country and out lawed their religion. later they toned this down to merely excluding them from office. when the english founded oz many of those transported were irish. priests and church services were banned. (the english realized that priests were educated and could serve as leaders against the oppression of the illiterate) later the church was instrumental in the formation of the labor party and the trade union movement. huge divides between protestants and chatholics were created in oz due to the churches opposition to conscription. it is only lately, due to debates on abortion and gay marriage that the church has been seen as right wing. before that its views with regard to working conditions and educating the poor were firmly left wing.
-
If I were a friend of Irwin and I saw that a month after his death I would have laid him out. Seriously, I get a kick out of dark humor but that was just mean-spirited.
-
I thought Rush Limbaugh was the lame Rush Limbaugh?
-
How can you argue with the mentally ill? You believe in god you say? Well, how the fuck can I have a rational conversation with someone who publically declares that they are crazy batshit insane?
-
How many reviews/discussions of RELIGULOUS is aintitcool going to post?This thing has gotten almost as much coverage as the summer blockbusters did.I've got no problem with the movie but... damn! Is this what the fans are crying out for more of?
-
A truly valid point...made all the more wise on your part for drawing your political knowledge and criticism from...FAMILY GUY.
And it's called sarcasm. Look it up in the dictionary some time.
I wouldn't vote Republican with a gun to my head.
-
To Fasterpussycat:
Yeah, I can only wish that Fox News could "fabricate" as well as Moore:
http://tinyurl.com/3blpm8
And tell me who's called a spade a spade more consistently than Maher during the Bush years. Who do YOU see as "keeping it real?" Or do you actually believe there's been no NEED to do so in the first place?!
To Loserguy3000:
O'Reilly most certainly had NOT seen B.M. at the time when he did a segment on it (with Michael Medved, of course) while it was in limited release (but readily available to him). He may have been shamed into seeing it later, but he couldn't be bothered in his rush to score political points. The date was Dec. 20th 2005, and I guarantee that the date he saw it was subsequent to this.
What the movie contains is irrelevant ... moot, as I suggest. The fact is that merely QUESTIONING religion gives right-wingers the freedom to characterize it any way they please, with no regard for fairness or truth and no obligation to actually witness what it contains.
To Tthenomad:
A single movie or commercial? Probably not. Orchestrated, sustained, media good-vs-evil campaign? Sure.
To taylor2:
Were you at Ryerson or Wintergarden? I was at the former, and Maher and Charles began their Q & A by getting that issue right out of the way.
To Crazygnome:
I agree 100% that being conrtoversial does not equate to being wise (Limbaugh, Savage, Malkin, Coulter, etc.). What I admire about Maher is his refusal to dumb down to the LCD -- the way he fights his battles with wit that his enemies and detractors only WISH they possessed.
To Pdorwick:
Sometimes when you're trying to get the word out in the middle of a busy festival, there just isn't time to do as much background research as you'd like. (Try it sometime, and you'll know what I'm talking about.) In this case, I was relying too much on the people I was in line with and misunderstood something. I thought that there was an affiliate that shows SOME (but not all) HBO stuff, but I can now see from a MacLean's article that it's pretty well blacked out completely. The macro points are still valid: it takes an EFFORT to see Maher in Canada, and there's no "Real Time" sans Slingbox buddy in the States.
To Greyspecter:
Give me your working definition of "respectful and gentle." (Dennis Miller? Anne Coulter? Mr. Rogers? Help me out here!) And where did I ever use this wording? I merely said that he wasn't condescending or smug, and very much stand by this assessment. And there's nothing wrong with being biased as long as you're up front about it. At least they didn't use a non-explict title, like "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed."
To Doctorwho:
That goes for the right, PERIOD. And where's all this lauding? I would only claim to have an objective, INFORMED world view.
To Zacdilone:
Save it. I'll bet I consume more world news on my morning web surf than you do in a month.
To uberman:
You're right, I should have thought more about the Muslim repsonse if they run that ad ... it could make that Danish incident look tame. I HOPE this was a one-time ad for the festival!
To Christopher3:
Exactly ... I keep asking myself why is it left to Stewart and Colbert to show all these hypocritical juxtopositions of what politicans and pundits say one minute then the next? Where the hell's the MSM?
To mbeemer:
Same one as you, and since he was on Comedy Central. My working definition of "condescending and smug" is Bill O'Reilly interviewing a perceived liberal guest. Maher is yours?
-
No argument there. Fox News is a complete propoganda machine. I still don't know Obama made it through the whole "interview" with O'Reily without strangeling the sonofabitch.
But no, I don't consider Moore to be "keeping it real" in any way shape or form. Just because you agree with his points doesn't make him correct or "real" any more than fans of Bill O'Reilly would say he's doing the same.
I don't think Maher is funny. At all. I don't disagree with some of his political points but much like Moore, they are beating up the weak kids on the playground to try and make themselves appear stronger. I'm calling the both of them out for it, just as I would for Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reily. There are loud, obnoxious douche bags on either side of the argument and they just lower the bar for any sort of intelligent discourse on a serious topic.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 273 total posts 271 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 92 total posts 92 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 69 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 151 total posts 63 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 67 total posts 59 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 60 total posts 57 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 484 total posts 49 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 69 total posts 42 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 120 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 183 total posts 24 posts