The film used the fake working title a spiritual journey in order to obtain interviews with religious leaders. Religulous is a film that aims for laughs, not a scientific survey of the. Comedian bill mahers documentary religulousa hybrid of the words religion and. Rent religulous 2008 on dvd and bluray dvd netflix.
Let me say i am a sucker for a good documentary and this film makes a load of powerful points that just cannot be refuted. Why rightwing christians need to see religulous film. The film explores various religious groups across many locations ranging from the vatican to salt lake city. Known for his astute analytical skills, irreverent wit and commitment to never pulling a punch, maher brings his characteristic honesty and skepticism to an unusual religious journey. In the film, in which he travels around meeting religious people and making fun of them, maher. The two best points made in bill mahers film religulous. Sure, maher skewers much of the free world on the utter ridiculousness of religion hence the title, which is a play on the two words, but he never once. Bill maher and larry charles offer an irreverent debate on faith. The title of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words religious and ridiculous. Everything you need to know about religulous movie 2008.
Thanks to bill maher, larry charles who directed borat, and the documentary style of michael moore, audiences will be able to enjoy religulous, a movie with taglines like. Maher interviews a wide variety of religionists, including hasidic jews, muslims, mormons, creationists as well as untraditional popes. Religulous is guaranteed to be controversial, but maher and charles efforts also ensure that theres more than just hype behind their film. Religulous comic on a crusade in the film, in which he travels around meeting religious people and making fun of them, maher becomes the incarnation of. Maher is an insufferably smug bastard and not nearly as funny or clever as he thinks he is. Religulous makes a pilgrimage across the globe with political humorist and author bill maher real time with bill maher, politically incorrect as he opens our mind to the ultimate taboo.
In bill mahers film religulous, faith doesnt have a prayer the. Mahers main goal with the film seems to be to convince people that religion is responsible for most of the evil in the world, and that we would all be. Traveling around the world, maher examines the tenets of christianity, judaism and. Commentatorcomic bill maher plays devils advocate with religion as he talks to believers about their faith. Bill mahers view of the system and politics of religion. Granted, religion is the worst thing that ever happened to this world, because satan uses religion to deceive. Us comic bill maher tells john patterson how his new film proves that religion is not just ridiculous but religulous. Despite the controversy its sparked, however, the documentary isnt as unpc as many are making it out to be.
Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the wikipedia article. The first point relates to creationists claiming the bible is scientific with an interview with a vatican astronomer who talks a lot of sense and the second graphically demonstrates the lack. I read a comment on this website that said if you disagree with maher then the film is not for you, it is about you sadly i have to agree with that. Religulous is not a film that takes its own arguments all that seriously. Traveling around the world, maher examines the tenets of christianity, judaism and islam and raises questions about homosexuality, proof of christs. Their new film, religulous, takes on the pieties of religion. Religulous begins with bill maher, standing alone in israel at a place called meggido. So take religulous with a hint of salt or if you are really closeminded a pint of salt. Judaism, christianity, islam, mormonism, tv evangelism and even scientology, with detours into pagan cults and ancient egypt. On or about december 31, 1969 the film was in completed status. According to maher, the title of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words religion and ridiculous. Bill maher, host, writer and debater, believes they are all crazy. The problem with the movie, whose title compresses religious and ridiculous into a single word, isnt that it milks more than one sacred cow but that it does so with minimal subtlety and.
On october 3, the new atheism enters the world of film. The director larry charles was talking recently about. Religulous is a 2008 american documentary film written by and starring politically provocative talk show host bill maher skewers the current state of organized religion in this hotbutton movie. Religulous was released in 2008 on friday, october 3, 2008 there were 9 other movies released on the same date, including an american carol, how to lose friends and alienate people and drona. But the star of the show was midshow guest larry charles, whose many credits include bruno, borat, working as a staff writer on seinfeld and directing mahers 2008 film religulous.
Religulous on dvd february 17, 2009 starring bill maher. 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. Lionsgate has finally released a movie trailer for larry charles documentary religulous, which follows bill maher as he travels around the globe interviewing people about god and religion. This is a movie where one man, bill maher goes around talking to religious cooks and church members, which allows him.
Thousands of people have enjoyed his books or the full visual parables journal. Originally slated for intentional release date coinciding with the religious easter holiday 2008, postproduction delays resulting from a. Positive religulous is the kind of film which few will see, and the kind of film about which many of these nonviewers will complain. Religulous is the muchanticipated collaboration between one of the guys responsible for borat and curb your enthusiasm larry charles and the politically incorrect standup comedian bill maher. In the straight dope column it includes the following. Religulous now available on dvd in this new comedy from director larry charles borat, seinfeld, comedian and tv host bill maher real time with bill maher, politically incorrect takes a. Bill maher in religulous 2008 bill maher and larry charles in religulous 2008. However, it is not and i guess, bill maher neither offers to or makes any apologies for this a balanced film. I also find it impossible that after marx stated that human beings are a product of conditioning and darwin stated were merely vessels to carry on our dna to propagate our species anyone can believe in a creator or afterlife so anyone making a documentary putting the boot in to religion is only a good thing in my opinion the film with comedian. In an early section, he asks what is possibly one of. He is a comedian making a documentary, and not a documentary maker, and i feel he had two obvious goals during the making religulous to make a fool of everyone he interviews, and to try to avoid getting punched in the face. From there, maher pushes us into an intense, honest, and brutally funny discussion of blind belief, presenting the possibility that maybe we should all. The belief that a cosmic jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in all humans because a women made from a rib was convinced by a talking snake in a magical garden to eat the fruit from a magical tree, which made an. Religulous is a film featuring bill maher and the baby jesus that takes the piss out of religion.
He makes michael moore look incredibly likable in comparison. The owner of the catholic merchandise store told maher of the miracles that god performed in his life, and how god. In its premise, bill goes through a journey across the u. Religulous also doesnt try to argue people of faith out of their beliefs, but instead encourages nonbelievers to step up and speak out. Premiered the traverse city film festival and shown at two movie theatres during 2008aug in order to make the movie eligible for a 2009 academy award. After dominating the world of print, in both fiction and nonfiction forms, it seems only natural. Shown during 2008sep at the toronto international film festival. In his 2008 film religulous, bill maher makes the argument that belief in god is ridiculous. Thats the problem and thats always been the problem and maher points that out also. Religulous 2008 commentatorcomic bill maher plays devils advocate with religion as he talks to believers about their faith.
That number is 16%, more than blacks, more than jews, more than. Early on in religulous, bill maher throws up a bar chart illustrating the number of people in america who are nonreligious. The term religulous is a combination of the words religion and ridiculous. That being said, this is still a entertaining and amusing documentary which exposes some of the silliest excesses of organized religion, particularly christianity. Originally scheduled to open wide on july 2nd, religulous, bill maher and larry charless documentary aimed at the pulsing jugular of all religions, will now be released on october 3rd, 2008. It really is a chance for us to open childrens minds to the power of film not just as a vehicle for entertainment but also as a way in to understanding their own world and the worlds of people whose lives are very different. This is, without a doubt, one of the best movies i have seen in a very long time. For a project written by and starring maher, the clips in the film are for the most part surprisingly fair. Maher giving the audience his background as being brought up in a mixed cathoilc jewish background and any fears that religulous was going to be more about mahers rather than religion are soon dispelled as he arrives in a truckers chapel for his first set of victims who inform maher and the audience that the. This film will do best with those who are coming to watch maher put the boot in without a lot of finesse or intelligence just like he often does on real time. The film can get offensive to the faint at heart but you have to take it for what its worth. Religuous is a documentary where bill maher takes a unique look at different religions around the world. Religulous is a 2008 american documentary film written by and starring comedian bill maher and directed by larry charles.