I had a day off from work today, and as a result decided to go to the movies. Today’s choice- Religulous.

It stars Bill Maher, host of Politically Incorrect and Real Time and is directed by the guy who directed Borat. It’s about religion.

If you’re not put off by it’s pedigree and subject matter, then you’ll probably find enough in the movie to enjoy and enough cause to let out a chuckle or two (or in the case of some moviegoers- outright guffaws), and if you are put off by any combination of those three above mentioned elements then this movies obviously isn’t meant for you.

Bill Maher is a professed, well, I’m not sure what exactly he’d be categorized as in terms of his religious beliefs. His answer throughout the movie is “I don’t know”. What he IS, is clearly anti-religion. Not anti-Christian, anti-Muslim, anti-Jew, anti-Mormon, anti-Scientologist, or anti-Catholic (though each of the mentioned religions do get this piss taken out of them through the course of the movies), he’s actually against the very concept of religion itself.

When the movie is on, it’s very on. When it’s off, it can be very off. As with any documentary that’s aimed at entertaining it’s audience, it’s edit heavy and flashy, sometimes with the adverse effect of being overly snarky, crass, or demeaning to it’s subjects.

But at the same time Maher often appears to have a better grasp on religion than the people he’s interviewing (of course, someone had to choose the subjects being interviewed) while at other times the discussions can be natural, cordial, and catch even our very jaded interviewer by surprise.

Of course, all of these are then cut with post interviews with our host riding in a taxi, or a train, or other means of travel between interviews where he’s had time to think about his recent stop and can get a few more jabs in to recover his stance of being vehemently against everything that the people interviewed have said in favor of their particular religion.

Anyone who has seen the first 1/3rd of Zeitgeist will recognize the compare and contrast between the story of Jesus and the other deities from which his story borrowed heavily (outright stolen?).

Some of the most surprising moments come when he meets members of the Vatican who appear the least stagnant and steadfast in their clinging to old tenants of their faiths. Some of the least surprising come in the moments when various members of the Muslim faith are interviewed and their every mention of faith is then cut together with shots of the ever on-going war on terror, footage of protests against Salmon Rushdie, and various other depictions of intolerance of Muslims to “infidels” including assassinations. Easy (sometimes accurate?) targets given the modern state of the world.

No one who Maher meets in the course of the movie are let off the hook.  The only religions that don’t get skewered are the ones that don’t appear in the movie. And lucky them.

Something else I found worth noting was the audience in the theater at 2:20pm on a Wednesday to partake in this flick. There were only 7 of us:

Me (white, mid-20s, heavily tattooed), a young Arab-American woman dressed business casual, a white middle age couple in windbreakers, t-shirts and jeans, a late 20s/early 30s African-American couple dressed in slacks and Autumn weather coats, and an older grey haired man who seemed to get the most enjoyment out of the movie, laughing comfortably throughout it’s 101 minute runtime.

So, I guess in the end there’s only one last statement really worth making in a review, and that would be whether or not I recommend this movie.

My answer is if you fall into the group of people who would enjoy this movie then I don’t need to see it. They’re preaching to the converted here, and no believer will be having any big revelations that cause them to stop believing.

Popularity: 2% [?]

There have been plenty of movies released in the past few years relating to the wars in the Middle East, from the recently released “Stop Loss” and ”Home of the Brave” for fictional accounts of what war and homecomings carry for our troops, to “Baghdad ER”, “Body of War”, and “No End in Sight” for documentaries ranging from the direct experiences of the men and women of the military, to the policies and backroom dealings that have occured throughout the entirety of the war.

…and people have been avoiding them all like the plague.  Even the ones that recieved positive reviews.

I’m not going to speculate on why these have all pretty much gone unseen, instead I’m going to highlight a few things that are being shown right now that should be viewed.

The first is “Generation Kill”.  A mini-series on HBO based on the book of the same name in which an embedded reporter joins a group of Marines during the initial invasion of Baghdad and documents his experiences.  The book drew some heat on initial release due to the Marines’ outspoken displeasure with their leadership in some instances, but since has been placed as one of the books that “gets” what war is like for the guys on the ground.  The series in being touted as staying close to it’s source material and being fair in it’s depictions of the individuals portrayed in both the book and the show.

The second thing that’s being worked on right now comes courtesy of MTV (who also produced “Stop Loss” which many said was one of the least politicized takes on the war in movies to date) and rapper Kanye West, called “Choose or Lose & Kanye West present: Homecoming”.  The intent of the series is to highlight recently returned vets by sitting down with them and letting them discuss the difficulties faced in returning home.  An extra step being taken in this show is the assistance being given by West and MTV under the name of the Dr. Donda West Foundation (named for West’s recently departed mother) to the vets in the form of student loan repayment, rent coverage, and making up the differences between college costs and the coverage of the G.I. Bill which in certain instances has proven insufficient.

I’ve mocked Kanye West in the past for his lack of internal censor and his outspoken statements (Bush doesn’t care about black people ring a bell?  Not that I’m saying he was wrong, just that his delivery could use some work), but I have to say I think if handled correctly this could be a wonderful program, both to view, and for those it will help.

So there you go, things to watch out for while flipping the channels at home.

Popularity: 5% [?]