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Saturday, October 4, 2008

Just got back from Religilous -- Spoilers galore, so if you haven't seen it, don't read

First, let me say that the theater was WAY more crowded than I thought it would be. There were only maybe 4 seats left in the place and it's a large theater. I was pretty surprised.

Next, let me say that this is NOT a movie that I would advise parents taking their young kids to. There were kids there as young as what appeared to be 5. Some of the language, the nudity, and the drug use was inappropriate for that age, I think.

Ok, so on to the movie. It was very funny while also bringing to light some of the truly asinine beliefs that people hold. The humor didn't detract from the point of the movie and I was glad to see that.

The only sane sounding religious people in the whole movie were the 2 Catholic priests he interviewed. That's really saying something for people that promote a religion where they claim to be literally eating the body and drinking the blood of Christ every week.

I thought it was kind of odd that Bill got chased away from whatever Mormon temple he was filming in front of. You would think as much as the Mormons want to run around banging on doors that they would have welcomed the film crew to promote their cause. Also, if you think American Indians were really Jewish you are a goddamned moron.

I thought he could have handed Ken Ham his ass a bit better. He really didn't hammer him hard enough at all.

I thought he did a good job of dissecting Islam.

I've determined that all of Florida is now certifiably bat shit insane. You've got the Scientologists, the Todd Bentley crew, and the Holy Land place that Bill covered in the movie. Why do people want to sit around and watch gory reproductions of the crucifixion of another human being? It really is sickening. And then the people in the audience of the mock crucifixion clapped when Jesus fell. WTF???? Also, taking photos of some dude dressed like Jesus with fake blood all over his body is just weird. What the hell are you gonna do with that photo anyway???

And I'm not letting my home state off the hook either. The truck stop he went into in Raleigh was really hilarious. Raleigh is actually a beautiful area, and while I knew quiet a few atheists when I lived back home, I have to admit that the majority of the state is very fundy-minded. When I lived there, for every rational atheist I knew, I could point to 50 bible literalists.

I can't say it's a movie I'd buy on DVD, but I am a huge Bill Maher fan and it was a very fun and enlightening movie.

7 comments:

  1. NM,
    Thanks! Actually, you couldn't post a "spoiler" on this one , as the outcome was a foregone conclusion and thanks for the critique.

    I'll just wait and snap it off Net Flix. It's good to hear that the theater was crowded.

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  2. That was a great fucking movie!!! Only one small theatre in the capital city I live in was playing the movie...wonder why.

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  3. I wish he would have covered more on the mormons (but that's just me!!) The temple was in Salt Lake City, Utah, mormon mecca (along with Missouri and Palmira NY)! There was a picture of it in my house growing up!
    Also they believe that Native Americans are jewish because Nephi was told by god to build a boat and sail his family to the new world...it makes perfect sense![insert sarcasm here]

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  4. I just found the European release dates. Don't know, why it doesn't say anything about UK...

    Belgium 5 November 2008
    Germany 6 November 2008
    Netherlands 27 November 2008
    Iceland 28 November 2008
    Portugal 4 December 2008
    Italy 5 December 2008
    France 21 January 2009

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  5. Lance and I saw the movie this afternoon. It was awesome! Loved it.

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  6. I saw it this afternoon, amid a crowd of about 150 (not a bad showing in a multiplex theatre with capacity around 250). It was a typical downtown Toronto crowd: upper-middle-class couples, college kids of every ethnicity, and one or two older couples down in front. The funny bits got good responses, and the frightening bits were met with rapt, dismayed silence.

    I'm also a Maher fan and I think this movie has made his reputation as both comic and commentator. Not because it's funny - and it is damned funny - but because it's terrifying and maddening and will surely terrify and madden many viewers before its theatrical run is over.

    Remember the red-shirted trucker who walks out of the chapel rather than listen to Maher's questions? -- my initial reaction was: "Coward." But before the movie was over I was thinking that he was more honest than the other bleevers, who listened to Maher and either made circular arguments or pressed their lips together and glared at him.

    The only ones I really hated were the two Catholic priests. Yes, I know that denizens of Vatican City are likely to be different from the priests and nuns of my rural childhood - but seriously, where the hell were these guys when I was being told that hell is real and bible stories are true?!

    "Nobody believes that!" one bespectacled academic-type man of the cloth protests. The hell you say, Father Coyne. Everyone around me believed it, together with every other word that issued from the Vatican. Why do you think some of our neighbours wore themselves out raising as many as SIXTEEN children - just for fun?

    Fuck 'em. I've never been more glad to be an ex-catholic.

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  7. Mormons don't believe American Indians were Jewish, i know because i was one of those people banging on your door for two years. He was chased away from the temple because he was on private property, where he wasn't supposed to be, it's a respect thing, he could have easily gone to the public area and filmed all day long. What you laugh at we believe pretty strongly, and luckily I have that right just as much as you have the right to make fun of what i believe. Just thought i'd clarify, check out mormon.org for more info on what the LDS church really believe, don't get it from some stupid movie designed to make fun of others beliefs. Enjoy!

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