Religulous Is Now On DVD!

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I have seen this movie and dub it Mediocre.

There are some good points and  counterarguments, but he uses more stock footage than Teenage Caveman, he completely ignores religions that aren't offshoots of western monotheism, and at the end he pulls a ton of barely-supported conclusions out of his ass.

Bill Maher destroys my faith in secular humanism.

[bettertomorrowamy]

So you think that if Maher had simply gone to Japan and talked with someone about Shintoism then his arguments would have hit a wall?
All religions have the same basic argument, and Maher's counter-arguments work on them just as well as they work on western religions.  So that's a non-issue.  Your stock footage complaint is silly.  Every time the movie shows stock footage it is part of a joke or gag.  There is plenty of film of them at these different places.  Shots of the Vatican, Jerusalem, that trucker church, London, etc.......I guess I don't know what more you want.
Which conclusions were pulled from his ass?  You can't just pull that out of your ass and complain about him doing it.  Specifics?

All that aside, I still don't think it was as entertaining as his tv show.  I'd give it a B-minus.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

But that's my point. If your argument is that ALL RELIGIONS ARE THE SAME, then you should probably look at a broader range of religions than WESTERN MONOTHEISM OFFSHOOTS. I'm not saying they would have proved him wrong, but it would have helped his arguments if he actually addressed them.
Eastern religions also tend to have a very different outlook. Maybe his ideas about Apocolyptic tendencies wouldn't have held the same sway  there. Why not look at the linear time/circular time duality and see how belief that everyone is somebody you knew sooner or later affects human morality and views on murder?

He makes a big leap from "there are lots of crazy religious people" to "religion is the only thing keeping us from a super-duper utopia and it will destroy all life on earth."

I was also infuriated by how shallow some of it was. He brought in that neurotheologist essentially so he could have somebody to say "religious people are crazy" to. The scientist said he'd done studies on what parts of the brain light up during religious experience, and he's studied speaking in tongues, and mentioned "they weren't speaking an actual language," but it just stopped there. WHICH PARTS of the brain light up according to these studies? Parts that are rarely used elsewhere? Parts that light up in schizophrenic patients? Parts that light up when you want to grab some nachoes? What about this speaking in tongues? Is it the same part that lights up when we dream, or is it just the part that lights up when people make up random sounds?

Alright, I admit the stock footage was used to comedic effect. I just found some of it started to grate on my nerves with its force-the-irony-down-your-throat flavor.

It's too shallow to be a good documentary and too un-entertaining to be a good comedy.

[Destin]

Not all people like to be called wrong without being crushed ^Example^

[bettertomorrowamy]

But that's my point. If your argument is that ALL RELIGIONS ARE THE SAME, then you should probably look at a broader range of religions than WESTERN MONOTHEISM OFFSHOOTS. I'm not saying they would have proved him wrong, but it would have helped his arguments if he actually addressed them.
Eastern religions also tend to have a very different outlook. Maybe his ideas about Apocolyptic tendencies wouldn't have held the same sway  there. Why not look at the linear time/circular time duality and see how belief that everyone is somebody you knew sooner or later affects human morality and views on murder?

He makes a big leap from "there are lots of crazy religious people" to "religion is the only thing keeping us from a super-duper utopia and it will destroy all life on earth."

I was also infuriated by how shallow some of it was. He brought in that neurotheologist essentially so he could have somebody to say "religious people are crazy" to. The scientist said he'd done studies on what parts of the brain light up during religious experience, and he's studied speaking in tongues, and mentioned "they weren't speaking an actual language," but it just stopped there. WHICH PARTS of the brain light up according to these studies? Parts that are rarely used elsewhere? Parts that light up in schizophrenic patients? Parts that light up when you want to grab some nachoes? What about this speaking in tongues? Is it the same part that lights up when we dream, or is it just the part that lights up when people make up random sounds?

Alright, I admit the stock footage was used to comedic effect. I just found some of it started to grate on my nerves with its force-the-irony-down-your-throat flavor.

It's too shallow to be a good documentary and too un-entertaining to be a good comedy.

All you're complaining about there, really, is that he didn't cite in the movie where he got his information from.  You're not even saying he is wrong.  It's a movie.  You can't spend a whole lot of time citing sources.  You can do it a little, but it's not the right format for that.  This is more about making you think about things.  It's not supposed to be an in-depth analysis of why religious people believe things.  You can look these facts up online later.  You can read the bible, torah, and the koran later for the same reasons.  Before going in to this kind of movie you already know what to expect, so if you like Maher you will like the movie.  If you don't like Maher, you won't like the movie.  It's as simple as that. 
I like the movie, but it isn't the funniest thing Maher has ever done.  That's for sure.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I just didn't find it satisfying. The stuff that was really interesting got skimmed past in favor of mundane, seen-it-a-thousand-times stuff, like the guy in Puerto Rico who thinks he's Jesus got so little attention. Of all the weird and crazy shit about that guy, the bit they really choose to lampoon is that he's nationality? They didn't even think him claiming to be christ, the antichrist, AND the reincarnation of John the Baptist, all in one, was worth mentioning?

Watching this movie was like reading a magazine with the last page of every article torn out.

[bettertomorrowamy]

I just didn't find it satisfying. The stuff that was really interesting got skimmed past in favor of mundane, seen-it-a-thousand-times stuff, like the guy in Puerto Rico who thinks he's Jesus got so little attention. Of all the weird and crazy shit about that guy, the bit they really choose to lampoon is that he's nationality? They didn't even think him claiming to be christ, the antichrist, AND the reincarnation of John the Baptist, all in one, was worth mentioning?

Watching this movie was like reading a magazine with the last page of every article torn out.

They did talk about him claiming to be Christ and the Anti-Christ.  I don't remember them talking about him being John the Baptist though.

[Destin]

I just didn't find it satisfying. The stuff that was really interesting got skimmed past in favor of mundane, seen-it-a-thousand-times stuff, like the guy in Puerto Rico who thinks he's Jesus got so little attention. Of all the weird and crazy shit about that guy, the bit they really choose to lampoon is that he's nationality? They didn't even think him claiming to be christ, the antichrist, AND the reincarnation of John the Baptist, all in one, was worth mentioning?

Watching this movie was like reading a magazine with the last page of every article torn out.

They did talk about him claiming to be Christ and the Anti-Christ.  I don't remember them talking about him being John the Baptist though.

Bill Maher said he wished they had more time to show more about other religions. But its funny how he rather would see more of the guy who calls himself the anti christ then other stuff. The movie was meant to be entertaining. Not as much of a lecture about pros and cons. Maybe there will be a Religulous 2 =)

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

If it was just meant to be entertaining, then it failed at that too. The pacing was off, and it felt like watching a video in class where the teacher fast-forwards through all the good parts.

Bill Maher has the subtlety and comedic timing of John Kerry.

[bettertomorrowamy]

If it was just meant to be entertaining, then it failed at that too. The pacing was off, and it felt like watching a video in class where the teacher fast-forwards through all the good parts.

Bill Maher has the subtlety and comedic timing of John Kerry.

So....you did or didn't like it?

[ScottotD]

It's not out here yet but from what I've seen it looks hilarious, but then I find all religious people strange at best.