Way to go Bill!!!

Finally!

Well, I finally got to see "Religulous". A few friends from work and I drove to a nearby city and had dinner as well. All I can say is...it was the smartest and funniest film that I have seen in some time! I enjoyed it much more than any of Michael Moore's films. There were so many laugh out loud moments. There really was some good interviews and much food for thought. We have talked about seeing it a second time, so that we might go with others who have expressed an interest in seeing it. Because there is so much material, and you are laughing often, that I think I would like to see it a second time so that I can digest more of the material. I know there were things that I missed.

If you were even toying with the idea of going, or just have questions about tenets of any religion, I would suggest that you go and see this film. It is also not very long and I thought that it was over way too quickly!! The go out and have dinner, some wine and a discussion.

Disappointed & Pissed Off

If many of you did not already know, I live in a college town, a VERY liberal college town. One that is rather famous for being so liberal. Much to my dismay and disbelief this town has a movie complex that has chosen not to begin showing "Religulous". It opened nationally the weekend of Oct.3, but has yet to be on a single screen in this town! I scanned all the theatres and the ONLY theatre where it is playing is miles away from here closer to a major city.

I can not believe this! With everything else that is going on in this country there may be theatres that are concerned about showing a movie that a few might consider controversial? Michael Moore causes more controversy than this film seems to be generating. I have not heard or seen any folks, religious or not, with signs marching around demanding that Bill Maher be strung up or burned at the stake.

It just amazes me that, in a town that thinks it is so diverse and liberal, that we can not even get a free thinking movie like this. That it is okay to show movies that lampoon the president or health care system, but the religious sacred cow, no pun intended, better not be touched. I can see no other reason for them to not be showing it while it is playing in the rest of the country. I know that I can drive anywhere and see it, but that is not the point. Why should I have to go to another town when mine has a perfectly fine 12+ screen facility and not one of them is showing this film.

But if anyone has a need to see some sex, gratuitous violence or teen angst I am sure there is much to choose from.

Follow Up

Mother Jones News has done an excellent interview with Bill Maher about his movie and the history of organized religion in his own life as well as his thoughts on 9/11 and other politics. It also made mention of another web site that he, and fellow writer and movie collaborator Larry Charles, of Seinfeld fame, have created. It is Disbeliefnet.com. I went there and had some really great laughs!! No ground is too sacred.

"Religulous"

I haven't seen Bill Maher's shows in quite some time, but I am SOOO excited to go see his new film "Religulous" that opens this weekend!! He appeared on The Daily Show this week and the interview was not only hilarious, but spot on about religion, the organized and fictionalized ones et al, and I laughed my head off.

"I'm not looking to form an anti-religion religion. That would defeat the purpose," Maher said in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, where "Religulous" played in advance of its theatrical release Friday. "It's the nature of the people who are not believers that they're individuals, they're individualistic. They don't join and all lock arms and say, ‘We all believe this and so it must be true because we have strength in numbers.'"

The numbers Maher and Charles really hope to grab are general audiences simply looking for a fun night at the movies.

Maher, 52, who started mocking religion back in his early standup comedy days, has no misconceptions that "Religulous" will shake people's lifelong convictions to the core. He's mainly looking for laughs such as those the film elicited from the enthusiastic crowd at its Toronto premiere.

"I was so gratified to finally go to a screening with people last night and hear how big the laughs are," Maher said. "Because we set out to make a comedy. I always said, my primary motivation was I'm a comedian, and this is comedy gold.

"When you're talking about a man living to 900 years old, and drinking the blood of a 2,000-year-old god, and that Creation Museum where they put a saddle on the dinosaur because people rode dinosaurs. It's just a pile of comedy that was waiting for someone to exploit."

Can't wait!!