| About
the Film: |
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The documentary RELIGULOUS follows political humorist
and author Bill Maher ("Real Time With Bill Maher,"
"Politically Incorrect") as he travels around
the globe interviewing people about God and religion.
Known for his astute analytical skills, irreverent wit
and commitment to never pulling a punch, Maher brings
his characteristic honesty to an unusual spiritual journey.
Directed by Larry Charles (BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF
AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN,
"Curb Your Enthusiasm"), RELIGULOUS will mark
Charles' first feature project since the critically acclaimed,
wildly successful BORAT. Jonah Smith and Palmer West of
Thousand Words (A SCANNER DARKLY, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM)
are producing.
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Statement from Bill Maher:
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Since starting on Politically Incorrect
in 1993, it has been my pleasure over the last decade
and a half to make organized religion one of my favorite
targets. I often explained to people, "I don't need
to make fun of religion, it makes fun of itself."
And, then I go ahead and make fun of it too, just for
laughs.
With religious fanatics like George Bush and Osama
bin Laden now taking over the world, it seemed to me
in recent years that this issue -- this cause of debunking
the man behind the curtain -- needed to have a larger,
more insistent and focused forum than late night television.
I wanted to make a documentary, and I wanted it to be
funny. In fact, since there is nothing more ridiculous
than the ancient mythological stories that live on as
today's religions, this movie would try to be a real
knee slapper. Unless, of course, you're religious, then
you might not like it.
Who could I get to direct me on such an epic quest?
In reality, there was only one man, and his name is
Larry Charles. I hope that together we fulfilled that
quest. Which really isn't that hard, considering that
comedically speaking, the topic of religion is pretty
much hitting the side of a barn.
As a comedian, religion has always interested me --
it was the single easiest subject to make jokes about.
I think that tells us something: comedians look for
things that don't make sense, that are illogical.
Even as a young comedian, routines I did that got the
biggest laughs and got me invited back on the Tonight
Show were the religious ones -- like the one about being
half Catholic and half Jewish and bringing a lawyer
into confession: "Bless me father for I have sinned
-- and I think you know Mr. Cohen . . ."
Politics is a rich area, but even politicians, although
they promise some ridiculous stuff, don't approach the
level of, for example, the Mormon practice of promising
couples a planet to rule over in the after life if they
have a really good marriage on earth. They give you
a planet -- kinda like when someone gives you a certificate
that says a star has been named after you -- except
here, they really give you the star!
Join me in the final battle between intelligence and
stupidity that will decide the future of humanity. Coming
soon to a house of false idols near you.
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| Links: |
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Check
out Disbeliefnet.com
Trailer
Film
Clip
Film
Clip 2
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| Pictures: |
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Statment
from Larry Charles:
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| Ok.
An old God, a very buff old God that lives in space decides
to create the first man from earth dust, then makes a woman
from that man's rib. They get to live forever if they don't
eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge, but the
woman is tricked into eating a piece by a talking snake and
all future humanity is cursed. Or, how bout this one? This
same space God who lives in the sky and has power over everything
decides he wants a son, so he impregnates a woman but she
remains a virgin. And, the child can walk on water and raise
the dead. But his father, the sky God, sends him on a suicide
mission to save humanity. After he dies, he rises from the
dead and flies into space to be with his father (who is also
him.)
Greek myths? The latest installment of the "Lord of
the Rings"? Disney's new animated movie? No! These
are the foundations of Western religion. The tenuous shaky
belief systems that our entire civilization rests upon.
What do you believe, why do you believe it, and why do
you need to believe it? Can we be good without God? Is religion
a calling or a mental illness? Were Jesus, Moses and Mohammed
prophets and visionaries, or crackpot nut cases who today
would be put away? Is religion an obsessive-compulsive disorder?
Comedian, acerbic commentator, raconteur, skeptic, seeker
Bill Maher and I set off in search of answers to these questions
in a raunchy, rude, irreverent, outrageous, and shocking
nonfiction film about the greatest fiction ever told.
Set to the rhythms of "Sympathy for the Devil"
and "Jesus Walks," from the Western Wall to the
Vatican, from self-professed messiahs to self professed
Pariahs, we will not only expose the hypocrisy and corruption
in organized religion but the absurdly hilarious logic that
holds it together.
We will talk to clergy, extremists, scholars, politicians,
ex-cons, the man on the street and even the man upstairs
(that's right, we interview God.)
The funny will be scary, the scary wildly funny. The crazy
will seem sane and the sane absolutely and undeniably crazy.
All lines are blurred. All bets are off. We will get inside,
on top of, behind, and in front of religion.
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