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Movies / Upcoming / Religulous
Religulous

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Religulous (2008)

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Reviews Counted:141

Fresh:98

Rotten:43

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Religulous is funny and offensive in equal measure, and aims less to change hearts and minds than to inspire conversation.

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

Genre: Comedies

US Box Office: $12,995,673

Synopsis: Bill Maher travels to Israel, England, the Netherlands, Vatican City, and across America, speaking to people about faith and religion in the very funny documentary RELIGULOUS. Maher, a stand-up... Bill Maher travels to Israel, England, the Netherlands, Vatican City, and across America, speaking to people about faith and religion in the very funny documentary RELIGULOUS. Maher, a stand-up comedian who has hosted the talk shows POLITICALLY INCORRECT on ABC and REAL TIME on HBO and has written such bestsellers as DOES ANYBODY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT? and WHEN YOU RIDE ALONE, YOU RIDE WITH BIN LADEN, reaches out to religious leaders as well as regular folk on the street, discussing the existence of God and the importance of organized religion. Maher makes it clear from the start that he is not a fan of religion and does not believe in God, and he has fun skewering people who do--including Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Mormons, rabbis, priests, politicians, scientists, evangelical ministers, and even a preacher whose church is a converted truck. He also visits such places as the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida, where he interviews the actor who plays Jesus in a live show there, and the Red Light District in Amsterdam, notorious for its legalized drugs and prostitution. As he has done on his television programs and in his books, Maher questions literal interpretations of the Bible, seeing it more as a collection of fairy tales. Director Larry Charles (BORAT, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM) intersperses clips from Hollywood films about religion to punctuate Maher's points, often to hilarious effect. The soundtrack is also used effectively, including such songs as the Doobie Brothers' "Jesus Is Just Alright," Ben Folds's "Jesusland," and Billy Bragg and Wilco's "Christ for President." Like such Michael Moore documentaries as FAHRENHEIT 9/11 and BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, Maher's RELIGULOUS uses humor--and lots of cynicism and sarcasm--to examine controversial theories and topics that people feel very strongly about, no matter what side of the fence they are on. In addition to making audiences laugh, RELIGULOUS will make them think. [More]

Starring: Bill Maher, Kathy Maher, Julie Maher, Mark Pryor

Starring: Bill Maher, Kathy Maher, Julie Maher, Mark Pryor, Andrew Newberg, Ray Suarez, Francis Collins, Brian Weiss, Aki Nawaz

Director: Larry Charles

Director: Larry Charles
Producer: Bill Maher, Jonah Smith, Palmer West
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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Reviews for Religulous

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41 - 60 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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The movie is at its most interesting when the attitudes of the faithful prove more sophisticated than Maher’s own.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
10/22/08
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/21/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Religulous has an unholy fervor that should start many bonfires.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
10/18/08
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
New York Magazine

Be prepared for truths, distortions, unfair juxtapositions (especially with the film clips) and just plain goofiness in this too-long but often very entertaining film.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
10/18/08
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

About half of the movie works in its snide, hit-and-run way. The other half throws more and more darts at the same balloon, long after it pops.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment 4 Comments
10/18/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

Much of what they’ve gotten on film is so entertaining, you almost want to pray for a sequel.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
10/18/08
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Hollywood.com

Maher sets out not after answers but cheap laughs that preach, so to speak, to the converted.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/18/08
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

there can be few greater threats to religious zealotry than the power of laughter or the quest for knowledge - which is what makes comedian Bill Maher such an effective champion for the cause of scepticism in an age of rising fundamentalism.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
10/14/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film

To religious conservatives of all denominations, it's a punch in the nose. (Except when Maher's bashing the other zealots, those wackjobs.) To atheists and agnostics, it's catharsis

Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
10/13/08
Amy Nicholson
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly

Maher, the exasperated, agnostic prankster, makes the point that organized religion has caused more harm than good.

Full Review Source: SSG Syndicate | comment Comment
10/10/08
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
SSG Syndicate

This is either going to offend you or make you laugh out loud. At times, it may do both.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
10/10/08
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

At his best, he has the bewildered incredulousness of George Carlin. At his worst, he's as self-righteous as his targets.

Full Review Source: Scene-Stealers.com | comment 2 Comments
10/09/08
Eric Melin
Eric Melin
Scene-Stealers.com

Doubt, Maher says, is his product, and you have to hand it to him for staying on message.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
10/09/08
Jonathan Kiefer
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review

...simultaneously the most entertaining and least informative documentary I've seen in years

Full Review Source: LYTRules.com | comment Comment
10/09/08
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
LYTRules.com

It is [funny], although much of the humor is extraordinarily cheap and obvious.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
10/08/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Maher may see demented dogma all around him, but what's the basis of his own moral compass? We're not religulous, just curious.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment 7 Comments
10/08/08
Kevin Lally
Kevin Lally
Film Journal International

A cleverly constructed piece of work that by turns amused me, made me think, alarmed me and occasionally offended me.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
10/07/08
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

This is a brutally blunt and often side-splittingly funny movie.

Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
10/07/08
Austin Kennedy
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine

Is it mean? Gratuitously prankish? On the surface, sure, but it serves to remind the viewer that Maher is very well aware of his own presence and purpose.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
10/07/08
Stina Chyn
Stina Chyn
Film Threat

Was Maher afraid he might muddy his clownish jape if he actually brought into the mix a learned theologian?

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment 8 Comments
10/06/08
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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Latest News for Religulous

February 16, 2009: RT on DVD: High School Musical 3 or Midnight Meat Train?
It's a good week for mediocre films (Body of Lies, Changeling, Quarantine and Flash of Genius, which all walk a fine line between Fresh and Rotten) and an even better one if... More...

January 03, 2009: James Agee Cinema Circle Honors Movies of Conscience and Consciousness: THE MODERN TIMES: The Progie Award for Best Progressive Film SATIRE, named after Charlie Chaplin's 1936 Modern Times and 1940 The Great Dictator: RELIGULOUS Opens in new window
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October 02, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Chihuahua to Overtake Multiplexes
Hollywood kicks off the fourth quarter with a stampede of new releases that will test the elasticity of the marketplace. Ambulances are already on standby to rush the high... More...

September 23, 2008: Trailer Tuesday: Religulous Opens in new window
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