Cinematical has just received this exclusive clip from the new documentary Religulous, starring Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles (Borat). In the docu-comedy, Maher travels from country to country examining faith and religion and the role it plays in the world. In the clip below, Maher, demonstrating his pro-marijuana beliefs, discusses whether you can be high and spiritual at the same time.

On Religulous, Cinematical's James Rocchi said, "it's a funny film about some depressing things, it's a lighthearted tour through terrorism, injustice and intolerance. But those contradiction and challenges are, ultimately, what make the film linger uneasily in your mind, reaching past comedy and confrontation to challenge the audience with a fierce and forceful prayer that there might be no god." You can listen to our audio interview with Bill Maher over here, and you can catch Religulous in theaters this weekend.

(We're re-posting our review of Religulous from the Toronto Film Festival to coincide with the film's theatrical release this week)

By: James Rocchi

I contend we are both atheists; I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. -- Stephen F. Roberts

In Religulous, stand-up social commentator Bill Maher doesn't just assert how he believes in one less god than many of us, and he doesn't just craft bold, bizarre and hilarious moments of comedy and discussion with the help of director Larry Charles (Borat). More importantly, and more intriguingly, Maher states the film's thesis in an introduction filmed at Megiddo, the prophesied location of the final battle of Armageddon as written in Revelation; Maher, much like author Sam Harris does in his excellent (if dry) book The End of Faith, proposes that religious belief, in an age of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, actively endangers humanity through encouraging conflict, promising rewards for irrational behavior, justifying artificial divisions and enabling other unfounded and unkind forms of thinking. Or, as Maher succinctly puts it early on, "When Revelations was written, only God had the power to destroy the world. ..."

And then the opening titles kick in, a montage of Maher globe-trotting in search of people to talk to, and as the guitar riffs of The Who's "The Seeker" ring out, we recognize that we're going to get plenty of sizzle along with the steak in Religulous, lots of showbusiness to liven up the soul-searching. Like most documentaries dealing with weighty matters, though, the concern in Religulous isn't that there'll be no sizzle with the steak but rather if there'll be steak to go with the sizzle; does Religulous have the right ratio of factual points to funny punch lines, a balanced mix of context and comedy?

Even after debuting Religulous, his new docu-comedy about faith in the modern world directed by Larry Charles (Borat), Bill Maher still has plenty of questions of his own: "I was saying to Larry in the car on the way over here: I suddenly realized that I don't know the relationship between the Devil and the Antichrist. Do you? I mean, we both know those terms, but they're not the same guy, I don't think. I'm not sure if the Devil works for the Antichrist? Or the Antichrist for the Devil? Or is it like the Joker and the Riddler -- neither of them work for each other, but they gang up on Batman ...?" Maher spoke with Cinematical in Toronto about the difference between 'changing your mind' and 'flip-flopping,' what wound up on the cutting-room floor, getting in harm's way for the sake of a great scene, why it's doubtful he'll follow Religulous with another feature film and much more.

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I contend we are both atheists; I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. -- Stephen F. Roberts

In Religulous, stand-up social commentator Bill Maher doesn't just assert how he believes in one less god than many of us, and he doesn't just craft bold, bizarre and hilarious moments of comedy and discussion with the help of director Larry Charles (Borat). More importantly, and more intriguingly, Maher states the film's thesis in an introduction filmed at Megiddo, the prophesied location of the final battle of Armageddon as written in Revelation; Maher, much like author Sam Harris does in his excellent (if dry) book The End of Faith, proposes that religious belief, in an age of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, actively endangers humanity through encouraging conflict, promising rewards for irrational behavior, justifying artificial divisions and enabling other unfounded and unkind forms of thinking. Or, as Maher succinctly puts it early on, "When Revelations was written, only God had the power to destroy the world. ..."

And then the opening titles kick in, a montage of Maher globe-trotting in search of people to talk to, and as the guitar riffs of The Who's "The Seeker" ring out, we recognize that we're going to get plenty of sizzle along with the steak in Religulous, lots of showbusiness to liven up the soul-searching. Like most documentaries dealing with weighty matters, though, the concern in Religulous isn't that there'll be no sizzle with the steak but rather if there'll be steak to go with the sizzle; does Religulous have the right ratio of factual points to funny punch lines, a balanced mix of context and comedy?

TITLE: Religulous
DIRECTED BY: Larry Charles
STARS: Bill Maher

WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Stand-up comedian Bill Maher tours the globe, talking with people of faith ... to question, deride and challenge their beliefs. While big-name atheism is big on the bestseller charts recently thanks to Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, Religulous is the first big-name documentary to take on the world of faith. Directed by Larry Charles (Borat), Religulous seems to promise a mix of thought-provoking commentary and laugh-inducing uncomfortable silences.

WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: After months of Presidential candidates droning on about what their faith means to them, doesn't a sharp shot of pointed questions and cold, hard logic sound refreshing? Maher's also far smarter than his shtick seems, and after Borat, we'd watch anything Charles offered as a follow-up. We're also looking forward to counting the number of times the phrase "preaching to the converted" gets used in Religulous's reviews.

Back to the TIFF Preview page

Because Michael Moore can't make enough movies to piss people off 24/7, we fortunately have people like Bill Maher, whose new anti-religious documentary, Religulous, hits theaters this fall. Of course, Maher has said that he shouldn't be compared to Moore, whom he considers to be a genius. Plus, Maher didn't direct the film, Larry Charles, of Borat, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame, did. But in the same way that Al Gore is credited with An Inconvenient Truth, Maher, who hosted one of my favorite shows of the past (Politically Incorrect) and currently hosts HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher (which I've never seen, because I don't have HBO), will be continually given credit for this film. No matter who gets the higher billing, though, it's certain that Religulous is going to be hilarious thanks to the talents of both gentlemen.
Now, to help promote the film and presumably to get people either laughing or offended a few months early, Maher has unleashed a new website called Disbeliefnet.com. It seems to be part satire, part examination of the world's religions, part blog of religion-related news and part movie marketing. Movie fans might want to check out the grouping of clips/trailers from films detailing the endless suffering of Jews. Personally, my favorite gag is the "Donate Now" button that goes to a randomly chosen religion's donation form. Now I can give to everyone equally with ease.

And speaking of equal coverage, Maher and Charles' film seems to touch on all the major and minor religions of the world, bringing their "guerilla" shooting style into places cameras have supposedly never been before. But if the film doesn't focus any attention on your religion, don't worry: you can be offended about not being able to get offended. Or something.

Religious opens October 3rd.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Religulous (click on the image to enlarge), directed by the very funny Larry Charles (Borat, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and starring that oh-so-controversial comedian Bill Maher (who currently hosts the HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher). From what we know, Religulous is a documentary about world religion, with Maher and Charles traveling the world to interview people from different countries and get their opinions on religion. Knowing Maher and his beliefs, it's pretty much guaranteed that all hell will eventually break loose. I think it's pretty fair to say there will be a certain amount of people who don't agree with what Maher has to say about religion. Personally, I think he's a pretty funny guy and I dig the fact that Lionsgate would get behind a film like this. Lionsgate: The Distributor with Balls!

Religulous arrives in theaters on June 20.

The Traverse City Film Festival's 2007 lineup, announced this past weekend, looks like programming you might find at any regional film festival. Many of the movies are indie films that populated the festival or arthouse circuit in the past year: Black Sheep, Sherrybaby, Away from Her.

Some are fun retro films, like Grease and Raiders of the Lost Ark. You might notice a slightly higher number than usual of politically oriented documentaries, such as Chicago 10, Everything's Cool, No End in Sight ... but even then, would this festival seem at all out of the ordinary if you didn't know that it was founded and programmed by Michael Moore? As soon as people hear that, they zoom toward titles like Blue State and Al Franken: God Spoke, with a triumphant "Ah-hah! This is a lefty festival with a subversive liberal agenda!" (You already started thinking that when you saw the title, didn't you?)

I admit I was one of the people who thought that this Michigan film fest might be a way for Moore to promote propaganda-like documentaries. But to be honest, the programming doesn't support that. One category of films at Traverse City is called "Dangerous Docs," and although it does include issue-driven films, it also includes selections like The King of Kong, probably the least political movie I've seen this year. If the festival is promoting anything, it is indie filmmaking -- my guess is that films like Waitress and Paprika don't usually get much theatrical time in that part of Michigan.

I'm also pleasantly surprised to see the 1950 film In a Lonely Place included -- that's something for film lovers, not activism. The festival's Mission page confirms the commitment to independent, non-mainstream films, although there is a line about "great movies that entertain and enlighten the audience." Events also will include a session with Borat director Larry Charles, whose untitled film about religion was just bought by Lionsgate ... and who incidentally is on the festival's board of directors. The festival takes place from July 31 through August 5.

[ via Green Cine Daily ]

Larry Charles made his feature directorial debut with the utterly ridiculous Bob Dylan film Masked and Anonymous, but he has been a big name in television for years. He wrote several classic Seinfeld episodes and is a frequent Curb Your Enthusiasm director. Those two credits make him a hero to me, but it was his last film that really catapulted him onto the A - list: Borat. You would think after the enormous critical and commercial success of that film, the guy would have no problem setting up another project. Unless that project is a sure-to-be controversial flick about "the role of institutional religion around the world." Charles showed a ten-minute promotional reel of his new film to around 200 buyers at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, and it already has people speculating that it will cause an uproar.

The film, currently titled A Spiritual Journey is said to be "a blend of comedy and reportage," which makes it sound like some of the lighter segments of Michael Moore's work. The movie has finished production, but has yet to be edited. Comedian Bill Maher will narrate the film, and he is no stranger to controversy himself. His comments criticizing the US government after September 11th led to the cancellation of his show Politically Incorrect. A Spiritual Journey has been selling quite well to foreign distributors, but America might be a trickier proposition. Those who saw the advance footage think it would be an extremely difficult film for a division of a major studio to handle. We live in a world where even the suspicion of religion bashing can cause huge protests and boycotts -- Dogma and The Last Temptation of Christ are just a couple examples of flicks that infuriated religious groups. That sort of controversy can make the big studios wary, but it can also sell a lot of tickets. I have no doubt we'll see A Spiritual Journey here at some point, but it sounds like it's going to come with a whole lot of hubbub.