Borat director Larry Charles takes on religion this weekend in Religulous. Before it hits cinemas Movies.ie recommends the following pics.
Travelling around the world from Israel to the Vatican, from backwoods southern churches to Amsterdam’s Red Light District, from Grand Central Station to the Mormon Cathedrals, talk-show host and comedian Bill Maher puts his distinctive stamp on this comic journey to find the meaning of religion around the world. As a political documentary, Religulous falls into the style of ‘gotcha’ filmmaking, which only figures since the director is Larry Charles, the man behind Borat. Together they find lots of easy, unassuming targets and use various film techniques in the editing room to insure the interviewees look utterly foolish. Undeniably there is funny stuff here, and reaction to the film will totally depend on your own ability to laugh at the sacreligiousness of it all.
The God Who Wasn’t There
Former fundamentalist Christian Brian Flemming places the core concepts of his former religion under the microscope in a documentary that attempts to do for religion what Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me did for the fast-food industry. In his bold quest to seek answers to the difficult questions that few are willing to pose, Flemming is joined by Deconstructing Jesus author Robert M. Price, renowned historian Richard Carrier, and The End of Faith author Sam Harris. From the ignorance of many contemporary Christians as to the origin of their religion to the striking similarities between Jesus Christ and the deities worshipped by ancient pagan cults and the Christian obsession with blood and violence, this faith-shaking documentary explores the many mysteries of the Christian faith as never before.
Bowling For Columbine
Michael Moore trains his satirical eye on America’s obsession with guns and violence in his third feature-length documentary, which gets its title from a pair of loosely related incidents. On April 20, 1999, shortly before they began their infamous killing spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold attended their favorite class, a no-credit bowling course held at a bowling alley near the school, the same bowling alley which would become the scene of a robbery and triple homicide two years later. While pondering these events, Moore humorously considers the link between random violence and the game of ten pins; along the way, Moore calls on the Michigan Militia, spends some time with James Nichols, brother of Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols; visits K-Mart’s corporate offices with two teenagers injured in the Columbine massacre as they ask the retail chain to stop selling bullets for handguns; investigates the media’s role in the American climate of fear and anger and questions actor and National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston regarding his appearance at a pro-gun rally held in Littleton a few days after the Columbine massacre, and a similar rally in Flint, MI, after a six-year-old boy killed a classmate with a gun he took from his uncle’s house.
Super Size Me
Morgan Spurlock takes a look at the subject of obesity in the United States, specifically zeroing in on the business and culture surrounding the nation’s fast-food industry in this 2004 documentary. In addition to studying the marketing of fast food to American children and unsuccessfully attempting to gain an interview with McDonald’s executives, Spurlock attempts to become one of his own subjects by documenting a one-month binge during which he survived only on items from the McDonald’s menu, forcing himself to eat three meals a day and try every offering at least once.
Religulous is in Irish cinemas Friday, April 3rd.