Die, die, die…I Can’t
May 18th – May 25th
Religulous- At about the midway point of this documentary, and again at about the three-quarters mark, the DVD malfunctioned. It paused and wouldn’t restart unless the DVD player was reset; and even then we had to advance the movie past where it stopped to get it to continue to play. All in all, we probably missed 5-10 minutes. Perhaps it was a sign from God to this infidel that watching the movie was not a good idea. Or not. That’s actually a preposterous thing to believe. A deep scratch on the surface of the DVD is a much better explanation for the strange behavior of the disk.
Just as in Politically Incorrect and then Real Time, as with this one, I’m mostly in agreement with Bill Maher. But as in all the others, Maher just kind of irritates me. Nine out of ten things he says are right on. But then he says something stupid that kind of tarnishes the nine before (and did I hear that he’s an antivaxer?). It’s not that the other nine things are wrong, it’s just that he’s not always the ideal spokesperson (especially if he’s an antivaxer). I liked the Borat-y parts of the movie (Larry Charles directed both)–the road trip meets gotcha film making. Sure, it’s a little unfair and sometimes makes you squirm. But if people can’t respond to questions about the most fundamental part of their life (religion) even when caught off guard, then how fundamental is it really? Some people deserve to squirm. And the candid and revealing interview with the Vatican priest was worth all of the less inspiring moments. I didn’t like Maher’s monologues at the beginning and end. Frankly, I like him better when he’s asking the tough questions rather than when he’s going off on some personal diatribe.
Girls Rock! – This was a fun and sweet documentary about a rock camp in Oregon for girls only. I was inspired. The girls went in to have fun and came out rocking without worrying too much about what other people thought. That’s advice I can certainly heed. More fun, more rocking, and less caring about what others think. I’ve been talking about dusting my acoustic guitar off and learning some old folks songs for a little while now. But, I’m certain that not only can I not sing, the sound that will come from my throat will be horrendous. But I might just be inspired now to strum the guitar with the purpose of having fun, the rest be damned.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall- The second time around on this one. It still holds up pretty well. It’s not the type of movie I want to watch all the time, and I’ve perhaps had enough of the Apatow genre, but it delivers on the laughs and enjoyability. Plus I think I could watch Russell Brand and Mila Kunis all day (for slightly different reasons).
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired – A great documentary about a great director. It was well structured as to provide a certain level of courtroom suspense without offering its own judgement. As the facts are revealed, justice seems more and more arbitrary. Polanski remains intriguing. The judge, and his actions, are maddening. It is he who comes off as the real villain. It’s unfortunate he couldn’t be the one, and not Polanski, who was exiled. I’m also reminded that I really need to see Chinatown. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.
You know what I found most maddening about the Roman Polanski doc? How public opinion of Polanski as a man seemed to be determined from the content of his films.
Because he made a film like Rosemary’s Baby, then it must mean that he’s personally into ritual sacrifice, and must have murdered Sharon Tate himself. Or because his films often had thematic intertwinings of water and sexuality, then he must have raped that girl. I would be hesitant to believe that people could actually be so ridiculous, but I have personally known people to form opinions of people based on their art. *headdesk*
Nice little blog you have here!
The Polanski film sounds interesting. Kathy and I will give it a look.
As for Religulous, I was surprised at how entertaining it was. I found myself agreeing with much more than I expected.
I would tend to agree that Maher is 10% (or more) quack. At one point in the film, he seems to endorse the bizarre view that Jesus never existed—something you could fairly characterize as the antivaxer view of New Testament scholarship (as virtually all historians acknowledge an historical Jesus). And Maher is clearly ignorant of religion, frequently botching facts and mispronouncing terms and names. The NT Book of Revelation becomes “revelations” for Maher—a bungled utterance roughly parallel to “wal-marts” in sophistication.
That said, I actually really enjoyed large chunks of the movie.
Thank you. Yeah, I certainly recommend the Polanski doc.
As for Religulous, it was definitely better than I expected it to be. But I can’t even watch Real Time with Bill Maher anymore. His personality, mannerisms, or something, just bug me too much to get through an entire episode.