ay Four

Religulous
Dir: Larry Charles
Starring Bill Maher and a team of religious nutcases
For years Bill Maher has been the comedic poster boy for atheism. Since the 80s, the incendiary comedian has been attacking religious institutions along the blind beliefs and poor thinking that they install in their disciples. With the separation of church and state non-existent in George Bush’s America, Maher decided to create a movie that openly criticizes the stranglehold religion has over a vast portion of the world’s population. Rather than write a screenplay for a fictional movie that would never get made, Maher hit the road with a documentary crew instead, interviewing religious and political figures about the issue. The “interviews” offered Maher the opportunity to do what he does best: debate with his interviewees in the same caustic, sarcastic, and hilarious style that made him famous on Pollitically Incorrect. The only man crazy enough to direct a project like this is Borat helmer Larry Charles, who attacks the subject with the same reckless satirical abandon as his collaboration with Sacha Baron Cohen. The movie is funny and shocking from start to finish, ending with an extended rant from Maher pleading with the audience to abolish religion. The sentiment is surprisingly strong and will undoubtedly earn the comedian a variety of death threats. It’s a film that took serious balls to make and only Maher could have pulled it off.—PB

The Brothers Bloom
Dir: Rian Johnson
Starring Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, Mark Ruffalo
After making an auspicious debut with the icy cool Sundance hit Brick, writer/director Rian Johnson returns with this much anticipated con-man flick. Brick managed to find originality in well-worn genre tropes by combining two seeming disparate genres: the film noir and the high school movie. The Brothers Bloom isn’t quite as ambitious in it’s genre subversion, sticking closely to the con-man form that has been in place since Ernst Lubitsch 1932 classic Trouble In Paradise. However, Johnson proves himself to be quite a talented writer and constantly finds ways to make old conventions feel fresh and new. The movie is without any high-minded purpose and wants only to entertain, but Johnson proves to be a master of audience manipulation ushering viewers into an exciting and vibrant world without a second of screen time wasted. A brooding Adrien Brody and a playful Mark Ruffalo star as the titular con-artist brothers attempting to separate Rachel Weisz’s wealthy eccentric from her money. Within minutes you’ll feel that you know exactly where the movie is going and while it ultimately reaches that destination, the film does so in such unexpected ways that you’ll be surprised anyways. While the cast are all excellent, the real star here is Rian Johnson who has found a unique directorial tone pitched somewhere between the ironic, knowing genre-play of the Coen brothers and the picture-book surrealism of Wes Anderson. The Brothers Bloom is a pleasant surprise and a must see.—PB