Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Micransix Crappy film

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

appliedill Bill Maher was a controversial figure for some time. His infamous comments on his previous show Politically Incorrect got him fired and made him interesting for HBO. And for some time I think I liked his approach. A full hour with politics, guests, talking points and a little bit of comedy. But looking more closely, a bunch of flaws get apparent. But let me elaborate.1. Bill Maher the comedian is great. Bill Maher the guy with an opinion is great. Bill Maher the host is terrible. His guests don't really get to disagree with him. There's most often no way for them to actually explain why they have a different opinion, be it right or wrong. There are cases where he actually just changes the subject when he's challenged by something. A good example for this are the appearances of Glenn Greenwald.It's tiresome to watch Maher lead a conversation when it's basically a monologue waiting for agreement.2. Bill Maher loves science, but he does not get it. This is very troublesome to me as I work in physics. Maher often cites numbers that aren't what he thinks they are. He loves to denounce muslims with polls of the "islamic world" that most often aren't representative, thinks flue vaccines are dangerous without actually knowing the facts.This becomes very dangerous when he recently (2015) stated he'd get the German Pegida protesters for their anti-Muslim sentiment. There's nothing sadder than this. Bill Maher supporting a movement he doesn't know anything about and basically explaining a group of people are the problem (which are his words, literally).You might think, I'm not liking his show because he doesn't agree with me. But the fact is that he doesn't let any neutral scientific person answer. This is my main problem. There's no actual evaluation of what he claims. But that leads me to the next point.3. The guests suck. Why? Well, most of the guests are there because they are promoting books. Sometimes it's celebrities that don't know what the hell they're talking about but still keep on blabbing. There are exceptions and that's great, and it's great to see people who are not in the fields of journalism or politics but who have strong informed opinion. But sadly that often is not the case. Instead you have always three guys who have pre-written punchlines that they push on any subject to make the crowd applaud. It's always the same. The crowd applauds for guest A. Guest B says something completely contrary but puts it into nice words, and the crowd applauds again. It's annoying. And boring.There you go.

hmiller22 I was astounded to find that comedian dlhugley is a creationist.. he apparently has no belief in evolution. It is almost beyond the pale that a man that appears fairly intelligent and sometimes funny, and seems to have done some reading in his lifetime, when asked the question of whether or not he thinks man evolved or was just plunked down on this earth; well, he comes up with "plunking" as an answer. More disturbing is that Bill Maher did not call him on this and excoriate him for antediluvian hallucinations... I am deeply dismayed by Maher's lack of interest in attacking this ancient and silly belief that we were as humans some how placed on this planet and then not as one color or shape but as what has "evolved" through the millenia..

tokyostreetkiller I don't usually wright reviews so I'll be short: Real Time with Bill Maher is a 1 hour show on HBO based around a "roundtable" discussion and debate that addresses US politics, policies, foreign affairs and domestic issues with honesty, humor and a slightly liberal bias. Despite that bias, the show and it's host Bill Maher remain objective throughout but with a tendency to lean left in a humorous way.Since I'm not tied to any political party I tend to really enjoy the whole essence of this show. Nothing Bill says will offend me, although he tends to offend a lot of people who are mostly conservatives. That said, he is also critical of liberals as well. He's not afraid to critique or question either side.The show is filmed in front of a live audience which, in my opinion takes away from the show. The audience is almost 100% liberal and will applaud everything negative towards conservatives and they tend to gang up on Republican guests of the show. That to me is a drawback. Audience participation is the reason why I can't stand The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. While I respect Jon Stewart, his audience is very annoying and it takes away credibility from the show's claim to be news. It seems that The Daily Show is more-so entertainment and caters to a less mature demographic. Not to sound snobby, but I'm just saying. Real Time's audience doesn't go that far nor does the show stick so faithfully to entertaining it's audience. While the show does make you laugh, it remains a poignant piece of political news and satire without being too goofy.Towards the end of the show Bill Maher does his "New Rules" segment which is basically just a taste of his stand up routine. The segment consists of about 5 or 6 "New Rules". The last "New Rule" however is not a joke, it is a heartfelt and passionate commentary on the state of American culture, politics and overall standing in the world. It is sometimes alarming, other times it's depressing but it's always important. It is with this finale that we see Maher's true passion for his country. He may be a pot smoking, snobby, liberal douche bag but he's still an American. And it's obvious that he truly cares about his country and where it's headed. It's important to see through the facade and understand the point he is trying to make, it maybe funny and satirical but it's something we all need to hear. Whether we agree with it or not, it's a step forward in attaining a greater understanding with which we could help ourselves and our country for the future.

dexium Bill Maher has a good sense of humor, but this show just doesn't work. Bill seems to want to avoid any serious, intelligent social commentary, instead going for immature, ignorant chatter or argument. He has this air of someone who doesn't really get it - thus explaining why the media powers put him on screen. Sometimes he even sounds like a republican in democrat's clothes. But that's just my opinion.A lot of his guests are just an another level, and you can see their frustration when dealing with this guy. The audience will laugh and clap at anything at random. I think they spike their kool aid before they start taping.*sigh* If only Hicks DID stop smoking :(