Memorable, crazy movie

Better than most people think

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Even though I generally agree with him, his show is absolutely unbearable. That he tries to label this as comedy is laughable in and of itself. Bill Maher tries to force humor and it is too bad to watch. He also tries to come off as genuine and intelligent which he is neither, yet he seems to fool his viewers.

I am a Podcaster and listener, and this show is never far away from my mp3 player or computer. I needed more insight about what is going on, but it is hard in this time, at least it is hard to find the "right" information because of all the "right." The show is often criticized by the way bill makes his way to his point, which is often cruel, direct and very blunt. But this is a little price to pay for engaging in a conversation so damn controversial even David Letterman himself would say: "I don't think that I have ever done that before." Looking forward for more Maher and new rules. I do think that the show should be more often that it is, but that being said we do not want bill to get fired for anything anywhere anymore.

This political comedy and discussion show has run on HBO for the many years now but it is only last year that I started getting into it because my brother, who lives in North America, mentioned he prefers it to The Daily Show. This was enough to make it catch my eye shortly after when I was surfing iTunes and saw that this was available as a free podcast. As a result I'm afraid I cannot comment on the design and appearance of this as a television show, but if I had to guess I'd say its layout is pretty much the same as Leno etc but with some of it spent at an oval shaped table. That's a guess and really it doesn't matter so much because what makes me keep coming back to this is the audio.OK so we have the odd visual gag but mostly the podcast is just as good as it would be if it was on television – perhaps better because the lack of images means you end up focusing on the words. Each week I find the panel discussion mostly lively and engaging, the stand-up routine funny and the interview sections interesting. However I am a liberal and as such I am the choir for the majority of the comments made in this show and I totally understand why, given the partisan nature of US politics, that as many people hate it as love it. The reason for this is Maher himself and ironically he is a weakness to the show.This is the first time I really have had a lot of experience with him and it says a lot that, even as a left-leaner, I find him very extreme at times. I'm not saying that I am right but I think that it does help to step back and look at the media in the US. As was recently discussed on this show, the Right clearly have the talk-radio sown up and this is where the "nuts" (from a Left point of view) reside, spitting out far-right opinions unchallenged. To me Maher is on the other extreme even if the show itself offers a bit of balance by having a mix of political views represented. However while others get their say, the show is ultimately Maher's and he does tend to dominate. Although it is unlikely that even-handed discussion will ever come out when opposites sides of the spectrum are together, it does often happen that both sides make good points in their favour – only for Maher to steam across the conservative view with his opinion. Of course the audience applauds but it takes away from the balanced and intellectual appeal of parts of the show and does make it feel a bit like a show for liberal "nuts".I'm not aligning the two extremes though because the show does at least have a bit of balance in there and, with Maher a bit more restrained in the panel bits, it could be a lot more valuable as a political discussion show. I have no issue with him in the intro or the "new rules" because this is all him and he can lean heavily to the left without harm; it is just the panel where he needs to lean back more, focus on being a bit less involved and just prevent things getting out of control. Instead he tends to let it get out of control and then boom across everyone with his view, take the applause and then move on. Indeed it was only a few weeks ago that one of his guests did say to him "you always have to be one step away from madness don't you?".Real Time is good though, don't get me wrong, if it wasn't I would not keep coming back to it. It is not as funny as The Daily Show but it is funny. It is not as balanced and interesting as the This Week with George Stephanopoulos discussions but yet it is still engaging as a political discussion show. I suppose it works somewhere in the middle of the two although even liberals will find Maher's inability to hold back a bit grating and disruptive at times – those on the right probably don't need to be told that they'll be upset!

Whether you agree with his point of view or not Maher does offer a forum for rebuttal. Instead of the usual bashing of his show, as some conservatives are want to do, some people have accepted invites to appear either in interviews or on the panel. I have found the show provocative and superb at times. Often times I find, as with most sarcastic humor, strings of truth when Maher does his opening or closing remarks. The "New Rules" segment is a terrific part of the show and one fans look forward to every week.I have also found Maher to be especially tough on Democrats whether Republicans believe it or not. He is as cynical about Democrats ability to offer an alternative message as he is biting in his critique of Pres. Bush and Republicans. However, the one thing he is right on the money about is his criticism and dismay at the way Americans excuse this president's affliction with Webster's Dictionary. Whether you favor our actions in Iraq or not, the handling of terrorism, the secret spy program, Katrina etc. or not I think all are fair game and I believe Maher offers an opportunity for all viewpoints.I think the biggest problem conservatives (Republicans) have with Maher is that they don't get the free pass they get with conservative talk radio. Maher will eviscerate liberals and democrats if he thinks they are full of it. He will, as we know, go after Republicans with guns blazing. Conservative talk radio tends to be submissive to Republicans and smash away at Democrats that they label liberal.Overall I only wish more Americans would watch these highly watchable shows like Real Time, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report. At least, if they did, we would not have almost 43% of Americans polled almost four years after the fact( and after both Bush and Cheney openly admit there was no direct link to 9/11 from Iraq) still believing Iraqi's were behind the attacks!