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The Webisodes:
When discussing a movie, or in this case a series of short
videos that originally 'aired' on the web, about religion I think it's
important to know where the reviewer stands on the subject going into
the
review. So I'll confess that I'm an
atheist, and that I'm a fan of Penn & Teller. (I'll
sidestep the whole 'why should anyone
care what an actor thinks about politics or religion anyway' argument
for now...
that's a rant for another time.) When I
first popped The Best of Penn Says: Religion
into my player, I wasn't sure
what to expect, since I hadn't seen Penn
Says on the web. After watching the
disc, I have to admit that there were a few surprises in store, that I
was
entertained throughout the nearly two hour long set of episodes, but
was
disappointed in the lack of substance or 'meat' in many of the
mini-rants as
well as way the disc was arranged.
Penn Jillete, the vocal half of Penn & Teller, is a
stage magician (he has a show in Vegas that I really, really want to
catch some
day... I don't gamble though, and I can't rationalize traveling across
the
country just to see a show) author, and host a program on Showtime Penn & Teller's Bullshit where he
and his silent partner debunk pseudoscience and poke fun at the people
who
eschew rational thought. (It's a great
show, you should check it out if you haven't.)
He also creates a webcast program, Penn Says. It's a series of
short clips (a couple of minutes each) that Penn records himself where
he talks
about whatever's on his mind. He relates
amusing anecdotes, talks about what's bothering him, points out
hypocrisy that
he sees, and even answers fan mail. It's
not a polished and scripted show, so things are a bit rough around the
edges. (Penn walks around in front of a
fixed close focus camera that's a bit irritating and sometimes holds
the camera
on himself moving it slightly which is more nausea inducing.) That's fine and doesn't bother me. It gives the show an authentic, off the cuff
feel.
In this 'best of' collection he talks about religion and
atheism. It's not a series of shows that
presents his philosophy of the world, or even a set of arguments
supporting his
beliefs though. It's just a collection
of semi-random thoughts on the subject and as such you have to read
between the
lines some times to discern exactly what Penn believes.
This is not the equivalent of Christopher
Hitchens' book God is not Great on
the web (a wonderful book that Penn plugs several times) and that's my
main
gripe with the disc. It didn't really get
the gears turning in my head. There were
few entries in the series that got me thinking, but only a few. That's not to say the installments are
bad. There are several great moments,
like when an evangelist mentions that one of Penn's webcasts were shown
at a retreat
and the magician asks him if they got permission to show it from Sony
(the
owners) and how he feels about that, but they don't really get you
thinking. A series of monologues about
why he's an atheist and how he came to believe what he does would have
been
more educational.
The show is entertaining however. Penn's
been performing for years and years
and knows how to tell a joke and set up a story to give it the maximum
impact. The story about being confronted
in a Borders book store was fun, and the tale about the guy who said
that the
Beatles were proof that God existed was hilarious.
Others, a few too many maybe, were light and
easily forgettable. Like the installment
where he talks about going to pick out a school for his children. He asks about Easter and the teacher says
they decorate eggs and talk about the Easter Bunny, but in a
non-religious
way. How can you do that he asks
rhetorically. Yeah, people are stupid.
There are a couple of very irritating things about the way
the disc is put together however. First
and foremost there's a lot of crap at the end of each and every episode. There's an ad for following Penn on Twitter,
the copyright notice, and a 'distributed by Sony' animation after each
short
installment. Man, does that gets old
quickly.
Second, I was astounded by some of the episodes selections,
actually one in particular. There is an
installment of Penn Says where he says that religious people
proselytizing is
not only okay, but morally correct. That
segment gets a pretty big response, and he discusses the reaction a few
times
in other segments. I'd really like to
hear his rationale for that statement, but I can't (on this disc at
least)
because it's not included! What a
bone-headed move. If Penn is going to
talk about the most popular segment of his show to date, a 'best of'
compilation should include that show.
The DVD:
Audio:
The stereo soundtrack is a mixed bag. Sometimes
Penn is outside and the wind is
blowing pretty hard, and other times there's some background or ambient
noise,
but it's never too distracting. You can
hear him clearly, and that's main thing.
Video:
The 1.78:1 anamorphic image isn't great. It's
soft and the level of detail isn't that
great, but then again it was made to be seen on the web, not blown up
on a big
screen TV. The colors are average but
compression artifacts are minimal.
Extras:
There are three extra installments of "Penn Says" included
on the disc. One where he talks about
Glenn Beck and the controversy surrounding his statement that President
Obama
is a racist (no, Penn doesn't say that Beck is an idiot for saying
that,
though he does disagree with him), another urging people not to vote
(he says
that he'll explain why in other segments that are not on this DVD), and
one on
the fact that caucuses are stupid.
Final Thoughts:
I was expecting a bit more from these segments. They
were entertaining, but not very
intellectually stimulating, which is what I was hoping for. There's really little replay value in these,
being just a couple of minutes of some guy (who just happens to be a
famous
entertainer) talking about whatever's on his mind at the moment. Fans like myself will get enough enjoyment
out of the disc though. It would make a
nice rental. |
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