What Would Jesus Buy?

Bill Talen is wacko! This consumer-activist movie was way funnier than I expected. i went because the issue of celebrating Christmas by shopping is one i relate to. Talen's performance-art shtick acting like a Pentacostal preacher did not bother my Christian sensibilities at all, but there were some pieces of chapter-title artwork that blew my mind: the Holy Mother presenting the Christ Child with a tickle-me-Elmo? They were hysterical, creative, topical, surprising, and provocative in the best way. Some went by fast and I'll have to wait for the DVD release to examine them more carefully. (What WAS that demon doing to those poor doomed shoppers anyway?) Full of great interviews, informative "reporting", and Billy's bizarre antics made this way more entertaining than expected. Enjoy!

I am not typically a man who posts reviews of films. In fact, this is my first. But after catching What Would Jesus Buy in the Village last night, I was particularly inspired. This is a great film; well-captured, well-edited, and loaded with moments of unconscionable hilarity. Reverend Billy is both a brilliant pitchman and a devoted activist, and after viewing it, I couldn't agree with his message more. With the holiday season fast approaching, I think you owe it to yourself to learn about the culture of greed that drives our unstoppable shopping, and I would be hard-pressed to think of a better way to do that than viewing this film.

I just saw the free screening in New York City last Sunday. I have to say I am amazed that there hasn't been more films about the uncontrolled rate of consumerism that is plaguing our nation. However, certainly What Would Jesus Buy has set the mark paving the way for other anti-consumerism films. Reverend Billy is absolutely compelling and hilarious to watch. He has the charisma and virtues of a true revolutionist; yet, he makes you smile and laugh along the way. His funny and poignant sermons make even the most pessimistic atheist want to attend church just to listen to him. All I have to say is take the family to see this movie and regain a sense of not only the Christmas spirit, but the American spirit as well.

Review Date 1/26/2018

PLEASE BEWARE OF SOME REVIEWERS THAT ONLY HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I REVIEW MOVIES & SPECIALS AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN! I HAVE DISCOVERED MANY GEMS IN MY QUEST TO SEE AS MANY " C H R I S T M A S " MOVIES AS I CAN.

Now Someone keeps reporting my reviews. I guess they are jealous because I do tell the truth. I want to point out that I never make snide remarks about actors weight or real life sexual orientation. If there acting is terrible or limited "I talk about that". If a story is bad "I will mention that" So why am I being "picked on"? IMDB? When one of my reviews gets deleted IMDB will not even tell me what someone found offensive. Well on to this review.

This film has a message but it is lost with this mans screaming and grand standing. What isn't covered in this is that there are many people like myself that don't overspend and love the Christmas Season. To me "Christmas Season" is my football season. "Christmas" helps me get through the rest of the year. Christmas is a time of living (for me) guilt free.

The Rev. Billy Tallen and his Stop Shopping Choir embark on a cross-country crusade against the commercialization of Christmas is a good cause but isn't this film also made "To Make Money" and to spread the Billy Tallen's message?

Now many people in the USA are not Church Goers but love Christmas. Christmas brings many people together and that is worth celebrating.

Yes Americans overspend but they don't just overspend at Christmas. That is another point that is overlooked!

It would have also helped if the Rev do not look like Heat Miser from "The Year without a Santa Claus"

While this film has amusing and humorous elements, it is NOT a comedy and to call it one is to delegitimize it. This documentary explores the commercialization of the Christmas tradition, which it rightly concludes has lost most of its spiritual meaning in favor of gift giving and the shopping that precedes it. The film further engages the viewer to consider the possibility that this obsession with commercialization bleeds into everyday life.

While many of the points are made by examining the sermons of the dubiously respectable self-styled "Reverend Billy" and his Church of Stop Shopping, which often makes for laughs, to say it is a comedy does not do it justice. This is a true documentary about a true phenomenon in America and a political organization that seeks to challenge it.