Rating: 
Summary: What was Diane Keaton thinking?
Review: A friend of mine recommended this documentary for me, making it sound very interesting. When I sat down to watch it, I was baffled that anyone of Diane Keaton's stature would even be proud to have made this annoyingly edited documentary. This was created for the ADD afflicted among us, as anyone who has a longer attention span than a few seconds is going to find the jumping around too annoying to be enjoyable.
There are some gems in the documentary, as it is interesting to hear people's take on the afterlife...but it would have been nice to have a name and what they do in subtitles. Watching it, I didn't know who these people are, why they were lucky to be selected for Diane Keaton's documentary, and what "expertise" they have to represent humanity on the nature of an afterlife. The whole documentary comes across as nothing more than an actor's vanity project. Interspersed with this poorly filmed interviews (with odd looking backgrounds and weird angles, in which half a person's face was cut off the screen) are old footage from films long forgotten (though I think some footage seems familiar to me, such as the classic "Metropolis" from the 1920s). Perhaps the biggest cringe-inducing moment for me was the film clip of an extremely racist and stereotyped old film showing African Americans in heaven, eating freshly killed chicken and hiding inside watermelons, dancing around with nappy hair and big lips...its just unbelievably racist footage, though we shouldn't forget that this once passed as acceptable entertainment in our country.
The documentary is divided into segments, with such themes as "is there love in heaven?", "is there sex in heaven?", "can you prove there's a heaven?", and even discussion on hell. The only bits I liked in this documentary were hearing some people's view of what might happen to us when we die, and the old 1970s-ish footage of an evangelist in a light blue suit talking about his version of the afterlife. Its amusing to watch all these people disagree and debate on such a topic, with all the certainty of one who has actually experienced death to come back. I also liked the flaky New Age lady and some of her wacky ideas of communing with trees, two stoners discussing spirituality, and the one African American lady who presented the best idea I've heard yet (and agree with) regarding sex in heaven...that we don't need the physical act to experience the intensity of heaven, which will come automatically. Right on, sister! Unfortunately, this documentary isn't. See it once if you're curious, but you're wasting your money if you buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Heaven is Heavenly
Review: Actor Diane Keaton made this unique little gem, way, way back, consisting of some really strange ancient b&w "heavenly" footage, and interviews with all kinds of folks regarding their personal views on sex in heaven, angels, God, and all stuff celestial. Particularly notable is the two guys arguing about how one can believe that God exists, in regard to how one can believe that they actually have a physical brain in their head, even though none of us has ever actually seen our own. Brilliant argument!
Rating:
Summary: Heaven is Heavenly
Review: Actor Diane Keaton made this unique little gem, way, way back, consisting of some really strange ancient b&w "heavenly" footage, and interviews with all kinds of folks regarding their personal views on sex in heaven, angels, God, and all stuff celestial. Particularly notable is the two guys arguing about how one can believe that God exists, in regard to how one can believe that they actually have a physical brain in their head, even though none of us has ever actually seen our own. Brilliant argument!
Rating:
Summary: Oddly enough, a rather moving film
Review: If you're a lousy listener, you definitely won't dig this film, because Keaton's technique is to simply turn on the camera and let people talk about...Heaven. What it's like, who gets to go there and so on.But if you think it's interesting to hear real people say what they really, truly think about something as important as the afterlife, you'll find this movie fascinating. I did. Can you imagine? People talking with absolute certainty about a place they've never been. Their desire, their hope, or more accurately their FAITH that they are absolutely correct in their visions of Heaven is almost palpable No matter what you believe Heaven is like, it's wonderful to see how wildly that varies from somebody else's idea of what it will be like. A place full of diamonds and jewels...a place of absolute goodness...a place of impartial justice. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it's scary. Sometimes it's just weird. In the end, I found this film to be very moving. Because after watching dozens of people talk confidently about Heaven, I realized that while they all had different ideas, all of their visions boiled down to one thing: Heaven will primarily consist of those things that are profoundly missing from their own lives, be it material comfort, social justice or, usually, unconditional love. It made me realize that what we mainly want to have, is Heaven on Earth.
Rating: 
Summary: One of best, funniest, weirdest films on religion ever made.
Review: Keaton's first directed film is one of the funniest, weirdest and best films on religion that I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of 'em. Some of the folks interviewed are downright scary, others naive & silly, but all of them seem sincere. Highlight of the film is an argument between an atheist punk teen and a longhaired Jesus freak who talks about cows being God's lawnmowers (thus don't eat the lawnmowers). Several of the old film clips woven throughout are forever in my head, especially the deranged voice of a preacher screeching "ARE YOU AFRAID TO DIE?" yells over footage of buildings collapsing, dams bursting, car wrecks, etc. For me, this film is better than any of Woody Allen's movies, except for "Sleeper" which is even crazier. This film itself is a sleeper that will likely get a lot more attention years down the road. The fact that Keaton directed it makes the viewing all the weirder. In America's culture of total fear of everything it's a film worth watching. If you have a sense of irony, can appreciate the juxtaposition of heartfelt interviews with bizzare religious film footage, and can "get" this level of hilarious film making, this one's for you. If you lack these critical viewing skills please give your copy of this film to someone who does, it's a brilliant, must-see movie!
Rating:
Summary: A head of its time! Diane Keaton is surprisingly cool!
Review: The subject sounded cool, but I was hesitant with someone as mainstream as Diane Keaton directing. Wow, this blew me away! If you're hardcore religious and can't laugh at yourself you may have problems with this. But to hear the variety of people interviewed interpreting their view of what heaven is, as well as death and other related, hard to discuss topics is hilarious and sometimes touching. I can't believe the soundtrack Diane used, it's like a watered down version of old Ministry/Skinny Puppy. I had know idea Diane was so hip, specially when you consider the year this was made, which I believe was 1987. If you like stuff like the Awful Truth or Errol Morris docs, you definitely should check this out.
Rating:
Summary: A head of its time! Diane Keaton is surprisingly cool!
Review: The subject sounded cool, but I was hesitant with someone as mainstream as Diane Keaton directing. Wow, this blew me away! If you're hardcore religious and can't laugh at yourself you may have problems with this. But to hear the variety of people interviewed interpreting their view of what heaven is, as well as death and other related, hard to discuss topics is hilarious and sometimes touching. I can't believe the soundtrack Diane used, it's like a watered down version of old Ministry/Skinny Puppy. I had know idea Diane was so hip, specially when you consider the year this was made, which I believe was 1987. If you like stuff like the Awful Truth or Errol Morris docs, you definitely should check this out.
Rating: 
Summary: Waste
Review: This is a fascinating, playful, and scary film. Most of the interviewees were obviously selected for their entertainment value, so there is not much of the "man/woman on the street" feel, unless the street happens to abut a fundamentalist insane asylum in the French Quarter. I enjoyed laughing at the many assorted kooks until I remembered that the majority of Americans probably share their views. Evolution has some catching up to do. Check it out.
Rating:
Summary: A carnival ride
Review: This is a fascinating, playful, and scary film. Most of the interviewees were obviously selected for their entertainment value, so there is not much of the "man/woman on the street" feel, unless the street happens to abut a fundamentalist insane asylum in the French Quarter. I enjoyed laughing at the many assorted kooks until I remembered that the majority of Americans probably share their views. Evolution has some catching up to do. Check it out.
Rating:
Summary: Eccentric,Eclectic,Entertaining,Ecstatic,Effervescent
Review: This whimsical treatment of such a grave subject as the afterlife asks hard questions with such childlike innocence,that it melts our anxiety about the inevitable and asks us to smile while we ponder infinity. I found it hugely entertaining to hear the opinion of real people Ms. Keaton captures with great candor. Not for the close minded.
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