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4 articles from 2009

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Review: iTunes 99p Rental – And Now For Something Completely Different

21 October 2009 9:57 PM, PDT | HeyUGuys.co.uk | See recent HeyUGuys news »

As well as music, iTunes does films too, to buy or rent. Rentals usually cost £2.50 to £3.50, but every week those nice chaps (or chapesses) hand select one to be available at a much lower 99p. Every week i review the selection, ‘cos quite often it can be a little obscure…

This week, to celebrate 40 years of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, they’ve chosen the first Python movie 1971’s And Now For Something Completely Different.

Straight off, i should mention that, despite the fact it was released as such, it isn’t actually a movie. To capitalise on their popularity, they re-recorded 90 minutes of their sketches, put a title on it, and released it in theatres. As just a longer collection of their usual tv sketches, with no narrative of any kind weaved through it, it’s impossible to review it as a film.

There are three types of people. »

- Barry Steele

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Iiiittttt's....Monty Python's 40th Anniversary

5 October 2009 3:37 PM, PDT | GetTheBigPicture.net | See recent Get The Big Picture news »

And now for something completely different...

Monty Python's Flying Circus, the masterful absurd sketch comedy series, first aired on BBC 40 years ago today. The first episode (October 5, 1969) contained the famous "Funniest Joke in the World" sketch, and two weeks later came "Nudge Nudge." It would be almost two full months before the legendary "Dead Parrot" sketch, one of Python's signature moments.

The series would run for four seasons, after which the ensemble turned their attention to movies, including two undeniable classics, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Life of Brian, both of which featured the late Graham Chapman in leading roles. »

- Colin Boyd

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The Sketchy History of Sketch Comedy Movies

10 September 2009 4:14 AM, PDT | ifc.com | See recent IFC news »

Monty Python's 1983 film "The Meaning of Life" effortlessly set the gold standard in sketch comedy movies -- which, for clarification, we'll define here as feature-length anthologies of stand-alone comic bits that don't serve to push along any overarching storyline. But while the Pythons' greatest film (gauntlet thrown down!) omitted a plot, their skits were still tied together by the most timeless of through lines: the trials of human life, presented in chapters like "The Miracle of Birth," "Middle Age" and "Death." Furthermore, 1971's "And Now For Something Completely Different," a re-filmed compilation of greatest hits from the first two pioneering seasons of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," is arguably the silver medalist of its kind, and good luck coming up with a third film that actually deserves the bronze.

The cold, hard truth is that sketch comedy movies are nearly impossible to pull off, and most are doomed to fail the test of time. »

- Aaron Hillis

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Monty Python Reunites for TV Documentary

31 March 2009 8:25 AM, PDT | GetTheBigPicture.net | See recent Get The Big Picture news »

And now for something completely different...

John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and Terry Jones will reunite for an upcoming TV documentary called Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut). It will air on IFC in October as part of the cable channel's Python Week and is scheduled to be a six-episode affair.

Outside of sporadic participation on DVD releases, this will be one of the few times the members of the legendary comedy ensemble will appear together since the passing of Graham Chapman in 1989. The reason they're all appearing (outside of the money the eventual DVD will earn, of course) is because the documentary provides the Pythons with a final word. »

- Colin Boyd

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4 articles from 2009

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