Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life (1983)

I have a bizarre viewing relationship with this, the last, Monty Python movie. I first saw it many years ago and quite enjoyed it. I was young, there were many jokes that I didn't get, but it had enough amusing moments to keep me entertained. Just. Then I saw it as an adult and enjoyed it a lot more. I'm sure that I even thought those who criticised it were being unduly harsh. On a recent rewatch, with me still being an adult (I haven't suddenly developed some kind of Benjamin Button syndrome, despite my moments of immaturity), I have found that I fall in line with the majority. The Meaning Of Life has moments of greatness, but it's far from a great film.

Directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, this film suffers from excess in a way that neither of the previous Monty Python features could have tolerated. In fact, one segment entitled "The Crimson Permanent Assurance" almost unbalances the entire thing. The fact that it was directed by Gilliam, who can't seem to align the practical aspects of controlling costs and maximising efficiency alongside the need to express his artistic vision, should come as no surprise to those who have continued to watch the ups and downs of his career.

Putting that segment aside, despite the fact that it comes along at the start of the movie and then interrupts proceedings later on, what else is on offer here? It's very hit and miss. Written and acted, as usual, by the whole troupe - Gilliam, Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin - with supporting turns from Carol Cleveland, Patricia Quinn and a few others, the sketches touch on various aspects of life and humanity. Birth is covered, with the superb song "Every Sperm Is Sacred" being a highlight, war is looked at a couple of times, the significance of our lives (or lack of it) is brilliantly summed up in "The Galaxy Song" (^^^see above^^^), there's the unforgettable sight of a certain Mr. Creosote and, of course, Death makes an appearance towards the end of the movie.

Fans of the Pythons will still find enough to enjoy here. Gilliam gets to throw in some crazy imagery, everyone has at least one scene-stealing moment and the surreal "find the fish" sequence has grown from something that I simply endured to an inspired moment of brilliance that I could probably watch repeatedly without never becoming bored. There are many great lines, but they often happen to be caught amongst many distinctly average, or even unfunny, moments.

I can't say this is a BAD film, and I'd hope that any Monty Python fan would agree, but it's a big step down from the previous movie outings. The BIG laughs are few and far between, though it's important to remember that they are still there, but a lesser Monty Python film is still full of more wit and ideas than a hundred other movies released in the same year.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monty-Pythons-Meaning-Special-Edition/dp/B0001WAGHO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1373148756&sr=8-4&keywords=monty+python%27s+the+meaning+of+life

And Now For Something Completely Different (1971)

The first movie outing for the Pythons, this is little more than a loosely connected series of sketches taken from the first series and the, yet to be aired at the time, second series. The fact that most of the sketches are typically brilliant is what makes this film so enjoyable, even if it's a lesser outing when compared to the features that the gang would release.

All of the guys are here - Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin - and all have their usual heavy workload, sharing in the scripting duties before taking on multiple character roles to act out everything onscreen. They are joined by Carol Cleveland, Connie Booth and one or two others, but they remain front and centre, with Gilliam providing numerous bits of animated madness, as ever.

Director Ian MacNaughton doesn't really do much to move the material firmly away from TV territory. In fact, the familiarity of it all adds to the enjoyment. Any fan hearing of "the dead parrot sketch" or "the lumberjack song" will be ready to laugh and fire quotes at anyone else willing to listen. These are much-loved comedy sketches for good reason, because they're fantastic.

One of my favourite sketches sees a milkman lured into a household by a voluptuous housewife before things get absurd. It takes the easygoing attitudes of the time - typified by the "Carry On..." films and, later, the "Confessions Of..." movies - and then twists them to great comic effect. The perfect blend of clever and stupid, much like the absurd brilliance of "Hell's Grannies" and, of course, the grand finale showcasing "The Upper Class Twit Of The Year."

The Monty Python movies were never really designed to win over new fans. The group already had a sizable, loyal fanbase and rewarded them with a number of fun features. It's this first outing, however, that makes no concessions whatsoever to people new to the humour on display. Which is fine by me, especially when the result is as funny as this.

In summation - it breaks no new ground, but it sure does still tickle the funny bone.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monty-Pythons-Something-Completely-Different/dp/B00009PBSJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373095874&sr=8-1&keywords=and+now+for+something+completely+different

Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975)

Monty Python And The Holy Grail is my favourite film from the Pythons. I really love Life Of Brian, but this film just has even more inspired lunacy in the mix. The big laughs here are BIGGER laughs, to me, and it's one of the most quotable movies of all time. Don't believe me? Ask any fan about it and see how long it takes to hear them reel off a full quote.

What's the story? Well, it's supposed to be all about King Arthur (Graham Chapman) assembling the Knights Of The Round Table and going on a quest for the holy grail, but it's really just a series of fantastic sketches that use the time and characters to wring the maximum comedy from every moment of screentime.

It starts off with the opening of Dentist On The Job (a gag that surely confused a number of cinema-goers back in the mid-70s), moves into a number of sequences in which those responsible for the subtitles try to further their own bizarre agenda and then, eventually, gets to the main "storyline".

Directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, and written and acted by the whole gang (Chapman, John Cleese, Gilliam, Eric Idle, Jones and Michael Palin), there are also small, but memorable, roles for Connie Booth - playing a witch, with a witch nose and everything - and Carol Cleveland.

I have tried to refrain from simply listing all of my favourite scenes, but it's hard. The film is like a Greatest Hits Of Comedy album with no weak spots. There are amusing animated skits from Gilliam, some hilarious anachronisms, the Camelot Song (Knights Of The Round Table), the Black Knight, the Knights Who Say 'Ni' and much, much more.

Okay, I caved in and listed a lot of my favourite scenes, but even that doesn't begin to cover it. The only way I could fully express my love for every moment of this movie would be to just copy and paste the entire script here. It's THAT good.

I have to go now. I've been ordered to cut down a tree . . . . . with a herring.

10/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monty-Python-Grail-Blu-ray-Region/dp/B0015GQ3EA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1373011211&sr=8-2&keywords=monty+python+and+the+holy+grail

Monty Python's Life Of Brian (1979)

An irreverent, clever look at religion from the Monty Python team, this comedy classic tells the story of Brian (Graham Chapman), a young man who spends his life, due to numerous coincidences, being mistaken at particularly inconvenient moments for the messiah when he was, in fact, born in the stable next door. He gets himself involved with the People's Front of Judea (not to be confused with the Judean People's Front . . . . . . . . . . splitters!) and is soon wanted by the Romans for a number of crimes. Considering the fact that just uttering the line "that piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah" is enough to get a man stoned to death, things don't look too good for Brian.

Directed by Terry Jones, the script features the usual contributions from the whole team (Jones, Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Michael Palin) and the gang also take their usual selection of multiple roles. Taking one example, Michael Palin plays an ex-leper cured by Jesus and still trying to make a living from begging, a spectator insulted for his big nose, Pontius Pilate, a member of the People's Front of Judea named Francis and quite a few more memorable characters.

While the comedy is still scattershot in places, this is a more cohesive and focused film than many others from the Python troupe. Fans of Terry Gilliam's artwork may wish there was a bit more of it here, but there's a glorious title sequence and at least one other enjoyable skit later in the film that features some of his art. Everyone involved seems to agree that they were at their peak here, with Chapman in especially fine form, and the tightrope being walked, as they tried to make the best film possible with such controversial central subject matter, may have helped.

Despite what the thin-skinned, quick-to-take-offence, complainers will say, Monty Python's Life Of Brian isn't actually an offensive movie, unless you're offended by being made to laugh so hard. Jesus is mentioned, parallels are made, but the gang never actually mock the life of Christ directly. What they do is much better than that. They make jokes about the time, about the attitudes and about blindly following people who may be equally desperate for signs to show them the way forward. It's about silly names, the importance of correct grammar and the futility of people fighting against each other, despite having the same aim.

And it poses that vital question: "What have the Romans ever done for us?"

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monty-Pythons-Life-Brian-Immaculate/dp/B000X4ZGL6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372929082&sr=8-2&keywords=life+of+brian