Monty Python Movies

It's time to pay homage to some of the Kings of Comedy...some people don't like British humor...so you all go away...the rest of us:It's tea time!My favorites,in order:
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail
-Monty Python's the Meaning of Life
-Monty Python Live at The Hollywood Bowl
*gimmie your funniest lines...go on...hit me with your best shot.I will feel so lame if no one else is into Python.I'll run away and never come back...I have faith you are all well rounded movie-buffs...it's what keeps me alive...

1. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Their most complete and consistent work. Brilliant, intelligent satire along side perfect Python absurdities.
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Their most enduringly popular film, and probably their all-around funniest. Wall-to-Wall great stuff.
3. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
Their most underrated film, but the best stuff here is among their best EVER.
4. And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
Some of the best bits from the first couple seasons of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" re-shot on film, including "The Lumberjack Song", "The Dead Parrot Sketch" and "The Upperclass Twit of the Year Award". Classic Pythonesque perfection and madness.


[Edited by Holden Pike on 10-19-2001]

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Wow, I actually knew that same "Holy Grail" quote...word for word, basically. Call me Holden Jr. "Holy Grail" is far and away #1, from what I've seen. Neee!

sades, how could we not love Monty Python? i've seen em' all many times over.
recall the song "every sperm is sacred" and the kitchen scene with kids in every cupboard...the "mum" pauses mid cooking/cleaning to bend and spread her knees slightly and out drops a baby...."could you get that?". my quoting skills suck but i'll leave that up to Holden and you all.
this thread shall lead to some good laughs......

"All the other kinds thought I was a fool to build my castle in a swamp, but I built it anyway...it sunk into the swap. So I built a second one, that one sunk into the swap. I built another one and that one burnt down then sunk into the swamp by the fourth one -- that stayed up!!"

I think you'll find that ultimatley, "Grail" is the most Python, "Brian" is the best as a film, and "Meaning of Life" was a mess. Despite that last comment, which is basically the kind of comment the Python's themselves were making, especially John Cleese who thought that making the third film was the wrong thing to do (mind you, it does give us a nice last look at Chapman at his finest), I think that "Meaning of Life" is right up there with the other two and I can see how it won the Jury Prize at Cannes. Many say it is a brilliant peice.

"You can't have babies!! You haven't got a womb!! What's the fetus going to gestate in? A box?!"

I love Monty Python films, and films that people mistkingly say are Python films although they're not.

I suggest you read the book "Monty Python Speaks!" it will give you all great insight into the making of the TV series and the three films. Whenever I'm feeling crap about what I'm working on I read the "Grail" section. The making of that film -- now THAT was hell!!

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www.esotericrabbit.com

Oh joy,rapture!I knew you guys would pull through! My favorite line from Holy Grail,is,"Bring me a shrubbery!...and make it a nice little round one,so we have a nice garrrrrden effect."I don't know if that's word for word...but that's how I remember it.In Holy Grail,I also liked the charactor up in the tower that threw stuff down at people,"Your mother was a goat and your father was a nannyberry." Hey-Who's your favorite Monty Python actor?Mine's Terry Gilliam.

That's only 'cos he's a yank. :P
Mine is without a doubt, Palin.
Then Chapman. That guy was just surreal. Really nice straight man, very humorous in the weirdest ways.
I am most like Cleese though. Oh if you guys had seen me play the manic teacher in Smashed....!

"WELL ISN'T THIS JUST THE BEE'S KNEES!?"

http://www.smashed-theplay.com

I am a Chapman fan hands down. He was unquestionably my favorite member of Python. I have seen all the movies, but in my opinion the Flying Circus was by far their best work. By far.

"SLUNGE!"

LOL... AHHahaMwaaha...slunge.That's rich.

The best Monty Python movie is Life of Brian. The funniest scene is definitely the "Biggus Dickus" scene. I laughed for three straight weeks every time I thought of that scene (at the most inopportune moments too, for instance during an oral presentation in a Composition class).

Holy Grail is a close second, and Meaning of Life is a not-as-close third (I still love the movie though).

As for my favorite Python character, it's probably a tie between Eric Idle and John Cleese.

I loved Life of Brian.Biggus Dickus.How sweet that you reminded me..I laughed long hard over that as well.John Cleese is the man..he shows up once in awhile.I saw him recently on Discovery Channel.Love em.

Centurion: You know the penalty laid down by Roman law for harboring a known criminal?
Matthias: No.
Centurion: Crucifixion!
Matthias: Oh.
Centurion: Nasty, eh?
Matthias: Could be worse.
Centurion: What you mean "Could be worse"?
Matthias: Well, you could be stabbed.
Centurion: Stabbed? Takes a second. Crucifixion lasts hours. It's a slow, horrible death.
Matthias: Well, at least it gets you out in the open air.
Centurion: You're weird!

The centurions steal this show. Honestly.

Then you've got the one towards the end:

"Crucifixtion? Door on the left, outisde, one cross each. Crucifixtion?"
"No, uh, Freedom."
"What?"
"Uh yeah, they said I didn't do nuffin' and so they'll let me go."
"Oh well, congratulations..."
"Nah, only messing with ya, crucifixtion really?"
"Oh well, a heh heh, door..."
"Yeah I know, door on the left, outside, one cross each..."

Good stuff Silver Bullet...good stuff.Whenever my sisters and I are all together,we always spout Python refrences...,"Run away! Run away!"

The movies, especially The Holy Grail, are fantastic.

But the most hardened Python has to admit that the TV show was very, very sketchy. There was some good stuff for sure, the Parrot Sketch, Lumberjack song, the funniest joke in the world, but there was a lot of rubbish as well.

Holy Grail's Best Lines...


Arthur: You are indeed brave, sir knight, but the fight is mine.
Black Knight: Oh, had enough eh?
Arthur: Look, you stupid bastard. You've got no arms left!
Black Knight: Yes I have.
Arthur: Look!
Black Knight: Just a flesh wound!

French Soldier: "I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

Bedevere: What makes you think she's a witch?
Peasant: Well she turned me into a newt!
Bedevere: A newt?
Peasant: I got better.
Crowd: BURN HER ANYWAY!



And JOHN CLEESE is the man. The only one who had any success as a performer outside of Python. Fawlty Towers is better than Python any day.

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I couldn't believe that she knew my name. Some of my best friends didn't know my name.

Bigval: are you really suggesting that "Monty Python's Flying Circus", a sketch comedy program, was "sketchy"?

Funny.

Yes, with years and years of shows, not every single sketch or cartoon on "Circus" was equally brilliant. But by in large, it was amazingly consistent and most often hilarious.

Personally I make little distinction between their brilliance on the TV show and their brillaince on the big screen. It is ALL Grade-A great to me.

I agree with Bigvalbowski. The movies are Grade-A for me, while the show is more like Grade-A-minus.

The show sometimes just gets plain silly.Don't you ever watch those skits and find yourself thinking...what the hell?

Nope.
I don't think what the hell because I realise that that's exactly what they want me to say.

"I'm Brian."
"I'm Brian."
"No, I'm Brian."
"I'm Brian and so is my wife!!"

"I'm not really Brian, I was just oulling your leg...I'm not joking, I'm not Brian..."

I'm sure Otto and his crack suicide squad had a lot of people going "What the hell?" But not me.

Ooops, forgot the all time best Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch...

"Nobody ever expects the Spanish inquisition."


I'm not the biggest Python fan, especially of the series which was all over the place. But it's a relief to watch some of the Python skits now compared to some lame brained comedy teams. The Python's were smart, even intellectuals, and often their sketches went "swish" over my head. They obviously loved history and loved to let rip on politics. In the world of today where most comedians are discussing bodily functions or starting their routines with something like...what is it with washing machines?, the Monty Python team are better than brilliant.