Movie review - "Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979) *****

 Magnificent movie. It looks incredible - that production design, those costumes. It's hilarious. There's a devastating point - the satire on people who blindly fellow religion. No wonder people got upset- it's targeted at them. But they can't say that so they say it's blashemous. The ending is incredibly moving and powerful.

Movie review - "Time Bandits" (1981) *****

 I didn't like this much as a child because I wanted it to be a Monty Python film when it's an adventure movie. Watching it years later it's just a wonderful piece of work, Terry Gilliam at his peak, beautifully complemented by Michael Palin. The lead kid is fine, the little people are terrific, the cameos splendid - Shelley Duvall is as good as Palin and Cleese - Sean Connery gives it heart. The second half felt more Gilliam than Palin - he's in his element. The imagination is lovely - the boat on the top of the giant's head, the swinging rope in the dark. Dave Warner a lot of fun, so too Ralph Richardson.

It's a terrific film. Has aged incredibly well.

Movie review - "Nuns on the Run" (1990) ***

 The last film, I think, from HandMade Films, at least its George Harrison-Denis O'Brien iteration, saw the company go out on a hit - and it was the type of movie the company probably should have made through the late 80s instead of all those quirky American pieces: a solid comedy with a former Monty Python. Eric Idle is the guy here, though the prime creative mover was Jonathan Lynn who wrote and directed it. 

Idle teams well with Robbie Coltrane and the jokes are obvious but funny. There's various plot machinations, a really sweet romance for Idle, Janet Suzman impresses as mother superior (but feels as though she needs a big scene or something the way Maggie Smith got in Sister Act  - that film felt as though it learned from this one). The pacing is occasionally off and some scenes feel re-shot. But it wants to entertain, the music is great, it's unpretentious. 

Book review - "Yellowbeard" by Graham Chapman

 Excellent volume for fans of the movie/Chapman/Monty Python. Has a thorough essay about the making of the movie, from inception, to intial pre production with HandMade Films, then Orion, the death of Marty Feldman, release and so on. Includes the text of a novelisation of the movie AND a full script. Very good value.

Movie review - "Yellowbeard" (1983) **

 I liked this as a kid. It hasn't aged that well. I don't think it's one of the worst films of all time. Graham Chapman can hold the screen. Eric Idle very funny as is John Cleese - and Marty Feldman.

A few too many jokes about rape.  Stagger stagger fall fall is still funny. They didn't quite get the plot to work. It feels as though they were pushing and pulling. It's Treasure Island ish. Maybe should've been that.

Lot of screen time goes to Martin Hewitt whose relationship with dad Chapman is an effective emotional core.

Decent production values. Peter Boyle not  at home.

Top Ten Monty Python Linked Films

 (excludes TV which means no Ripping Yarns, Fawlty Towers)

1) A Fish Called Wanda - at his best Cleese really worked hard on scripts and it paid off brilliantly which is why Fierce Creatures is so hard to understand

2) Brazil - Terry Gilliam's brilliant take on 1984 a reminder of what he once could do

3) Yellowbeard - look I haven't seen this since I was a kid but I loved it as a kid

4) Clockwise - a stressful movie in many ways but very well done

5) Nuns on the Run - funny drag comedy that was a big deal in Oz when released but seems to have been forgotten

6) The Adventures of Baron Munchausen - intense, wondrous, imaginative - I pick it over Time Bandits

7) Labyrinth - the script is too simple but it was a wondrous element to it

8) Personal Services - untypical film, very well done

9) The Missionary - naughty and sweet, like Michael Palin

10) A Private Function - another strong effort from Palin

Book review - "Running Towards the Danger" by Sarah Polley

 Collection of autobiographical essays - working with Terry Gilliam, fame as Anne of Avonlea, health issues (spine, pregnancy, being concussed), family. Extremely well written. Consistently gripping. Hazy on the first marriage. Not of film goss. Thought provoking.

Book review - "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" by Eric Idle

My friends and I were Monty Python fanatics growing up - Eric Idle was always among everyone's top three of the group, along with Michael Palin and John Cleese (everyone recognised Terry Gilliam's directing skill and Graham Chapman's ability as a leading man but they weren't favourites and no one really was into Terry Jones). Idle was instantly likeable with his cockney (?) voice ("say no more, nudge nudge") and instantly funny face - he was a real strength in a group with few weaknesses. His specialty was song writing and he came up with classics notably "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".

Python was something of a pop group - complete with adoring fans, break ups, constant pressures to reunite - and Idle was the most pop star like of them: paying his guitar, having numerous famous friends (notably George Harrison and Lorne Michaels but also Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Billy Connolly, Mike Nichols), jetting around the world on various exotic trips (down the Nile on John Cleese's yacht with Peter Cook, Stephen Fry and William Goldman among others, attending the Tour de France with Williams and Michael J Fox), swapping Python quotes with Elvis Presley. It's fun to be a celebrity.

Idle's life began with great tragedy - his RAF father was killed hitchiking in an accident on leave, sending his mother to a nervous breakdown; she shunted Idle off to a boarding school for RAF orphans which he hated (I can imagine what it was like) but he was smart, and got a scholarship to Cambridge. He fell in love with writing and performing and in what seems alarming rapidity started writing for TV shows for David Frost and the like, eventually being part of Monty Python. Idle was something of a lone hand in the group - Graham Chapman and John Cleese were one writing team, Terry Jones and Michael Palin the other - but he still fitted in brilliantly and became one of their most recogniseable faces, helped by the singing.

It was Idle who went "American" biggest and most of all, who seemed the least temperamental, who was most keen to get the band back together - Cleese and Jones were more temperamental, Chapman's life was more chaotic, Palin more seemingly focused on England while Gilliam was focused on movies. Idle moved to the US first of all and seems to have the most US credits (though Cleese may match him by now) - mostly small/supporting roles, though he had the lead in The Rutles which has become a major cult, starred in Nuns on the Run, and made a studio comedy, Splitting Heirs, and had a role in Suddenly Susan he doesn't write about here. He regained a bit of status with the huge success of Spamalot - I'm surprised he wasn't used for more musicals because his songs are very catchy. No doubt he tried. For the last twenty years his main gig seems to have been touring and performing.

This is a highly entertaining book packed full of fun stories - hanging out with Harrison and the light  that makes it seem to be fun to be famous. Idle quotes a lot from his speeches rather than his sketches and songs - speeches about John Cleese and so on. There's probably too much about concerts and different productions of Spamalot - they were successful, we get it. I would have liked to have read more about the less successful ventures like Splitting Heirs. Still a great romp.

My top 10 comedies

The Guardian published a list of several comedian's favorite comedies.

Procrastinating, I thought I'd add mine...

1) Flying High (1982) - called Airplane! in the US I saw this film countless times growing up and it's still great in part because it has a solid story (filmed seriously as Zero Hour)
2) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974) - I'm limiting myself to one Monty Python film, this remains as brilliant as it ever was, with divine acting, writing and design.
3) Annie Hall (1977) - I was a bit intimidated by Woody Allen's critical reputation growing up, that I delayed seeing his films. I wasn't aware how flat out funny so many of his movies were, such as this.
4) Stripes (1981) - limiting myself to one Bill Murray (the others would be Ghostbusters and Meatballs), this is a brilliant service comedy with some stand out support performances from Warren Oates, John Candy and John Larroquette.
5) Clueless (1995) - helped revive the teen movie in the 90s, a very funny, sweet film which promised a bigger career for Alicia Silverstone than the one that eventuated.
6) A Night at the Opera (1935) - purists prefer Marx Brothers where there's no straight story or musical interludes. I think they work well here - gives the brothers a goal and the opera setting has a sense of wonder about it.
7) Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938) - hokey but very sweet old Aussie film.
8) Spy (2013) - I loved Bridesmaids but limiting myself to one Melissa McCarthy I'll go for this one - fantastic story and exciting action.
9) The Wedding Crashers (2005) - the film loses its way in the second half but the first half is Heaven.
10) Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) - the duo made funnier films but this has magic about it.

Documentary review - "Monty Pyton: Almost the Truth" (2009) ***1/2

Highly enjoyable documentary about the famous comedy troupe - I was disappointed to learn that it was actually in six parts but the ABC only had a shortened two part version. Still there is lots of good stuff on show here - old photos, clips from the David Frost show, interview footage with Graham Chapman, forthright interviews where the members admit to inter group politics (eg the little writing gangs that formed, John Cleese vs Terry Jones dynamic, John Cleese wanting to play the lead role in Life of Brian), news footage of Life of Brian protests. I didn't even mind some of the celebrity chats about how great Python was - Steve Coogan reciting a wholesale sketch in particular was wonderful. Now for the full version!

Movie review – “Life of Brian” (1979) *****

There is debate over which is the better Monty Python film, this or Holy Grail (I can’t imagine anyone plumping for The Meaning of Life) – this would probably be the most cohesive because it has a strong plot. The satire on organised religion remains razor sharp and just as pertinent today, the performances are excellent, the set design is wonderful, the dialogue eminently quotable. Best of all is the marvellous finale, singing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” on the cross.

Book review - "All Things Must Pass" by Marc Shapiro

Decent bio of George Harrison, in many ways the most human Beatle. While all of the Fab Four wore their hearts on their sleeve, John and Paul were geniuses, Ringo a comic freak - George was perhaps the most identifiable, if only because average Joe Blow in the street had a chance of being him. The others were ordained at birth, but George got there through hard work - he practised hard at his guitar playing to become one of the best in the group, ditto his singing and song writing (his two songs an album started as tokens but by the time of Abbey Road the two were Something and Good Day Sunshine); he acted as a counter point to the dynamic duo and also helped revitalise the Beatles in the second half of the 60s by pushing them into India spirituality. He also seemed to be able to form alliances with other famous singers the most easily out of any Beatles - Clapton, Dylan, etc

Harrison's 70s career continued his rise - he wasn't really as big as Lennon McCartney, but he had the biggest success in comparison with what he'd done with the Beatles. His out put tended to be erratic - a few good albums followed by a dud or two. But he always managed to turn things around eg in the late 80s with the Jeff Lynn collaboration. He also seemed to be the Beatle who broke the mould most often in his solo career - becoming a genuine Hare Krishna (i.e. sticking at it), becoming a movie mogul, forming super groups, raising money via concerts over a decade before Live Aid.

I had the impression Harrison was one of the more stable Beatles, he always seemed so dry and down to earth with his taste in Monty Python (I figured he got his weirdness out of his system by being into gurus) - but this book reveals he was prone to drugs and groupies with the best of them, especially in the early 70s and mid 80s. He even rooted Maureen Starr when she was married to Ringo. Harrison comes across here as a paradox: a generally hard worker who however had his head in the clouds when it came to business matters, and could be gripped with apathy on occasion (eg when his wife was falling for Eric Clapton); a good friend who slept with his friend's wives (eg Ringo); an honest man who ripped off "My Sweet Lord" - not just unintentionally as the famous case states, but intentionally, from a session musician which this book claims.

Harrison's life was so rich and varied this book seems a bit "skim deep" at best - it really flies through, and constantly feels underdone. It can be read in something like an hour and a half and feels a little under researched, with a lot of reliance on reporting of rumours. Harrison's live keeps it lively though and it will do til a better one comes along.

Book review - "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" by Robert Sellars

HandMade films were one of the few bright spots in the British film industry in the early 80s. Formed by George Harrison and his accountant Dennis O'Brien to help bail out Monty Python on The Meaning of Life, they then funded Time Bandits - both films were big hits and HandMade suddenly found themselves in the movie business. Over the next ten years they made a handful of films that really stand the test of time, including A Private Function and Withnail and I. Eventually, as these companies always do, they went bust and it all ended acrimoniously when Harrison found that O'Brien had been ripping him off.

This book is mostly a collection of interviews with people crucial to HandMade, except O'Brien and Harrison. Harrison was dead and O'Brien not around - so he really cops it. I mean really cops it. The fact is the company wouldn't have existed and the films wouldn't have been made if it hadn't been for him - he had a real gift for raising finance (mostly on the strength of Harrison's personal guarantee), and also had a bright taste in comedy.

HandMade fluked into two massive hits to start up with (they also picked up The Long Good Friday, a solid success) but soon established a niche - British comedy. Since hardly anyone was making British features at the time, they could have kept their budgets low and enjoyed a longer life churning out these, living off the occasional break-through hit. But they got ambitious, and made Shanghai Surprise then moved to America. Actually even when they moved to America they didn't go Hollywood but still made artier stuff - but they went against their niche and ran into a series of flops which killed the company.

This is a very entertaining book on a very worthwhile subject. It probably needed some more hard data than being mostly interviews - many creative people like to whinge about executives - with the quality of access is high. Oh, one more thing - everyone bags Water but I loved Water, I think it really works.