When I first moved to DC one of my top 3 favorite things to do (I won’t say what the other 2 were) was to go with my friend Elena to Visions at midnight on a Friday, get a PBR in a plastic cup for 2 dollars and watch whatever was on. Which during that time was either “Donnie Darko” or “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” the two pinnacles of midnight movie watching in DC circa 2003. Somehow hearing John Cleese yell “I fart in your general direction” NEVER GOT OLD. EVER. Then we would go to Local 16 and pretend to be better than anyone else, because, well, we were mature.
I sincerely miss those days.
In any case, PBR in a plastic cup aside, from December 28th to January 7th, AFI is letting you relive the Flying circus experience on the big screen. (most of which I saw for the first time when I was waaaaaaay too young) Can we have an amen?
Print and plan accordingly, and maybe even consider moving into AFI for the upcoming month (what with rialto redux in full swing and whatnot)
all details and ticket info here
Monty Python at the Movies
December 28 – January 7
(All notes courtesy of Film Forum. Assorted classic youtubing courtesy of me)
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
…or Mønti Pythøn ik den Høli Gräilen. After the opening credits (helpfully subtitled in Swedish), Graham Chapman’s gallant King Arthur gallops off to recruit more bold knights to search for the Holy Grail. (Well, he prances along on foot, while lackey Terry Gilliam clicks two coconut shells together.) Horrific obstacles intervene—the not-dead plague victim, a castle guard hurling scatological taunts, the Bridge of Death, and the voracious Killer Bunny, stoppable only by the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. Inspired lunacy, on the proverbial shoestring—at the sight of Camelot, a squire carps, “It’s just a model.”
Friday, December 28, 9:30; Saturday, December 29, 9:45; Sunday, December 30, 9:30; Monday, December 31, 9:15; Thursday, January 3, 9:00
LIFE OF BRIAN
Born in a stable in Bethlehem, visited by three kings, acclaimed as the Messiah, crucified, then resurrected—yes, it’s… Brian Cohen? Those darn parallels between Brian, born one stable over from Christ, and his holy counterpart keep on coming, although singing during the crucifixion is probably a divergence.
Saturday, December 29, 2:45; Monday, December 31, 7:00; Tuesday, January 1, 5:45
THE MEANING OF LIFE
“Is it a boy or a girl?” “I think it’s a bit early to start imposing roles on it, don’t you?” Searching for meaning from womb to tomb, the Pythons present a production number about sperm, a live-action sex-ed class that still bores the kids, men in tiger suits, Graham Chapman chased to death by scantily clad girls, and—most memorably – the world’s fattest man dining out.
Friday, January 4, 9:20; Sunday, January 6, 3:10; Monday, January 7, 9:15
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
The Dead Parrot, the Upper-Class Twit of the Year, the Lumberjack Song, Hell’s Grannies, Killer Cars—what’s not to love in the first feature from the manic team, a “Greatest Hits” from the first two seasons of their TV show, re-filmed to introduce the troupe to US audiences?
Saturday, January 5, 2:45; Sunday, January 6, 9:45
Don’t say Impossible. Nothing is impossible when you work in a (flying) circus
spam is a good one, i love the drag queen kitchen maid
blech!
And Now For Something Completely Different was the first Monty i saw, and my favorite, while i enjoy the others a great deal
my favorite scene in the Holy Grail is when a cow is catapulted from the castle, the sound it makes and the image together make me laugh uncontrollably and rewind the segment almost as many times as i’ve rewound:
my #1 cry from laughing moment on film, Stilwell Angel getting hit in the face with a baseball mit, in still one of my favorite period flicks of all time, A League of Their Own (and yes, Madonna’s scene was a big reason why i own a vintage wardrobe and learned swing dancing, you should too /PSA)
and #2
Sexual Harrasment Panda’s dance the first time i saw it on South Park (can’t find it on youtubes, Cale can you post the first time he walks into the classroom with his theme song and starts dancing? priceless)
damn youtube #1 didn’t post
just search for league of their own, you’re gonna lose on youtube
or someone post the joy here
December 27, 2007 at 1:41 pm
i get near to pissing my panties everytime!
i love the monty python “spam” sketch: “spam, spam, and mo’ spam!!”
December 27, 2007 at 12:02 pm