Life of Brian...

[Steven]

'Yes, we're all different!"

_{'I'm not."}

Nicked by the Simpsons for Hans Moleman a few times as well.

[ollyboro]

"The Holy Grail" is for idiots.

[clingfilm portent]

You're for idiots.

[Gulftastic]

'Yes, we're all different!"

_{'I'm not."}

That blew my fucking mind when I was eight or so.

'I've got one or two thing to say'
'Tell us. Tell us both of them!'

made me laugh the most.

[ColonelVolestrangler]

Both great films, with Grail just edging it for me in terms of sheer silliness. Though, for me, 'The Meaning of Life' is the funniest of the lot. Probably because it feels most like a longer, bigger budgeted episode of 'Flying Circus', and having loved the series before I saw any of the films, the sketch format is my preference... even if Grail and Brian are mainly just sketches with a vague suggestion of a plot to hang them off.

[Operty1]

I loved sir Bedevere's science, and when he's explaining it to the people...

So logically....if she weighs the same as a duck....she's made out of wood....and therefore.....A WITCH!!!

In fact that whole opening 40 minutes or so completely floored me when I saw it.

Eric Idle at the end of Brian always gets me, just after Brian is crucified and raised on the cross, he's in the background admiring the view and chirpily says:

Not so bad once your up!

[Cerys]

A couple of days ago I encountered Judith in the park, and for the first time in ... well, ever, I didn't have the automatic thought of 'I've seen your pubes'.  I assume this was only because she snuck up on me.

[Old Nehamkin]

"I've been here five years. They only hung me the right way up yesterday."

Fucking love that line. Palin is my fave, easily.

[Serge]

A couple of days ago I encountered Judith in the park, and for the first time in ... well, ever, I didn't have the automatic thought of 'I've seen your pubes'.  I assume this was only because she snuck up on me.

Ha ha! I think I've mentioned on here before that I used to work with

Spoiler alert

Patricia Brake's

[close]

son and would often think "I've seen your mum in her underwear". I say often, I mean, well.....often.

[Sam]

Gilliam and Palin (the two best pythons, natch) slay me in the prophets bit:

http://youtu.be/hmyuE0NpNgE

Gilliam's swaying of the hips and gesticulating is great. I love how dirty and mad he looks, he always gets the right Earthy tone for this sort of thing.

[Cerys]

Plus you can totally see the outline of his willy.

[amoral]

Grail is much closer to Flying Circus in tone and content, which I like about it. It's shaggy and idiosyncratic and, dare I say, kind of radical in its structure. Count me among those who love the abrupt 'arrest' ending. Life of Brian is undeniable as an important satirical take on religion, while Grail is just pure, exuberant silliness. So I'd say that one isn't better than the other, but that Grail better suits my own sensibilities.

[mobias]

Gilliam and Palin (the two best pythons, natch) slay me in the prophets bit:

http://youtu.be/hmyuE0NpNgE

Gilliam's swaying of the hips and gesticulating is great. I love how dirty and mad he looks, he always gets the right Earthy tone for this sort of thing.

Is that Gilliam playing both those prophets? The one in red looks like its him too.

[mr grole]

Both great films, with Grail just edging it for me in terms of sheer silliness. Though, for me, 'The Meaning of Life' is the funniest of the lot. Probably because it feels most like a longer, bigger budgeted episode of 'Flying Circus', and having loved the series before I saw any of the films, the sketch format is my preference... even if Grail and Brian are mainly just sketches with a vague suggestion of a plot to hang them off.

The Meaning of life has always been my favourite too, but no-one seems to agree with me. This has always been one of my favourite bits of Python:

DAD: So, you see my problem, little ones: I can't keep you all here any longer.

GIRL: Speak up!

DAD: I can't keep you all here any longer! God has blessed us so much, I can't afford to feed you anymore.

NIGEL: Couldn't you have your balls cut off?

DAD: Hohh, it's not as simple as that, Nigel. God knows all! He'd see through such a cheap trick. What we do to ourselves, we do to Him.

GIRL: You could have had them pulled off in an accident.

CHILDREN: [talking]

DAD: No. No, children. I know you're trying to help, but, believe me,...

CHILDREN: Ohh...

DAD: ...me mind's made up. I've given this long and careful thought, and it has to be medical experiments for the lot of you.

CHILDREN: Ohh. Oh. Oh...

[Cerys]

Is that Gilliam playing both those prophets? The one in red looks like its him too.

No, that's the famous Ian Paisley Cameo.

[ColonelVolestrangler]

Is that Gilliam playing both those prophets? The one in red looks like its him too.

The Paisley sounding red prophet is Charle McKeown, who plays a variety of minor roles throughout the film, and was a co-writer on 'Brazil' and 'Baron Münchhausen' with Gilliam.

[Replies From View]

DAD: ...me mind's made up. I've given this long and careful thought, and it has to be medical experiments for the lot of you.

CHILDREN: Ohh. Oh. Oh...

This is one of my favourite bits of Python too.  It's the way they say "aww" as if they've merely been told they can't go to the park this afternoon because it's raining.

[Steven]

The Paisley sounding red prophet is Charle McKeown, who plays a variety of minor roles throughout the film, and was a co-writer on 'Brazil' and 'Baron Münchhausen' with Gilliam.

As well as how could Gilliam be both parts when the camera is panning from one to the other?!

[Replies From View]

As well as how could Gilliam be both parts when the camera is panning from one to the other?!

Also there were no cameras in medieval times so how did they film it?

[Dex Sawash]

Also there were no cameras in medieval times so how did they film it?

because medieval times are a construct of MI-5/6
never happened

[Steven]

Also there were no cameras in medieval times so how did they film it?

Was watching some documentary about Medieval times once and they had a bit with a recreation of knights jousting in black and white for some reason, and my Mum walked in and genuinely asked "Oh, did they film this at the time?"

because medieval times are a construct of MI-5/6
never happened

Anatoly Fomenko.

[Replies From View]

Was watching some documentary about Medieval times once and they had a bit with a recreation of knights jousting in black and white for some reason, and my Mum walked in and genuinely asked "Oh, did they film this at the time?"

"Mum, what do you think?  It's in fucking colour."

[Mijkediablo]

I prefer the three Monty Python films to the series. All three are great in their own way: Brian feels important, but never gets po-faced and is funny throughout. Holy Grail is gleeful in its irreverence, I was thrown by the meta ending the first time I saw it, but now I can't imagine it finishing any other way, the mission's success or failure would've reduced it to a cliché. Meaning Of Life neatly spans the gulf between profundity and preposterousness, it's silly and thoughtful, often at the same time. Three superb and very different films.

Was watching some documentary about Medieval times once and they had a bit with a recreation of knights jousting in black and white for some reason, and my Mum walked in and genuinely asked "Oh, did they film this at the time?"

My granddad had a framed copy of a Rembrandt sketch in his front room, an old lady in a ruff. When I was a kid, I was terrified of it because it was so lifelike I mistook it for a photograph and it threatened my certainty that the camera was a relatively modern creation. Genuinely terrified. It now hangs on the wall halfway up the stairs in my house.

[Cerys]

This one?

[Mijkediablo]

It wasn't a sketch it turns out, it was a black-and-white reproduction of an oil painting. Here it is in colour:

[Cerys]

She knows.