Yellowbeard (1983 film)

With their knack for historical humor (ie Monty Python And The Holy Grail, Life Of Brian, Jabberwocky, Time Bandits and Erik The Viking) it is no wonder Graham would feel like doing a pirate period piece. But I was a little hesitate to watch this as it was so reviled by critics, but I got the chance to watch it and missing my opportunity to see Erik The Viking when I found a VHS tape of it I've regretted it ever since. I actually tried watching it but I was interrupted by family members who thought it was stupid and still to this day the parts of that film play in my head. Watching Yellowbeard I wonder what such harsh critics didn't like about the film then I remembered most of them don't get Monty Python humor. It took a couple tries to watch this film as no Monty Python film seems quite easily digested in the first watch. Nevertheless the nonchalant lunacy of Chapman, Cleese and Idle are always welcomed and that is the gift of this film. Many contemporary comic giants appeared alongside such as BBC allies Peter Cook, Marty Feldman and Spike Mulligan and pot heroes Cheech & Chong along with Peter Boyle. But it was the media friendly Pythonites that carry this film. Scenes with Graham Chapman and great comedienne Madeleine Kahn provide the most overt verbal humor along with Peter Cook to a lesser extent, whereas slapstick abounds all around from everybody as this film relies on the physical more so than a typical MP project. It's no masterpiece maybe but it's a classic one that might be buried under Time Bandits, Fierce Creatures and Labyrinth but a Python classic nonetheless worthy of being put on any comedy fans DVD collection let alone being worth the availability to find it at the local DVD stores, libraries and rental stores. Interesting to note (I hate to put this as a tag on but wouldn't fit with the review) Yellowbeard was a response to Gilliam, Palin and Jones making Jabberwocky as they were upset their movie studio promoted it as a Monty Python film. Somewhat of the same vein they would fit well as a double feature each highlighting the two groups distinct styles of comedy. I think considering which Pythons are involved in each film you know what to expect. PS there is a great scene where pirates try to smuggle women on board but the captain won't allow it, however lucky for the viewers a former Victoria's Secret model Greta Blackburn is sneaked on board as Mr. Prostitute.

Rubber Soul (1965 album)

Every Beatles album (especially in their early days) was always in a new style that was radically different from previous Beatles albums. From the early winter in 1965 to early summer of 1967 the Beatles made a trilogy of albums that continued to eclipsed not only their own previous work but even contemporaries at a time when the Kinks, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes and Otis Redding were on the radio. Of course with Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Monkees, Pink Floyd, the Who, Sly & The Family Stone and the Jackson 5 all breaking out so shortly after this peak turning point in their career a lot of their transitional work isn't as noticed as their later work which was at the beginning of the new era leaving albums like Rubber Soul and Revolver seem like quaint Sinatra and Elvis records that didn't fit into the new world musical order. Of course that could not be further from the truth as Rubber Soul was the birth of the new age in music. As relevant as Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" is to songwriting Rubber Soul was a new standard in album making. Thank goodness though the British version is on CD so you get 14 songs instead of 12. It isn't as simple as they cut 2 songs from the British LP. In a horrendous move from Capitol Records they released the Help! album as half soundtrack half Beatles (a problem to a lesser extent on the Yellow Submarine album as their wasn't enough new material for a new album). But that meant 7 Help! songs were now stranded to be put on American releases predominately the American Rubber Soul and the American only album Yesterday...And Today which the latter had some of the better songs. Of course as this was a key transitional period for the Beatles it causes a less harmonious mix of Beatles songs that don't sound as unified as it could've been. Double checking as I always do here are the differences between the American and British Rubber Soul:
American only:
I've Just Seen A Face
It's Only Love
British only:
Drive My Car (WTF?)
Nowhere Man (COME ON)
What Goes On (an early Ringo tune that's a nudge better than the American songs)
If I Needed Someone (REALLY?)
All the British songs cut were put on the Yesterday...And Today album along with "Yesterday" "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" so when going through my father's vinyl collection before I got a CD collection I was bummed Yesterday...And Today as well as Hey Jude were not on CD. But on CD I appreciate Rubber Soul for the masterpiece it is and should have been.

Monty Python Live At The Hollywood Bowl (1982 film)

Well in 1971 they made a legendary first film And Now For Something Completely Different entirely derived from their TV series and half a decade after this film two of their best albums The Final Rip Off and Monty Python Sings were just re-edited series of sketches and songs woven together. So is it logical to assume that like their early albums relying on the TV show material that Monty Python Live At The Hollywood Bowl might just be another rehash of Monty Python instant nostalgia? Yeah sort of, but it isn't. But when it comes to their legendary material everything is here except the Dead Parrot (he's just resting) and the Spanish Inquisition (I wasn't expecting a Spanish Inquisition). The Ministry of Silly Walks, The Lumberjack Song, Nudge Nudge, The Argument Sketch, Travel Agent etc. are here. And there are some stuff from their hard to find album Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album namely "Sit On My Face" and "Never Be Rude To An Arab" but many other great tunes and sketches from this album can be heard on The Final Rip Off. So does it look like I'm giving the film a weak review, it shouldn't. I'm just given a cautionary synopsis. Yes a lot of the film is pulled from existing material sadly even from the less glorious material that was put on Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus. However and this is a strong however, Graham Chapman does great pantomime of wrestler challenging himself for the title (yes I know it sounds weird to say pantomime and great in the same sentence). Followed a sketch or two later by The Last Supper with John Cleese as the Pope and Eric Idle as Michelangelo having "artistic differences" over the title painting, Eric wanting to be more liberal in it's interpretation and John Cleese playing the frustrating protagonist/antagonist (depending on your viewpoint) and Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam (who gets more parts in this film!) do a college lecture analysis on the evolution of humor. The highlights include Neil Innes performing "How Sweet To Be An Idiot" and a very funny "Urban Spaceman" featuring the delightful Carol Cleveland who also does a great job in the Travel Agent sketch. The low points of the film clips from the German TV show and a moderately okay Lumberjack performance by Idle (not the traditional Palin who is always great in such parts). It just seemed like Eric Idle was already getting a lot of the attention at this point in their career, why take the best part away from someone who gave them the great material in the first place and anyway Eric would still be using it in Spamalot and Eric Idle Sings Monty Python. But I digress and finish off by saying it might not be be as great as And Now For Something Completely Different or The Final Rip Off but it almost is not even taking into account that some of the stuff can only be found in this film anyway.

Band On The Run (1973 album)

One of the most stellar pop albums ever. More so than Saturday Night Fever or Thriller I think Band On The Run represented universal appeal. Like Thriller and Saturday Night Fever it can logically be described as urban with throbbing bass lines and tight hooks but Band On The Run has classic rock appeal on levels the former two couldn't achieve. The universality of the music can be tested by taking talented bands of different genres and see how many different ways the music can be played successfully. The American version instead of the British version has become the standard edition of this LP as it includes "Helen Wheels" a cool smooth tune that plays like the The Steve Miller Band or The Moody Blues so it fits in well. "Band On The Run" the title tune is an excitable romping rock opener that goes through 5 minutes of musical switch ups like a "Bohemian Rhapsody" predecessor. "Jet" keeps the album thrown into high force. "Bluebird" is kind of a letdown but all albums have them relatively speaking they can't all be equally good. But the rest of the time they maintain sophisticated pop production on garage rock classic tunes until the final two songs "Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)" and "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five" mix things up again and fall into neat closer with a few reprises written into the final songs. For 40 minutes of sheer musical pleasure Band On The Run is a sure bet.

Time Bandits (1981 film)

Growing up on The Princess Bride and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures I would say strongly influenced my opinion of this being the best of the Gilliam/Palin trilogy. At first I didn't get it. It was my first Gilliam film and I didn't think he would make a film with such a ssllooow pace. At least it seemed that way after having watched all the Monty Python films. Watching it always picks up and in constant reviewing of the film I would say I often stop the film at the Napoleon scene which seems early, but I didn't like how his character took the focus off the main group. I didn't like Napoleon in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures either really so it's not a personal thing about this movie. The character can be overbearing but in Time Bandits I can at least say his fixation on the conquests of other short tyrants is amusing. However Palin's recurring role is great for its straightforward comic relief as he and Shelley Duvall play lovers from different times who can never catch a break. The tomfoolery of the Bandits are cool but the individual names I can never remember but the group dynamic is memorable all the same. The strong artistic merits of the film are first off of course Gilliam's sense of cinematography and set design but more importantly in the plot (as written by Gilliam and Palin) is the morality embodied in Craig Warnock's character, the innocent uncorrupted boy who looks for a time of character not easy material access and draining technology. I'm always amused by films, songs, television episodes and even just books that condemn technology to some degree, because I see the point but it is inheritly counter-productive. I wish we were better at keeping technology and being responsible with it. A second plot point which tickles me in a special way is the Evil Genius/Almighty Being argument about use idea of society is better with (SPOILER ALERT) the Almighty winning out because the permission of wickedness and freedom to do the right thing is with respect to Divine gift of free will and only the honest, pure of heart Kevin having the courage to ask why of the Almighty.

The U.S. Vs. John Lennon (2006 film)

The tagline alone should sell you on this film/documentary. "Artist. Humanity. National Threat." it probably scared conservatives away. Very few pop stars can really say they influenced history. See this film and you will have to admit and admire that John Lennon is more historically relevant than Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson. Who did they get to interview on this documentary? Maybe Andy Warhol, Paul McCartney, Elton John, David Bowie, stock footage of Ed Sullivan perhaps? No motherFREAKING Walter Cronkite, Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, George McGovern, Gore Vidal and a Vietnam vet. And well also Giraldo Riveria and that jerkoff G. Gordon Liddy who probably did the most to swing sympathy toward Lennon. G. Gordon Liddy's justification of the Kent State massacre and justification of spying on Lennon and the justification of interrogating peace marchers and civil rights marchers is just inhumane and disgusting and is of the lowest human character and is an exemplar of grandiose paranoia, nihilism, narcissism, and bigotry. John was more so than I think anything other celebrity put on the spot for his beliefs when what he said was simple elements of Divine Truth that were transcendently wise philosophy. How could the guy who wrote "Imagine" and "All You Need Is Love" scare a tyrannical paranoid leader like Richard Milhouse Nixon? Because he hang out with Abby Hoffman, Bobby Seale and had connections to Mike Douglas. What was wrong with this? He talked frankly about what was wrong with the war on both simplistic principle and in the specific transgresses of this war in specific. "Working Class Hero" and "Give Me Some Truth" were perceived and rightly so as attacks on the status quo. This is not about anarchy it is about righteous standards. The kind Locke, Jefferson, Thoreau, and Tolstoy wrote about. The kind of righteousness Schweitzer, Mother Teresa, Gandhi and Martin Luther King exemplified. Does anyone speak out like that anymore. Okay so in Clinton's Bush's day and still in Obama's time we have Michael Moore and Jon Stewart but they aren't taken as seriously because the chocolate coated comedy they used to digest better but probably retain a little less. With An Inconvenient Truth, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, March Of The Penguins, Autism: The Musical, Knocking and anything I've seen from Michael Moore this will move you I mean it and not because I am as it would appear to others a bleeding whiny heart liberal but because a have at least some depth of compassion that can be riled up by something other than nationalism. I am more than the colors on a flag, I am molded in the image of a loving God. Note I am aware of the irony of having listed Ben Stein's documentary as a great example of moving film as he worked for Nixon but in certain areas some of Nixon's henchmen had sincere beliefs and a kind sense of humanity and a thundering spirit to conquer particular forms of prejudice.

Jabberwocky (1977 film)

Between 1975 and 1979 the members of Monty Python did as the Wu Tang Clan would do from 1994 to 1996 and that was embark on endless solo projects featuring some work by other members to establish individual fame before reuniting to follow up on a breakthru. Monty Python And The Holy Grail led straight to 3 new BBC series featuring John Cleese (Fawlty Towers) Eric Idle (The Rutland Weekend Television) and Michael Palin and Terry Jones (Ripping Yarns) and while Graham was working on films of his own with the help of people like Bernard McKenna and Peter Cook, Terry G. called on the help of the Oxford team particularly Palin to establish his serious film career but his first three featuring Palin and a fourth with Idle Terry G. would maintain strong comedic elements. What I mean by that is the films don't play like they are trying to make you laugh although it is meant to be funny causing those who like straightforward humor to find it just plain strange (even more so than a typical Python film). But Jabberwocky is largely less popular now than it was when it was released because Terry Gilliam made consistently cult classic films with consistent quality that alienates mainstream potential fans and the fame Jabberwocky is diluted with other well liked Gilliam works. However with Time Bandits and Brazil Terry G.'s early comedic films worked splendid as Michael Palin was kind of a crossover and kind of a cult favorite giving Terry G. market appeal without selling out and this film relies on Michael Palin the comedic actor and Time Bandits Palin the screenwriter and bit actor and Brazil the dramatic minor character. Jabberwocky is like Holy Grail entertainment in a Life Of Brian/Time Bandits tone. Like the Holy Grail it has an anti-climatic ending which does weigh this film down more considerable than it did with Monty Python And The Holy Grail. However subtle zaniness and a contemporary look at olden times as a statement of the modern age make this film as good as anything else anyone from MP made from 1975-1985, maybe just less universally accepted.

Run Devil Run (1999 album)

It's not like or totally unlike John Lennon's 1975 album Rock N Roll. 15 songs 3 of which are original technically not making this a cover album. "Run Devil Run" "Try Not To Cry" and "What It Is" are the originals and "Run Devil Run" is clearly the standout as a good rollicking romp that could of been a classic in the early 60s. Somehow many of these late 50s early 60s tunes weren't monster hits. A slow thumbing bass beat love song from a forgotten group the Vipers called "No Other Baby" plays like a soft mournful dirge to his recently deceased wife Linda Eastman-McCartney and is a good contestant for a lead single next to "Run Devil Run". The only weaker songs are the Elvis covers strangely enough, so if you get to preview this album don't judge it by the song titles you recognize. With the Beatles they did great covers from Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins and Larry Williams and it was a logically good choice to cover some more songs by them as "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" "Movie Magg" and "She Said Yeah" help give the album consistent strength. Overall it is a nostalgic gem for everyone who wants to relive the Please Please Me era of the Beatles which is why this is such a personal favorite in the Mecca collection.

Spamalot (2005 album)

No other Python is so content and happy to rehash Monty Python nostalgia as the great and lazy Eric Idle. Aside from small parts in many major films (National Lampoon's European Vacation, Dudley DoRight etc) and some voice over work (The Quest For Camelot, South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut etc) Eric keeps lite with such projects as Eric Idle Sings Monty Python. However his reworking of Monty Python And The Holy Grail into a musical is half reliant on previous Monty material and half new. The composition is credited as John Du Prez and Eric Idle with lyrics by Eric Idle. But the old material taken for this project mock up the liner notes and I feel like clarifying what redundant bits you get. Of course "Knights Of The Round Table" (Chapman/Cleese) "Brave Sir Robin" (Innes/Idle) "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" (Idle) "Finland" (Palin). A couple of these songs are obvious inclusions and "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" is just smart banking, but "Finland" seemed liked he stretched to find a place for a Monty reference in an England/Finland pun. The "Finland" song also includes the Fish Slapping Dance sketch incorporated into the tune. Scenes given new songs include the Plague "He Is Not Yet Dead" the French Taunter "Run Away" Swamp Castle "Where Are You?" "His Name Is Lancelot". And so by in large the 25 track album is original. A neat amending of the film has Dennis the peasant actually being the same character as Galahad with songs "Come With Me" and "Laker Girls Cheer" converting the skeptical Dennis. Highlights you wouldn't know about if you're a Python fan but new to the Spamalot franchise branch include Tim Curry (King Arthur) and voluptuously sexy siren Sara Ramirez (The Lady Of The Lake) dueting on songs "The Song That Goes Like This" and the moving (honestly) "Find Your Grail" both with encore editions at the shows closing moments. The reinvented Python works well as much for its cast as its material used. The great David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) as Sir Robin and the impeccable Hank Azaria (The Simpsons) as Sir Lancelot and a relatively unknown Christian Sieber as Sir Galahad.

Across The Universe (2007 film)

Simply put this is an overwhelming movie. Not in the bad, overbearing way the 1978 disaster Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was, but more in the dazzling experience one would expect from Baz Luhrmann or Ken Russell. That said it might not be for everyone but I couldn't imagine who? Across The Universe looks at the 60s in contemporary lenses and deals the issues facing the youth movement then and now. Key issues are war, love, peace, music with nicely enough less focus on sex and drugs although these issues are dealt with in a less blunt manner. Jude, from Liverpool, in a trip to see his father in America meets a friend Max and his sister Lucy. Max is a recent drop out trying to find out what he wants to do without sacrificing his youth in the meantime. He and Jude take an apartment in NYC. Lucy has/had a boyfriend in the army who died shortly before meeting Jude. Once Max is officially dropped out of NYU he is drafted and Jude tries to comfort Lucy who fears the worse for her brother. Jude, Lucy, Jojo, Prudence and Sadie try to find a way to help Max out but to no avail and they all try to make what they can of their own lives. But the pressures of things beyond their control, particularly the war and their love lives and their careers strain their relationship. Although an active member of a pacifist group Lucy can't get her brother or the other troops home to end an unjust war. But in a not as predictable as it sounds type way, Max comes home mentally scared and physically wounded and Lucy and Jude work things out into a brilliant climax of a rooftop concert performance of "All You Need Is Love." The lower points of the film I might say are Bono as a Californian guru singing "I Am The Walrus" teaching everyone to trip out and a great comic Eddie Izzard performing "For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite" where they once again meet Prudence who was gone for a little bit. These bits are good representations of the songs in a way but don't quite fit the tone of the film.

The Story Of 1 (2005 film)

Only a Python can make the history of math seem so interesting. Made in 2005 the Oxford team of Palin and Jones had become no strangers to the BBC documentary scene as they made trademark styles of documentaries. Palin with his wonderful travels discovering the cultures of interesting places like the Sahara or the Himalayas and Terry Jones looking into the past with humor into Ancient Inventions and Medieval Lives. None of those have I yet got to see although based on what I have seen of clips I am eager to find them. My mom being a math teacher had got this documentary from another teacher and my mom had me watch it to see if there was anything interesting she could use in her class and make a quiz based on the material. Well many parts are side notes (like Pythagoras' other teachings which actually were his teachings it is not made up) or in the case of the opening a mock evolution of one. But by in large is strongly math related with explanations of how different cultures expanded the concepts of math. One interesting thing was how Pythagoras and Archimedes had put math in the forefront of Greek culture and put theoretical math into practice. The Egyptians were the first to design rulers of a cubit and the Indians invented the concept of 0 giving what we know as Arabic numerals 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 etc. The Romans we learn had done more to stunt the growth of math with Roman numerals like IVXLCDM making arithmetic almost impossible (as they used an abacus). The invent and acceptance of usury aka loans with interests caused Arabic numerals to replace Roman numerals. Other great facts is how they found the oldest certain use of counting on notches by the fact the notches were grouped in fives by neat lines. Also the Mesopotamian society invented the use of tokens to subtract. Lastly in an incoherent random trivia summary the focus of how an Aborigine tribe survived without math not even using measurements by landmarks described in song as directions.

Vertical Man (1998 album)

As you may already knew I became a huge Beatles fan after Anthology. And immediately afterward I pondered who I liked more John Lennon or Ringo Starr? After all I use to watch Shiny Time Station and imagine how stoked I was to find a whole nother secret career of his it was like finding the Batcave. Well a couple years later Ringo released Vertical Man and I loved it thinking it would be his GREAT COMEBACK. I didn't understand how a legendary musician who just made a great album not get a comeback after all the Monkees hit the top 20 with "That Was Then This Is Now" and the Beach Boys came back to #1 with "Kokomo". And I still think those songs are mediocre compared to the Vertical Man effort. Admittedly I didn't get Flaming Pie from Paul McCartney but I didn't know a song from it at the time but I heard "La De Da" on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and thought okay I have an excuse to buy this album because if my parents asked I needed to name a song I liked and "La De Da" would do. Eventually I did the same dumb mistake again as I did with The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash. I sold it. The logic being I was always telling people the Beatles were the best band ever with no one to match my enthusiasm and thought after watching hours of VH1 over a period of months that there may be better bands out there and to be fair and for the interest of getting my own interests mainstreamed I thought I'd experiment what else was out there. For over a decade I poured through Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Queen, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Neil Young, The Who etc. I even tried the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, the Kinks, Prince, Marvin Gaye, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Eric Clapton, R.E.M. (just to try to include all the Classic Rock artists I've bought multiple albums of and in case you're wondering about Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones I bought Led Zeppelin IV and Hot Rocks and thought that was enough and don't even get me started on Lynyrd Skynyrd.) Anyway I still didn't find to match my enthusiasm combining with the consideration of making me less of a musical social outcast in a town that loved Kid Rock, Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Insane Clown Posse and Eminem. If I could go back ten years in my past rather than discuss why I'm still dateless and jobless and still living with my parents I would have giving my self this simply advice listen to "What In The ... World" "I Was Walkin'" "Without Understanding" and realize that this was the beginning of a wonderful relationship with the Beatles solo work that my only regret would be that these albums are so rare to find.

Labyrinth (1986 film)

I'm watching this film as I'm writing this as I didn't realize how long it's been since I've seen it until I thought of putting this film as my next entry. But I remember my first reaction to this film. I thought it was extremely Python-esque I thought was odd until I found the Terry Jones who wrote this script was the TERRY JONES. And imdb tries to marginalize his credit on the film saying the ending had lots of rewrites but the humor is Python just as assuredly as it has Henson's charm and Lucas' production value. It would be unethical if I said finding out a Python heavy weight had a hand in this made me love this film more but it did move Terry Jones up a notch in MP rankings (below Palin and Chapman but decidedly above Gilliam, Idle, and Cleese being the underdog helps in the raking) Before this the only Terry Jones affiliated film outside the MP was Erik The Viking which I never finished although I was enjoying it, at least more the other person sitting in the living room with me. Luckily my sisters do love the Labyrinth so I can watch it anytime in leisure. The wonderful M. C. Escher design and Terry's humor working a parallel magic with it's logic, wordplay and counterarguments that are MP trademarks especially at the 2 doors with two guards. The 80s had some great rock musicals (The Blues Brothers, Purple Rain, This Is Spinal Tap, Pink Floyd:The Wall, Stop Making Sense) and while this may not be a rock musical David Bowie certainly helps with a funny Muppet chorus song "Dance Magic Dance". Lovable Muppet characters like the Don Quixote type shaggy knight, a miserable miserly helper and a pet dog like giant give another great credential along with loads of odd side Muppets like the headless flamingo type creatures and the ominous Easter Island heads. Also the Bog Of Stench is funny. But the best treat might be the most basic movie treat available, an adorable and yet paradoxically sexy teen star in Jennifer Connelly's early career who thankfully survived child/teen stardom. Sweet, moody, naive, poutty complexingly simple. Gentle green eyes and long luscious raven hair like the lost maiden of a Poe tale which works naturally for the theme of this film. Labyrinth deserves a shot for anyone who likes family entertainment, comedy, music, sci-fi, fantasy or any form of intelligent light entertainment.

Memory Almost Full (2007 album)

Never believe that there is no good music at any point in time, because if current hit-makers aren't pulling their weight the old masters come in and pick up the slack. The trouble is nobody ever looks at the old masters except music snobs that market place music fans detest. Sure the music snobs gave Bob Dylan the Grammy Album Of The Year Award in 1997 for Time Out Of Mind but it was his son Jacob of the Wallflowers getting MTV time with "One Headlight" (a great song but doesn't overshadow Time Out Of Mind). Anyhow of all of the post Beatles post 70s glory fests Memory Almost Full is the best competitor to Double Fantasy and Cloud Nine and possibly surpassing all of Paul's other solo work. A strong argument for this certainly is the song "The End Of The End" which the second to last song. In somber humbling tones Paul asks his friends not to mourn his death but to celebrate his life which exemplifies his talent for sentimental tunes is rooted in sincere emotion. Much of his post Anthology work is of a reminiscent spirit especially after Linda's death and Heather's divorce, but in true Mecca style he gives a variety of emotional reflections with such great skill. The ode to individuality "Vintage Clothes" is a good picker upper but mind you common criticisms of Sir Paul is that his songs are sentimental tear jerkers or goofy mindless poppy songs which to those of a cynical nature might conclude about these songs as this is a criticism common to his followers Elton John, Billy Joel, Neil Diamond etc. I, however, although being somewhat more of a fan of the other Beatles, recognize Paul puts an unquestionable example of humanity in his work of this album. There's his classy bluesy blue eyed soul in "Only Mama Knows" an upbeat simply song of joy "That Was Me" and "Ever Present Past" is a slightly alt-rock look in the mirror and there's half a dozen other examples of how Paul elaborates his day in my life theme while keeping away from a monotonous performance and to a certain degree a wise idea to put "Nod Your Head" at the end so that it only stunts enough of the effect of "In The End Of The End" that one is left one a deepening down note but is left still with a sense of mortality that this album is really all about.

The Meaning Of Life (1983 film)

What can I say that would be a fair judge of this film? It is one of the most misunderstood comedies of all time. If you see Woody Allen's Everything You Wanted To Now About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask and Mel Brooks' History Of The World Part I then you will have a frame of reference. Some frame of reference at least. The Gilliam opening and Mr. Cresote are the only things stopping this film from having the consistency film-goers tend to crave. Otherwise it's religion, war, sex, birth and death in a philosophical/juvenile artsy/pop film. It's a paradox the comedians of the 70s understood as George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Steve Martin along with the aforementioned filmmakers. Brilliant and mad it appeals to the usual crowd. The Crimson Permanent Assurance is great in the same sense Time Bandits is great which is a different tone than a straight Monty Python concoction so if you can't take 30 minutes of unhindered Gilliam be prepared to fast forward. I personally enjoy but I think I'm the only Gilliam fan in my crew. There's a little fish in a restaurant's fish tank scene that segue ways into the feature film that is a good brief straight to the point intro. Then comes the second of half a dozen songs in the film. One of the key points of interest comes up next. Part 1 "The Miracle Of Birth" has Chapman and Cleese playing obstetricians with a comic indifference to the pregnant woman. Some very funny one-liners and retorts pursue for the first clear laughs of the film and then the second half is about a lower class Catholic couple with something like 72 children, a Jones/Palin number that gives the real roars of laughter as they explain to their children why they had more children than they could feed. This section ends with a Protestant couple looking down on the "barbaric" restrictions of the papacy. One of two critiques of this film is they should of followed this with the "Martin Luther" scene you can see in the DVD deleted scenes bonus features. Then "Growth And Learning" gives a funny lesson in the Bible and sex (see the theme). The sex education is really funny and quite informative. The third section "Fighting Each Other" deals with the inherit hypocrisy of war. Eric plays at least three hysterical parts in the Anglo-Zulu war scene alone along with strong parts filled with Chapman and Palin. The intermission "Find The Fish" segment is funny and legendary and separates the hard core from the casual fans as does really everything else in the film. The segment "Middle Age" is great for fans of abstract humor where restaurants serve conversations not just food and Palin and Idle play ignorant tourists to Cleese as the waiter. Next "Live Organ Transplants" is funny but gruesome that leads into a musical existential question to give the scene a funny top off. Then comes "Autumn Years" where I once again for a second and last time I would of made an edit as Mr. Cresote was gross without a point and I would say as the only meaningless scene is the only truly crude scene in this film which has an unjust labeling of crude. "Death" follows slowly but ends with a great musical number and a good closer from Palin in drag. Hopefully the bulk of the 2 hours of viewing this film gives you more laughs than gags. And now the musical credits
"Accountancy Shanty" The Crimson Permanent Assurance
Lyrics by Eric Idle and John Duprez
"The Meaning Of Life" opening
Lyrics by Eric Idle
"Every Sperm Is Sacred" The Miracle Of Birth
Lyrics by Terry Jones and Michael Palin
"Oh God Please Don't Burn Us" Growth And Learning
Lyrics by Graham Chapman and John Cleese
"Galaxy Song" Live Organ Transplants
Lyrics by Eric Idle
"Penis Song" Middle Ages
Lyrics by Eric Idle
"Christmas In Heaven" Death
Lyrics by Terry Jones
Congrats to all 6 for giving a better than usual send off of a legendary last effort of a legendary team. I teared up at The Liberty Bell March.

All Things Must Pass (1970 album)

As I was listening to this earlier today I realized something. George Harrison had 22 songs written and produced with the Beatles in that era (4 from The White Album, 3 from Revolver, 2 from Help!, Rubber Soul, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, and Let It Be and 1 from from With The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour and a couple B Sides on Past Masters). How many songs on All Things Must Pass a triple album album you may ask? 23 (not all written solely by George Harrison but minus the live jam only two weren't). The Beatles breakup seem to be a blessing in disguise (with glasses, sorry pun of an obscure song with a Beatles reference called "Judy In Disguise With Glasses" by John Fred & the Playboys). Anyway between the new depths Lennon was able to go unhindered by commercial expectations and George performing without album quotas the Beatles seem to reach the next height they were looking for. I wonder how George's Beatles songs sound stacked up against All Things Must Pass but it's almost apples and oranges or maybe apples and grapples. It's sort of the same great recognizable Harrison but with spirituality. The same country twang and sweet melodic high pitch British voice but with broader territory lyrically. Musically it's almost just as diverse. Some songs are soft others hard but all are superlatively mellow. "Wah Wah" and my personal favorite "What Is Life" are great examples of hard and mellow. "If Not For You" is a superb cover of a Bob Dylan song that Dylan himself only recorded earlier that year, a great move for George and a pity for Dylan because how many people have his New Morning with that song. There are the classically philosophical song about the world and personal morals that are absolutely inspiring I much say as a poet like "Isn't It A Pity" and "Awaiting On You All". Songs of closures like the title tune and "Art Of Dying" that contain stoic like endurance or spiritual serenity. Occasionally I don't know if George is going for the spirituality of Hare Krishna or trying to woo Patti Boyd but that's because the lyrics could apply to both and yet they seem explicit enough to render an emotion one way or another like "Behind That Locked Door". Altogether the switch up of moods, melodies and lyrical themes all dealt with the same masterful skill allow one to have a supreme example of great music that carries for about 2 hours and amazingly people look to blame who caused the Beatles break up, but here we see the seeds of growth as 1970 closed with an already great catalog of post Beatles work. See also John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and McCartney

Hemingway's Chair (1995 book)

Michael Palin is easily the most under-appreciated member of Monty Python (considering Graham had already done a lot by the time of his death). Michael was always pegged as the nice guy and according to sources out there he is not so pleased with it because it implies a weak will. But Palin did always seem the most self-sacrificing of the group at least when it come to the other's solo projects. To list
1) John Cleese's How To Irritate People 2) A Fish Called Wanda 3) Fierce Creatures 4) The Human Face (John Cleese documentary) 5) Jabberwocky 6) Time Bandits 7) Brazil 8) The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash 9) Bert Fegg's Nasty Book For Boys And Girls (a Terry Jones book) 10) Bert Fegg's Encyclopedia Of All World Knowledge (its sequel) 11) Secrets (a Terry Jones play) 12) The Box (a short film cowritten by Terry Jones) 13) Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (a Terry Jones film also featuring Cleese and Idle in larger roles)
And I mentioned all that deliberately with this book. You see the problem is Hemingway's Chair (one of his few personal achievements outside his children's books and legendary travel documentaries) just seems so autobiographical in this sense. I always related to Palin's characters and sketches better than any others from the Python gang and yet I consider myself fiercely independent. From Sir Galahad to Herbert Anchovy to Arthur Pewty he always the nice guy trying to do the right thing. But like Cardinal Richelieu, Adrian Bugsy Malone or Ken Pile he had a strong personality underneath all the social quirks. Plus Michael was an Oxford history grad who is speculated to have Asperger's Syndrome (also with Dan Aykroyd, Andy Kaufman, Charles Schulz, Woody Allen, Peter Tork, Jim Henson and Garrison Keillor just to mention the comedians). I have AS and I see relate able traits in him only seemingly more admirable in him. If Martin Sproale the main character in Hemingway's Chair is a reflection of himself I wish I could give Michael some encouragement. It was suppose to be humorous but the simple tragedies of the book seemed cruel to happen to a guy like Martin. Martin is an Ernest Hemingway fanatic (which I can't relate to but in Play It Again Sam Woody Allen idolized Humphrey Bogart which I didn't understand until I saw the film). He works at a post office in Theston for poor wages. His father died (presumably from suicide) when Martin was seventeen and shaped his interest in Hemingway but kept a small town docile lifestyle with a girlfriend whom he has not had sex with, quite. At age 37 he is expecting a promotion but not only not got it but the new boss wants to privatize the post office and make it run on profit not service (to Martin's great chagrin). Martin stays docile too long loses his girlfriend and loses the post office until he quits and falls off the grid. Luckily for most of the book he befriends a Hemingway scholar who helps him emotionally named Ruth Kohler. At the fall of his relationship with Elaine Rudge they start to heat up but she leaves for Oxford. In the end he sabotages things for his new boss Nick Marshall and goes to the Key West for a Hemingway festival seemingly happy but alone. I hope as Michael Palin himself goes traveling the world he remembers his loving wife, his good friends and his many admiring fans. The book however is still great if not looked at as solely an author's mirror image as there are good comical descriptions of mundane small town polite life where more class means less personality and/or character.

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970 album)

It sounds like an audio journal and seems to be only appreciated as such. 1970, as was the whole early 70's, was a difficult time for John and little would he figure this was only the beginning. The album quite revealing starts out with the song "Mother" based on the primal scream therapy technique, he started wailing a somber, mournful tune of the genesis of his troubled psyche. The emotional ailments of his childhood are well documented and most eloquently demonstrated on this opening track. "Mother" has become the musical symbol of emotional stunted intimacy and can relate to no matter how literally or figuratively your own sense of abandonment is. Wisely followed by the mellow, uplifting "Hold On" keeping one's spirit ready for the struggle of what's to come. "I Found Out" returns (well not quite returns) to the bitter side not sorrowful like "Mother" but cynical and a little vicious that leads over to the philosophical and wise "Working Class Hero" and the phrase 'tells it like it is' really comes to mind 'they keep you doped with sex, religion and tv' and 'you think you're so clever and classless and free'. "Isolation" is now fully back to vulnerability back with a little hope. "Remember" and "Love" together represent the hope he found with Yoko and the cynical truth turns to proverbial wisdom. Idealism of the past "Remember" somehow is brought into the riddled wisdom of a sage expressing what "Love" is. "Well Well Well" is about a plan of action releasing into unharnessed aggression and frustration. "Look At Me" in youthful frailty expresses a yearning for self-identity and the albums closes on a dismal yet hopeful tone in the earnest "God" and "My Mummy's Dead". (Note mummy is British dialect for mommy not the embalmed Egyptians I don't know what they're called in England). In the end John finds his peace and security begins and ends with Yoko and to those who blame her for breaking up the Beatles should listen to this album and see her as the Saint Who Saved John Lennon.

The Rutles All You Need Is Cash (1978 film)

Why oh why did I sell this DVD? Oh yeah because I couldn't stand watching it alone anymore and no one can indulge both my Beatles and my Monty Python fixation simultaneously. Anyway I love this film and it comes from my Eric Idle phase of my never-ending Python-fixation. The humor is wonderful to anyone who knows the Beatles historically via the late 70s Beatles revival that made this sincere mockery or as I was brought up in the Anthology era. But this is Python humor and a Python product and is an ideal mesh of my two fetishes even featuring George Harrison and Michael Palin in a very Pythonesque scene of an interviewer (Harrison) asking a Bananas (Apple) Records Exec about reports of theft from the studio and the Exec (Palin) openly denying these allegations in front of a studio robbery. The song parodies aren't as good as they could be (except "Get Up And Go" and "Let's Be Natural"), but the history represented in the mockery is the brilliance. Eric Idle as the main interviewer asking a former record exec (Aykroyd) who passed on The Rutles claiming guitars groups are on their way out "How's it feel to be such an asshole?" Other great SNL participants that highlight this piece so well are Bill Murray as the emphatic radio DJ Murray The K, John Belushi as Ron Decline the ruthless manager possibly a hybrid mockery of Allen Klein and Phil Spector both shrewd, fierce and loved by John until personal betrayal and finally Gilda Radner as an on the street interviewee who in a hurry feigns ignorance on knowing who the Rutles were but when coaxed by a slap she goes on a personal rampage of who the Rutles were and how they shaped her generation and her life as Eric fights to get his microphone away from her again. Paul Simon and Mick Jagger give a couple of good cameo spots in the Christopher Guest/Spinal Tap style mockumentary this film has for a tone. All in all the film's a joy for Beatles, Python and/or SNL fans and a strong recommendation just watch it with someone who doesn't love anymore fanatically than you nor someone who is more indifferent to the subject matter because it would be a letdown on the experience.

Anthology 2 (1996 album)

My first proper introduction to the Beatles was in 1995 with the debut of the Beatles Anthology. I taped every segment of the miniseries and then dug through my dad's vinyl collection to listen to the Beatles and by the time I saw the "Can't Buy Me Love" scene in A Hard Day's Night they had officially became my favorite band. The treat of the Anthology series were the two new songs "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love" and I preferred "Real Love" as it sounded more harmonious and lyrically I just thought it was brilliant. So between having "Real Love" on the second Anthology CD set and the first CD set having "Free As A Bird" and taking into account the naturally superior studio sound in the second set versus the demo tape recordings on the first, I have a biased view from the start to say it is the better of the first two Anthology albums. The third one has many great tunes not released before but none 'entirely' new (usually being demos to songs they would record as solo artists), so my first post of the Anthology set is Anthology 2. So it's an odds and ends album making a cohesive flat rating basically obsolete. A two hour hedge-podge epic can't simply be giving a pick or pan thumbs up or down rating. All I can say is what makes this album worth a listen. First as I said "Real Love" a beautiful Lennon song resurrected from a premature grave (not making it on a John Lennon album except on the soundtrack to the documentary John Lennon: Imagine). Classic tunes resurrected include the surprisingly unreleased songs "If You've Got Trouble" and "That Means A Lot" originally intended for the Help! soundtrack but cut out almost inexplicably for the covers "Act Naturally" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzie" (both worthy covers of Buck Owens and Larry Williams tunes respectively). An unfinished group instrumental "12 Bar Original" also included helps keep pleasant surprises coming. A lavish string opening arranged for "Eleanor Rigby" and three different takes on "Strawberry Fields Forever" help justify why they would choose to release altered forms of their classics. Between the inventive takes of earlier versions of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" and cut out classics like soft romantic "That Means A Lot" and the blunt confronting "If You've Got Trouble" you'll think of how much second guessing must have went on in making their albums that would previously seem so effortlessly wonderful. Listening to the lack luster take of "Got To Get You Into My Life" you'll appreciate the caution they took in making these albums.

Scorched (2003 film)

This is the first real stretch of the Monty Python collection to be put on this blog, but it's the most recent film I've seen as I just rented it. Scorched was not written or directed by a Python and it only has one starring in it. Can you guess which one? If you said John Cleese congratulations you are not an idiot. I'm surprised (well not surprised but displeased) to find out this movie bombed at the box office. The six Pythons (five living currently) have kept busy in the the last 40 years but as a fan I wouldn't go so far as to say there is an over-saturation of Monty Python. After all, most of what is made the six is obscure and hard to find yet you can find very certain items (ie A Fish Called Wanda, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python And The Holy Grail, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas) very very easily. Most people with less credentials can live a lot longer in the afterglow and with mediocre projects making larger sums of money (see Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, the Zucker Brothers). All I'm saying is why isn't the MP giving a fair chance to dominate the local DVD store. This film's credentials include a Coenesque comedy/crime plot with more mainstream humor, charming co-stars all around. John Cleese plays a venomous con artist who sells a bogus get rich quick set and although not nearly the main focus of the film is crucial to two of the subplots. Woody Harrelson tries to steal from John's safe deposit box and the adorably spunky Rachel Leigh Cook ("so you want to Jack with the Ripper") wants to egg John's mansion. John's character, Rachel's character and her brother/friend(?) are the only ones not immediately associated with the bank along with Alicia Silverstone's character's new boyfriend. The story revolves around basically four near-simultaneous bank robberies at the same bank branch in the same weekend, mostly by the tellers themselves. Each set of burglars gets away with a different stack of hundreds of dollars stored in the drawers, the safe, the ATM machine and of course the safe deposit boxes. The bank manager is such a douche you really revel in the fact each one gets away with it, sorry about the spoiler but I figured you could see where it was going. Everyone has there funny moments and even with the shortage of actual Python members it is the type of film to please MP fans at least those of the Fierce Creatures sort.

Some Time In New York City (1972 album)

By any measure this album took more balls for John than any other. FBI files, Imagine finally secured his position in rock music in his own right, but what does John do? Makes a 1) double album with his wife 2) Yoko (who to put it nicely is a better muse than singer) featuring 3) Frank Zappa in a live jam, filled with 4) pre-electric Dylan type edgy protest songs working with very topical material which is 5) controversial at it's time and 6) forgotten later. Commercially the bright side is Phil Spector does well producing Yoko's songs to make it appear to have rhythm and melody. My problem is almost everything that makes this album so difficult for others to enjoy is largely why I like it. "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World" is a great song (as for white people using the n word it was a context matter in the 70's, i.e. Mel Brooks, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, Steve Martin, Monty Python, George Carlin etc) but not a lead single material as well guess what it's not exactly radio friendly. If I was John's manager I would have asked the song "New York City" backed with "Attica State" as the lead single or at least put it out at some point to promote the album. Maybe market "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "The Luck Of The Irish" into an Irish pride documentary or "Woman Is Nigger Of The The World" and "Sisters O Sisters" into feminist protest rallies. "John Sinclair" and "Angela" are still great tunes even if nobody seems to remember who John Sinclair or Angela Davis are anymore. Oh well, John might have (temporarily) fallen from Billboard favor but not from artistic integrity and this is why he's my hero.

Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967 tv series)

Nine episodes still exist of a 27 episode programme. Sad, but British television (ITV not the BBC in this case) had the habit of 'wiping' episodes and reusing the video tape to record another show, so it's just nice to have what we do and thank goodness we have Monty Python's Flying Circus in it's entirety. The show is a quirky fare as we would expect. The show was however designed as a kid's show and if you don't mind the film quality it's a good show to present to people who like Monty Python but want to avoid The Meaning Of Life and Life Of Brian in front of sensitive company. What it has in each episode is David Jason and Denise Coffey doing the Captain Fantastic sketches (a little weak for my taste at times mainly because the poor budget hinders its potential if it does have any) and also a fantastic treat to me the weekly Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band song (of course your opinion of these two features could be the exact opposite). Songs Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band use in the show include the cult classic "Death Cab For Cutie" used in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour. I can say this is a great deal because I bought the nine episode two disc set for 5 bucks at a great used DVD store. Reasons that make this set so enjoyable is first off just seeing Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin have so much control to do the humor they wanted particularly Terry and Michael is good enough for the 5 bucks I spent and as mention the songs are wonderful. Good bits abound with Eric and Michael's "Two Of Us" bit and a long list of sketches involving mock lessons. Eric Idle teaching about gravity, Denis going to safety expert (scam artist) David Jason on how to protect her valuables, David Jason and Michael Palin teaching proper eating etiquette. Denis and David do a fortune teller mugging a customer bit and David goes a mock suite commercial with Palin (naturally) as the voice over. David Jason tries to buy a tin of shoe polish from Palin, but Terry gets it instead. Another sketch involves undercover cops with Palin at his finest and a traveling insurance man (David Jason) selling to a reluctant Michael Palin. In the end there's probably at best a dozen sketches that really make you laugh and all the others are just a joy but no riots. A half dozen or dozen legendary sketches (depending on how critical you are) in a nine episode set isn't a Flying Circus but better than your run of the mill sketch show like the 1980's Saturday Night Live.

Ringo (1973 album)

Let's review Ringo's musical work up to this first "proper" album. A cover of 40's standards Sentimental Journey (including the title Doris Day song) and then an equally radical swing at country all in the same year 1970 (the year the Beatles broke up no less). So far Beatle fans could be worried that not all 4 Beatles will continue success as solo artists, but luckily with Candy and The Magic Christian (not to mention A Hard Day's Night and Help!) it seemed Ringo had a consolation prize to fame. Spaghetti western Blindman and Zappa's freaky art flick 200 Motels followed and though that sounds bad Ringo had meanwhile recorded two singles in 1971/1972 that suggested a musical career was still in his grasp. First the gold single and timeless classic "It Don't Come Easy" backed with the quirky autobiographical "Early 1970." Then for the Speghetti western he wrote a tune "Blindman" used as a b-side to "Back Off Bugaloo." What was great was all 4 songs were written solely by Ringo and they were album worthy. So for 1973 Ringo got some celebrities, notably John, Paul and George (yes a reunion kinda) to help make 10 songs to complete an album. Unfortunately the four aforementioned tunes would remain non-album tracks until a greatest hits or bonus selection edition of the studio albums would be made. The good news the original songs put on held a masterfully put together album with so much to pull from and Ringo delivering it on his own. To relate John who would continue to write for Ringo when requested gave the great opener "I'm The Greatest" (following albums would have "Goodnight Vienna" "Cooking (In The Kitchen Of Love)" and the songs "Life Begins At 40" and "Nobody Told Me" for the album that would become Stop And Smell The Roses, but sadly John's death made it too somber and sad a tone for Ringo to sing). Paul wrote "Six O'Clock" a sweet unconventional love song (Paul would later write "Pure Gold" and "Private Property" for Ringo) and George with the bulk of help cowriting with Ringo the number one classic "Photograph" and also the songs "Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)" and the tight closer "You And Me (Babe)." George also would continue to write for Ringo although notable another Stop And Smell The Roses outtake would be a casualty as the reminiscent "All Those Years Ago" would likewise be too somber for Ringo giving George a hit with it instead. 3 other Ringo tunes besides "Photograph" appeared mostly co-written with Vini Poncia (who became a favored writing partner) "Oh My My" "Step Lightly" and "Devil Woman" mostly tight rocker songs "Step Lightly" was kind of soft shoe all 3 were good. The seemingly random rambling of this post shows the depth of this corner point in Ringo's career and emphasize why it is a must have album if for nothing else historical reasons, but that aside what history lead up to this also made it great and Ringo's formula for success was found which says something important about the quality of this album.

The cutest thing ever!

Vocational Guidance Counselor

Monty Python Sings (1989 album)

Another shameless compilation album from Monty Python and I cheat and say it's a radical new arrangement. I stand by it because the Pythons should have an all song album for their fans and musical comedy is an easy way to win new fans. My first contention with the album is it over emphasizes Eric Idle's role in the group. Nine songs with lyrics solely provided by Eric Idle and four more co-written (one with John Gould, John DuPrez, John Cleese and Graham Chapman each). Of course Eric became my favorite with instantly likable tunes such as "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" and "I Like Chinese" and his raunchy "Sit On My Face" and "The Penis Song (Not The Noel Coward Song)." But the others wrote songs that grew on you. Okay the Oxford team had the balk of the rest of the album and well deservedly. What Chapman, Cleese and Gilliam contributed were cowriting Eric Idle's "Medical Love Song" and "Eric The Half A Bee" (Chapman and Idle's "Medical Love Song" being the funnier one) and the Chapman/Cleese tune "Knights Of The Round Table (Camelot Song)" the unfunny John Cleese song "Oliver Cromwell" and Terry Gilliam's "I've Got Two Legs." The "Camelot Song" perhaps being the only one on par with the Idle/Oxford tunes (or the Do Not Adjust Your Set tunes to put it more simply). Terry Jones and Michael Palin as always work best together (although Palin has worked well on Cleese's and Gilliam's solo projects as well). Three MP classics came from this team "Lumberjack Song" "Spam Song" and "Every Sperm Is Sacred." These songs belong in novelty song hall of fame with Ray Stevens and Tom Lehrer. Individually Palin's acquired taste shone through with dry delivery and esoteric wit in "Finland" "Decomposing Composers" and "The Brian Song." Terry Jones went for intellectual thinking crude humor with the shocking "Never Be Rude To An Arab" "Christmas In Heaven" and "I'm So Worried" (which grows on you and is better than "Traffic Lights") If they makes a Monty Python Sings...Again which they probably won't I hope they put on it the

1. "Military Fairy March"
2. "Anything Goes (Not That Cole Porter Song)"
3. "Dennis Moore (full length)"
4. "Oh God Please Don't Burn Us" (the only Meaning Of Life song missing!)
5. "Brave Sir Robin"
6. "Bing Tiddle Tiddle Bong"
7. "I Bet You They Won't Play This Song On The Radio"
8. "I Like Traffic Lights" (just to be fair it is funny enough)
9. "Sgt. Duckie's Song"
10. "Where Does A Dream Begin?"
11. "He's Going To Tell"
12. "Monk's Chant"

There's some more MP songs that should be included to fill the album but I would be amiss for listing them since I have not heard them yet such as "Here Comes Another One"

Please Please Me (1963 album)

This album is if nothing else the textbook of album making 101. 4 musicians with 14 songs with covers and originals playing straightforward rock in masterful sequence. Start off with a burst of energy "I Saw Her Standing There" and steps down with "Misery" an early start of introspective and picks back up with the poppy "Please Please Me" and "Love Me Do" and swoons back with the introspective "There's A Place" giving a final meditative look before closing with a bang the legendary Isley Brothers cover "Twist And Shout." Interesting to note it was all recorded in a day and "Twist And Shout" was the last song recorded and John's vocals were sore, hence the distinctive vocal delivery of this song, which coincidently made it more famous than its original Isley Brothers performance. As such a legendary album it automatically gets rave reviews along with every other original Beatles album, which yes it deserves but this album is hindered by the universally praise of it matched by the universal praise of EVERYTHING ELSE the Beatles did. Rather than a review of the album critics should just give a description of it and recommend what sort of fans would prefer this and keep minute trivia to a minimum. Please Please Me is for those who miss "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen or "Hang On Sloopy" by the McCoys. And everyone I know loves those songs.

Fierce Creatures (1997 film)

Why start the Monty Python solo catalog with Fierce Creatures as opposed to Brazil or A Fish Called Wanda or some tripe that has a marginal bit of Eric Idle and/or John Cleese? Well because in Time Bandits and A Fish Called Wanda they made the mistake of putting Cleese and Palin together in a movie but never together in a scene except for the chase to the airplane in A Fish Called Wanda. Fierce Creatures had the balls to make an all out zany comedy fitting the talents of their member's capabilities. In the same year as Jim Carrey made Liar Liar and Mike Myers made the first Austin Powers film Cleese, Palin, Curtis and Kline went less pretentious than they did in Wanda and I think outzaned and outhearted the big name comedy win outs of the year. So why did Fierce Creatures fall behind Mike Myers and Jim Carrey in the box office? Sodding bloody critics that's why. No one reads a critics review before seeing Austin Powers or a Jim Carrey movie and most of the critics still don't understand Python so why listen to some nitwit critics bash the irreverence of Monty Python when it is precisely that which made them great???? Anyway some terrific scenes of Michael Palin laboriously making his point when no one seems to listen and some zookeepers try to go crazy to talk sense into John Cleese (think it's a Monty Python sketch that's already been done no Eric Idle was the drone in "Travel Agent" and Palin was the one lost for reason in "Dead Parrot" Okay so it's a little like the "Argument Sketch") and then there's the heartless narcissists of Kevin Kline's two characters as they try to ruin the zoo for profit. It's a must see.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978 film)

Oh Blasphemy of Blasphemies! I had a warning that this would be bad, but I thought it had a Beatles soundtrack and after-all all 4 Beatles were still alive would John, Paul, George and Ringo all sit back and let such an atrocity happen in their name!!! Okay enough over-drama, but really this film although filled the joyful tunes of the Beatles (an all Beatle soundtrack with an albums worth of songs qualifies as a Beatles specialty and up for a personal review) but it does not contain the spirit of the Beatles as I knew the experience coming as a fan. So what I say may not apply to every Beatle fan. Anyway, the problem is a band that sang "All You Need Is Love" and "Revolution" it doesn't seem likely to have designed their alter ego band to have literal militant origins. In the previous film incarnation of Sgt. Pepper's via Yellow Submarine Sgt. Pepper's had no military background and the Beatles posed as Sgt. Pepper's to fight the meanies with music and they joined to Pepperland and left the Dark Side. A children's tale of ideology worthy of Dr. Seuss. But in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band it lacked the charm of an urban fantasy of a Utopian Wonderland and went for the unbelievable concept of small town patriotism who shamed Hollywood fame. The 70's generation seemed so hypocritical making this moral lesson against materialistic decadence. Really think of how many coke induced orgies the stars of this film participated in. The 70's was the worst elements of the 60's and this film to me perfectly reflects that, not that I don't like many of the performers or that I think ill of all who participated afterall Aerosmith sobered up and in this film gave one of the best Beatles covers ever (note on Permanent Vacation they also did a great job on the Beatle tune "I'm Down"). Back to the theme of the film, it just seemed too preachy and yet not saying anything. And I suppose I'm still being overdramatic but to quote John Lennon in a depressed stage of his career circa 1970 Plastic Ono Band "The dream is over." And for a long time it seemed to ring true for generations of disingenuous charities and self indulgence.

Life Of Brian (1979 film)

Look before the fundamentalists stone me let me say just one thing "JEHOVAH!" Okay I love that scene and if you don't know what I'm talking about don't criticize this film (but who does anymore?) The long chronicled critical debate on this film has left me feeling somewhat isolated. Not to sound preachy I'll just say I'm a Christian and I love how this film makes fun of politics and religion and particularly the corruption of politics and the lack of spirituality in one's religious odyssey. The people lampooned are those who don't reason just look for riddles to solve. The people who take for granted the very fundamental elements of Christianity, true Christianity. I love watching the Pythons, especially Terry Jones and Eric Idle, defend this film because I think they understand the difference between blasphemy and heresy and don't take this condescendingly but I think they made God proud to have them serve the purpose of making His sincere and insincere followers think, a reward for the sincere and a punishment for the insincere. Aside from religion I want to add the Stan/Loretta scene is hysterical as is the "What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us?" scene and many more scenes. Thank you for indulging my rant

Yellow Submarine (1968 film)

Okay the Beatles only appeared in the last two minutes of the film and it wasn't their voices in the cartoon, but Audrey Hepburn didn't sing in My Fair Lady so I say they are even. It is a Beatles film, a mere technicality will not change that! Anyway as usual I will reminisce of my early adventures of watching this film. I would check out the video at the Springboro Public Library and view it alone while close relatives wondered what drugs I was on. Watching and listening to the Beatles Yellow Submarine I realized they shouldn't associate the Beatles with drugs, it just makes drugs sound more appealing! My favorite character in particular was Jeremy/Hilary/Boob/Ph.D aka the Nowhere Man. I related to him as any blogger would. As I write this I realize he's sort of a lovable Comic Boy Guy from The Simpsons and that reminds me DISNEY STOP RUINING EVERYTHING, YOU STOLE THE MUPPETS DON'T STEAL THE BEATLES TOO! Like you jerks don't make billions off of whoring out your regular hack. You don't make real family entertainment you suppress real family entertainment, buy it out or slander it. Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes, Dr. Seuss, Charles Schulz, Jim Henson all entertain families without talking down to them. 40 years ago the Beatles wouldn't be allowed in Disneyland and condemned as commie heathens by the Puritanical Mickey Mouse Club. Anyway the plot is perfect, the Beatles save Pepperland from an anti-musical, anti-peace, anti-love group of Blue Meanies. In their travels they discover no one is a nobody and everybody has a place and a purpose. I found a sense of security that I found in no other cartoon and when I got the DVD with the scene "Hey Bulldog" placed back in and the lyrics spoke to me (as I somehow wasn't familiar with that song even though my dad had every Beatles album on vinyl which I listened to constantly) Here are some of the lyrics that comfort me;

Child-like, no one understands
Jack knife, in your sweaty hands
Some kind of innocence is measured out in years
You don’t know what it’s like to listen to your fears
...
Big man (Yea), Walking in the park
Whigwam, frightened of the dark
Some kind of solitude is measured out in you
You think you know me but you haven’t got a clue

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck never sung something so meaningful at least not to me!

The Final Rip Off (1988 album)

Oh the confusion of this masterpiece! It's like listening to a description of a Dali painting, I still don't understand "Cocktail Bar." But it was wonderful. Is it the ideal Python album? I don't know it's hard finding them. I buy used but never over the internet I don't trust the liability how do I know if it's really in suitable condition? Anyway, it was my first impression of "The Architect Sketch" "The Spanish Inquisition" "Cheese Shop" and "The Argument Clinic" and they killed me! The visual deficiency is a lost on tracks like "Cherry Orchid" but most the time you get the point. This could be a better buy than And Now For Something Completely Different or Monty Python Live At The Hollywood Bowl if Eric Idle was your favorite Python, which he was for me after listening to this album. The hilarity of "I Like Chinese" "I Bet They Won't Play This Song On The Radio" but no "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" but then again it has "Bruces" with the Philosophical Song and "Travel Agent" prime Eric Idle sketches along with "Nudge Nudge" also included. A few good Holy Grail moments are part of it too, no Castle Anthrax wise choice as it was too visual but it does have "French Taunter" "Swamp Castle" and a personal favorite "Constitutional Peasant." It is a more practical starter for Python fans over And Now For Something Completely Different as The Final Rip Off has some album only routines and ANFSCD is all re-enacted television sketches. But what you get on their albums and more precisely on The Final Rip Off is "Bells" featuring Chapman and Jones and "String" featuring Cleese and Idle and a cult classic song by Michael Palin "Finland" which are of a stronger Python taste than most of their more mainstream humor. Sorry Gilliamites but as you would expect Terry G. is virtually none existent on this album.

Magical Mystery Tour (1967 album)

"Living is easy with eyes closed; misunderstanding's all you see" Nothing expressed escapism as well as this. Although Paul dominated the album with some of his best work ("The Fool On The Hill," "Hello Goodbye," "Magical Mystery Tour," "Penny Lane," "Your Mother Should Know") John's work continued to shine. What's more the tunes complimented each other and worked to a common goal. John's "I Am The Walrus," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "All You Need Is Love," and "Baby You're A Rich Man" all helped create another world one could retreat to when the real world lost all sense. As said in the movie 'when a man buys a ticket for a magical mystery tour he knows what to expect, we guarantee him the trip of a lifetime and that's just what he gets THE INCREDIBLE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR' I get chills just writing that. This album captures the pain of the real world receding as one takes to a world of comfort and finds relief from it as if not ignoring the pain but letting yourself fit in and your pain feel isolated. I should mention that George wrote a good song "Blue Jay Way" if not as impressive as other songs written at this time like "Within You Without You" or "It's All Too Much" but still good and wonderfully rare instrumental track from the whole foursome "Flying." Being unique in the Beatles catalog it's hard to appraise it's worth (to sound like a critical snob) except to say it's essential. (To Note: I historically distinguish who technically wrote each song, but as this album is evidence of the mutual jumping board John and Paul were to each other I maintain devoted to the Lennon/McCartney credits formality after all could Paul write "Eleanor Rigby" without John's "Nowhere Man" or John write "Good Morning Good Morning" without Paul's "Good Day Sunshine")

And Now For Something Completely Different (1971 film)

There used to be an independent video rental store down the road from where I live (back before DVDs became popular where I lived) where you could rent 5 movies for 5 days for 5 bucks (you can't find deals like that anymore!) and as Monty Python And The Holy Grail was a new favorite I found this film And Now For Something Completely Different there and it was an instant favorite to rent along with a then rare "Weird Al" film UHF (along with three other films not on the new-release-wall). It was such an innocent memory of a conflicted time for universally personal reasons (I was a teen). I immediately realized it was technically the funniest movie ever made. It was one of the rare films that is truly a laugh a minute (or sometimes very often more)! You immediately see the gifts of Cleese and Palin working together, but the success of the "Parrot Sketch/Lumberjack Song" was a curse on them to draw attention away from equally hysterical moments. The partnerships seem to work so interchangeable well.
Eric Idle and Michael Palin in "The Marriage Counselor Sketch"
to John Cleese and Palin in "Vocational Guidance Counselor Sketch"
to Terry Jones and Cleese in "The Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook Sketch" (which is very improved upon from the tv series version of the sketch),
to Terry Jones and Idle in the "Nudge Nudge" sketch.
and of course Graham had many great parts usually as the Colonel breaking up scenes that "got much too silly" and the Terry Gilliam animation segue ways.
Five of the six worked supremely well together in the "Restaurant Sketch" with Graham Chapman as the diner, Carol Cleveland as his date, Terry Jones as the waiter, Michael Palin as the head waiter, Eric Idle as the manager, and John Cleese as MUNGO ("YOU VICIOUS HEARTLESS BASTARDS"). Oh how even though I have every sketch on the the original tv show DVD set I would love to dig this movie up and watch it for old times sake.
Of course any great artist, comic or otherwise, will have too many classics that can be put in a single collection (at least those who are so idolized as the Pythons are). There's no Spanish Inquisition "well I wasn't expecting one" and this time you don't have any. There's no Ministry of Silly Walks, no Argument Clinic, no Architect Sketch and many others but that's for another time. You could just get the tv series or perhaps slowly work your way up to it by banking or insurance or getting The Final Rip Off (album) or Monty Python Live At The Hollywood Bowl (film) but I'm partial to this film as an introduction to the world's greatest tv series ever!

Past Masters (1988 album)

Originally released in 1988 as a double album and 2 single albums, the remastered version is now a double disc and as such I will refer to it as a single work. It is, after all, to serve a single simple purpose; to fill in the singles only songs into the album catalog of the Beatles. Personally I feel this technique should be used in the Beatles solo works (Shaved Fish by John Lennon is a less formal less strict form of this but not inclusive enough). "Give Peace A Chance", "Instant Karma", "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" etc are not on any official John Lennon or Lennon/Ono albums and are sometimes just added on as a bonus track to an album it doesn't fit on (ie "Power To The People" closing Plastic Ono Band wtf). Also what about Paul's "Live And Let Die" "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" George's "Shanghai Surprise" "Bangla Desh" or Ringo's "It Don't Come Easy" "Back Off Boogaloo." But enough digression, my point is although technically labeled a compilation album it is rightfully considered part of the studio album canon. After all no proper British studio album has "She Loves You" "From Me To You" "I Want To Hold Your Hand" "We Can Work It Out" "Paperback Writer" "Hey Jude" "Lady Madonna" etc. Past Masters is possibly the best single place to start on Beatles album as it is the most diverse album aside from The White Album and it has more universally beloved hits as well as some glorious underdogs like "I Call Your Name" and "The Inner Light." In short this may be the desert island pick album of the Beatles or any collection.