Splitting Heirs (1993 film)

First let me say it's funnier than it's posters imply. Secondly it has Eric written all over it. Of course it was written by Eric so that explains it. Lewd irreverent behavior all throughout it in the typical PG-13 Hollywood marketable kind of way but cleverly done so. I thought I would find the gold digging humor unbearable and John Cleese being an unwelcomed ham stealing everybody's else's scenes (Let me make it clear I hold unfair resentment to John Cleese for having more success than my favorite Python members). But watching it with a bias against the two most famous Pythons I still couldn't dislike it in fact I loved it of course Eric was one of the reasons I was drawn to the Pythons in the first place. And one of Eric's great jumping points in his comedy is the unfair effect of wealth and power, especially in one's sex life. And John plays the slimy conniving looney lawyer as only he could (or probably Michael Palin). Wondering what could of made this movie bomb I was dumbfounded. It had plenty of quotable lines ("People were sex mad in the 60's apparently doing it just for fun"), great stars with then currently successful comic actor Rick Moranis (Honey I Shrunk The Kids, Little Shop Of Horrors) and a safe rating in the states. Oh well I got it at a great price at a local used DVD store and waited awhile to watch it and wondered why I waited so long and even my sister enjoyed it and she's gotten less into quirky humor in recent years but is still Python fan but not the fanatic I am, sort of the John and Eric group of fans who love their more conventional work, whereas I love Terry Jones and Michael Palin the best, well to be specific here is how it breaks down
Best writers: Michael Palin, Terry Jones
Best performers: Michael Palin, Graham Chapman
Best performing duo: Michael Palin, John Cleese
Favorite masterminds leadership sort of personalities: Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle
Cambridge Vs Oxford: Oxford wins
(And I still thought this movie was hilarious!)

The Concert For Bangladesh (1972 film)

This film was the victim of bad accountancy. The concert, its album and film was meant to generate proceeds that aid Bangladesh refugees as they try to win independence from Pakistan which had liberated itself from India which only 25 years earlier freed itself from Britain. What happened was the concert got the tax classification of a charity benefit, but the accountants forgot to classify the album and film as a tax deduction and it got taxed by the British government well out of 80% of its gross. People thought it was a tax hoax but he got taxed and no money as it was going to go Ravi Shankar's charity. Other than that it is an exceptional concert film. Not the multi-star event of Woodstock, Monterrey or Altamont but for being made on the quick it did well bringing celebrities tanks to George's friends in high places. John couldn't make it because Yoko wasn't welcomed and Paul didn't want to make the appearance as it would heighten reunion rumors. The other bad news was Eric Clapton and Badfinger made it but they didn't take center stage and sing for themselves. What you get is a 20 minute Ravi instrumental which is great but not a great opener. Then George goes into a few songs from his breakthrough album All Things Must Pass. Only the Beatles song "Something" and his duet with Bob Dylan are not from that album. Bob Dylan gets 5 songs. "Just Like A Woman" is the duet. The other 4 likewise came from 1963-1966 well established tunes except the Highway 61 Revisited album track "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry." "Blowin' In The Wind" "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall" being the other 3. So from George and Bob you get what you probably already have. That makes the real treasure the song Billy Preston, Ringo Starr, and Leon Russell each got to bring along. Billy does a lively performance of his gospel favorite "That's The Way God Planned It" pure classic. Ringo hops into his 1971 megahit "It Don't Come Easy" (marking Ringo's triumphant return to music after going on a acting stint that would continues to the mid 70s and re-emerge in the early 80s). Leon Russell does a classic rock medley "Jumpin' Jack Flash/Youngblood" which didn't match the tone of the event. Could of had Eric play "Layla" and it would've fitted better. All the same film is good. A bit too rushed and one-sided and I cannot help but wonder how much better it would have been with a just a couple of more guests and a more even distribution of each and player and a broader song catalog.

Dudley Do-Right (1999 film)

Did I ever tell you why as comedians I preferred the Do Not Adjust Your Set, Monty Python members over the At Last The 1948 Show cast members John Cleese and Graham Chapman? It's because Eric, Terry and Michael could just as easily master clever/dumb children's humor as they could crude and/or satirical adult oriented work. And Dudley DoRight fits the former perfectly. And Eric had the greatest knack for giving a Pythonesque tone for a movie in just a short cameo remember National Lampoon's European Vacation and South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut. Well this is the family friendly version of that. Goofy narration and thin plot to carry absurd situational humor in all it's dumb glory and Eric doesn't even have to do it alone as Brendan Fraser has already proven his talents as a comedic actor as well as working with fellow MP alumni John Cleese in the other 1950's cartoon tv kid show made into a family film of the 90's George Of The Jungle. I have not seen that one yet as I felt it was more natural to watch this one first as Eric doing live comedy trumps John phoning in voice overs for me. The greatest treasure in this film is watching Eric (the lone prospector; it's a bigger role than his film credit implies he's in half a dozen scenes) trains Brendan (Dudley DoRight) to fight dirty against Alfred Molina (Snidely Whiplash). If you're not laughing by then, then it's apparent the movie is just not your taste but I couldn't imagine why because if nothing else it's something amusing you can watch with your kids.

Thirty Three & 1/3 (1976 album)

It was the mid 1970's and George had found a new love in between his more musical and spiritual days of the early 70's and his film producer days of the 80's and subsequent return to musical focus with the Traveling Wilburys in the late 80's. It was Monty Python. Like his early 80's film producer days with Shanghai Surprise and Time Bandits his late 70s work is sometimes categorized as his lost period in between Living In The Material World and Cloud Nine. But this is a misconception, as his work at from what I can say on this album is just fine. It just goes in a different direction. Instead of overtly spiritual it has humor and tender love songs. The songs "It's What You Value" and "See Yourself" though do plenty enough to give the album moral reflection which George certainly had a knack for at any point of his solo career. But the treasure of this album is the tongue in cheek songs "Crackerbox Palace" and "This Song" with videos featuring his new pals from MP. A deluxe CD/DVD reissue would give this album justice, not that the videos are needed to enjoy the songs but it would lure comedy fans to enjoy what music critics couldn't for some reason. Opening with a rollicking fun track "Woman Don't You Cry For Me" and ending with "Learning How To Love You" it is an easy 40 minute coasting of radio listening as any George album usually is

Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969 television)

How freakishly overwhelming! 45 classic episodes. Okay so here's the math because my opinions mean nothing without empirical evidence so I'm backing it up, but there's too many funny bits to list everyone that never fails and then explain why so I'll mention 2 sketches per episode and then you can watch them on youtube or at your public library (if you still have one) and assuming both sketches make you laugh in all 45 episodes we can probably assume it is the most consistent sketch comedy show ever.
1) Arthur Two Sheds Jacksons/Funniest Joke In The World
2) Marriage Guidance Counselor/The Mouse Problem
3) Restaurant Sketch/Nudge Nudge
4) Self Defense Against Fresh Fruit/Secret Service Dentists
5) Confuse A Cat/Police Raid
6) Crunchy Frog/Twentieth Century Vole
7) Camel Spotting/Science Fiction Sketch
8) Buying A Bed/Dead Parrot
9) The Lumberjack Song/The Visitors
10) Bank Robber In A Lingerie Shop/Vocational Guidance Counselor
11) Literary Football Interviews/Interesting People
12) Upper Class Twit Of The Year/Ken Shabby
13) Restaurant Abuse/Albatross
14) The Ministry Of Silly Walks/Piranha Brothers
15) Spanish Inquisition/Court Charades
16) Flying Lessons/Hijacked Plane
17) Architect's Sketch/Chemist Sketch
18) Blackmail/Accidents Sketch
19) Raymond Luxury Yacht (Throat Warbler Mangrove interview)/Election Night
20) Killer Sheep/The Idiot In Rural Society
21) Poofy Judges/Beethoven's Mynah Bird
22) Bruces/Exploding Penguin on the TV Set
23) Scott of the Sahara/Conrad Poohs and His Dancing Teeth
24) Crackpot Religions/How Not To Be Seen
25) Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook/Spam
26) Lifeboat/Undertaker's Sketch
27) Multiple Murder Court Scene/Eric Njorl Court Scene
28) "Life of Tschaikowsky"/Fish Slapping Dance
29) Money Song/Argument Sketch
30) Merchant Banker/Mary Recruitment Officer
31) Language Laboratory/Travel Agent
32) Gumby Brain Specialist/Molluscs - "Live" TV Documentary
33) Biggles Dictates A Letter/Cheese Shop
34) Trotsky/Firing Squad
35) Mystico and Janet - Flats Built by Hypnosis/Bull-fighting
36) Pornographic Bookshop/Thripshaw's Disease
37) Dennis Moore/Prejudice
38) Frontiers of Medicine - Penguins/Spot the Looney
39) The Oscar Wilde Sketch/Blood Donor
40) The Montgolfier Brothers/Zeppelin
41) Buying An Ant/Ant Poetry Contest
42) Trivializing the War/Woody and Tinny Words
43) Bogus Psychiatrists/Piston Engine (a Bargain)
44) Teddy Salad/Bombing
45) Most Awful Family In Britain/Patient Abuse

Double Fantasy (1980 album)

Four John/Yoko albums made, four John/Yoko albums fall short of gold and the fifth Double Fantasy came after John took a 5 year hiatus from the industry. From that it doesn't sound like the album would be a success, yet it was a colossal hit getting notice very quickly. It's a very morbid question of how John's death affected this album and it's plain rude but the thought comes up. True his senseless violent death made fans want to go back reminisce in the brilliance of John's idealogical world and his dream's struggle. And certainly Double Fantasy added the overtly romantic side of his world, but the songs were catching on as hits in their own right in the three weeks between the album's release and John's death, however that is not that long a time to suppose what would have happened. It would have been one of the greatest comebacks ever as the public openly embraced this tender side of John Lennon and even embraced Yoko. this wasn't their first attempt to make pop music together although their first three albums weren't strictly musical. Some Time In New York City saw how they work well together as it had them working together and it involved issues bigger than their own little idealogical world except that other people should join them. Double Fantasy works on the personal level of marital bliss and (sometimes strife) in the form of one complimenting the other as this album was created as a "Heart Play". Some songs like "I'm Losing You" and "I'm Moving On" play like straight back to back monologues in their own drama. The album is highly noted though for it's high points of marital bliss which thankfully in their aged journey included many aspects of marriage. The second honeymoon "(Just Like) Starting Over", the blessedness of childrearing "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" unconditional support "Woman" completeness "Dear Yoko" fulfillment "Yes I'm Your Angel" "Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him" and triumph "Hard Times Are Over". However this all seemed like the set up to one of the cruelest jokes in history as John finally found his family that he lost as a child only to suddenly lose it again. Thankfully we can live through John until we all find a family we belong to.

Plea For A Little Help

If anyone is reading my blog and would like to help me acquire something to review on the Beatles and/or Monty Python I would most appreciate being given one of these rare products I have had no luck in finding or at least obtaining. I would be forever gracious to any who would assist in my effort to complete this blog review of all things Beatles/Monty Python. Preferably CD or DVD format over LP, cassette or VHS formats if possible thank you


(send through snail mail to 261 Lantis Dr. Carlisle, OH 45005) I'm not worried about the dangers of posting this on the internet because I won't be letting people hand deliver anything and if someone wanted to use the address info for nefarious purposes I figure there are a lot more convenient locales for the theoretical criminal as anyone who had the opportunity to utilize the locale would have to be acquainted with its details. Thank you all very much for any help you able to provide and thanks for noticing my blog.

A Fish Called Wanda (1988 film)

Why did it take me so long to do a review of A Fish Called Wanda you might wonder? It is a good movie so that's a good question. The reason is there are a few good reasons I didn't like this as much as other people do namely Roger Ebert. He gave this film 4 stars (the highest rating on his scale) and yet he didn't get The Meaning Of Life or Fierce Creatures giving them the thumbs down equivalent of 2.5 thumbs. Hell Life Of Brian only barely got a thumbs up with 3 stars along with And Now For Something Completely Different. In this respect I think A Fish Called Wanda is really overhyped. Secondly of all the "vulgar" sexual humor critics hate (i.e. the sex education scene to The Meaning Of Life) critics are far from offended if one derives humor or drama from adultery. Somehow self-proclaimed artsy folk find it "romantic" not that I don't like Woody Allen films but in films like Manhattan, Hannah And Her Sisters, Crimes And Misdemeanors, Husbands And Wives etc you at least get a realistically dramatic look at what disloyalty does and gives the characters broader depth giving reality to the situation. Third and lastly only one scene with John Cleese and Michael Palin what a rip off (granted Time Bandits didn't even have that). Anyway they both had hysterical scenes in the film all the same but the Dead Parrot pair are always a treat together. Kevin Kline did wonderful as comic fonder to Cleese and Curtis as Kline was a jealous but manipulated lover of Curtis. The plot revolves around Curtis, Kline, Palin and Georgeson robbing a bank and a lawyer defending Georgeson naively thinking he's innocent and Curtis is trying to make sure Georgeson is out to get them for ratting him out in an anonymous call to the police. While Curtis is taking care of Cleese and Kline is spying on Curtis, Palin is off on facial based physical absurd comedy trying to knock the only witness to the bank robbing. It's hysterical so I won't ruin it as well as to say Michael Palin does a great stutter playing a man with what appears to be a social situated based stutter rather than a just a physical tic as it heightens in uncomfortable confrontation to nearly disappearing altogether when people leave. But for the most part his only face to face interaction with dialog comes in two scenes when Kline is trying to intimidate him into saying where the money is hidden (how effective) and when Cleese comes running in wondering where Kline went ending up in charades (classic). And here's where the spoiler alert comes in Curtis leaves her manipulated but jealous jerk of a boyfriend (Kline) and Cleese leaves his overbearing unsympathetic wife who portrayed far too two-dimensional for a realistic dramatic comedy.

Revolver (1966 album)

A glimpse into the solo careers of George and Paul and to a lesser extent John and Ringo. Musically more diverse than Rubber Soul thanks to Paul's blossoming compositional talents. It corresponded with John's lyrical growth which is why Rubber Soul and Revolver although very different seem to so well compliment each other, along with George's renewed ambition in songwriting. Paul wrote "Eleanor Rigby" almost as if a response to one up Lennon's "Nowhere Man" and while "Eleanor Rigby" is no more or less genuine than "Nowhere Man" it is more ambitious. Paul developed his balladeering skills with the sentimental, sweet "Here, There And Everywhere" and a good R&B styled tune "Got To Get You Into My Life" with a powerful horn section carrying the tune. The latter two songs typified Paul's 70's catalog to large extent. Meanwhile he also had the classic "Good Day Sunshine" which set the tone for Lennon's "Good Morning Good Morning" and George's "Here Comes The Sun" in albums yet to come. "Yellow Submarine" has become a trademark song of theirs and a real take off for Ringo's career. "For No One" is a tune perhaps the least impressive of Paul's works here but nevertheless was good enough for the film Give My Regards To Broad Street. Of the 5 songs Lennon predominated 3 were cut from the American edition. "And Your Bird Can Sing" a goofy light fun song, "I'm Only Sleeping" a wonderfully hazy relaxing song of self-seclusion and "Doctor Robert" about a doctor who freely gives out stronger prescriptions than needed resulting in surprise an influx of clientèle. The two tunes kept are actually less commercial with "She Said She Said" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" particularly the latter as it gives a great trippy closing to the album. As far as openers George makes a strong statement (in songwriting talent) with "Taxman" and follows into a growing style of psychedelic Indian music with "Love You To" and "I Want To Tell You" a refreshing up tempo psychedelic pop song. All in all Revolver is a mini White Album.

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.