Monty Python: Older, Fatter, But Still Funny As F***

Last weekend, on Sunday, July 20th, my wife and I attended and laughed a lot at a live broadcast of “Monty Python Live (Mostly),” featuring the legendary British comedy group’s final performance ever (or so they claim) before a sold-out audience of 15,000 at The O₂ Arena in London, England.

The event, the last of a 10 show run, also sold-out at our venue, North Hills 14 in Raleigh, N.C., and from what I hear, at many of the 2,000 theaters around the globe that carried the broadcast, indeed proof that Python still has powerful pull even at this late date.

Despite some annoying sound glitches at the beginning, it was a hilarious delight seeing the surviving members - John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin – on stage together for the first time since their Hollywood Bowl concerts in 1980, energetically perform a revue of such classics as “Nudge, Nudge,” “Spam,” “Argument Clinic,” “Parrot Sketch,” “The Lumberjack Song,” and, of course, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” on a massive set with an orchestra (conducted by longtime Python collaborator John Du Prez) a couple dozen dancers, giant video screens, and, at one point, during the “Every Sperm is Sacred” number, candy-striped penis-shaped cannons that spewed confetti all over the audience.

The show’s tagline “One Down, Five to Go,” refers to the sad fact that sixth member Graham Chapman died in 1989, but Chapman’s presence was felt throughout the three hour program in the form of footage mostly from their classic BBC program Monty Python’s Flying Circus used to link the live segments and songs, and in lines like “He’s gone to join Dr. Chapman” added to “Parrot Sketch” with the audience’s roaring approval.

Much of the material presented was similar to that immortalized in the 1982 concert film MONTY PYTHON LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL – including the use of the filmed “Silly Olympics” and “The Philosophers’ Football Match” bits from the rare German episodes of Flying Circus – but there were several routines from their last motion picture, MONTY PYTHON’S THE MEANING OF LIFE, that had never been publicly performed before.

Those included an expanded version of “The Penis Song” sung by a cheeky as can be Idle, the aforementioned “Every Sperm is Sacred,” “Galaxy Song,” which is capped off by filmed cameos by physicists Brian Cox and Stephen Hawking (an audience shot afterwards showed Hawking in attendance), and “Christmas in Heaven,” which begins with an excerpt of Chapman singing from the original film.

Sketches that I was pleasantly surprised to see: “Vocational Guidance Counselor,” “Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses,” and “Protestants Can Use Condoms” (also from THE MEANING OF LIFE).

I was also elated that actress Carol Cleveland, who’s been there since the beginning appearing on Flying Circus as well as all of the Python’s movies and stage shows, was there to reprise her pivotal parts. Guest appearances by Eddie Izzard, Mike Myers, and Warwick Davis helped liven things up as well.

Since I, and most watching, knew every line, it was funniest when the Pythons went off book. While quips about Palin’s “boring” travel shows, and Cleese’s multiple marriages were scripted, Cleese’s asides about bad reviews in the Daily Mail in the midst of the “Parrot Sketch”/ “Cheese Shop” mash-up apparently weren’t planned as they amusingly sidetracked, yet still didn’t sabotage Palin’s quick on his feet performance.

Having disliked many previous repackagings of Python, such as Idles’s musicals “Spamalot,” and “He’s Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy),” and the animated biodoc of Chapman: A LIAR’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, I was so happy that “Monty Python Live (Mostly)” was a cringe free 45th anniversary celebration as well as a fitting send-off to the greatest, most influential comedy group of all time.

Older, fatter, but still funny as fuck, the Pythons put on a Hell of a last performance that I’ll definitely purchase when it inevitably gets a Blu ray/DVD release, with hope later in the year.

For those who can’t wait, however, “Monty Python Live (Mostly)” will be re-broadcast at many theaters on Wednesday, July 23rd and Thursday, July 24th. Click here for more info.

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New Releases On Blu Ray & DVD 2/12/13

The triumphant return to form for 007 that was Sam Mende’s SKYFALL comes out today on Blu ray and DVD. The film, the 23rd in the James Bond series and the 3rd to star Daniel Craig, is available in a deluxe edition (including a DVD and a digital copy) on Blu ray, and a stand alone DVD version. Read my review from its original theatrical release here.

Special features include a couple of commentaries – one with Mendes, the other with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson and Production Designer Dennis Gassner, a bunch of ‘making of’ featurettes, a segment on the Royal World Premeire of the film at the Royal Albert Hall (you know, with the Queen!), and a promo for the soundtrack.

Stephen Chbosky’s PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER also drops today on Blu ray and DVD. It’s a movie I enjoyed (read my review), but not as much as my wife who adored it, saying that it captured her teenaged high school years beautifully. Both the Blu ray and DVD contain deleted scenes, a few featurettes, and a commentary with Chbosky, who adapted the film from his own young adult novel, and members of the cast including Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller. That sounds like a commentary I might want to check out.

Despite the work of a solid cast headed by John Hawkes, who talks in a nasal voice that often sounds like Norm McDonald, I was not a fan of Ben Lewins’ THE SESSIONS, which is now available on Blu ray and DVD. The film, about poet Mark O’Brien who was paralyzed from the neck down, was a hit with audiences, and the Academy as it garnered a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Helen Hunt, but I found it to be too cutesy, especially for its subject matter, and felt that all it had to say was ‘paraplegics need to have sex too.’ Both Blu ray and DVD versions contain deleted scenes and several featurettes.

Jake Schreier’s ROBOT & FRANK, also out today but only on DVD, is a movie that I liked a lot better. It’s a silly story, about an aging jewel thief who takes on a helper robot as a partner in crime, but Frank Langella gives it a pleasing gravitas. As I wrote in my review last September, “the charming camaraderie between Frank and his robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard) make this a breezily enjoyable 89 minutes.” The only special feature is a commentary with Jake Schreier and Writer Christopher D. Ford.

An acclaimed film that I’m ashamed I haven’t seen yet gets the Criterion Collection treatment today: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne’s 2011 drama THE KID WITH A BIKE. The set boasts a new digital transfer supervised by director of photography Alain Marcoen, featurettes including a conversation between film critic Kent Jones and directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, interviews with actors Cécile de France and Thomas Doret, a half-hour documentary, “Return to Seraing,” and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoff Andrew, but who am I kidding? I’ll be watching it on Netflix Instant where it’ll be available until December 2015 (according to instantwatcher.com). Maybe I’ll like it so much that I’ll want to see the bonus stuff one day. Nice to know the Criterion Collection one is out there in any case.

Finally, a movie I was profoundly disappointed by gets a Blu ray and DVD release: Bill Jones and Jeff Simpson's A LIAR’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY: THE UNTRUE STORY OF MONTY PYTHON’S GRAHAM CHAPMAN. Chapman’s life and comedic legacy aren’t done justice by this misguided adaptation of his autobiography, which he recorded a sort of “book on tape” version of shortly before his death in 1989.

In the faux documentary, those recordings are illustrated by a range of different animation styles, very few of which are appealing, with guest voices by ex-Monty Python members John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and Terry Jones, along with Cameron Diaz as Sigmund Freud. Yep. Except for the few instances of actual footage that pops up (“The Spanish Inquisition” sketch, Cleese’s overplayed yet still hilarious eulogy at Chapman’s funeral) it all falls flat. But if you’re a hardcore Python fan that has to see everything, take note: this is also available on Netflix Instant (until Oct. 2017!).

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