Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber and Steve Martin (The Jerk)
Director: Harald Zwart (Agent Cody Banks)
Actors: Steve Martin (Cheaper by the Dozen), Jean Reno (La Femme Nikita), Emily Mortimer (Redbelt), Andy Garcia (The Untouchables), Alfred Molina (Prick Up Your Ears), Aishwarya Rai (The Last Legion) and John Cleese (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

Labels: Aishwarya Rai, Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia, Emily Mortimer, film, Jean Reno, John Cleese, movie trailer, sequel, Steve Martin

Monty Python was all about unveiling and then punching up the absurd in humanity. Anything worth mocking was worth blowing way out of proportion to ludicrous levels. The comedic troupe seems intent on not only crossing the line of good taste but doing so as extravagantly as possible. There is plenty in this film to offend most people, but given that this is the whole point, actually getting offended is pointless.

As the title suggests, they aim their sights on a broad array of subjects from contraception to war to gluttony. Unencumbered by the restrictions of television they let in a myriad of offensive material that clearly was unneeded and gives some of the humor a cheap feel. Having hundreds of children sing a mockery of the Catholic's opinions on birth control in one scene and having a celestial vagina widen and birth the universe in another are clear signs of a production not concerned with restraint. For all of the excesses, and there are plenty, there are some masterful pieces of comedy. The problem with the film is that it is so uneven. For every Mr. Creosote or guests bickering with the Grim Reaper you have to suffer through octogenarian corporate pirates and flat gags about tiger suits. The final scenes of the film are completely wasteful and nearly unwatchable. Their vision of the afterlife and Heaven feels tagged on and undeveloped and brings the movie to an unsatisfying close. This film is much like their classic television show half funny - half not, but the bits that do work are nothing less than brilliant. Keep the fast forward button handy while watching.


Cautions: This is Monty Python's at their most uncontrolled. If you have any issue with crass language, offensive behavior, nudity or violence you're advised to steer clear.

Worldview: The title of the film finds resolution by the admission that the meaning of life is that there isn't any meaning at all. This is suggested by a waiter Gaston "You see that house? That is where I was born. My mother said to me, "Garcon. The world is a beautiful place, and you must spread joy and contentment everywhere you go". And so I became a waiter... Well, I know it is not a great philosophy but..." then, feeling insecure in his admission he spits invective at the audience and tells them "I can live my life in my own way if I want to." In the end it's all about individual perspective and desire for comfort. Fair enough, but the troupe also goes out their way to mock religious belief while also claiming that since we're insignificant when put up against the broad expanse of the universe. If it's all so meaningless and without order than where do they get off mocking anything? The act of mockery suggests that the target of the humor is acting foolishly but such judgments can't exist in a meaningless universe. There's always that old retort that you can't say the universe with without truth because then even the charge that there's no truth can't be true and your argument collapses under its own weight. The fact that these guy's jokes are funny shows that they and their audience hold some truths to be evident. Where's there's truth - there's humor and vice-versa. The viewpoint they're pushing is like reading Ecclesiastes and forgetting the rest of the Bible. There is a meaning to life but despite their sarcasm and clever thinking, these ain't the guys to express it.


Related Reviews:
Terry Gilliam movies
Brazil (1985)
The Brothers Grimm (2005)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Roger Ebert
Independent Critics

Labels: comedy, Eric Idle, film, John Cleese, Monty Python, movie review, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones

I found this to be nearly unwatchable. Granted, I never liked the story in the first place and I have a natural distaste for doughy, family movies. Many Christian critics love the film, but anytime you have a snotty kid in the lead and celebrities doing voice overs for two-dimensional, hollow, characters, it is too much for me to take. I do not recommend this movie, however if you like vacuous family fare that neither entertains or instructs, you have a movie to put on your must-see list.


Related Reviews:
Animated movies
The Incredibles (2004)
Meet the Robinsons (2007)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Creative Loafing
ReelViews

Labels: adaptation, animated, Cedric the Entertainer, Dakota Fanning, film, John Cleese, Julia Roberts, movie review, Sam Shepard, Steve Buscemi

The average animated movie is soulless and disposable. This doesn't look like it's above average.




Screenwriter: Chris McKenna
Director: Anthony Leondis
Actors: John Cusack (Better Off Dead), Steve Buscemi (Monsters, Inc.), Christian Slater (Heathers), Jennifer Coolidge (Best in Show), and John Cleese (A Fish Called Wanda)

Labels: Christian Slater, film, John Cleese, John Cusack, movie trailer, Steve Buscemi

The original The Day the Earth Stood Still was flawed in many areas, but it delivered the goods. It is one my list of favorite sci-fi flicks. The film tells the story of an alien who comes to Earth to warn us that we don't stop fighting aliens would step in and destroy us for their own safety - kind of a "do as I say, not as I do" proposition. This was done with one of the clearest uses of a Christ figure in cinematic history.

Today, since everything needs to be "re-envisioned", there's a new version coming our way.

In the old days Hollywood was doing what it could to answer the threat of international communism by equating both sides of the Cold War. This time, since the good guys won the Cold War, there needs to be a new enemy. I heard early on that since the Hollywood leftists have recast themselves from being secretly red to being in-your-face Greens, the bad guy is now humanity because we don't recycle enough. That's right good ol' Global Cooling....er, Warming...er, Climate Change. That's right, the alien comes down to tell us that we don't start treating Mother Earth better, they're going to kill us.

If you're not already doing it, this is where you should be groaning.

This trailer certainly appears to support that rumor. The alien Klaatu (played by Keanu Reeves - it seems the production is not focusing on great performances), apparently refers to himself as a "friend of the Earth" and the final line of the trailer he says "If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives". At least the greens are starting to get around to their actual agenda - kill that pesky cancer known as mankind.

To everyone who agrees with that last line, all I have to say is:

You first.






Screenwriter: David Scarpa (The Last Castle)
Director: Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose)
Actors: Keanu Reeves (The Matrix), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), Kathy Bates (At Play in the Fields of the Lord), John Cleese (A Fish Called Wanda), and Jaden Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness)

Labels: film, global warming, Jaden Smith, Jennifer Connelly, John Cleese, Keanu Reeves, movie trailer, Scott Derrickson