Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week joined by special guest Richard Newby, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.
This time, a Christmas treat, Terry Jones’ Life of Brian.
Brian Cohen is a young Jewish man living in Jerusalum at the same time as Jesus Christ. Desperate to impress a girl and reeling from revelations about his heritage, Brian commits to join a local revolutionary paramilitary to resist Roman rule. However, nothing is quite as simple as it may initially seem, and Brian finds himself swept up in a messianic fervour well beyond his control.
At time of recording, it was ranked 245th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Show Notes:
- Recorded 10th November 2022.
- Note: Due to the COVID-19 situation, this episode was recorded remotely. We suspect, going forward that a lot of our episodes will be until the crisis resolves.
- The Life of Brian at The Internet Movie Database.
- The IMDB 250 as it appeared at time of recording.
- Follow Richard at Twitter.
- Read Richard’s articles at The Hollywood Reporter.
- Read Richard’s articles at Vulture.
- Robert Wilonsky at The Dallas News looks at how Monty Python came to the United States, November 2019.
- Alan Shaw at The Sunay Post looks at how Monty Python came together, April 2019.
- John Cleese talks to CBS Sunday Morning about his decision to leave Monty Python’s Flying Circus during its final season, October 2015.
- Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin talk to The Guardian about making The Life of Brian, April 2019.
- Terry Jones talks to Rectangular Picture Machine about the making of The Life of Brian, October 1979.
- Nicholas Barber at BBC looks back on the production and development of The Life of Brian, August 2019.
- John Cleese talks to The Los Angeles Times about what Terry Jones brought to The Life of Brian, January 2020.
- Eric Idle talks to The New Yorker about how The Life of Brian came about, December 2014.
- Richard Grenier at Commentary discusses some of the controversy around The Life of Brian, December 1979.
- Eric Idle talks to The Los Angeles Times about how George Harrison saved The Life of Brian, April 2004.
- Andrew Taylor at Collider looks at the impact that George Harrison had on British cinema, May 2022.
- Jack Whatley at Far Out Magazine makes an argument for George Harrison as the best Beatle, February 2021.
- Ben Cadrew at The Guardian makes an argument for Ringo Starr as the best Beatle, September 2017.
- Andy Greene at Rolling Stone reports on Ringo Starr’s refusal to sign autographs, May 2019.
- Terry Jones talks to The Observer about his dementia diagnosis, April 2017.
- John Cleese talks to TV Guide about Americans preferring Monty Python and the Holy Grail to The Life of Brian, January 2008.
- Jill Lawless at The Christian Science Monitor reports on the debt that fuelled Monty Python (Almost) Live, June 2014.
- E.J. Dionne Jr. at The New York Times reports on The Meaning of Life winning a special jury prize at Cannes, May 1983.
- David Morgan at Vanity Fair looks back on the famous “Dead Parrot” sketch, June 1999.
- John Cleese talks to Forbes about how he and Chapman would write sketches, February 2016.
- Eric Idle talks about John Cleese’s career as a Latin tutor on Twitter, November 2020.
- Maille Halloran at newlawyerlanguage considers John Cleese’s legal career, February 2014.
- Martin Hannan at The National considers the controversies around The Life of Brian, August 2019.
- The New York Times reports on Jewish groups protesting The Life of Brian, August 1979.
- Leah Schnelbach at Tor.com considers the American response to The Life of Brian, April 2022.
- Donald Clarke at The Irish Times writes about how The Life of Brian was banned in Ireland, February 2019.
- Constance L. Hays at The New York Times writes a eulogy for Graham Chapman, October 1989.
- John Cleese’s eulogy for Graham Chapman, October 1989.
- Ken Levy talks to The Guardian about his friendship with Graham Chapman, July 2014.
- Bruce Weber at The New York Times reports on a rare post-Chapman reunion for Monty Python, March 1998.
- John Cleese talks to The New Yorker about his anti-authoritarian leanings, September 2020.
- Michael Hein at Pop Culture reflects on how The Whitest Kids You Know reflected on the passing of Trevor Moore, August 2021.
- Hugh Linehan at The Irish Times considers John Cleese’s move to the political right, October 2022.
- Genevieve Holl-Allen and Naomi Clarke at The Irish Independent reports on John Cleese’s move to GB News, October 2022.
- James Crossley at Culture Matters reflects on the politics of Jesus Christ in British pop culture, March 2016.
- The Daily Dot discusses the famous deleted “Otto” subplot from The Life of Brian, November 2007.
- Gabe Friedman at The Times of Israel reports on the deleted “Otto” subplot in The Life of Brian, Janaury 2020.
- Mike D’Angelo at The A.V. Club reflects on Gilliam’s alien scene in The Life of Brian, February 2014.
- Eric Idle talks to The Guardian about making Spamalot!, September 2006.
- Brian Boone at Vulture looks back on the production of Spamalot!, January 2019.
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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: belief, comedy, controversy, Eric Idle, graham chapman, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Cleese, Michael Palin, monty python, religion, space, te life of brian, terry gilliam, terry jones, The 250 |
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