Life of Brian Watch Along reaction
Added 2024-01-29 12:20:53 +0000 UTCComments
The Romans are very probably the reason how a very Mediterranean looking family - jet black hair and lactose intolerant on my maternal side - got to Britannica in the first place.
Josef Schiltz
2024-03-08 07:13:45 +0000 UTCGlad you enjoyed it, Alan! Have to disagree with you regarding Holy Grail being better than LOB, but hey, it’s all about opinions! Two things of note: the first point being the juniper berry scene. The guy who was left on his own at the end of that scene was the British comedy genius, Spike Milligan. Spike was the main guy who created the Goon show, which was a comedy radio show from the BBC in the early 1950’s. Spike was part of a foursome as the Goons, the others being Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Peter Sellers, the latter of course went on to international stardom as Inspector Clouseau in the original Pink Panther film series (among many other films he did before and after that series.) Spike had his own comedy TV show on the BBC in the late 1960’s, called the Q series (from 1969 to 1982 - six series called Q5 to Q9) and it was the forerunner to the Monty Python’s Flying Circus series, which had sketches that didn’t make sense and wouldn’t always end with a punchline. The Pythons took that same idea and turned it up to 11. I think this is why they gave Spike a small part in the film as a way of saying thank you for what he started. The second point (and no one seems to mention this when the film is reviewed) is about the space ship sequence. I don’t think it’s ever been confirmed by any of the Python’s themselves, but as Star Wars was released two years prior to LOB’s release, I think that little sequence was put in there as a nod to the audience as to how much Star Wars had already (by 1979) captivated audiences around the world, and it must have been one of the first times in cinema that Star Wars was lampooned like that in film! This is just my take on it, and I could of course be completely wrong about it, but the timing of its inclusion is interesting!
Andrew Roberts
2024-01-30 14:16:57 +0000 UTCIt's a great film and quite a clever satire/warning on how religions develop and the dangers of people nowadays hitching themselves to the reasoning and knowledge of essentially deeply ignorant people (e.g., for all his reputation for being a 'great teacher', the average European or American 10 year old understands more about how the world works than Jesus ever did). It's also tremendously funny - the Latin grammar scene is a particular favourite of mine, because they were so obviously channelling their school experiences. But some bits have not aged well, and the focus in the film on mocking the rebels for their sectarianism, but seemingly giving the Romans a free pass, does not sit well with me. Yes, the 'what have the Romans ever done for us?' sketch is funny, but what right do comfortable white westerners have to belittle the suffering of those who lived under the Roman heel? Yes, overall, society benefits from infrastructure projects, sanitation and various other things the Romans implemented to make life easier for themselves, but does that excuse conquering and murdering people? Did it when the British conquered India and built railway lines (to ease the theft of resources) or Europeans burned down the Native Americans? I think I'd rather forgo the nice wine, if my family got to live.
David Traynier
2024-01-30 09:11:08 +0000 UTCSorry but Life of Brian is ahead of Holy Grail for me. Glad you enjoyed L.o.B though I suggest watching it again alone so you pick up things you were previously laughing through
Stephen Gregory
2024-01-30 07:28:43 +0000 UTCBritain seems to have a long history of these off beat comedies possibly starting with the Goons radio show, Spike Milligan's Q series, The Young Ones, League of Gentlemen, The Mighty Bhoosh, and anything involving Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. Mortimers stories on Would I Lie to You are well worth catching and there are alot of them, Reeves and Mortimer's Shooting Stars panel game show defies any attempt of explaination.
phillip green
2024-01-30 06:52:04 +0000 UTCThe best bit about the stoning scene is it's mainly Men pretending to be women pretending to be men. Comedy Genius.
Donald Urquhart
2024-01-29 22:24:52 +0000 UTCMan this was so much fun thank you for including us all can’t wait for the next one
christopher heckel
2024-01-29 12:22:52 +0000 UTC
