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I think it's fair to say that Monty Python movies, much like the TV show from which they sprung, are all great. The absurdist brilliance of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," which ran on the BBC from 1969 to 1974, saw comedians John Cleese, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam rewrite the rules of comedy. Alongside regular collaborators Carol Cleveland and Connie Booth, the Monty Python troupe established themselves as true comedic geniuses, leading to a run of feature films that remain just as beloved to this day as the "Flying Circus" itself.

Chief among those films is 1975's "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," a deconstruction of the British national identity by way of an irreverent retelling of Arthurian legend. The film was and is much more than its oft-quoted catchphrases would suggest, with the Python boys turning their subversive eye towards British history and sending up...

It's nothing short of a miracle that anything nearly as weird as "Monty Python's Flying Circus" became a pop culture phenomenon. In the BBC television series that ran from 1969 to 1974, comedians Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, along with animator Terry Gilliam and frequent co-stars Carol Cleveland and Connie Booth, obliterated all sense of sanity on the airwaves.

Their sketch comedy show — which had neither circuses, pythons, nor a character named "Monty" — crafted off-the-wall sketches about every strange thing they could think of. Silly walks, Hungarian phrase books, and how not to be seen were just the tip of the very absurd iceberg, and the comedy troupe's absolute dedication to defying convention remains, to this day, a gold standard to which any comedian can aspire.

Monty Python didn't stay on the airwaves forever. The troupe created four feature films together over the course of twelve years,...

Stars: Julian Rhind-Tutt, Sally Phillips, Adrian Edmondson, Carol Cleveland, Stephen Marcus, Sarine Sofair, Omri Rose, Harriet Madly, Laura Swift, Kevin Leslie, Laurence Kennedy, Connor Williams, Sophie MIller-Sheen, Michael Fatogun | Written and Directed by Matt Mitchell

Despite the nondescript title, The Facility is actually a sequel to 2017’s British zombie horror The Rizen, and originally debuted in 2019 on the festival circuit as The Rizen: Possession… a title which clearly marks out where the film is headed and what we should expect. So why the title change? Maybe because the sequel has been released by a different distributor who, selfishly, didn’t want to give the first films release any publicity as they didn’t release it or – and I want to say this is the more logical reason – The Rizen wasn’t actually that well received on its release and the distributor wanted to distance this film from the original. Plus,...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

London Film Convention

The 80th Anniversary of Hammer!

Saturday November the 8th ( 10am – 6pm )

Venue : Central Hall Westminster.

Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9Nh

Celebrates in a one-off special event one of the worlds longest running film production companies Hammer’s 80th anniversary.

Founded by William Hindes and James Carerras in November 1934!

The company very much dominated the world market from the 1950’s to the 1970’s in comedies but above all their now classic horror films.

Now very much back in production with several successful films over the past years.

With a sequel to their film version of the play “ Woman In Black “ that starred Daniel Radcliff due for release in 2015 “ Woman In Black : Angel Of Death “ .

The show is also a celebration of the British film industry and of the past and present creative film making in...

Starring Carol Cleveland (Monty Python), Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who), Tom Price (Torchwood) and Chase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space 9), The Search for Simon follows 39 year David’s search for his younger brother Simon, who, at the age of 7 (ish) in 1979, disappeared, due to a perceived alien abduction. After all, his Dad did tell him that he had been…

Completely devastated by the loss of his younger brother, and best friend, David vowed to find his brother – or at the very least find out about the Aliens that took him. This quest has taken over and completely filled David’s life. It’s more than a passion, it’s an obsession. David has been meeting people – filming interviews and generally obsessing over alien abductions ever since.

David’s best (and only) friend Robert, saddened by his friend’s obsession and unwillingness to let go of the past, tries his best to...

Stars: Martin Gooch, Noeleen Comiskey, Sophie Aldred, Julian Bastida, Simon Birks, Jen Brown, Brooke Burfitt, Lucy Clements, Carol Cleveland, Emma Cornell, Joe Dutch | Written by Martin Gooch, Simon Birks | Directed by Martin Gooch

David Jones (Martin Gooch) is a man with a mission; to find his brother, Simon, who was abducted by aliens nearly 30 years ago. Fed tips about UFOs by an American ‘ufologist’ AlienFromArcturas in exchange for cash, David travels in search of UFOs to places like Denmark and Utah, or wherever his tips take him. Unfortunately, they tend not to lead to anything, and while his obsession alienates his friends at home, he meets and befriends psychiatrist/author Eloise Eldritch (Noeleen Comiskey) and Angela (Sophie Aldred) and soon remembers more about Simon’s disappearance than what his dad told him as a child.

I’ll be honest, the opening 5 minutes of The Search For Simon made me audibly groan.

London – The Monty Python onstage reunion show here next month will be bigger, "a little bit ruder" and feature various song-and-dance scenes, Carol Cleveland, known as the "Female Python" or "Seventh Python," has told U.K. magazine Radio Times. Rehearsals have started, with the show at the British capital's O2 Arena opening on July 1 for a 10-date run. Photos John Oliver Reveals His Comedic Influences The five surviving members of legendary U.K. comedy group Monty Python — John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam — earlier this year announced

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This afternoon at London's Playhouse Theatre, the Monty Python team announced the worst-kept-secret of the week - a one-off live reunion show.

Digital Spy was in attendance at the press conference and between all the gags and guffaws, we've rounded up all you need to know about the comeback.

> Monty Python: 30 years of near reunions from the comedy troupe

What? When? Where? Who?!?!?!

Monty Python Live (mostly): one down, five to go at The O2, London on July 1, 2014 featuring John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.

Anyone else?

Graham Chapman will be represented ("he will be there on film... he won't be absent from the evening"). Carol Cleveland will be making an appearance ("At 72 they want me to go on stage - bring the showgirl costume! No-one else would give me that job, so I said yes") and there'll be choreography from Arlene Phillips.

When do tickets go on sale?...

Monty Python have announced a one-off live show in London next year.

John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam reunited for a special press conference today (November 21) at the Playhouse Theatre in the capital.

> Monty Python: 30 years of near-reunions from the comedy troupe

The iconic comedy group will perform live at London's O2 Arena on July 1, 2014.

Dubbed 'One Down, Five To Go' - in tribute to late member Graham Chapman - the show will include a mixture of classic sketches and new material.

Tickets will go on sale on Monday, November 25 at 10am.

Carol Cleveland will also make an appearance in the show, while former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips will work with the team to help choreograph the live show.

When asked why the group have finally got back together, Eric Idle said: "We're trying to pay for Terry Jones's mortgage. If we left it too long,...

Monty Python fans everywhere woke up on Tuesday to the exciting news of an official reunion.

Since 1983's The Meaning of Life, the surviving members have yet to embark on a proper, official Monty Python project together. However, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle are to reunite for a special stage production.

As Eddie Izzard wrote on Twitter: "Monty Python reforming to do a gig is as big as The Beatles reforming to do a gig."

To mark this monumental comedy moment, Digital Spy takes a look back at 30 years of near-misses, almosts-but-not-quites and other mini-reunions that have led to today's (November 21) press conference.

1983: Yellowbeard

Released shortly after The Meaning of Life, this comedy was written by Graham Chapman, alongside Peter Cook and Python collaborator Bernard McKenna. Centred around Chapman's pirate who is imprisoned for tax evasion, it also starred John Cleese and Eric Idle in minor roles.

Phew! Even if there wasn’t a ‘Monty Python’ in the headline, you could tell it’s them just by the size of the title, heheh. In any case, the rumor about the new Monty Python film has been around for a while now, but ever since the last October’s trailer and clip and some photos, there has been nothing much around to keep our attention, unfortunately.

This trailer/clip for A Liar’s Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman is animated in old-French-cartoons style (at least it reminds me of those I’ve seen), and it is titled ‘Commisioned to Write’ (thanks to Fandango):

Synopsis:

Drawing inspiration from the late Graham Chapman’s intentionally fictitious memoir A Liar’s Autobiography (Volume VI, filmmakers Jeffrey Simpson, Ben Timlett, and Bill Jones employ 15 teams of animators to tell the outlandish and surreal life story of...

If ever you damned time for moving forward solely because it made the young men of Monty Python into the old men of Monty Python who don't get around as much, then A Liar's Autobiography - The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman should be firmly on your radar as it reunites the famed troupe and brings their comedy to the screen once more. The downside of course being that it's animated so it's just their voices, but still, hearing Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam bring the story of the late Graham Chapman's life to...err...life, is enough of a treat. Directed by Bill Jones, Jeff Simpson & Ben Timlett, A Liar's Autobiography is an eclectic mix of animation styles and comedy that recalls some of Monty Python's best bits, and it also features voice appearances by Cameron Diaz, Carol Cleveland, Philip Bulcock,...

Monty Python's Flying Circus star Graham Chapman has been honoured with an unofficial blue plaque in London. Michael Palin and Terry Jones unveiled the plaque to honour the late actor, who died in 1989. The pair were joined by Chapman's former colleagues Barry Cryer and Carol Cleveland at the unveiling at the Angel Inn pub in Highgate. The plaque was organised by Chapman's friends and family members after English Heritage axed plans for an official memorial because of their budget cuts. Referring to Jones's classic line from Life of Brian, the plaque describes Chapman as a "very naughty boy" and that he "drank here often and copiously". (more)...

Jayne Mansfield.s Car

Piers Handling, CEO and Director of Tiff, and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival, made the first announcement of films to premiere at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival. Films announced include titles in the Galas and Special Presentations programmes. The announced films include 17 Galas and 45 Special Presentations, including 38 world premieres.

Toronto audiences will be the first to see the world premieres of films from directors Andrew Adamson, Ben Affleck, David Ayer, Maiken Baird, Noah Baumbach, J.A. Bayona, Stuart Blumberg, Josh Boone, Laurent Cantet, Sergio Castellitto, Stephen Chbosky, Lu Chuan, Derek Cianfrance, Nenad Cicin-Sain, Costa-Gavras, Ziad Doueiri, Liz Garbus, Dustin Hoffman, Rian Johnson, Neil Jordan, Baltasar Kormákur, Shola Lynch, Deepa Mehta, Roger Michell, Nishikawa Miwa, Ruba Nadda, Mike Newell, François Ozon, Sally Potter, Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, Eran Riklis, David O. Russell, Gauri Shinde, Ben Timlett & Bill Jones & Jeff Simpson, Tom Tykwer & Andy Wachowski & Lana Wachowski,...

By Sean O’Connell

Hollywoodnews.com: Earlier, we brought you a snapshot glance at the first wave of programming announced for the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. Shortly after, the fest released a thorough breakdown of the Galas and Special Presentations for this year’s event, which kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 6.

So far, 17 Galas and 45 Special Presentations have been announced, including 38 world premieres. Andrew Adamson, Ben Affleck, David Ayer, Maiken Baird, Noah Baumbach, J.A. Bayona, Stuart Blumberg, Josh Boone, Laurent Cantet, Sergio Castellitto, Stephen Chbosky, Lu Chuan, Derek Cianfrance, Nenad Cicin-Sain, Costa-Gavras, Ziad Doueiri, Liz Garbus, Dustin Hoffman, Rian Johnson, Neil Jordan, Baltasar Kormákur, Shola Lynch, Deepa Mehta, Roger Michell, Nishikawa Miwa, Ruba Nadda, Mike Newell, François Ozon, Sally Potter, Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, Eran Riklis, David O. Russell, Gauri Shinde, Ben Timlett & Bill Jones & Jeff Simpson, Tom Tykwer & Andy Wachowski & Lana Wachowski, Margarethe von Trotta, Joss Whedon and...

2012′s Toronto International Film Festival is set to officially announce its initial line-up later today, but Variety let the cat out of the bag, at least partially; and it’s quite astounding. Most of our most-anticipated films of the year will be premiering at the Canadian festival, notably Terrence Malick‘s To the Wonder, Wachowskis & Tom Tykwer‘s epic-sounding Cloud Atlas, Rian Johnson‘s Looper (which will open the fest), Ben Affleck‘s Argo, Dereck Cianfrance‘s The Place Beyond the Pines and much, more more.

Coming from Sundance, the only mentioned film was Ben Lewis‘ John Hawkes-starring The Sessions, while Cannes premieres include Matteo Garrone‘s Reality, Thomas Vinterberg‘s The Hunt, Pablo Larrain‘s No and Jacques Audiard‘s Rust and Bone. One of the biggest surprises is a new film from Noah Baumbach, starring Greta Gerwing titled Frances Ha. There’s also The Avengers director Joss Whedon...

(back row) Carol Cleveland, Caroline Munro, (front) Martine Beswick, Madeline Smith, Caron Gardner, Vera Day, Renee Glynn.

Leicester, 13th - 14th July 2012

By Adrian Smith

An impressive array of stars and an eclectic lineup of Hammer films at the Phoenix Square cinema in Leicester marked the launch of a brand new innovative collaboration between Hammer and the De Montfort University. Their Cinema and Television History (Cath) Research Centre have become custodians of the Hammer script archive, meaning they will curate and catalogue the collection and make them available for research purposes. They have also received a collection of Jimmy Sangster items donated by his widow Mary Peach, including written materials and photographs covering not only his time with Hammer but as a successful independent writer and director.

In order to celebrate this new relationship the university hosted a two day Hammer festival attended by fans and academics keen to explore...

Camelot (it.s only a model) gets a Blu-ray upgrade as the comedy classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail comes to Blu-ray loaded with bonus material and still bringing the laughs. On the format, the film has considerable grain, but you are too busy laughing to notice any problems with the picture. Released in 1974 and directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, the film stars Monty Python.s Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Gilliam, Jones, and Michael Palin. It also features Connie Booth (who looks like a witch), Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes, Bee Duffell, John Young, and Rita Davies. The film is easily one of the most quotable comedies ever released and stays funny no matter how many...

'Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) is a humorous oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian & celebrating 40 years of python.

Written by the Creators of Spamalot, Eric Idle & John Du Prez

Starring Eric Idle (baritonish) with guest appearances of fellow Pythons Michael Palin, Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam, Carol Cleveland & Neil Innes with William Ferguson (Brian), Shannon Mercer (Judith), Rosalind Plowright (Mandy) & Christopher Purves (Reg) and John Du Prez conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus with bagpipes and some sheep.

The feature will be shown in cinemas across Europe for one night only on March 25th.

To view the list of screening venues & to book tickets, click here!

Yes, I was there. (You probably didn't recognize me.) My general feeling is that this was the best Knights of Columbus show I ever attended.

If you're of a certain age, you probably went to a convention like this a few times when you were young. Lots of fans, lots of comic book dealers, lots of pros and a few celebrities, and no big publishers. No movie companies. None of the corporate hard sell. Just enthusiastic people as far as the eye could see.

I found myself really having a good time there. Picked up a few trades at fire sale prices (which may be the new normal pricing-- good if you're buying, bad if you're selling, dangerous if you're producing), got to spend twenty minutes talking with Carol Cleveland about Monty Python and other work she's done, shared some gossip with Rich Johnston (with each of us knowing we...

It seems fitting that I was just spending the afternoon the other day watching several hours of behind the scenes features on my Blu-ray copy of Monty Python's Life of Brian, as news from the Python camp today is that the gang is getting back together to celebrate their 40th Anniversary later this year. According to The Independent, four of the main six stars -- Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam -- will get together for the first time in over a decade to take part in the musical adaptation of Life of Brian, called Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy). John Cleese will be unable to attend due to a previous engagement and as you probably know, Graham Chapman died in 1989. Idle, who stars in the production which he co-wrote with composer John Du Prez, said: "It is rare you get to be silly on a mass scale. It...

Four members of the Monty Python team will reunite for a "comic oratorio" based on 1979 movie Life Of Brian, it has emerged. Eric Idle will be joined by Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam, as well as Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes, to perform Not The Messiah (He's A Very Naughty Boy). However, fifth surviving Python John Cleese is unable to attend because of prior commitments, The Daily Telegraph reports. Of the new piece, Idle said: "It ranges in reference from Handel, through a naughty Mozart duet, to the Festival Of Nine Carols, (more)...