terry jones Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Where has the time gone?

The Independent reports that Monty Python will celebrate their 40th anniversary this October. As part of the festivities, Royal Albert Hall will host a one-night-only performance on the 23rd of Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy). You may have heard of this -- it's Eric Idle and John Du Prez's wildly funny 1-hour oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. But this one-night-only deal is even more irresistible than usual -- Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Terry Gilliam will perform in it. Unfortunately, John Cleese can't make it, which is a damned shame.

Nevertheless, here I thought that I was lucky that Idle's first cousin is Toronto Symphony Conductor Peter Oundjian, which led the world premiere to happen right in the T-Dot.

As Idle describes the oratorio: "It ranges in reference from Handel, through a naughty Mozart duet, to the Festival of Nine Carols, Bob Dylan, and the classic finale 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.'" (How could Dylan and Python possibly come together? You can see Idle's spin after the jump.)

For those of us who won't be there, The Independent reports that a documentary called Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) is on the way, while Variety reports that there will be anniversary events in Hollywood and New York called "An Evening With Without Monty Python."

What's your favorite Monty moment?

Eating has become more and more difficult in the 21st century. Food isn't always the wondrous, romantic thing depicted in most movies. Recently we have learned about MSG, GMOs, polyunsaturated fats, trans-fats and the presence of the horrid "high fructose corn syrup" in just about everything. (It's in bread. Bread!) Sales of organic foods have increased drastically, and everyone has become an ingredient-reader and an amateur foodie. Now multiply this by about fifteen and you've got Thanksgiving dinner. Who's a vegetarian? Who's a vegan? Who's on the Atkins diet? Does putting the stuffing inside the turkey actually make it poisonous? Were those slivered almonds made on machinery that also processed peanuts? Who's allergic? What's the difference between yams and sweet potatoes? To get yourself prepared, I've assembled a chronological list of food cautionary tales, or hard culinary lessons learned.

Soylent Green (1973)
Is there anyone out there who doesn't yet know the secret component of everyone's favorite future foodstuff? If not, watching this film, directed by Richard Fleischer, will make you want to read the ingredients more often.

The Phantom of Liberty (1974)
The key scene in Luis Bunuel's film takes place at a dinner party. Guests gather around the table, pull down their pants and sit on toilets. They talk, rifle through magazines and otherwise engage in casual conversation. One guest rises, politely excuses himself and shyly asks for the dining room. Once inside, he shuts the door and begins eating. That's really funny, and in the joke, Bunuel asks why we perform one bodily function with great dignity in public and another with shame in private. As humans, our beliefs and behavior are utterly arbitrary. Try not to think about that at the dinner table.