Film of the Week:
Monty Python’s Life of Brian
Following the success of Mothy Python and the Holy Grail, fans were
asking if they would be making another movie. Although never intended to do so,
after seeing the fans reaction, decided to seriously consider making another one.
Life of Brian was the result.
The moment the film was released in 1979, it was met with strong controversy.
Throughout the film, it contained religious satire, which drew in many accusations
of blasphemy. It was banned in many cinemas across the UK, Ireland, and Norway.
Some of these bans have lasted decades after its release. It has been noted
that some of these controversy originally derived from misunderstandings among
certain members of different parties, and subsequently lifted the ban in some areas.
Some bans continued into the 21st century. After
winning an online vote for the English Riviera International Comedy Festival in
2008, Torbay Council lifted the ban and the film was shown. In 2009, a thirty-nine
year ban in Aberystwyth. The first showing after ban was accompanied by Terry
Jones and Michael Palin respectively alongside mayor Sue Jones Davies, who
actually stared in the film itself as the main female, Judith Iscariot.
In 2007, the film once again caused controversy when the Church of
St Thomas the Martyr in Newcastle upon Tyne held a screening in the church
itself. The screening was a sell-out, but some the Christian Voice was highly
critical of the Church’s decision by saying “You don’t promote Christ to the
community by taking the mick out of him”. The Reverend Jonathan Adams defended
his actions by saying that it does not mock Jesus and that it does raise some important
issues that needs to be sorted out.
The Pythons have all said that they film does not in any intend to
test or destroy anyone’s faith. They merely intended to highlight some of the
misunderstandings that religion has. On the DVD commentary, John Cleese spoke
up for religious people who has congratulated him and his fellow Pythons on making
such a film that does highlight some problems that are within religion and how
some people may have double standards when it comes to believing in their own
faith.
Over the years, more and more people have grown to accept the film
and have more of understanding of the comedy aspect of it. It has a loyal fan
base who support the film as a standalone and as part of the Monty Python’s catalogue.
It has a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has frequently been in the
running for the title of the “greatest comedy film of all time”. It came in
third place in Time Out Magazine’s poll of the greatest film ever, behind
classics, Airplane and This is Spinal Tap. Even certain lines spoken in the
film has been noted: “He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy!” spoken by
Brian’s mother, Mandy, has been voted as the funniest line in film history by
readers of BOL.com. “What has the Romans ever done for us?” and “I’m Brian and
so’s my wife” made it in the top 10 on the same list.
The song, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, has gained its
own cult status for being an independent song or as part of the film. Its
catchy tune and memorable lyrics being sung all over the world, even becoming a
well-known catchphrase.
TV Episode of the Week:
Ed, Edd, ‘n’ Eddy – Season 2 – Episode 2: One + One = Ed
This is one of my favourite episodes of the entire show. This
episode focuses on Ed and Eddy asking questions and discovering things about
how the world and the Universe works… by tearing it apart. Seriously, they
break physics, eat the sun, and take Johnny’s outline rendering him liquefied.
It starts off with Ed in Eddy’s house asking all the important questions that everyone
has yet to answer fully: Such as, does the light stay on when you close the
fridge door?
There is no subtle transition between dismantling a cooker and dismantling
the Universe, but the unexpected nature of discovering that you can bend
physics at your will is what makes this episode thrive.
Game of the
Week:
Factorio
Do you like satisfying games? Have you
stopped playing Minecraft because all you find yourself doing is nothing by continuous
mining without actually getting anywhere? Factorio is a game all about creating
a factory that mines coal, rock and other such materials for you. All you have
to do is place the components down in such a way to help with efficiency,
upgrade them when able to, and ward off any enemies that may come your way.
Sounds too much like Minecraft to you? Well, what if I told you that this is nothing
like Minecraft.
You are given the task to build yourself a
factory that… well makes stuff. The plot of the game is that you are a stranded
spaceman that has crashed landed on the planet that he and his crew were sent
there to build a base designed to defend the colonising of Earth. Because he
crash landed, he has to start from scratch. To do that, you have to harvest the
resources. The more that you gather up, the more your factory can grow until it
is can mine, transport, process and assemble parts all by itself. All you are
left to do is research advanced technologies including trains, drones, spaceships
and even exoskeletons. Whilst doing that, you have to fight of increasingly
difficult aliens who are out to defend their world.
This is an incredibly satisfying game to
play. Especially when you’ve created a complex system that works perfectly, transporting
materials from one place to another, and creating what you want. Once you have
a fully functioning self-reliant factory, you can focus on expanding further.
It was inspired by Minecraft, specifically certain
mods such as Buildcraft and Industrialcraft, but the developers have taken that
concept and morphed into something completely different and fresh and very
entertaining.
I highly recommend it.
Video of the Week:
Wintergatan - Marble Machine (music instrument using
2000 marbles)
Watching this marble machine do its thing, creating
feet-tapping music, this is an incredibly awesome video. How he was able to
make everything work so brilliantly blows my mind. The many levers he has to
pull to make sure the right marble goes in the right direction, creating that
note he wants is amazing. I’ve watched this video many times over, and yet I’m
still finding new things to focus on.
Thanks for reading
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)
My book, Sector 22: Zoey, is now available on Amazon, eBay, and SkyCat Publications' website:
Amazon:
eBay:
SkyCat Publications:
Ask me anything at:
ahudsonpresents@live.co.uk
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