Stella - Season One (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)I hate to just throw another five stars at Stella with the other reviewers, but it deserves nothing less! The comedy is brilliantly simple, which is hard to find in TV these days. The plots are simple and predictable enough that the ridiculousness of the jokes becomes the focus of each episode. It's amazing how few television shows take the absurdist route these days, but at the same time; I would have never guessed that three men in suits that act like toddlers could make me seriously laugh. The three main actors are hysterical in their unusual relationship with each other.
I watched much of the show's first season, and immediately decided that it was some kind of independant group that had come up with their own plots, and would stay away from the mainstream. However, they score huge credibility with great guest stars (Jeanine Garofalo, Paul Rudd I believe?), that play off of the absurdist comedy with some strange touch of realism. I can't recommend this show enough.

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From Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain, the co-creators of The State and Wet Hot American Summer, meet STELLA -- a comedy troupe that’s highbrow, lowbrow and every brow in between. Whether they’re tramps looking for a hot meal or office party crashers looking for a hot piece, the boys of STELLA do it all with a twinkle in their eye and a song in their heart.

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Monty Python: Almost The Truth - The Lawyer's Cut (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Forty Years ago five "silly" (but educated - Oxford and Cambridge) British comic actors joined with one American animators to for what is collectively known as Monty Python's Flying Circus. After the BBC ran a pilot and it worked they got a contract and produced 39 half-hour-long shows. Yes, there were only 39. Of course, the team later made some feature films before disbanding.
This documentary, shown originally in October 2009 on the Independent Film Channel on cable, runs six hours! There also bonus material. This is a serious documentary on comedy. The five living members (Graham Chapman, deceased, is showing with early interview clips) each provide comments on their beginning, career as part of the team and life after Python. None of these members are interviewed together. Though they don't trash one another, you get the feeling, after a while, that they had fun when they were doing it but saw it as a job and its past history. They have gone on to other ventures. Their interviews are not funny. But there are plenty of clips from the show and the films inserted that ARE funny - often hilarious. Most of these are not shown in their entirety. That's because the director of this film wanted to spend more time interviewing current comedians, most of who the average American has not hear of. And some have real egos.
The first few episodes are devoted to the original show. Later ones are devoted to specific films ("Life of Brian", "The Holy Grail").
So, if you truly love the Pythons, and have about eight hours to spend time with them as they tell you about their lives, this is a set you will want. If you are looking for laughs of the continuous type you might be better off revisiting one of the classic films or getting the DVD sets of full episodes. Its great that someone took the time to put this together - and that the 5 living members cooperated - but the enjoyment will come from whether you can recite the "Dead Parrot" routine by heart, and whether you really want to know the story of how it was created.
By the way, I noted two previous reviews that gave the DVD five stars when neither person has seen the film, and one of those was only asking a question. Take that into consideration when evaluating this set.
Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"


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Monty Python reunites in this outrageous comedy and also features some of today's biggest comedians including Jimmy Fallon, Eddie Izzard, Dan Aykroyd, and Seth Green. The Pythons are matched against their contemporaries: rock stars, comedians, actors, politicians, Python-haters and potential axe murderers, in this never-before-seen outrageous comedy from the biggest comedy troupe of all time. Watch as Monty Python is brought to life on-screen in this six part mini-series which is airing on the IFC Chanel. The Monty Python troupe includes John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman. Almost the Truth retells the entire Python phenomenon from start to finishEvery opinion on Monty Python will be brought to life on-screen for the first time with never-before-seen material. Dozens of featured guest interviews will include Jimmy Fallon, Lorne Michaels, Hugh Hefner, Eddie Izzard, Olivia Harrison, Steven Merchant, Dan Aykroyd, Tim Roth, Seth Green, among many others. First time the Pythons have come together since 1983. Contains all new interviews.Features the famous Life Of Brian TV Debate from 1979

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The Life of Python (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great way to become aware(or re-aware) of just how great the Pythons still are. There are plenty of clips and new interviews with all of them which are informative and funny. There's even on-set footage of "Holy Grail" and a so-so 10 min May Day film. The best parts though, are the new skits performed by the Pythons(except Idle), a Palin tour through Pythonland, and one of the German episodes of the Flying Circus. It's great to see that they have not lost their ability to be completely irreverent and silly, and it's neat to see what the spots where they filmed their most famous skits look like now. Also the German episode is surprisingly one of the funnier episodes of Circus I've seen. Unfortunately this DVD does have a few flaws that keep it from being the fitting tribute that they deserve. First of all, what is Meatloaf doing on here? They could have at least found someone who has something to do with Python to do this-like Steve Martin or Kevin Kline. I don't even want to think of Meatloaf, then alone see his ugly mug on a Python tribute. Also this was made by A&E, who put absolutely NO effort into their DVD's. Why is the other German episode not included? I know it's in German, but I CAN READ SUBTITLES. The fact that they have a second DVD that has nothing but a 42 minute episode on it is ridiculous. This DVD may have flaws, but it is definately worth getting because, unless by some miracle they all decide to give it one last try, this is the best we're going to get.

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The Life of Python--exclusive new material and classic bits! VOLUME 1: "Its...The Monty Python Story"--This outrageous BBC Productioncelebrates 30 years of Python with new Monty Python sketches, a plethora of guestappearances and the funniest funeral you’ll ever attend. VOLUME 2: "A Veritable Potpourri of Python" contains: *Pythonland--Journey with Michael Palin in search of the locations where the best- known Python sketches were shot. *The Lost Python Mayday Special--A fun and fusty relic from the 1971 Pan EuropeanMay Day Festival, freshly dug from the BBC rubbish bin.*From Spam to Sperm: MontyPython’s Greatest Hits--Sing along with Meat Loaf, the songs we were grounded forsinging as kids. *Exclusive animated South Park tribute. VOLUME 3: "Monty Python’s Fliegender Zirkus #2"--One of the famous "lost" Germanepisodes never before available in the U.S.Yes, Monty Python is funny in German!

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The League of Gentlemen - The Complete Series 2 (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)After a flabbergasting first season, the League of Gentlemen pick up their bizarre world of Royston-Vasey exactly where they left off, but infuse it with nitroglycerin with the arrival of a circus and its Al Jolson made up figure of Papa Lazarou. The scene where he kidnaps another wife (apparently he calls all of them Dave) and puts her in a lions cage with the rest of his collection, hosing them down ... well, it almost drove me insane ... with laughter. I felt like my reality had been changed.
The League's brand of humor mixed with horror might not be for everyone, but I loved it. If you like Monty Python's The Meaning of Life's brand of disgusting satire, the League of Gentlemen is the next logical step.

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Take a look into the extremely unique and surreal local world of Royston Vasey. Featuring the strongest collection of characters you will ever see; all played with extraordinary range by three actors/writers. This set includes each hysterical episode from series two, as seen in the UK. This truly original Britcom has been likened to Shaun of the Dead and "Monty Python meets Twin Peaks"; customers will want to watch these unedited, original UK versions over and over again to take in what they missed the first time!DVD Features:Audio Commentary:Local Gossip (Commentary)Biographies:Local People (Character Biographies) Music Clips:Royston Vasey TunesOther:Behind the Scenes: Series 2Territorial ArmyPhoto gallery:Series 2 Scrap Book

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Monty Python's Graham Chapman - Looks Like A Brown Trouser Job (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Dr Graham Chapman, MD, delivers in these home movies a set of lectures and demonstrations on how to be funny. Take notes and pay very close attention, because he has it right at every turn. The Pythons were the right mix of personalities and comedic talents. The whole being greater and all that, but in point of fact, were it not for Chapman, it is hard to believe they would ever have coalesced. Inspite of leading the most lascivious of lifestyles, Graham was always the one playing the vicar, the Protestant, the general, Brian, the dowdy women. His window on the ordinary person embraced those characters with a sense of compassion as well as humour, and that's what made it possible for Cleese and Palin to be as off the wall, for Idle to nudge, wink and imply slyly, for Jones to be a perfect foil. It was Chapman, after all, who told Cleese to change his skit about an intransigent appliance salesman to a parrot shopkeeper, and the rest, as they say.... None of them could have pulled off either Arthur or Brian save Chapman. None of them but Chapman could have gotten away with pleading with the German security guards, when they were denied entry to Dachau concentration camp on a German TV project, to let them in because they were Jewish. He had some finger on the essentially dignity of his characters inspite of the prepsoterous silliness, and that touched his colleagues as well as his fans.
In this absolutely terrific and poorly shot film, Chapman holds forth on the college tour cicrcuit about all sorts of misadventures, most of which will thoroughly satisfy you with a great peel of laughter. Knowing how he died, you are aware of the tragic consequences of his carrying on, and perhaps he is as well. Like his skits, in the very peak of the hilarity, something fundamentally frail and human peeks through looking for approval. In the American theatre, I can think of only Red Skelton who could deliver that same sense of silliness and respect, all in an effort to bring you a smile. A brown trouser job? If so, crease mine twice....

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In the early 1980s, Monty Python’s Graham Chapman embarked upon a second career as a public speaker. Throughout the decade he toured hundreds of North American colleges delivering "comedy lectures" which consisted of tales from his life, adventures with an ad hoc group of adrenaline junkies called the Dangerous Sports Club, equally dangerous friends like the Who’s Keith Moon and, of course, his fellow Pythons. In the spring of 1988 he launched his final college tour before his death in 1989, the best of which is presented here, videotaped under Graham’s supervision and taken from his personal archives. It’s a historical – and hysterical - document, capturing Graham at the peak of his comedic powers, at ease and at home before a crowd of Chapmaniacs.

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The League of Gentlemen - The Complete Series 3 (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)The first two series of The League of Gentlemen are a wonderful mixture of sketch comedy and soap opera, with elements of horror and drama. Series 3 is even better. The phenomenally talented Gentlemen take their bizarre formula to its zenith here, producing what in essence are 6 brilliant short films that all climax with a different perspective on the same event. I was floored by these shows - their originality, inventiveness, grotesque hilarity, and surprising moments of poignancy. The portrayal of characters goes way beyond the sort of one-dimensional caricature you normally associate with TV comedy. The residents of Royston Vasey, no matter how strange, feel vibrantly, believably real. This is a testament to the incredible acting talent of Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Steve Pemberton, who, along with Jeremy Dyson, also write this unique program. Quite exhilerating, in its occasionally sickening way.

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Take a look into the extremely unique and surreal local world of Royston Vasey. This set includes each grotesquely funny episode from series three, as seen in the UK. Featuring the strongest collection of characters you will ever see; all played with extraordinary range by three actors/writers. This truly original Britcom has been likened to Shaun of the Dead and "Monty Python meets Twin Peaks"; customers will want to watch these unedited, original UK versions over and over again to take in what they missed the first time!DVD Features:Audio Commentary:Local Gossip (Commentary)Biographies:Local People (Character Biographies) Deleted Scenes:Interviews:Interview with the Costume Designer - Yves BarreMusic Only Track:Isolated Music CuesOther:Dean's Magic Teach-InNew Video DiariesThe Making of Series 3SFX FootageOuttakes:Photo gallery:

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