Why Monty Python's Holy Grail Doesn't Quite Make The Cut

To answer my cousin Matt Otto, re: why Holy Grail isn't
on my top-10 movies to watch when wasted at 2 am list...

Actually, my favorite Python movie is The Meaning of Life,
but my central (well, only, really) criticism of that film
holds for all the Python films: it could have done with some judicious
editing. The "every sperm is sacred" song is one of the
greatest moments in cinematic history. But there comes a point
in the film, around the time a pack of topless roller skating
women show up, where it just trails off into borderline entertaining
obscurity for what seems like an eternity. There are some episodes
of Flying Circus out there that are absolutely rock solid
and have me in stitches from start to finish (as well as a couple
Fawlty Towers episodes.. if you havn't seen The Germans, be sure
to check it out: http://www.fawltysite.net/episode06.htm)
but the Python films are just too spotty. Though I suppose, if my
passing out within the first 20 minutes on three separate attempted
late night LOTR viewings in Athens in late December was any guide,
I shouldn't get too worked up about the latter stages of The Meaning
of Life... Interesting gambit you've thrown at me there, Matt. I'll have
to stew on it a while and get back to you.

In the meantime, my wild and crazy late twenty something public
administration classmates just can't shut up about Napoleon
Dynamite, so I think I might go plug it through movies on demand
right now...



Good enough for a Broadway Musical, not quite good enough for my Top Ten List