Whether they’re mass-produced and store-bought or lovingly made by hand, holiday cards generally have the same message: peace on Earth, goodwill towards men, etc. Not so the animated Christmas greeting below, from the fantastically demented mind of Terry Gilliam. In 1968 — a year before Monty Python’s Flying Circus began its BBC run — Gilliam made the video for Do Not Adjust Your Set, the bizarre children’s series that was a forerunner to Monty Python. But that doesn’t mean this send-up of Christmas cards is any gentler than his later stuff: Gilliam’s delightfully sadistic, surreal sense of humor is on full display, from a kleptomaniac Santa Claus to the murder of several adorable woodland creatures. Read More »
We were sold on the work of LEGO sculptor Iain Heath the moment we spotted his Freddie Mercury portrait at Super Punch. So we were thrilled to find that he’s got an entire Flickr site full of incredible, pop-culture LEGO constructions. Although there are a few funny political caricatures (Sarah Palin, Arnold Schwarzenegger), Heath specializes in recreating the nerdiest of characters and celebrities: Stephen Hawking, Futurama, Monty Python, Star Wars, the anime films of Hayao Miyazaki. Geeks, rejoice, in the gallery of our favorite Heath sculptures after the jump, then visit him on Flickr to see much, much more. Read More »
Brazil director Terry Gilliam turns 71-years-old today, and we thought it was just as good a time as any to take a look back at the filmmaker’s beginnings as an animator — a career that established Gilliam’s outrageous sense of humor and cut-out style, but has never taken a back seat to his live-action films amongst fans. Gilliam found his footing as a strip cartoonist for Help! magazine. He eventually made his way to children’s television before joining the legendary comedic troupe, Monty Python. With little money and time, the 12 Monkeys director found himself working intuitively, evoking the stream-of-conscious, surreal style he became known for. His ability to turn the mundane on its head using low-fi materials to invoke the unexpected was his trademark. “The whole point of animation to me is to tell a story, make a joke, express an idea. The technique itself doesn’t really matter. Whatever works is the thing to use. That’s why I use cut-out. It’s the quickest and easiest form of animation I know,” Gilliam once told viewers on Bob Godfrey’s Do-It-Yourself Animation Show in 1974. Past the break, take a walk through Gilliam’s history as an animator. Let us know your favorites below. Read More »
As you may have noticed, we’re pretty excited about Banned Books Week here at Flavorwire — so much so, in fact, that we’ve been obsessing over prohibitions of other media. Since there’s no such thing as “Banned Movies Week” (yet!), we’ve assembled a dozen of the most famously banished movies of all time — here and abroad. Check ‘em out after the jump, and throw in your own in the comments.
Here’s a must-watch for Monty Python fans: Cartoon Brew has posted a segment that aired on Bob Godfrey’s Do-It-Yourself Animation Show in 1974 that has Terry Gilliam teaching viewers how to do the cut-out style of animation that made him famous. He explains that he makes cut-outs because “it’s the quickest and easiest form of animation I know” and then takes us through the entire process, from choosing images to storyboarding to filming. The 15-minute clip also includes a healthy selection of Gilliam’s best work to date. As a guest, he’s both informative and funny, but long-time fans may be most charmed to see him looking so young.
We love us some Anthony Bourdain, but we’ve gotta say this: the list of his five favorite foodie films that he offered up to Entertainment Weekly is about as spontaneous as a Domino’s Pizza delivery capping off a long night of weed smoking. Yes, Big Night, of course. And Eat Drink Man Woman, yawn. In Bourdain’s defense, we couldn’t think up that many other ones — maybe there just aren’t that many rhapsodically hunger-inducing movies. More often than not, movies use food for a more insidious reason: to gross us out. So we’ve compiled something of a reverse to the Bourdain list — ten movies that put us off of the foodstuffs in question. Take a look (hopefully on an empty stomach) after the jump.
UK illustrator Dan Sherratt is one of the most gifted of the current crop of graphic artists who are bringing modern tools and concepts to the movie poster format, creating eye-catching new art for classic pictures and modern favorites. The prolific artist posts regularly at eatsleeplivefilm.com and at his own Shop Reworking Titles blog, in addition to being a featured artist at Reelizer. Dan’s latest series really caught our eye: it’s an inventive trio of posters for the films of Christopher Nolan. Check them out after the jump, along with some of our other favorites from Sherratt’s sites.
Before Monty Python and the Holy Grail was released in theaters back in 1975, a member of the British Board of Film Classification attended a screening and had some concerns about its content. Letters of Note just posted the resulting letter between two of the film’s producers, and it’s chock full of gems that will make Monty Python fans chuckle nervously about how close we came to losing so much just for an all-ages rating. Because really, can you imagine living in a world without the phrase “fart in your general direction”? We can’t.
Director Terry Gilliam has been at the moviemaking biz for awhile now (do the words Monty Python ring any bells?) and some of his older stuff, like this animation short he created in 1968, is just as wacky and creative as anything coming to your local movie theater in, say, December 2009. “Storytime” begins with a gurgling, squeaking, and skittering cockroach named Dan and meanders through a chain of command to carousing hands and an adultery scandal. Let’s just say it’s “conceptual.” See if you can spot the Monty Python and the Holy Grail gag after the jump.
Maybe you’ve left your gift-buying to the last minute (again). Maybe you’re just looking for something to cozy up with as you keep yourself warm during the holiday lull. Either way, when it comes to quality screen time, there’s no beating the BBC. For decades, the British Broadcasting Corporation has created and aired some of the edgiest, funniest, and most envelope-pushing programming in the world — the best of which is available on US shores through BBC America.
Over the years, there have been a number of BBC series of such high quality that they begged to be collected in full, bringing their complete experiences into welcoming homes. After the jump, we round up the ten best of the best, along with info and the requisite video clips. But that’s not all: we also have copies of almost every one* of these BBC box sets available to win! To be in with a chance at one, leave us a comment telling us your personal favorite moment from British TV history. Be sure to use a valid email address when submitting, so we can contact you if you win. Bonus points if you catch the crossover cameos in our selected video clips — these UK stars have a habit of popping up in each other’s shows.
