Neil Innes Movies

Both as a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist, George Harrison was one of the best loved and most influential musicians of his generation, and when he died November 29, 2001, after a long battle with cancer, it was a tremendous blow to the many great artists who were his friends and collaborators. A year to the day after his passing, a handful of pop music royalty who had known and worked with Harrison staged a special concert at London's Royal Albert Hall to play his music and honor his art and memory. Concert for George is a documentary which presents highlights from the Harrison memorial concert, featuring performances by Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Tom Petty and the Heartberakers, Jeff Lynne, Billy Preston, Jools Holland, Sam Brown, and Joe Brown. A portion of the profits from the film's release will be donated to The Material World Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Harrison. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Michael Palin wrote and stars in this comedy as The Reverend Charles Fortescue, an unassuming missionary called back to England after spending ten years in Africa teaching children in a native village. Upon arriving in London, he finds that his new assignment is to take charge of a slum mission for prostitutes. He obtains money for the running of the mission from a wealthy woman, Lady Ames (Maggie Smith), whom he meets on the boat sailing to England from Africa. Lady Ames guarantees Fortescue the money on the condition that he take it upon himself to add a little spice to her dormant sex life. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

On a midnight clear 2,000 years ago, three wise men enter a manger where a babe is wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is an infant called Brian...and the three wise men are in the wrong manger. For the rest of his life, Brian (Graham Chapman) finds himself regarded as something of a messiah -- yet he's always in the shadow of this other guy from Galilee. Brian is witness to the Sermon of the Mount, but his seat is in such a bad location that he can't hear any of it ("Blessed are the cheesemakers?"). Ultimately, he is brought before Pontius Pilate and sentenced to crucifixion, which takes place at that crowded, nonexclusive execution site a few blocks shy of Calvary. Rather than utter the Last Six Words, Brian leads his fellow crucifixees in a spirited rendition of a British music-hall cheer-up song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." The whole Monty Python gang (Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam) are on hand in multiple roles, playing such sacred characters as Stan Called Loretta, Biggus Dickus, Deadly Dirk, Casts the First Stone, and Intensely Dull Youth; also showing up are Goon Show veteran Spike Milligan and a Liverpool musician named George Harrison. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An innocent country farmer experiences a number of improbable misadventures that culminate in a battle against the titular beast in this broadly comic fantasy. The first solo outing of director Terry Gilliam, who served as animator and co-director on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, returns to the medieval setting that had previously served him so well, and brings along fellow Pythonite Michael Palin for the ride as reluctant hero Dennis Cooper. Cooper's journey to defeat the fearsome Jabberwock is filled with a similar combination of traditional fairy-tale narrative and irreverent humor, which at times aims to be even raunchier than classic Python fare. But while the film is too awkward and repetitive to succeed, it does boast impressively grungy medieval sets and costumes, and flashes of the visual brilliance that would characterize Gilliam's more mature works. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

From its opening multi-language titles (that sure looks like Swedish) to the closing arrest of the entire Dark Ages cast by modern-day bobbies, Monty Python and the Holy Grail helped to define "irreverence" and became an instant cult classic. This time the Pythonites savage the legend of King Arthur, juxtaposing some excellently selected exterior locations with an unending stream of anachronistic one-liners, non sequiturs, and slapstick set pieces. The Knights of the Round Table set off in search of the Holy Grail on foot, as their lackeys make clippety-clop sounds with coconut shells. A plague-ridden community, ringing with the cry of "bring out your dead," offers its hale and hearty citizens to the body piles. A wedding of convenience is attacked by Arthur's minions while the pasty-faced groom continually attempts to burst into song. The good guys are nearly thwarted by the dreaded, tree-shaped "Knights Who Say Ni!" A feisty enemy warrior, bloodily shorn of his arms and legs in the thick of battle, threatens to bite off his opponent's kneecap. A French military officer shouts such taunts as "I fart in your general direction" and "I wave my private parts at your aunties." Rabbits are a particular obsession of the writers this time around, ranging from the huge Trojan Rabbit to the "killer bunny" that decapitates one of the knights. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin collaborated on the script and assumed most of the onscreen roles, while Gilliam and Jones served as co-directors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this episode, Alex Diamond runs over two singing tramps while en route to lumbago specialist Dr. Emile Koning. Next door to the doctor, Rear Admiral Humphrey DeVere recalls an incident in WW2, in which London was bombed by cabbage crates and attacked by troops bearing wands and wearing tutus. The court-martial of officer Sappy Walters is interrupted by a rendition of "Anything Goes", by a "different Cole Porter." Typical TV viewer Mrs. Elizabeth III sets out to prove that she's an idiot -- as is the rest of the BBC viewership for watching the previous sketch and a film of the M4 Motorway. Back in 1942, Mansfield Vermin-Jones calms his frightened daughter by avoiding "woody and tinny words." And a woman on horseback jumps over the casts of The Sound of Music and Ben-Hur, as the Germans surrender to cheap sentiment and Neil Innes music. Featuring Carol Cleveland, Bob E. Raymond, and Marion Mould, "The Light Entertainment War" was first seen on November 14, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the success of the Sgt. Peppers LP, the Beatles decided to hire a psychedelic bus, take a trip into the English countryside, and film the results, no matter how bizarre or boring. With a motley cast of characters, the group basically tramps about the landscape with occasional music cues to give the film a bit of flow. Though Magical Mystery Tour is an interesting document of the Beatles psychedelic period, its cinematic function is negligible. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide