For dead-on satire - no film comes close!

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2004)

You know how people ask you what your favourite film is?
Hard question, unless you only enjoyed one film. "Which of your children do you like best?" "When exactly did you STOP beating your wife?"
That kind of deal. So. I thought deeply on the subject ... and realized that NO film (not even other Python work) engages me in all the most important ways.
I made this executive decision in the VERY early 80's and it still remains my Chosen One!
"Noises Off" = great film (& play), huge laughs, pacing that can put you very happily in the hospital. Maybe more constant laughs than BRIAN. Maybe. But the social commentary was not - as i say - close. Branagh's Hamlet;
Shakespeare in Love; these movies tried even harder to topple my favourite film.
The zaniness with space ships aside (and hey, back then who WASN'T obsessed with Star Wars and such?) this film captures its time as well as any.
And as for the controversy - it was drummed up by people that never watched the film.
I want to thank these blinders-wearing people with my entire being. Without them, and the outrageous comments - this film would have sold about 1/10 the tickets. It would be a cult film, but not as widely seen! How many films get free endorsement (okay... read that "advertizement") from Himself - the Pope?
I challenge anyone to find a film (in that decade or earlier) that was more respectful of Jesus. And for the first time in film (at least that i had ever seen then) Jesus actually looked like he might be from somewhere roughly in the middle east! Curly dark hair, even! Who knew?
This exchange follows a respectful and masterfully delivered segment of the Sermon on the Mount:
"Did he say - blessed are the CHEESE-makers??"
"Well, obviously it's not meant to be taken literally; it refers to any manufacturers of dairy products."
There are more than 200 films on my top 25 list - but only one for the top line. Hail Brian! Follow the shoe! Don't tempt Him, shallow ones! It's still a good sign by any standards!