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Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
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50 Years On, Michael Douglas Reflects On His Epic Journey Making ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest': 'The Movie Reflects What's Happening In America'
EXCLUSIVE: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the New Hollywood classic adapted from Ken Kesey's book, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with a special screening today [21st] at the Cannes Film Festival and a stateside re-release by Fathom Entertainment in July. Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz served as producers of Miloš Forman's anti-establishment firecracker, which remains one of just three movies ever to win all five major Academy Awards — Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director and Screenplay. Thirteen years in the making and knocked back by countless A-list actors and studios, the movie overcame myriad challenges to become 1975's second highest-grossing U.S. film (over $100 million worldwide), beaten only by Jaws. Douglas was only 31 at the time. More from Deadline Scarlett Johansson On Why The Script For Her Directorial Debut 'Eleanor The Great' Made Her Cry: 'It's About Forgiveness' – Cannes Cover Story Dakota Johnson Talks Romantic Experiments In Cannes Comedy 'Splitsville', Upcoming 'Materialists' And 'Juicy' Colleen Hoover Adaptation 'Verity' Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value' Wows Cannes In Premiere, Gets Extraordinary 19-Minute Ovation Jack Nicholson serves as Randle McMurphy, a role that had been played by Douglas' father Kirk in the Broadway play version. Randall is a rebellious new patient at a mental institution who does battle with Louise Fletcher's domineering head nurse Mildred Ratched. Will Sampson, Danny DeVito, Sydney Lassick, William Redfield, Christopher Lloyd and Brad Dourif also star, the latter two making their feature debuts. Screenplay came from Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman. Here, Douglas (80) recalls the remarkable journey behind the film, his father's role in bringing it to him, and the ways in which it remains relevant to this day. RELATED: DEADLINE: Michael, how do you view today? MICHAEL DOUGLAS: I think the movie reflects what's happening in America right now, in terms of the Presidency and a struggle that we never anticipated we would see in our country: a struggle for democracy. There is a parallel between Nurse Ratched and the system she operates within and what's happening in America today. We are certainly under attack in in in our country right now. But I also look back on the production as a magical process and with the greatest satisfaction for how much I learned and how important it was for my career as a producer. Saul Zaentz, my fellow producer on the movie, was an amazing man, a three-time Best Picture winner, which perhaps doesn't get the credit it should. RELATED: DEADLINE: How fired up were you by the material when your dad was trying to get it made in the '60s? DOUGLAS: I was taking a freshman course in 20th century American literature at the time. I was a hippie in California and Ken's book just floored me. I saw dad in the play, and years after, I heard by chance that he was in the process of selling the rights to the book after not being able to get it made as a movie. I said, 'I'll make my best effort for you to be in it.' He was very sweet and agreed to give the kid a chance. DEADLINE: Your dad really struggled to let it go, though. He even said the process 'destroyed' him. How challenging was that? DOUGLAS: He was proud of his son producing it, but the aspect he struggled to let go of was not playing the part. It was extremely difficult for him. When you look back as an actor, maybe you get four great parts in your career. R.P. McMurphy was one of those parts. We joked about it later, that it was my responsibility he didn't star in our film, but I reminded him that the director has the final say. I tried, but it wasn't possible. Too much time had passed. When Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando turned it down, I thought there might be more of a chance, but then Miloš really wanted Burt Reynolds. Later on, Hal Ashby showed us some outtakes of Jack Nicholson from The Last Detail and that was that. RELATED: Neon's Palme D'Or Whisperer Tom Quinn Reveals Keys To Cannes And Oscar Success: 'I'm Happy To Share A Playbook' DEADLINE: He wasn't the only Douglas interested in a part, right. You had wanted to play Billy? DOUGLAS: That was a brief moment in time, early on in production, but as soon as we auditioned Brad Dourif that thought disappeared. I soon realized producing was a full-time job, anyway. Both Saul and I were pretty much virgin producers but we soon both learned to go with our instincts and to do things even though people told us not to. For instance, shooting on location in January in Oregon on a film that 90% of took place inside, that could have easily been staged in Los Angeles. It was hard to explain, but having the cooperation of Dr Dean Brooks [the real doctor who stars in the film as Dr. Spivey], the actors being able to spend time with real patients in a real mental institution, these were things we couldn't have done on a set. DEADLINE: And Saul financed the whole thing? DOUGLAS: He did. We started at around $1.4 million and ended up close to $4 million. His partners at his music and production label Fantasy Records [whose success with Creedence Clearwater Revival helped fund the movie] were outraged. They thought I was hustling. But Saul played poker and pool, he had a gambler's instinct…I was working as an actor on The Streets Of San Francisco and was able to go back and forth between San Francisco and Berkeley where Saul was based but come the fifth season of the show I decided not to carry on and dedicated myself to the movie when it finally came together. RELATED: Brazilian Comeback: How The Cannes 2025 Country Of Honor Is Following The Success Of 'I'm Still Here' DEADLINE: It was years and years looking for finance and a director and cast. Miloš had loved the project but had been detained for years in Czechoslovakia by the Russians so couldn't make it. Multiple studios and major actors turned the movie down. And then when he finally got to the U.S., Miloš had a mental health episode in the Chelsea Hotel… DOUGLAS: Finding Miloš had been so cathartic for us. We had loved his films The Firemen's Ball and Loves Of A Blonde. We had spoken to other filmmakers, but they kept their cards so close to their chests. Miloš was collaborative and open with us, despite his European background where the auteur director is top of the pyramid. When Miloš came up to my house in LA with Saul we swelled up with emotion when we sat down to read the script together. DEADLINE: Did you ever think it wouldn't get made? DOUGLAS: I was probably a little naive. But I knew Saul had the same passion I did. Did I get nervous as we got a little closer and the budget started going up? Yeah, to some degree. But I believed we'd get there. DEADLINE: You must have been so relieved when you finally got to production in Oregon. But there were plenty of ups and downs to come, from illness to actors' mental health crises, and key players not seeing eye to eye… DOUGLAS: There's no question about it. We had to wait for Jack for another six months before shooting due to a prior commitment, and that gave us more time to audition, which was so vital. To give you an idea of how disparate the search was, the casting of Will Sampson came about after he was recommended to me by a used car dealer and rodeo announcer I sat next to one time on a flight. Jack, Saul and I went up to meet Will in Washington where he was working as a forest fire ranger. When he walked through the arrival gate, with cowboy hat and cowboy boots on, all seven feet of him, Jack said, 'That's the Chief.' We flew back down to Oregon in a tiny plane, so Jack basically had to sit on Will's lap. It was an ecstatic moment to have the casting finally complete… RELATED: Ooh-La-La Land: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex* (*And The Cannes Film Festival) DEADLINE: Danny DeVito, someone you've worked with a few times in your career, was a former roommate of yours, right? DOUGLAS: That's right. We knew each other while I was at college and were roommates after that in New York. He played Martini in the off Broadway version of the book. He was the first person cast. But I first met Danny when I was at the Eugene O'Neill Memorial theater in Waterford, Connecticut, over the summers of college and Danny came up as a member of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts which was presenting a show there. We bonded at that time… But no doubt it was an eventful shoot. We went through three DoPs on the film. Haskell Wexler, our original DoP, was very talented. He had also been a director and had strong thoughts on how things should go, some of which Miloš took on board, some he didn't. But he started to undermine Miloš a little so that didn't end well. There were other challenges. One Friday, a couple of us were having a few drinks when we learnt that Bill Redfield, who played Harding, was diagnosed with leukemia after showing symptoms on set. I met his wife soon after and she told me they had known before Bill started filming but kept it secret because he had wanted to do the part so much. We were terrified. We were told Bill wasn't long for this world. We had a real quandary as to whether to continue with Bill or recast. But he and his wife begged us to continue and that's what we did. Sadly, he passed away not long after we wrapped shoot. The boat scene was another major issue. It was horrendous for a lot of the actors. We were out there for a week and people were dry heaving, nauseous, that was a tough one to get through. There were tears. But this was such a tight group. That was the best thing about it. The ensemble. It was a truly great thing to watch the dailies. RELATED: 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning' Review: The Sky's The Limit In Ethan Hunt's 'Last' Adventure – Cannes Film Festival DEADLINE: How difficult was it when Jack and Miloš had their falling out? DOUGLAS: That was largely related to Miloš not letting the actors see the dailies. They patched it up in the end. When Jack arrived on set after his previous commitment, the other actors were really deep into their characters, and some had been living and sleeping in the mental hospital for weeks by that time. Jack was taken aback — these guys didn't even break character during lunchtime — but he quickly realized how serious the production was. Miloš was a disciplinarian. He would say 'And cut! Perfect, perfect… Now let's do it one more time.' We would joke about that. DEADLINE: Did you know at the time that what you had was great? DOUGLAS: We knew what we had was incredible. I could show you a 10-minute reaction scene of Jack's, just his reaction in the group therapy section, and you would watch it mesmerized. DEADLINE: Someone who didn't ever come round was the author Ken Kesey who ultimately disavowed the film. How disappointing was that for you? DOUGLAS: Yeah, that was the one. That was the one real sadness. Ken's script kept a lot of the literary qualities of his novel, so it didn't quite work. The argument began under the auspices that we had screwed him somehow in his deal, but that wasn't the case. We felt we had been very generous in offering him 3%, but he wanted 6%. That was always a claw in the side of the project. It eventually led to a lawsuit. And by the time this came around, a couple of years after the movie was released, Ken's 3% was worth around $3 million. We didn't hear from Ken for a long time so we said 'ok, Ken, we're going to donate your share to the University Of Oregon in your hometown of Eugene. Then he finally go back to us and we finally came to a settlement…I felt bad at the Oscars. I think Miloš was the only person who mentioned Ken. I had worshipped him. He was an important part of my generation and I had spent a lot of time with him. But I'm not sure he ever even saw the movie. DEADLINE: No, apparently he only ever saw it years later by accident on TV one time…Like many, I was struck by the film's haunting, spare score, and Jack Nitzsche's unusual use of the saw… DOUGLAS: And crystal glasses. Spinning fingers over glasses filled with different amounts of water… DEADLINE: Right. I didn't know that. Was everyone on the team in favour of that sound? DOUGLAS: We were in favour. We were looking for something unique. It was a mental asylum after all, so we were looking for something haunting, but not too scary. Jack Nitzsche was a very interesting character, and very talented. We took a chance. And I remember he was recording it up at Fantasy Records in Berkeley. That's where we did our post-production. I remember going over there to see him one day and he was sitting there at this table full of crystal glasses, and was dipping his fingers in water, then running them over the rims to create different tones. Then this big bearded trucker brings in a massive saw. I thought what the hell is going on? But it was a phenomenally eerie, effective soundtrack. And again, it was one of those god given moments that worked out. DEADLINE: Who would you say was responsible for the success of the film's marketing? Presumably domestic distributor United Artists were key there because the movie found a vast audience…DOUGLAS: That's a good question. United Artists was largely responsible for the marketing. We went over the poster designs with them. It was Lisa Weinstein's mother, Marsha Weinstein, I believe. She became a confidante with Saul. But a lot of the movie's success was also down to word of mouth. There was such a small drop in box office each week and it just went on and on. Of course that doesn't happen today. It was the same overseas. DEADLINE: Yes, I think it was Sweden where the film played for years straight… DOUGLAS: Yes, this was pre-social media. People would actually talk about movies much more back then. Going to the cinema was more of a unique experience and people did that more often than today where more people consume at home. Releasing late in the year meant we got momentum going into the Oscars. DEADLINE: Did UA shy away from any of the tougher elements of the movie in their campaign? DOUGLAS: No, thank goodness. We'd had that difficulty when trying to get the movie set up with studios, and everyone told me no one wants to see another movie like The Snake Pit and they missed the humour of the movie. I remember the poster with Jack looking up to the sky, but it's kind of a hopeful look, you know. And of course we had a lot of very positive reviews. DEADLINE: The movie was an enormous box office hit, both in the U.S. and overseas. It made more than $100M globally, which is phenomenal for a socio-political drama made on a fraction of that budget. You can't have foreseen that level of success despite knowing what you had was very good? DOUGLAS: We didn't. We hadn't anticipated just how much it would connect all around the world, despite knowing how great Ken's story is and how well the cast did. DEADLINE: Presumably the key players on the movie did very well financially? DOUGLAS: Yes, we did. Me, Saul, Ken Kesey… I teased Jack for a long time that it was the best-performing movie of his career. I shared my back end with my father for giving me the rights. I think he made more money off that than on any movie he had starred in. It was a win all the way round so I'm super proud. DEADLINE: I read online that Jack's pay eclipsed all the other actors, which is probably what you'd expect at that time. I thought I'd seen that Louise Fletcher was a bit frustrated that the pay wasn't slightly more evenly distributed. I don't know if that's true but was that ever an issue? DOUGLAS: I've never heard that complaint. Louise was a relatively unknown actress at that time. She was not a profit particpant in her career, nor were the other actors. The only thing I heard from the actors at the time was that it was the best thing that happened to their careers. I remained good friends with many of the actors for many many years, including Louise. Jack Nicholson and Michael Douglas playing pool. DEADLINE: After the film's enormous success, did you hear from any of the well-known actors who had turned down the roles of Murphy or Nurse Ratched? DOUGLAS: I know that Anne Bancroft, who turned the part of Nurse Ratched down, was at a cocktail party with her husband Mel Brooks shortly after the movie's release and she read him the riot act there and then for influencing her to turn it down. I heard that from some people who were there at the party. There were so many that turned the part down. Colleen Dewhurst and Angela Lansbury were others. The movie came shortly after the success of the women's liberation movement and I think there was a perception among some actresses that they didn't want to take on a villainous character at that time. DEADLINE: Did you ever have a conversation with Marlon Brando about the role of R.P. McMurphy? He was among those offered the part… DOUGLAS: No. No discussion. It was sent to him and that was it. DEADLINE: Five years ago you were an exec producer on the Ryan Murphy spin-off series called about Nurse Ratched's character. How often have there been requests for remakes and spinoffs and what did you make of Murphy's series? DOUGLAS: That would be a question for Paul Zaentz who is across the rights. I know he he's had multiple requests in the in the past, but he has been very selective and I think that was the only time they've done one, which is good because so much gets remade these days…as for the series, it was ok, just ok. I wasn't very much involved, to be honest. DEADLINE: Do you have anything coming up this year to celebrate the movie? DOUGLAS: I'm doing something with the Academy. Myself, Danny DeVito, Brad Douriff and Christopher Lloyd. I'll also be at a couple of festivals in coming months and there will be opportunities to discuss the movie there. DEADLINE: The major studios don't often want to get behind movies with social or political consciences today. They're even rare in the independent space. There were so many remarkable U.S. films in this vein in the '70s, from , to , and . The quality of moviemaking and the longevity of so many of the movies in that decade is remarkable. Why were movies so potent from that time and why do you think we have seen a dip in that type of U.S. moviemaking in recent years? DOUGLAS: Well, Cuckoo's Nest was an entirely independent production. The studios all passed on it. Maybe they didn't like the deal we offered, because we had already financed it. But they were also skeptical about the material. Today, streaming has taken over. It has inhaled Hollywood. It's very lucrative. Silicon Valley made us look like paupers. For Amazon and Apple, movies are a side business. At the same time, many of the great screenwriters went to work in TV and streaming. But you're right, if you compare the five Best Picture nominees from our year [also nominated in 1976 were Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws and Nashville], with some of the recent years… Theatrically it has become very difficult. Look at that Apple movie Wolfs. It was meant to be theatrical, and it turned into a one-week release. I'm working on a small movie right now that I'm going to produce and I'm aware how difficult it's going to be to get it into theaters for any length of time. The issue is whether the movie theater experience can hang in there. It's a tough time for theater owners. DEADLINE: A couple of years ago you acted with your son Cameron in the movie ? When might we see that? DOUGLAS: I don't know. I believe it's looking for distribution. DEADLINE: You were in three of the movies and appeared in . Would you do another Marvel movie? DOUGLAS: I don't think so. I had the experience, and I was excited to do it. I'd never done a green screen picture before. I did the The Kominsky Method because I wanted to work with Chuck Lorre and try some comedy. But I'm enjoying my hiatus and enjoying my life. It was overwhelming running the production company and acting at the same time. DEADLINE: Will you act again? DOUGLAS: Yes, if something good comes up that I really like. But I don't feel a burning desire. I'm still producing. I still love bringing people together. Best of Deadline Every 'The Voice' Winner Since Season 1, Including 9 Team Blake Champions Everything We Know About 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' So Far 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
Associated Press
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Tickets Now on Sale for 'The American Miracle - Our Nation is No Accident'
PRESS RELEASE: Paid Content from ACCESS Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation. Published [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Powerful Docudrama Exploring God's Hand in America's Founding Hits Theatres Nationwide From Fathom Entertainment June 9-11 EDEN PRAIRIE, MN / ACCESS Newswire / May 6, 2025 / Heroic Pictures, in partnership with Fathom Entertainment, the leading specialty distributor of content to theatrical partners worldwide, is pleased to announce that tickets are now available for the highly anticipated docudrama, The American Miracle - Our Nation is No Accident . Audiences nationwide can now secure seats for the limited three-day theatrical release, coming to theatres June 9, 10, and 11, 2025, just ahead of America's 250th anniversary. Tickets for The American Miracle - Our Nation is No Accident may be purchased at and participating theatre box offices(theatre locations are subject to change). Inspired by the New York Times bestselling book by celebrated author and radio host Michael Medved, The American Miracle explores the providential moments that shaped the United States - from Revolutionary War victories that defied the odds, to the extraordinary longevity of pivotal leaders such as George Washington. Featuring a stellar cast including Pat Boone, Kevin Sorbo, Daniel Shippey, Nicole C. Mullen, Cameron Arnett, James Arnold Taylor and Libby Smallbone, in addition to distinguished historians and commentators including Academy Award® winning actor Richard Dreyfuss, Joseph Ellis, Robert P. George and Akhil Reed Amar, the film brings together gripping storytelling with scholarly insight to offer a fresh and inspiring look at America's origins. The American Miracle illuminates the undeniable thread of divine intervention throughout America's story - reminding audiences that the freedoms and liberties we cherish were not granted by government, but by God. 'With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on the horizon, now is the perfect time for Americans to rediscover the miracles that helped forge our nation,' said Executive Producer Ralf Augstroze. 'We want this film to inspire people to reflect on the spiritual heritage of our country and to pass that story on to future generations.' Executive Producer Douglas Maddox added, 'This is not just a film about history - it's a call to remember the divine purpose behind America's creation and to issue a challenge to live up to that legacy today.' Directed by Timothy P. Mahoney, the film emphasizes the biblical values embedded in the American experiment and the importance of gratitude for God's guiding hand in our nation's past. 'Freedom doesn't come from politicians. It doesn't come from policy,' said Mahoney. 'It ultimately comes from the God in whom we place our trust; that's what the Founders understood and acknowledged in our Declaration of Independence.' For more information, visit . About Heroic Pictures Heroic Pictures is a motion picture studio telling true stories of God acting in history, shedding light on the lives of heroic people and events that have shaped our past and inspire our future. About Fathom Entertainment Fathom Entertainment is the leading global specialty distributor of live and pre-recorded content to theatres. For more than 20 years, Fathom has pioneered theatrical distribution of events and special engagements, including performing arts, movies, episodic content, and other special event programming across various genres and formats. Fathom offers content creators a worldwide cinema distribution network by operating in 45 countries and boasts a live digital broadcast network of more than 1,100 locations. Fathom is owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC), Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK), and Regal Cineworld Group (LSE: CINE.L). For more information, visit . -30- For media inquiries, interview requests or additional information, please contact: Heidi McDow, A. Larry Ross Communications [email protected] 214-679-3409 Or Eric Becker, Fathom Entertainment [email protected] SOURCE: Heroic Pictures press release
Washington Post
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail' turns 50 but still hasn't grown up
This essay killed me. Terry Jones, from somewhere in the back: 'You don't look dead to me.' I got better. But, honestly, what is left for a writer to say about 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' the seminal comedy that seemingly dropped from the heavens like one of the movie's cartoon God hands? Aside, of course, from 'Ni!' Far smarter, funnier and more insightful people than I have spent the past five decades poring over its every frame, so perhaps it's best to focus on how it made an entire generation of comedy nerds — emphasis on 'nerd' — pretty much undatable. 'You had to memorize 'Holy Grail,'' Jimmy Fallon once said. 'If you play 'Dark Side of the Moon' while you watch 'Holy Grail,' I guarantee you're not getting laid.' 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' written, directed, acted in and produced by the comedy troupe of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Jones, hopped into theaters like the Rabbit of Caerbannog 50 years ago and forever altered the trajectory of modern comedy. On Sunday and Wednesday it returns to screens nationwide, courtesy of Shout Studios and Fathom Entertainment. A legion of lovable losers (hi) were turned on to the movie (alongside 1978's 'Animal House' and 1974's 'Blazing Saddles') by their equally nerdy parents the way we'll probably show our kids the quotable comedies of our prime years in the 2000s, such as 'Anchorman' or 'Wet Hot American Summer.' We quoted 'Holy Grail' ad nauseam. ''Tis but a flesh wound' become our rallying cry. When we prepared meals, we would joke we were having 'lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large chulapas.' How many first dates ended when one of us accurately — thus, earsplittingly — quoted one of the Knights Who Say 'Ni!'? (If the answer is even one, which it undoubtedly is, the Pythons should be flogged.) And I cannot be the only one who, when preparing to get married, was told by my future spouse in no uncertain terms that our wedding invite could not include the question, 'What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?' Also, God bless if your name happened to be Tim. Some of us (hi) performed improv that we're glad was never filmed. Sadly, more of us (sigh, HI) thought improv would lead somewhere. For many, it sparked an obsession that did lead somewhere. For one, the film's secret language spoke to Judd Apatow, arguably the last defining voice in cinematic comedy. 'When I was a kid, I was obsessed with comedy but had no one — literally, no one — to talk to,' Apatow told the Guardian in 2009. 'So all my friends would be playing sports after school, and I'd go home alone and watch Monty Python.' He memorialized his experience in his cult classic high school TV show 'Freaks and Geeks,' set in 1980. In the pilot, the geeks skip the homecoming dance (to their parents' chagrin) for a screening of the 1975 movie. Later, after being traumatized by the jocks, they find solace in the movie. For a generation of geeks, it wasn't only a revelation, it was a warm blanket. One of the first movies I remember watching is 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' and I sincerely believe it informed my sense of humor if not my entire worldview. The guiding light of Monty Python was, of course, silliness. They believed that back in 1975, the world needed a touch more of it. In 2025, we need a chalice full. As in their time, modern politics lack a sense of play while emulating it. The Call of Duty/Elon Musk/Donald Trump-style 'own the other side' type of the right, which elates in the demonization, demoralization and submission of others. The cringeworthy performative play of the left, seeking to connect with voters. But as the Pythons probably would have guessed, that sense of play grew within the jesters of modern culture — sometimes mainstream, sometimes underground. 'The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening was inspired by the 'high-velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself.' The creators of 'South Park' were inspired by the crude animations found throughout the Python catalogue. That kind of boundless play — the kind you find when you're a kid bumming around the neighborhood with your friends, creating grand adventures out of nothing but imagination and maybe a few props either purchased (like dolls) or discovered (like weirdly shaped rocks), the kind inherent in riffing with buddies in an accidentally and organically secret language — has now migrated to social media, seen in the style of non-sequitur short clips that sprang up from Vine and migrated to TikTok. Here's an alpaca playing soccer. Here's a dog with a cicada buzzing around in his mouth. Here's a kid who really likes turtles. (Yes, my algorithm tends to feed me animal videos.) This is where it lives now: that sense of whimsy, of discovery, of wonder. The Pythons taught us that all the rules are simply human-made. Anything can happen. That's what I remember most about seeing 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' for the first time. I spent most of it thinking, 'You can do that?!' The movie begins before it begins, explaining to the viewer that anything is on the table by subtitling the credits with fake (and obviously incorrect) Swedish subtitles that slowly transform into English ones about a moose biting someone's sister. Sometime after a credit 'signed' by Richard M. Nixon, these very British words flash across the screen: 'We apologise for the fault in the subtitles. Those responsible have been sacked.' And then another, announcing the people who did the sacking have been sacked. The gag doesn't stop there. The jokes shift from moose to llamas, and the whole ridiculous sequence lights the beacon for what's to come: Not a second of screen time will be wasted without some attempt to be funny. That promise is fulfilled seconds later, when the film begins with an extended argument between King Arthur and castle guard about whether a migratory European swallow could carry a coconut on its journey. Then we're immediately in a town, where a medieval garbageman is rolling around a cart topped with dead (or, in one instance, almost dead) bodies and yelling, 'Bring out your dead.' The economy of the movie is striking. Sans the closing credits, the entire genre-defining comedy runs under 90 minutes — nearly all of them memorable and easily referenced by shorthand some 50 years later. One of the movie's tricks is how simple it all seems while it also pushes the boundaries of form and imagination rather than social norms. It doesn't try to shock as much as surprise, scandalize as much as delight. The harshest things said in the whole movie are probably the French taunter's infamous insults to Arthur and his crew: 'I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries! … Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!' Yes, many of the jokes seem almost designed for pre- or newly pubescent boys (and, in fairness, probably were): squirting blood, goofy made-up words, a castle of horny young maidens. But as I've gotten older, aspects of the movie revealed themselves like said maiden to Arthur and his knights. Sure, I still love watching the Black Knight get his limbs lopped off while confidently insisting on continuing the sword fight. But what sends me reeling now is when King Arthur stumbles upon an anarcho-syndicalist commune whose members reject his kingship because they never elected him. As stirring music swells, Arthur explains to the unimpressed workers how the Lady of the Lake gave him Excalibur, thus cementing his status as king of the Britons. 'Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government,' one responds. 'Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. You can't expect to wield supreme power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you.' In 2025, the exchange almost feels like one you would find on X or Bluesky. When our American body politic is as absurd as the limbless Black Knight, the sequence is strangely comforting (or terrifying, depending on the day). Are farcical aquatic ceremonies really that bad? Arthur, of course, doesn't take kindly to this, grabbing the peasant, who shouts: 'See the violence inherent in the system! Help, I'm being repressed!' The absurdity and, ultimately, banality of power structures — the political and religious — are baked throughout the film. The ruling class — in this case Arthur, his knights and their coconuts — are nothing more than fools, ultimately in control of essentially nothing. Of course, Monty Python would never put forth something so boring, so droll. They sneak in political commentary the same way the Trojan Rabbit in the movie tries, and miserably fails, to sneak Arthur and his band into the French castle. A four-sentence exchange between peasants, as Arthur 'gallops' past, gets the point across. 'Who's that, then?' 'I don't know. Must be a king.' 'Why?' 'He hasn't got s--- all over him.' Ultimately, for any writer foolish enough to attempt it, a search to find deeper meaning in the movie is as absurd as Arthur's search for the grail itself and would rightfully be mocked by the Pythons just as heartily. Better to go watch 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' for the 100th time. And, after that, go find a nice shrubbery. Maybe laurel.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
This Is Spinal Tap Trailer Previews 2025 Theatrical Rerelease
In celebration of the iconic film's 41st anniversary, Bleecker Street announced that it would be doing a theatrical rerelease. The rerelease of the 1984 mockumentary is set for July 5-7, 2025. The screenings will be happening in partnership with Fathom Entertainment. Tickets for the film will be available on Fathom's website, with participating theaters joining in on the celebration. Check out a trailer for the rerelease of the film below (watch other trailers): Originally released in 1984, This Is Spinal Tap is directed by Rob Reiner in his directorial debut, and follows the story of a fictional heavy metal band, Spinal Tap. The film follows the group on an American tour and features largely improvised dialogue. This Is Spinal Tap launched to nearly universal acclaim but didn't make too much money at the box office. However, its home video release saw an even larger audience flock to it, and it quickly gained a large cult following, eventually being selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2002 after it was deemed 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant' by the Library of Congress. A sequel to This Is Spinal Tap was announced in May 2022 and was initially eying a March 19, 2024, release; however, it was delayed because of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strikes. The sequel will instead release on September 12, 2025. According to early reports, the plot of the movie 'sees Spinal Tap, England's loudest and most punctual band, reunite following a 15-year hiatus for one final concert.' Rob & Michele Reiner and Matthew George are producing Spinal Tap 2, while Christopher H. Warner and Derrick Rossi serve as executive producers. The post This Is Spinal Tap Trailer Previews 2025 Theatrical Rerelease appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Chicago Tribune
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Column: 50 years ago, ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail' showed us what comedy needs — and doesn't
Seldom does an act of haphazard comic rebellion infiltrate popular culture. But when it happens, other things happen, too. People start quoting it before they get home. Before you know it, the movie has become more than the stuff of comedy-nerd cult fandom. It goes from anti-establishment to Establishment. And, who knows, maybe it turns into a musical. For decades now, millions of people — guys, mostly — have been unable to help themselves. (These comedy phenomena tend to be boy-driven but half the girls in my high school were quoting it, too.) They blurt things like 'It's only a flesh wound!' or reference the knights who say 'Ni!' because someone else said it first, and best. Then you blink and it's 2025. And 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' has turned 50. This merry, bloody, muddy trashing of Arthurian legend returns to theaters May 4 and 7 in a Fathom Entertainment engagement. It's also streaming widely. 'Spamalot,' the Broadway musical version of 'Holy Grail,' tried out in Chicago 20 years ago, successfully. It's among the most frequently staged musicals of the 21st century, in part because its staging demands are modest and partly because it's not raunchy enough to keep it out of most high schools or colleges, at least in most states. 'Spamalot' works mainly as a kind of karaoke act, recreating and expanding many of the film's beloved highlights, among them the almost psychotically hummable 66-second pip 'Knights of the Round Table,' music by Neil Innes, lyrics by Graham Chapman and John Cleese. (The subsequent 'Spamalot' score primarily came from Eric Idle and John Du Prez.) The six men behind the movie — Chapman, Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin — made a ridiculous impact once they formed the Python troupe in 1969. That year, the dubious television experiment known as 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' more or less tricked BBC1 into airing nude organists, existential nightmares about cheese shops and arguments-for-hire, and the wholly unexpected Spanish Inquisition. Here in America, those who caught 'Holy Grail' in its 1975 release could barely process the experience. I was 14. Waiting for the movie to come to Racine, Wisconsin, didn't seem endurable. This was just a few weeks before 'Jaws' came out everywhere at once, marking the beginning of the end of movies' traditional slow rollout from big cities to smaller ones. I tagged along on a drive to a suburban Milwaukee multiplex with my pal Jay McHale, a wonderful musician no longer with us, and his great friend and collaborator Victor DeLorenzo, a terrific actor and musician who became the propulsive percussion heartbeat of the Violent Femmes. No three people ever laughed harder at anything than we three at 'Holy Grail.' I did not quite know what hit me that night, though I'd had run-ins with a Python precedent or two. Peter Sellers, for starters. And Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. My parents, ever-game and in love with Chicago, bought tickets to Cook and Moore's sketch showcase 'Good Evening' at the Blackstone, not long after 'Holy Grail' had opened. Later in 1975, having initially declined to give the Python's 'Flying Circus' a berth on its programming schedule, WTTW-TV thought, well, why not? 'Holy Grail' was a hit in theaters, and they seemed to like 'Flying Circus' in Dallas. (KERA-TV was the first PBS affiliate to air it.) Well. That sealed it. I watched it weekly, I bought the albums, and when our high school drama department staged the once-evergreen, now-passé English farce 'Charley's Aunt,' every single kid in that cast sounded like they were doing southeastern Wisconsin variations on 'Monty Python and Holy Grail.' I saw 'Holy Grail' again the other day. I saw it so many times in the '70s, and one or two more years later, yet I'd forgotten so much. The opening credits, for example, with their sublimely droll mock-Swedish subtitles ('Wi nøt trei å høliday in Sweden this yër?') and the obsession with moose and moose bites ('pretti nasti'). Also, that oh what the hell ending, when the police officers interrupt the action finale. It's one of the few things in 'Holy Grail' that works conceptually, but maybe not beyond that. I remember the groans and confusion in the theater 50 years ago, once that non-ending ending ended the evening. And yet it was a mere scratch. A flesh wound, in a brazen triumph of wordplay, swordplay and what Americans used to call 'college humor.' The movie didn't behave. It barely hung together. But it offered many lessons, beginning with: You don't need much money to make a weirdly good-looking cheapo costume picture. The 'Holy Grail' production budget, around $300,000 U.S. dollars in the year of production in 1974, equates to $2 million today. (Members of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull put up most of the funding, by the way.) Another lesson: Don't worry much about the audience. Just make whatever you're making for yourselves, and it might work out. Sometimes. This time, certainly. And this: Two words you often find hanging out together, patience and forbearance, remain vitally important in the matter of 'Holy Grail.' They're crucial to anyone who was, is or will be the parent, the sibling or the friend of a 'Holy Grail' fan, because it's a tough film to avoid quoting at awkward or obvious moments. You'll be hearing bits of it here and there for the rest of your life. We revisit our favorite comedies at our peril, I think, especially if they go back a half-century. Nobody can nor should expect to have the same feelings about any movie over that much time. If human/movie love is unconditional (an argument for another day), it nonetheless takes a rare combination of luck, muck and wiles to hold up as well as 'Holy Grail.' Happy 50th, and to all Pythons, deceased or living: Dine well there in Camelot.
