The Meaning of Life (1983)

[Movie 110 / Day 76]


The Meaning of Life is not really a movie in the traditional sense, but more a collection of Monty Python's surreal sketches loosely gathered together to follow the journey from birth to death.

The movie opens with a movie-within-the-movie, which is a bizarre pirate parody based in an insurance company - the building weighs anchor and sails off onto the 'accountant sea'. After this 16-minute short, we get to the movie proper and take a trip through the minds of some of the greatest comedians this country has ever produced.

My favourite bits include not just the infamous Mr Creosote scene and Eric Idle singing The Galaxy Song (the lyrics are brilliant) but also the fantastic animated title sequence (just brilliant) and even some of the transitions between sketches are genius.

It's not the best Python movie, but it's pretty good nonetheless.

My rating: 6.9 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.4 / 10
Running time: 107 mins
IMDB link

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

[Movie 91 / Day 54]


Terry Gilliam fantasy about Baron Munchausen, who sets off on a voyage to gather his servants in order to save a town from invading Turks. Lots and lots of 'names' in it, lots and lots of crazy imagery (a trip to the moon in a hot air balloon to see the King of Everything, a fish the size of an island, a flying horse, etc)...

Even though it's pretty surreal, it's also fun to watch and I enjoyed it a fair amount. Except for the appearance of another abysmal Jonathan Pryce accent.

My rating: 7.1 / 10
IMDB rating: 7.0 / 10
Running time: 126 mins
IMDB link

The Brothers Grimm (2005)

[Movie 21 / Day 10]


The Brothers Grimm are con artists, travelling around French occupied Germany in the early 19th century convincing villagers that they can vanquish the evil spirits/witches/whatever they've made up. For a price, of course. Eventually the French catch wind of what they're doing, arrest them and offer them a choice - to be sentenced to death, or to actually go and solve the mystery of a cursed forest in which a number of children have disappeared.

Featuring lots of twisted fairy tales, the story is quite clever; although it also feels a little rushed and it's not exactly clear what's happening at times. Matt Damon and the late Heath Ledger work well together and the film features a solid supporting cast, including sexy Lena Headey and the gloriously manic Peter Stormare. Unfortunately, Jonathan Pryce pops up sporting a terrible French accent, which grated a bit.

It's OK, not brilliant, not terrible; and despite some horrible CGI effects (not exactly seamless, they stick out like a sore thumb on the bluray) it's pretty enjoyable. Probably the worst Terry Gilliam movie I've seen yet, but still, average Gilliam is better than a lot of other directors can muster.

My rating: 6.2 / 10
IMDB rating: 5.9 / 10
Running time: 118 mins
IMDB link

12 Monkeys (1995)

[Movie 14 / Day 8]


Brilliant Terry Gilliam helmed movie featuring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt on top form.

It's a twisting tale through mental illness and the end of the human race, which, on the face of it, really shouldn't make for a decent film. Yet it manages to be absolutely fantastic. For the first two thirds of the movie, you're not quite sure whether you're watching an insight into the mind of a mentally deluded man or a time-travelling sci-fi tale.

It's just aceness - if you haven't seen it before, watch it. If you have, watch it again.

My rating: 8.3 / 10
IMDB rating: 8.1 / 10
Running time: 129 mins
IMDB link