Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Screenplay


Graham Chapman - 1977
    In a series of sketches and animations, the Pythons recount scenes from the Grail legend in which the knights forsake their chorus line can-can dancing in Camelot for a higher aim. Typically, the Pythons set-up a 'historical' tale which is really a take on the modern world. Memorable scenes, like Graham Chapman's King Arthur battling with John Cleese's Black Knight until the latter is reduced limb by limb down to a speaking stump of a torso, capture both the hilarity and grotesque nature of brutality. In scene after scene King Arthur's men are led a merry chase through the countryside, encountering life on many different social levels. This screenplay edition contains just the script and is supplemented by stills from the film.

Dark Knights and Holy Fools: The Art and Films of Terry Gilliam: From Before Python to Beyond Fear and Loathing


Bob McCabe - 1999
    Since 1969, when he became the only American among the otherwise all-British Monty Python team. Terry Gilliam's work has won plaudits and acclaim for its originality and imagination. His films are renowned for the quality of performances from some of Hollywood's top acting talent, such as Robert de Niro, Brad Pitt, Robin Williams and Johnny Depp.For the first time, this book traces thirty years of the work and art of Terry Gilliam, from his pre-Python days through to the astounding adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, released in 1998.Using Gilliam's own drawings, storyboard and scripts, this book builds to a complete overview of the director's work, examining in detail his striking visual sense ad labyrinthing stories of Man against bureaucracy (Brazil, Twelve Monkeys), triumphant tales of imagination winning over mediocrity (Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King) and, of course, something completely different (Monty Python and the Holy Grail).

The Life Of Python


George Perry - 1983
    It was on this fateful day that "Monty Python's Flying Circus" debuted. From the Dead Parrot skit to the Lumberjack Song, The Attila the Hun Show to the Cheese Shop routine, the Pythons set a standard for irreverent, obnoxious, nonsensical comedy never before seen.

Funny!: Twenty-Five Years in the Pixar Story Room


Walt Disney Company - 2015
    But there are hundreds of gags that don't make it past the cutting room floor, like Mater as a ninja and Sadness wearing mom jeans. Funny! explores this material in depth, showcasing classic moments from all of Pixar's films to date, plus never-before-published illustrations and doodles from the Pixar archives. With an introduction by veteran story man Jason Katz, this book is a must-have for any Pixar fan.

Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists


A.V. Club - 2009
    Club issue a slightly slanted pop-culture list filled with challenging opinions (Is David Bowie's "Young Americans" nearly ruined by saxophone?) and fascinating facts. Exploring 24 great films too painful to watch twice, 14 tragic movie-masturbation scenes, 18 songs about crappy cities, and much more, Inventory combines a massive helping of new lists created especially for the book with a few favorites first seen at avclub.com and in the pages of The A.V. Club's sister publication, The Onion. But wait! There's more: John Hodgman offers a set of minutely detailed (and probably fictional) character actors. Patton Oswalt waxes ecstatic about the "quiet film revolutions" that changed cinema in small but exciting ways. Amy Sedaris lists 50 things that make her laugh. "Weird Al" Yankovic examines the noises of Mad magazine's Don Martin. Plus lists from Paul Thomas Anderson, Robert Ben Garant, Tom Lennon, Andrew W.K., Tim and Eric, Daniel Handler, and Zach Galifianakis -- and an epic foreword from essayist Chuck Klosterman.

Dr. Fegg's Encyclopedia of All World Knowledge: Formerly the Nasty Book


Terry Jones - 1976
    An illustrated compendium of humorous facts such as the recipe for oxygen tart and an explanation of how man evolved from small rocks.

Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story


Chris Nashawaty - 2018
    Of difficult egos, awful behavior, fragile friendships, bursts of inspiration, and blizzards of cocaine―told by the survivors and shaped by Chris Nashawaty's welcome insight and perspective.”― Mark Harris, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures at a Revolution and Five Came BackCaddyshack is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, a classic snobs vs. slobs story of working class kids and the white collar buffoons that make them haul their golf bags in the hot summer sun. It has sex, drugs and one very memorable candy bar, but the movie we all know and love didn’t start out that way, and everyone who made it certainly didn’t have the word “classic” in mind as the cameras were rolling.In Caddyshack:The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story film critic for Entertainment Weekly Chris Nashawaty goes behind the scenes of the iconic film, chronicling the rise of comedy’s greatest deranged minds as they form The National Lampoon, turn the entertainment industry on its head, and ultimately blow up both a golf course and popular culture as we know it. Caddyshack is at once an eye-opening narrative about one of the most interesting, surreal, and dramatic film productions there’s ever been, and a rich portrait of the biggest, and most revolutionary names in Hollywood. So, it’s got that going for it…which is nice.

Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years


Michael Palin - 2006
    This volume of his diaries reveals how Python emerged and triumphed, how he, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, the two Terrys---Jones and Gilliam---and Eric Idle came together and changed the face of British comedy.But this is but only part of Palin's story. Here is his growing family, his home in a north London Victorian terrace, which grows as he buys the house next door and then a second at the bottom of the garden; here, too, is his solo effort---as an actor, in Three Men in a Boat, his writing endeavours (often in partnership with Terry Jones) that produces Ripping Yarns and even a pantomime.Meanwhile Monty Python refuses to go away: the hugely successful movies that follow the TV (his account of the making of both The Holy Grail and the Life of Brian movies are page-turners), the at times extraordinary goings-on of the many powerful personalities who coalesced to form the Python team, the fight to prevent an American TV network from bleeping out the best jokes on U.S. transmission, and much more---all this makes for funny and riveting reading.The birth and childhood of his three children, his father's growing disability, learning to cope as a young man with celebrity, his friendship with George Harrison, and all the trials of a peripatetic life are also essential ingredients of these diaries. A perceptive and funny chronicle, the diaries are a rich portrait of a fascinating period.

The First 200 Years of Monty Python


Kim Howard Johnson - 1989
    Photos throughout.

Who I Am and What I Want


David Shrigley - 2003
    In this mock autobiographical collection his mischievous drawings capture life's anxieties and ambitions from the mundane to the surreal. Here, at last, is The Truth about beer, doctors, shadow puppets, lunch, dolphins, boredom, and supernatural forces. Seductively strange and addictively amusing, this edgy little book welcomes the uninitiated and rewards the faithful.

Movies (And Other Things)


Shea Serrano - 2019
    One of the chapters, for example, answers which race Kevin Costner was able to white savior the best, because did you know that he white saviors Mexicans in McFarland, USA, and white saviors Native Americans in Dances with Wolves, and white saviors Black people in Black or White, and white saviors the Cleveland Browns in Draft Day? Another of the chapters, for a second example, answers what other high school movie characters would be in Regina George's circle of friends if we opened up the Mean Girls universe to include other movies (Johnny Lawrence is temporarily in, Claire from The Breakfast Club is in, Ferris Bueller is out, Isis from Bring It On is out...). Another of the chapters, for a third example, creates a special version of the Academy Awards specifically for rom-coms, the most underrated movie genre of all. And another of the chapters, for a final example, is actually a triple chapter that serves as an NBA-style draft of the very best and most memorable moments in gangster movies. Many, many things happen in Movies (And Other Things), some of which funny, others of which are sad, a few of which are insightful, and all of which are handled with the type of care and dedication to the smallest details and pockets of pop culture that only a book by Shea Serrano can provide.

The Book of Moe: Simpsons Library of Wisdom


Matt Groening - 2008
    Get to know the man behind the apron strings, the misunderstood mixologist with the gold-plated heart, as he dispenses advice to drunks like it was Duff on draft, recommends some of his signature (and watered down) drinks like the Moe-jito, tries out a pick-up line or two, dreams of actually getting a date, dishes a little on his acting career, and counts his blessings (like babysittin' Maggie Simpson) that make life worth livin' for at least one more day.

A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey


Kevin Murphy - 2002
    Kevin Murphy made it his obsession, and he did it for you.Mr. Murphy, known to legions of fans as Tom Servo on the legendary TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000, went to the movies every day for a year. That's every single day, people. For a whole fricken' year. And not only did he endure, he prevailed -- for this is the hilarious, poignant, fascinating journal of his adventures: the first book about the movies from the audience's point of view.Kevin went to the multiplex, sure. But he didn't stop there. He found the world's smallest commercial movie theater. Another one made completely of ice. Checked out flicks in a tin-roofed hut in the South Pacific. Tooled across the desert from drive-in to drive-in in a groovy convertible. Lived for a week solely on theater food. Took six different women to the same date movie. Dressed up as a nun for the Sing-Along Sound of Music in London. Sneaked into the Cannes and Sundance film festivals. Smuggled an entire Thanksgiving dinner into a movie theater. And saw hundreds of films, from the Arctic Circle to the Equator, from the sublime to the unspeakable. Come along on a joyous global celebration of the cinema with a man on a mission -- to spend A Year at the Movies.

The Art of Howl's Moving Castle


Hayao Miyazaki - 2004
    There's a foppish wizard named Howl, a vain witch from the wastelands, an anthropomorphic chimney fire and a young girl who carries a most unusual curse. And, of course, there's the moving castle…a towering, omnipresent structure that dominates the landscape. Already a smash success in Japan, Howl's Moving Castle finally comes to U.S. theatres this spring. To coincide with its Stateside release, VIZ is proud to present The Art of Howl's Moving Castle, a hardbound, prestige format book which acts as an essential companion to the film. A generous collection of concept sketches, fully rendered character and background drawings, paintings and cell images, The Art of Howl's Moving Castle brings the movie into your library. Along with the stunning visuals, the book also presents interviews and comments with the production staff, including key points directly from the director.There's more than one way to book passage on the moving castle. See the movie, but don't forget to reserve a copy of the book, as well. The Art of Howl's Moving Castle is a great way to preserve the magic of the next great anime classic from Hayao Miyazaki.Shortly after reaping the rewards from his movie Spirited Away, a project that earned him an Academy Award in 2003, director Hayao Miyazaki set his sites on his next film, Howl's Moving Castle.Based on the novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle gave the internationally renowned director an opportunity to bring to life a fantastical time in 19th century Europe when science and magic defined the popular zeitgeist.Veering slightly from its source material, the new Miyazaki movie nonetheless retains all the novel's principal characters. There's a foppish wizard named Howl, a vain witch from the wastelands, an anthropomorphic chimney fire and a young girl who carries a most unusual curse. And, of course, there's the moving castle…a towering, omnipresent structure that dominates the landscape. Already a smash success in Japan, Howl's Moving Castle finally comes to U.S. theatres this spring. To coincide with its Stateside release, VIZ is proud to present The Art of Howl's Moving Castle, a hardbound, prestige format book which acts as an essential companion to the film. A generous collection of concept sketches, fully rendered character and background drawings, paintings and cell images, The Art of Howl's Moving Castle brings the movie into your library. Along with the stunning visuals, the book also presents interviews and comments with the production staff, including key points directly from the director.There's more than one way to book passage on the moving castle. See the movie, but don't forget to reserve a copy of the book, as well. The Art of Howl's Moving Castle is a great way to preserve the magic of the next great anime classic from Hayao Miyazaki.

99 Classic Movies for People in a Hurry


Thomas Wengelewski - 2009
    Get the low down on: Citizen Kane, Psycho, The Seventh Seal, Gone With the Wind, Dirty Dancing, Jaws, Bagdad Café, Rocky, Yojimbo, The Guns of Navarone, Jailhouse Rock, The Big Blue, Rebel Without a Cause, Taxi Driver, The Shawshank Redemption, The Misfits, among many others.