I recently acquired the full Rutles set (albums and all) on the basis that it is my dad's favourite movie (and thus by osmosis one of mine along with everything Python related). I decided to watch the first one knowing full well that it probably hadn't aged as well compared to the memory of my teenage watching of it.
Having just come home from watching the Python Live (One Down, Five to Go Show) I was on a Python high. My dream of finally watching the Python's live had come true and I (as well as my wife who didn't have a Python loving family and thus is reluctantly late to the Python game) was on a Python high.
So, having exhausted pretty much every other Python related venue (except for Jabberwocky), Rutles seemed to be a good choice. And surprisingly it was. I even did a rare spit take, showering my wife's laptop with wine at how Barry was included in the band.
And then we (or really, I) made the decision to watch the sequel. With casual dread naturally. This being a 2002 project it was contemporary to the painful "new material" of the re-re-re-release of the Holy Grail DVD. So my expectations were set suitably low.
My relief at how actually funny the second round was a surprise like no other. Maybe it was my expectation. Maybe it was the fact that a rethread of the same subject was suitably fitting considering how every Beatles documentary ever is the same (meta-commentary?). Maybe it was the fact that Eric Idle is naturally funny. Maybe that the celebrity cameos have increased their status in the later years (Unexpected Jimmy Fallon?). Maybe how the re- thread was in the style of VH1's Behind the Music - a genre unto its own? Or maybe just how obvious it was that Idle had dragged his coat around to his many holidays and filmed short sequences with a shitty hand-held DV camera for so many scenes.
Whatever it was, it was worth the effort. I will gladly show this to my dad. My dad, who performs covers of the Beatles and will drop in a verse of Get Up And Go Back Home into every rendition of Get Back even if the audience has no idea what's going on.
Having just come home from watching the Python Live (One Down, Five to Go Show) I was on a Python high. My dream of finally watching the Python's live had come true and I (as well as my wife who didn't have a Python loving family and thus is reluctantly late to the Python game) was on a Python high.
So, having exhausted pretty much every other Python related venue (except for Jabberwocky), Rutles seemed to be a good choice. And surprisingly it was. I even did a rare spit take, showering my wife's laptop with wine at how Barry was included in the band.
And then we (or really, I) made the decision to watch the sequel. With casual dread naturally. This being a 2002 project it was contemporary to the painful "new material" of the re-re-re-release of the Holy Grail DVD. So my expectations were set suitably low.
My relief at how actually funny the second round was a surprise like no other. Maybe it was my expectation. Maybe it was the fact that a rethread of the same subject was suitably fitting considering how every Beatles documentary ever is the same (meta-commentary?). Maybe it was the fact that Eric Idle is naturally funny. Maybe that the celebrity cameos have increased their status in the later years (Unexpected Jimmy Fallon?). Maybe how the re- thread was in the style of VH1's Behind the Music - a genre unto its own? Or maybe just how obvious it was that Idle had dragged his coat around to his many holidays and filmed short sequences with a shitty hand-held DV camera for so many scenes.
Whatever it was, it was worth the effort. I will gladly show this to my dad. My dad, who performs covers of the Beatles and will drop in a verse of Get Up And Go Back Home into every rendition of Get Back even if the audience has no idea what's going on.