She Likes to Watch

Monty Python urges us to “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”

Shortly after the release of  “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” in 1975, Eric Idle flippantly told an interviewer that the title of the Pythons’ next movie would be “Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory.”

The suggestion, of course, was purely fanciful. But the idea stuck.

Why not make a movie lampooning the New Testament — much in the way that “Holy Grail” had skewered Arthurian legend? “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” was born.

Graham Chapman stars as Brian of Nazareth, an ordinary schlub who just happens to be born on Christmas Day, just a few stable doors down from Jesus Christ.

He falls in love an attractive young rebel named Judith, joins the People’s Front of Judea and gets mistaken as a messiah, drawing the ire of the Roman Empire.

An irresistibly cheeky comedy that thumbs its nose at organized religion and religious fanatics, “Life of Brian” inspired both praise and wrath upon its release in 1979. Nuns and priests picketed the film in New York, and the film was banned in several British towns as well as Ireland and Norway.

Critics and movie buffs, meanwhile, have embraced the film as a comedy classic.

Don’t miss “Monty Python’s Life of Brian,” playing at 7 p.m. tonight at the Fremont theater, 1025 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $7.50.

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A completely different set of cheeky Brits appear  in “A Hard Day’s Night.”

The first full-length feature film starring The Beatles, “A Hard Day’s Night” chronicles a “typical” day in the lives of the Fab Four — complete with frenzied fans, crazy relatives and chic show business types. There’s also a ton of catchy pop standards, including “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “And I Love Her” and “I Should Have Known Better.”

Director Richard Lester does his best to capture the Beatles’ impish charm, forging the way for rock documentaries to come.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, meanwhile, show little sign of the squabbling would mar their later collaborations. Instead, the mop-topped rockers come across as funny, genuine and remarkably self-assured.

“A Hard Day’s Night” is the final film in the always entertaining Palm Wednesday screening series. Don’t miss this opportunity to see a classic on the big screen.

The movie screens 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $7.50.

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The Cal Poly Multicultural Center celebrates Native American Heritage Month on Thursday with a screening of “Imprint.”

Winner of three American Indian Movie Awards, “Imprint” follows Shayla Stonefeather (Tonantzin Carmelo), a Native American attorney who is prosecuting a Lakota teen in a controversial murder trial.

When Shayla returns to the South Dakota reservation to say goodbye to her dying father, she encounters a ghostly presence that cause her to reexamine long-abandoned beliefs.

“Imprint,” screens at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Science Building, Room E27, on the Cal Poly campus, 1 Grand Ave. in San Luis Obispo.  A discussion and refreshments follow the film.

For more information, contact Heather Demosthenes or Bryn Smith at 805-756-1405 or mcc@calpoly.edu. You can also visit the MultiCultural Center Web site.

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Will the year 2012 usher in an age of terror, destruction and ecological disaster? Or it trigger a new movement toward enlightenment and change?

That’s the question posed by “2012, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love the Dimensional Shift.”

On Friday, more than 30 cities across the nation will host movie screenings and conversations in response to the end-of-the-world blockbuster “2012.” 

The evening-long event will showcase portions of Joao Amorim’s upcoming documentary “2012: Time for Change,” starring “2012” author Daniel Pinchbeck, and “2012: Science or Superstition,” produced by Gary Baddeley, as well as trailers and short films.

Afterward, HopeDance magazine publisher Bob Banner will lead a discussion about indigenous prophecies and global transformation.

“2012, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dimensional Shift” takes place at 7 p.m. Friday, at the San Luis Obispo library, 995 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. A $5 donation is suggested.

For more information, call 434-3950 or visit Evolver SLO online.