Now comedy fans will swear to their dying breath that Holy Grail is the superior flick, but, personally, I've always been a bigger fan of Life of Brian. If it weren't for Christian idiots considering the movie to be an affront to Jesus Christ (which it's not), I think Life of Brian would get a lot more credit.
Sure, there's some goofball stuff here (the scene where everyone is hiding from the Romans in the most ridiculous hiding spots ever) and some quality British humor (the Roman guard correcting Brian's Latin rather than punishing him for defacing the Roman capital), but there's also some quality social commentary, too. It's a fairly accurate portrayal of the religious hysteria, fanaticism, and persecution during Jesus's lifetime (and let's be honest, that shit still goes on today).
The scene that sticks out in my mind as just being the perfect satirical statement about religion is the scene where Brian addresses the crowd (who now think he's the messiah) and he tells them that they don't need to follow anyone, that they're all individuals. And then the crowd responds, in unison, "Yes...we're all individuals." Perfect. And I'm sure that's the scene that religious zealots hate because that's the perfect depiction of their "flock." And I'm sure the scene with the group of crucified men singing "Always look on the bright side of your life" didn't help either.
Of course, then there's the scene with the space aliens driving around with Brian in the back of their spaceship so there's a nice contrast between the thought-provoking and the just plain silly. And to this day I can't say Biggus Dickus without cracking a smile...
Why It's Awesome: The greatest British comedy troupe of all-time makes a movie so controversial it's banned in Norway. What's better than that?
Best Quote:
Pontius Pilate: Anybody else feel like a little giggle when I mention my fwiend....Biggus...Dickus?
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