Tuesday 7 February 2012

You Can Watch Terry Gilliam's The Wholly Family Here


Maverick filmmaker and former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam and the Scottish online distributor Distrify asked bloggers like me to take part in a unique experiment to help distribute Gilliam’s latest film via the Internet.


Although this unique auteur is at an age when many men think of golf and slippers, Terry Gilliam is embracing new technologies and forward-thinking methods of distribution to ensure his latest film THE WHOLLY FAMILY, winner of the 2011 European Short Film Award, is seen by his fans worldwide. (Running time approx 17 mins)


No old school cinema, DVD or TV, with the supply roads controlled by faceless bureaucrats, for this wild man of film! With the help of Distrify and bloggers (particularly Python fan blogs like this one) all over the world, he is carrying out a new method of engaging with his fans known as D2F- direct to fan.


For the first time in film history, a fan of Terry Gilliam will be able to buy the film directly from the man himself. Using the Distrify player, Terry is able to simply and effectively sell the film direct to those who want to see it without having to persuade a cinema to book it; a retailer to put it on their shelves or a broadcaster to license and schedule it. Terry can offer the film for sale from his own site. This blog is acting as conduit to Terry himself and has, therefore, become a Gilliam elf working away at the grindstone making like fans aware of what is going on.


Anyone can now simply watch the trailer on this blog and then without leaving the page, they can purchase the THE WHOLLY FAMILY straight away for the price of a cup of tea (cold tea, without milk, or sugar, or tea!) and watch it for 5 times over 30 days on their computer, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or internet-enabled TV.


"I just sit in a comfy chair and get you guys to do all my work,” said Gilliam from his home in Highgate North London. "Of course gone are the days when I could exploit my helpers for a crust of bread and a cup of sour milk. Unfortunately, you will also earn money from the selling of the film, which is another first. It is the way forward for filmmakers like me. Distrify means that more of the money made from exploiting a film goes to the people who made and financed it. This in turn means that the money can be reinvested and more films will be made, thus creating more jobs. Distrify has made a small step for The Wholly Family but a giant leap forward for the film industry.”


Here are some stills from the movie that are supposed to encourage you to watch the movie, obviously:









Distrify's Contact Details:

+44 (0)782 891 8152

andy.green+blog@distrify.com

http://www.distrify.com

http://www.terrygilliamweb.com

Sunday 29 January 2012

Pre-order Holy Flying Circus Here

Holy Flying Circus, the fantastical pythonesque re-imagining of the controversy surrounding the release of Monty Python's 1979 film, Life of Brian - to be released on DVD on 6 February 2012 - can be pre-ordered here.

Holy Flying Circus

More about the DVD:
  • Written by Tony Roche
  • Cast includes: Darren Boyd as John Cleese; Charles Edwards as Michael Palin; Steve Punt as Eric Idle; Rufus Jones as Terry Jones; Tom Fisher as Graham Chapm; Phil Nichol as Terry Gilliam; and Stephen Fry as God.
  • Running time: 89 minutes
  • Originally broadcast on BBC 4, 20th October 2011
  • Price: £9.99
The Life of Brian/Jesus
If you like Holy Flying Circus, then it's possible you will also like the book The Life of Brian/Jesus by Julian Doyle which gives interesting insights into the Life of Brian and dramatically compares scenes in the film with the actual Biblical events and comes to some surprising conclusions. Price: £8.96

Friday 27 January 2012

Monty Python team set for film reunion with Absolutely Anything

Terry Jones, the Python who oversaw Life of Brian, to direct 'sci-fi farce' in which remaining comics voice a group of aliens

Full Monty … the remaining Pythons in 2009 (l-r): Michael Palin, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle. Photograph: Peter Foley/EPA

The Monty Python team is set to reunite for the cinema screen for the first time since 1983, according to a report in Variety magazine.

Terry Jones, director of Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life, as well as co-director (with Terry Gilliam) of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, is to helm a "sci-fi farce" called Absolutely Anything. The other Pythons are being lined up to voice the roles of a group of aliens who endow an earthling with the power to do "absolutely anything".

Sporadic attempts at a Python film reunion have been made since their cinema career as a group ended. All surviving Pythons bar Eric Idle participated in the recent A Liar's Autobiography, an adaptation of the book by former Python Graham Chapman, who died in 1989, and his long-term partner, David Sherlock.

But in a recent interview for the Guardian, Terry Gilliam cast doubt on whether a reunion would ever be successfully achieved. "We all have our own careers now … the BBC put us on 10 years ago, and it was an hour of mediocrity … the work wasn't what it should be."

Jones's directorial career hit the buffers after 1996's The Wind in the Willows with Steve Coogan; he was reportedly upset at its treatment by its distributors in the UK and US and decided to concentrate on TV, writing and opera instead.