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More Monty Python at the Egyptian!

Tired and dazed from all the July 4th festivities and televised sports events? Join us for this rejuvenating spate of effervescent comedies guaranteed to re-energize and lift your spirits out of the midsummer doldrums. We’ll be screening ROXANNE, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, MONTY PYTHON’S THE LIFE OF BRIAN, DR. STRANGELOVE, THE LOVED ONE, SLAP SHOT and more!

Thursday, July 2 – 7:30 PM

New 35mm Print! New Restoration! DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB, 1964, Sony Repertory, 93 min. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Berserk military honcho Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) sends off the code to Strategic Air Command bombers to start WWIII. Against a gallery of unforgettable comic grotesques, including Hayden’s fluoride-hating general and George C. Scott’s oversexed Commie killer, Peter Sellers stands out in arguably his greatest role(s) – as the befuddled U.S. president, the veddy British commander Mandrake and the maniacal Dr. Strangelove. (Interestingly, Sellers was supposed to play a fourth role – Slim Pickens’ B-52 pilot – before illness forced him to drop out!) Trailer

THE LOVED ONE, 1965, Warner Bros., 121 min. The movie with something to offend everyone! Judged unfilmable for over a decade (Luis Buñuel was trying to set it up for years), writer Evelyn Waugh’s spot-on satire of Southern California -- specifically the funeral business – was finally brought to the screen in the mid-sixties by director Tony Richardson (TOM JONES) with a screenplay by Terry Southern (CANDY, EASY RIDER) and Christopher Isherwood (!). Robert Morse, a British youth visiting his uncle (John Gielgud) in Los Angeles encounters the weird world of tinseltown’s mortuary subculture, embodied by twins Henry and Reverend Wilbur Glenworthy (Jonathan Winters in a dual role), embalmer Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger) and his beautiful apprentice, Aimee Thanatogenous (Anjanette Comer). Marketed as "the motion picture with something to offend everyone!" this is an achingly funny, pitch-black comedy that could only have been released in the anything-goes era of the 1960s. With Liberace, Paul Williams, Dana Andrews. Trailer

THE STING, 1973, Universal, 129 min. Dir. George Roy Hill. Circa 1936, con artist Robert Redford goes to his mentor Paul Newman for help when their mutual friend is whacked by the henchmen of numbers racketeer Robert Shaw. Newman decides to get a gang together that will put a complex scheme in play to fleece homicidal high-roller Shaw of a small fortune. The sterling cast includes Charles Durning, Ray Walston and Eileen Brennan. The epitome of the 1970s buddy film, THE STING won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Screenplay (by David S. Ward), Costume Design, Art Direction and Music (Marvin Hamlisch, adapted from Scott Joplin’s ragtime tunes). Trailer

SLAP SHOT, 1977, Universal, 122 min. Director George Roy Hill (BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID) and writer Nancy Dowd (Best Screenplay winner for COMING HOME) bring to the screen this incredibly funny and foul-mouthed saga of a has-been hockey team from a dying-on-the-vine Pennsylvania town. Paul Newman is both the team’s coach and a player who strives for a winning strategy. When an atypical fit of violence erupts in the rink, it creates a surprising spike in the team’s popularity, and Newman suddenly has a guaranteed approach to bring in the fans. Co-starring Michael Ontkean as a fish-out-of-water Ivy League player disgruntled by the bad sportsmanship, Strother Martin as the team’s manager and Jennifer Warren as Newman’s long-suffering beautician wife. Reportedly Newman’s favorite of his films."Easily the greatest hockey film ever made…Paul Newman stars as the coach/player for a second-rate team who can't win and can't even get arrested until they hire three brothers with Coke-bottle glasses named the Hansons. These three violent goons begin beating other players to a pulp in every game, not only drawing attention to the team, but beginning a winning streak…irreverent and very funny." – Jeffrey M. Anderson, combustiblecelluloid.com Trailer

MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, 1975, Rainbow Releasing, 91 min. Dirs. Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones. Python's $250,000 epic features Graham Chapman as King Arthur, John Cleese as Sir Lancelot the Brave and Eric Idle as Sir Robin The-Not-Quite-So-Brave. From the limb-impaired Black Knight, the immortal Knights who say Ni, killer rabbits, the Black Beast of Aarrgghh and the extremely rude Frenchman, HOLY GRAIL is one of the most beloved and quoted cult classics. Revisit this groundbreaking comedy before seeing the stage musical version, "Spamalot" at the Ahmanson theater this summer! Trailer See the musical that is (lovingly) ripped off from the movie, "Spamalot!" – at the Ahmanson Theatre July 7 – September 6, 2009.

LIFE OF BRIAN, 1979, Rainbow Releasing, 94 min. Directed by Monty Python’s naked piano player Terry Jones on the remains of the sets from Zeffirelli's JESUS OF NAZARETH. Graham Chapman stars as Brian, Jesus' next-door neighbor, in one of the most hilariously dangerous comedies ever. A combination of Mel Brooks, the Marx Brothers and Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason. Blessed are the Cheesemakers? Trailer

THE PRINCESS BRIDE, 1987, 20^th Century Fox, 98 min. Dir. Rob Reiner. This adaptation of William Goldman’s wonderful, tongue-in-cheek fairy tale stars Cary Elwes as the dashing Westley, who is forced to fight off the villainous Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) and Count Tyron (Christopher Guest, from THIS IS SPINAL TAP) to save his beloved princess, Buttercup (Robin Wright). A sheer delight from beginning to end, featuring marvelous sets (courtesy of production designer Norman Garwood) and high-spirited supporting performances by Billy Crystal (as Miracle Max), Carol Kane, Peter Falk and Andre the Giant. Trailer

ROXANNE, 1987, Sony Repertory, 107 min. Screenwriter and star Steve Martin updates CYRANO DE BERGERAC, casting himself as a large-nosed fireman who courts the woman (Darryl Hannah) he desires by putting his words in the mouth of a better-looking young stud via some lovingly composed letters. Director Fred Schepisi channels Frank Capra and Preston Sturges in his handsomely mounted, whimsical production that's romantic and hilarious in equal measures. Trailer

Wednesday, July 15 – 7:30 PM

Sneak Preview! IN THE LOOP, 2008, IFC Films, 106 min. This event was cancelled. If you bought a ticket on Fandango, please bring your credit card to the box office any time for a refund.