The most recent book on the subject ("The Cuban Missile Crisis in American Memory" by Sheldon M. Stern), which is based on more of the released White House tapes, somewhat blackens Robert Kennedy's role in the crisis—he turns out to have been more reckless and confrontational than previously thought. JFK however comes…

"President Kennedy: Profile of Power," by Richard Reeves, is a pretty good starting point. It's a dispassionate, objective examination of Kennedy's presidency, meant to give the reader the perspective of the chief executive. Reeves lets the facts speak for themselves and engages in no editorializing. The only drawback…

I have a soft spot for Kikujiro and Dolls, both of which tend to get underrated next to Kitano's gangster/cop films. The former is genuinely sweet (and has some great gags) and the latter is great viewing for depressives.

I can see why one might prefer guests of the caliber of Muddy Waters, Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan, or Neil Young. But Joni Mitchell? You might as well plump for Neil Diamond, since he's just as boring. And what sort of person is left indifferent by superb live versions of "Stage Fright," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie…

Keep in mind that the Band played four live shows, which means multiple versions of "Life is a Carnival" were recorded. The version here presumably wasn't released on "Rock of Ages." That said, I expect there's very little variation between these versions, since the Band didn't stray from their usual arrangements…

The Last Waltz version of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is quite likely the best version of the song. At the time the Band was not quite at full power, since Richard Manuel's voice was shot, but the rest of the group was fantastic—if Levon Helm felt angry about the concert, he channeled that anger beautifully.

No, it's a great film. The entire concert is ragged at times, but what Scorsese captured was filmed with a smoothness and grace that no other concert film before or since has achieved. It's the Rolls Royce of concert films.

"Music From Big Pink" was also a masterpiece, "Rock of Ages" is a great live album, and "Stage Fright" and "Northern Lights, Southern Cross" are terrific as well. The Band touched greatness on quite a few occasions—they're still the best country-rock group of them all.

"Out of the Trees" is, I think, good enough to make one regret that more episodes weren't produced (the script for episode 2, which is pretty good, is reproduced in the book "Calcium Made Interesting," an anthology of Chapman's scripts, one-man show material, and miscellaneous writings. I don't think it's useful to…

The Pythons also made several business training films for Birdseye Frozen Peas, Harmony Hairspray, and Close-Up Toothpaste. I don't know why they haven't been issued on DVD, since if you put them together and you've got the equivalent of a lost Python episode. All of the films can be seen online at Spiny Norman's…

The Sonny and Cher bit was not at all painful—how can you not like "I got you to hold me teat?"

I should also add that Cook's three major works—"Not Only But Also," "Bedazzled," and "Beyond the Fringe" are available on region one DVD.

IIRC, they performed it very late at night with a good portion of the auidence unable to properly see the performance. That doesn't explain why they agreed to rehash a sketch they must have been sick of, but it might account for the lackluster audience response.

Celebrating character actors has been done for decades, long before nerd culture became ascendant. Writers and fans interested in movies were doing it back in the 20s  and by 40s even directors were in on it—Preston Sturges assembled a casting company full of beloved character actors.

Whether "Michael Ellis" is "by far" the best episode of the fourth series is rather debatable. I think the usual contenders for that honor—"Light Entertainment War" and "Party Political Broadcast"—are more deserving.

Zack must have been vexed and ratty when he watched "Scott of the Antarctic," because the standards he used to praise "Different parts" are just as easily used to praise "Scott."
Given his talk on the importance of story-as-glorified-premise and how a good sketch expands outward from the premise with inter-connected…

A note on the blackface bit: Zach writes "the Pythons are clearly satirizing the practice…yet it’s still clunky, underlining the troupe’s inherent whiteness."
Isn't that the point? The satirical thrust of this rub-it-in-your-face gag is that sitcoms like The Debby Reynolds Show might as well cast a man in blackface,…

On the topic of drugs, there's a biography of Palin that says he enjoyed smoking pot back in the 60s but eventually gave up (presumably before writing Python). I haven't come across accounts of drug use by the other Pythons, aside from Chapman's alcoholism.

Interestingly, when Gerard explained the myth of Lycaon, he left out part of the myth: the human flesh that Lycaon served up for Zeus was that of his own son.
I wonder why Teen Wolf left that out.

I'm guessing there's a connection between Paige and that schoolteacher Derek is smitten with. (Did Paige somehow cheat death and grow up to become the teacher? Is the teacher a relative of Paige? So on and so on.) Anyway, I somewhat cared about the puppy-love story until the choir got too syrupy.