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When he’s not busy backing out of TV interviews, blowing up rockets or laying the groundwork for an Ebola pandemic, Elon Musk is still CEO of a major car company. But things haven’t been going so great at Tesla, and not just because owning a Cybertruck is apparently the automotive equivalent of wearing a “Kick Me” sign.

In 2025, Tesla’s share price has plummeted, reportedly costing Musk $102 billion. It’s been said that this is due to his work with the Trump administration, but even without Trump, presumably going full “midlife crisis Leatherface” at public events isn’t the best move for any CEO.

During a recent interview with Fox Business, Musk was asked about some of these problems, as well as the protests targeting Tesla dealerships and charging stations, and the recent X/Twitter outage. Musk responded to the pile-up of terrible news by invoking Monty Python’s Eric Idle,...

Good news for comedy fans — and terrible news for English-French relations — Monty Python and the Holy Grail will be returning to theaters this spring in order to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary. Yes, it’s been five whole decades since the Pythons somehow convinced a bunch of rock stars to fund their groundbreaking parody of Arthurian legends.

On May 4th, the legendary comedy will return to theaters thanks to Fathom Events and Shout! Studios, who acquired the Monty Python catalog last fall. They’ll also be screening it on May the 7th, presumably in case some Python fans already have “Star Wars Day” plans that can’t be canceled.

But the press release makes no mention of whether or not these screenings will include any complimentary coconuts. Famously, Monty Python and the Holy Grail substituted coconuts for real horses because the production couldn’t afford them. According to John Cleese,...

Gold Derby's top news stories for March 6, 2025.

Prime Video sets premiere date for Étoile

Étoile, the latest venture from legendary TV producers Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, is coming to Prime Video on April 24. The French word for "star," Étoile (pronounced "ey-twal") is an eight-episode dance dramedy that's set in both New York and Paris. The plot follows two ballet companies that swap artists in order to survive. The cast of Étoile includes Luke Kirby, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Lou de Laâge, Gideon Glick, David Alvarez, Ivan du Pontavice, Taïs Vinolo, David Haig, Simon Callow, and Yanic Truesdale. This is the third show from the Palladinos after The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Gilmore Girls — and all three will be honored at the upcoming PaleyFest.

The Mid-Century Modern trailer introduces three gay besties

Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, the Emmy-winning creators of Will & Grace, are back with a new TV sitcom centered...

A running gag in Monty Python’s Flying Circus found the show occasionally cutting away to old stock footage of an audience of elderly women tepidly applauding.

Well, it turns out that this joke may have been closer to the truth than we thought.

According to The First 28 Years of Monty Python by Kim “Howard” Johnson, the clip was really “stock footage of a Women’s Institute meeting.” Michael Palin noted that it was likely pulled from the BBC’s vast library of footage by their researcher, but confessed that “it was rather like our own audiences (at the start).”

Much of Monty Python’s Flying Circus was filmed in front of a live audience, but this wasn’t their choice. According to producer and director Ian MacNaughton “that was BBC policy, to have a studio audience.” And that policy didn’t always work out for the Pythons. As they were...

Had all gone according to plan, Roger Moore would've passed his Walther Ppk to Pierce Brosnan after the former wheezed his way through "A View to a Kill" at the age of 58. Eon Productions had chosen the "Remington Steele" star as the next 007, and anyone who'd watched the NBC series knew Brosnan was born to play Ian Fleming's MI6 agent. Unfortunately, NBC realized they had the option to a fifth season of a show starring the next James Bond, and exercised it in the bizarre belief that viewers would return to the fading series in droves to watch a glum Brosnan not play James Bond. This worked out well for precisely no one.

While I'd love to live in the timeline where Timothy Dalton's no-nonsense 007 — the closest in look and temperament to Fleming's book version of Bond — stuck around for longer than two movies, the...

While the Academy Awards don’t often honor actors for comedic work, over the decades a few funny performances have still slipped through the cracks, such as Marisa Tomei, who won for My Cousin Vinny. And even then, some people tried to claim that her well-deserved win was really due to some kind of La La Land-esque screw-up.

One memorable comedy win came in 1989, when Kevin Kline took home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing the psychotic dum-dum Otto in A Fish Called Wanda. This probably would have been the biggest shock of the night, if not for the fact that it was the same ceremony that opened with a trainwreck of a musical number starring Rob Lowe and Snow White.

During his speech, Kline shouted out the film’s screenwriter John Cleese, who he jokingly claimed once told him, “I want to write a movie where you get...

A lot of attention has been paid to the recent squabbles between the surviving members of Monty Python, but they’ve been clashing with each other long before the days of social media.

In addition to the time Terry Jones threw a typewriter at John Cleese’s head, not everyone in the group was too thrilled with Spamalot, Eric Idle’s Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Michael Palin’s latest installment of his published diaries, There and Back, covers the years 1999 to 2009, which includes the time that Idle first began working on Spamalot. According to the book, when the idea was first floated, Cleese and Palin objected to Idle using “Monty Python” in the musical’s title, and Palin had “vaguely disquieting misgivings about the project as a whole.”

Once Spamalot was completed, Palin didn’t hate it, but still wasn’t a huge fan.

Sgt Rock, from Luca Guadagnino, is set to shoot the summer. Daniel Craig’s departure has now left it without a leading man.

According to a new report this morning, Daniel Craig has suddenly departed Luca Guadagnino’s Sgt Rock project in the midst of pre-production. Craig’s exit leaves the film without a star to take on the role of of the title character, with the production set to go before cameras this summer.

The news comes via The Hollywood Reporter, with the outlet adding that no reason has been given for Daniel Craig’s sudden departure. It does state that ‘scheduling of both himself and his wife Rachel Weisz appears to be one of the causes’ while alternative sources in the story claim that Craig ‘soured on the role’ after Queer, his recent collaboration with Guadagnino, didn’t turn into a critically-garlanded success.

We may never know why...

These days, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is obviously considered a comedy classic. But when it was first released back in 1975, there was no guarantee that people would like it. And specifically, there was no guarantee that film critics would like it.

Several critics did enjoy the Pythons’ first original feature film. The New York Times’ Vincent Canby called it “a marvelously particular kind of lunatic endeavor,” and Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune, hailed Monty Python and the Holy Grail as “an incredibly silly film of great humor, brilliant design and epic insanity.”

But other critics weren’t so impressed. Variety argued that it was “basically an excuse for set pieces, some amusing, others overdone.” Gene Siskel claimed that it “contained about 10 very funny moments and 70 minutes of silence”. In the U.K., film critic and journalist Barry Norman hosted Film 75, the 1975 iteration of his long-running movie review series.

Debuting on Apple TV+ on February 14 is director Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge, starring Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy and Sigourney Weaver.

Two highly-trained operatives (Teller and Taylor-Joy) are appointed to posts in guard towers on opposite sides of a vast and highly classified gorge, protecting the world from an undisclosed, mysterious evil that lurks within. They bond from a distance while trying to stay vigilant in defending against an unseen enemy. When the cataclysmic threat to humanity is revealed to them, they must work together in a test of both their physical and mental strength to keep the secret in the gorge before it’s too late.

In a recent interview Derrickson said The Gorge is much like Until Dawn and Silent Hill, “I love those games, and I do think that gaming has sort of set the bar for gunplay action, especially if you’re really with a single character or two characters,...

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This February, Prime Video is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the return of beloved shows like Invincible and Reacher to the much-anticipated teen romantic drama film My Fault: London. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Prime Video this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 10 best films that are coming to Prime Video in February 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

A Fish Called Wanda (February 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96% Credit – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

A Fish Called Wanda is a heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton from a screenplay by John Cleese. The 1988 film revolves around a group of thieves and con artists who team up to pull off the perfect heist, but things go horribly wrong because they all try to double-cross each other.

While most of the roles in a Monty Python film tend to go to members of the group, obviously some do end up being played by non-Pythons. Various supporting parts were played by well-known actors, as well as frequent Monty Python collaborators Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Sadly, whichever bunny rabbit played The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog seems to have been uncredited.

For their second film, the controversial 1979 Biblical spoof Monty Python’s Life of Brian, director Terry Jones stumbled upon a new source of on screen talent: random tour groups.

Python scholar Kim “Howard” Johnson was invited to the set of Life of Brian in Tunisia to document the filming. In 2008, he published his diaries from that time in the book Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday: My Life with Brian. Howard’s account is full of vivid behind the scenes details — such as how John Cleese was preoccupied with cracking...

Two 1980s comedies – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and A Fish Called Wanda – are getting fresh Blu-ray releases in the UK this spring.

Two popular comedies of the 1980s have just popped up on the UK release lists as getting new Blu-ray editions. Both are MGM movies, now presumably under the ownership of Amazon. MGM films also used to go through Fox on home entertainment in the UK, and Fox is under the ownership of Disney. Disney, meanwhile, has a deal with Sony in the US to oversee its home entertainment releases. Bottom line: while it’s still possible to get the existing Blu-rays of A Fish Called Wanda and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in the UK, it looks like stocks are being wound down.

Hence, enter Final Cut Entertainment.

It’s a label that’s picked up the rights to reissue the films, and that’s exactly what it’s doing. Here in the UK,...

There have been a lot of stories over the past year about the various feuds between the surviving members of Monty Python. And while that may be kind of a bummer for fans to hear, Sir Michael Palin recently pointed out that one source of interpersonal friction was a key part of what made much of their comedy so great.

In a new interview with The New York Times, Palin discussed his career as a travel documentary host, as well as his published diaries, which chronicled the early years of Monty Python. When the Times suggested that Eric Idle was “upset” by the diary’s release, Palin explained that none of these public beefs would last long if the Pythons were in closer proximity to one another. “The great thing about Python was, when we were all together, any disputes we had were dealt with fairly briskly,” Palin clarified. ”I...

Steve Martin and the Monty Python gang are seemingly big fans of each other’s work — although John Cleese’s opinion of the American comedian may have soured slightly in recent years, after Eric Idle gave him the role of God in Spamalot and “fired” Cleese.

Martin is such a Python admirer that he was tapped to host the TV special Parrot Sketch Not Included — 20 Years of Monty Python, which featured the final onscreen appearance of those six unforgettable comedians: “John, Paul, George, Ringo, Bob and… one other unforgettable guy.”

But when Martin first got into Monty Python, he didn’t even know what they looked like. That’s because the show didn’t air in the U.S. until 1974, but their albums were widely available.

The Pythons began issuing audio recordings of their sketches as early as 1970. And while their first release, simply titled Monty Python’s Flying Circus,...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: John Cleese is leaving Twitter.

If your eyes start rolling to the back of your skull, that’s probably because Cleese has stomped around promising to leave the party before. It was just last September when the high-drama comic huffed a public farewell.

That exit lasted a full eight days before Cleese needed to respond to an eight-month-old tweet from ex-Python mate Eric Idle. Cleese’s own daughter Camilla predicted he wouldn’t be able to stay away for long. Turns out she knows the old man pretty well.

Now Cleese says he’s had enough of Twitter — again — and he really means it this time. Maybe. “Hello, Twits,” the comic says in his probably-farewell video. “I just want to say to all my beloved Twits that I am moving to Substack because I think I would encounter a better class of person there.

John Cleese, the 85-year-old British comedy icon, has suggested that he is kicking his Twitter/X habit after 18 years.

An avid poster on Elon Musk’s social media platform, the Monty Python star said he was moving to Substack, where he hopes to encounter a “better class of person.”

In a video announcing his decision, Cleese twinkled and raised his eyebrows, telling his 5.4M followers: “And also, it’s not owned by you know who.”

He was not definitive about leaving X, meaning he may continue posting on the platform as he builds his Substack following.

I'm moving to Substack! pic.twitter.com/spi37WliQH

— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) January 28, 2025

Over on Substack, Cleese added: “I used to like Twitter but always felt very constrained by the 144 limit. This brought problems for the irony-challenged, who misunderstood a lot of what I was trying to say.

“I hope that now I am...

Why in the name of all that’s funny do American producers try to adapt British sitcoms for U.S. audiences? The easy answer: Sometimes, it works. Norman Lear’s All in the Family and Sanford and Son were huge hits based on U.K. comedies, while the American version of The Office is arguably the most successful (or at least the most imitated) sitcom of the century.

But alongside those successes are a series of miserable failures that got lost in translation. Here are five examples of failed American versions of classic British sitcoms…

1 Fawlty Towers

In 2000, the British Film Institute ranked Fawlty Towers first on its list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, and Channel 4 had Basil Fawlty number two on its list of the 100 Greatest Television Characters. With its simple premise — an uptight dolt runs a dysfunctional hotel — Fawlty Towers was an obvious choice for an American update.

"Star Trek: Section 31" takes the franchise on a road less traveled by bringing back "Star Trek: Discovery" standout Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and putting her in charge of a heist. Unlike the "Star Wars'" take on the heist movie theme in 2016's "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," the often more idealistic and pacifistic "Trek" opts for a far more light-hearted route. "Star Trek: Section 31" is B-movie trash in the best possible way, as the Academy Award winning Yeoh rocks her fallen tyrant character's new role as the head of arguably the most ragtag team a "Star Trek" project has ever given fans.

Among the key members of the film's Section 31 special ops team is the unpredictable and intense Fuzz, who probably wouldn't be a main character in just about any other "Star Trek" film. Fuzz is played by South African actor Sven Ruygrok, a rising star who's been making...

Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which turns 50 this year, is clearly one of best comedies ever made. And, barring some sort of dark twist in the Peter Rabbit series, it’s the best movie to feature a bloodthirsty bunny gnawing someone’s head off.

While the idea of sequelizing this beloved classic may seem foolish to some, it very nearly happened. Back in 1997, Eric Idle pitched a Holy Grail follow-up to the rest of the Pythons. Although the project never came to fruition, Idle’s original outline survives. He’s currently selling copies of The Final Crusade, but he also posted info about it on his blog in 2013.

According to Idle, The Final Crusade was to be “about a group of grumpy old men being pressured to get back together again for a last quest,” which would “allow us to mock ourselves.” And that mockery wasn’t exactly subtle.

Two comedies. Two difficult productions. One flat-out classic. The stories of The Producers and Fierce Creatures are explored in this episode.

When it comes to making your feature directorial debut, The Producers isn’t a bad way to get off the mark! But Mel Brooks’ now much-loved comedy faced a bumpy path to the screen, not least the struggle to write it in the first place. That, and the kind of subject matter that Hollywood studios didn’t have much desire to go near.

Plus, it turned out that the fate of the film owed a bit of a debt to Peter Sellers.

After the success of A Fish Called Wanda meanwhile, the question was asked: would John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin and Kevin Kline come back for a sequel? Well, not quite: and despite Fierce Creatures being billed as an ‘equal not a sequel’, the comedy had a very,...

These days, Monty Python is considered “The Beatles of Comedy,” presumably because of the quality of their work, their Britishness and the fact that they won’t stop fighting over money now that the group’s broken up.

But as hard as it may be to believe, there was a time when the Pythons had to sell themselves to America. While Monty Python’s Flying Circus was already a hit in the U.K. and Canada, the show didn’t air on U.S. public broadcasters until 1974. They did still have some American fans, thanks to the film And Now For Something Completely Different and the Pythons’ album releases.

But in 1973, at the end of their first-ever Canadian tour, the Pythons, minus John Cleese, traveled to California in order to promote their albums to American audiences. In addition to posing for a Rolling Stone photo shoot with Annie Leibowitz, they...

Proving that Canadian news shows aren’t always hopelessly dull, a vintage clip of the Monty Python gang improvising shtick for a Vancouver news crew recently resurfaced on social media. The young Pythons approach a “man on the street” reporter who’s holding a sign informing passersby that they can “say anything they want.”

Terry Jones proclaims that the show is doing a “real service to the community” by allowing people to say words like “grunties” on TV, but Michael Palin bops him on the head and then encourages Canadians to patronize the arts. Specifically by buying tickets to their show: “Remember a full theater is a happy promoter– theater!”

Meanwhile, Eric Idle propositions Neil Innes (“Do you want to come back to my place?”), and John Cleese makes a royal plea. “I’d like to say that I think Prince Philip should come clean about his toupee,” Cleese deadpans,...

"Monty Python's Flying Circus" was a tough sell in the United States, and it's easy to see why. Many of the TV shows and media tropes that the Pythons lampooned on their famously absurd sketch comedy show were unbearably insular to British audiences. There were jokes about local television personalities, spoofs of English news programs, and send-ups of the BBC's tendency to cram dry, not-at-all-entertaining documentaries into their programming blocks.

The BBC had made a deal with Time-Life Television to broadcast reruns of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" in the United States, but after a deal had been struck, Time-Life deemed the series to be "too British" for U.S. audiences. Ultimately, it was shelved. Time-Life's suspicions about the Pythons were proven true when the troupe's 1971 anthology film "And Now for Something Completely Different" tanked at the box office. Additionally, the six silly men performed a 30-minute block of material...

One of the biggest unanswered mysteries of human existence is the question of whether or not there is life after death. Is there a heaven? A hell? Is reincarnation real? If you played professional baseball when you were alive, does that mean that you’re doomed to spend eternity haunting some random guy’s corn crops?

Well, The New York Times recently published an article all about the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. As the university’s website explains, “Dops is investigating the mind’s relationship to the body and the possibility of consciousness surviving physical death.”

The department has faced some pushback from academics wary of studies concerning the “paranormal.” So, as The Times notes, Dops is “financed entirely by private donations.” And one of those private donors just so happens to be this guy:

While he’s more well-known for his...

Everybody has their own personal favorite Monty Python sketch. For some, it’s the famous “Dead Parrot” routine; for others, it’s “Nudge Nudge” (though I’m guessing no one will claim the cannibalistic undertaker bit).

Then there’s the iconic “Ministry of Silly Walks,” in which John Cleese plays an absurdly flexible civil servant working within the titular ministry, where he oversees grant applications for the development of new wacky ambulatory methods. According to Michael Palin, the idea began as a phrase he jotted down in his notebook. When he wasn’t able to figure out what to do with the concept, he handed it off to Cleese’s writing partner, Graham Chapman, who told Palin, “I think we could do something with that.”

There are no bigger fans of the sketch than the residents of Brno, Czech Republic. This coming Saturday, the city will hold a “Silly Walks March,...

As fans are well aware, a number of famous rock stars contributed to Monty Python projects — Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd all helped to finance Monty Python and the Holy Grail, George Harrison mortgaged his home to pay for Life of Brian and, more recently, Mick Jagger introduced the troupe’s reunion show press conference while implicitly poking fun at his own career.

Despite this cozy relationship, few musicians took any direct artistic inspiration from the sketch comedians — although Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson did name-check Monty Python while attempting to explain the album Thick as a Brick.

But in 1988, one of the biggest rock supergroups in music history, The Traveling Wilburys, included more than one shout-out to the Pythons in their debut album.

The group’s stacked lineup included George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Electric Light Orchestra’s Jeff Lynne and the legendary Roy Orbison. According to Orbison’s son,...

Kevin Costner has made a huge number of great movies in the course of his acting career, but only a handful are available to stream on Netflix. In his four decades of making movies, Kevin Costner has become one of the most notable actors of all time. He's starred in some of the best Western movies ever made, like Dances with Wolves, as well as some of the best historical dramas and crime thrillers, like The Untouchables. After such a successful career, Costner has more than a handful of dedicated fans, and more than a few people who want to watch his movies.

Luckily, watching Costner's movies has never been easier thanks to the era of streaming services. The only caveat to the on-demand films is the sheer number of streamers out there. With options like Max, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+ and more, many of Costner's films are scattered across websites and locked behind paywalls.

Monty Python isn’t exactly known for creating the most festive content, with the possible exception of the first five minutes of Life of Brian, and the “Christmas in Heaven” musical number that wraps up The Meaning of Life.

But, oddly enough, one Python member secured their role in the troupe by finding a creative use for an old holiday tradition.

Back in 1968, Terry Gilliam was having trouble getting work. He had previously made photographic comic strips for a magazine called Help!, including one in which a horny John Cleese hits on his kid’s Barbie doll.

When Help! went under, Cleese told Gilliam to get in touch with the people making Do Not Adjust Your Set, a children’s comedy series featuring Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Terry Jones, which had become a surprise hit with adults. Gilliam later wrote that he was only hired because producer Humphrey Barclay “took pity on me,...

The teaser trailer for director James Gunn’s newest movie version of Superman was recently released online. And, unlike previous films, this one has a cute dog that everyone seems to already love.

Play

Of course, Superman has proven to be one of the most enduring heroes in the history of pop culture, even surviving John Cleese’s awkward take on the character. But this multibillion dollar franchise began as a simple idea from two guys who were eventually screwed out of those billions of dollars: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Also, it could be argued that the character of Superman wouldn’t be quite the same if not for the influence of one of Canada’s most famous comedians: Joe’s cousin Frank Shuster.

Frank, along with Johnny Wayne, performed as the comedy duo Wayne and Shuster for decades. They had their own shows on radio and television in Canada,...

The beloved sitcom Cheers was filled with great episodes over the course of its 11-season run, but only 10 can be considered the absolute best. Cheers has been popular since it premiered in 1982, but it's gained renewed relevance thanks to the new reboot of Frasier. The news has also made Cheers relevant again thanks to the upcoming British remake of Cheers. As the U.K. begins trying to recapture the magic of Cheers, it's always helpful to look at the absolute highlights of the original show to see what the reboot is up against.

Cheers was primarily a comedy, but it was so much more than that. As its theme song suggests, it was a cozy show that could just as easily make audiences cry as it could make them laugh. Therefore, the best episodes of Cheers are not just the most hilarious, but they were also the most heartwarming, heartbreaking,...

Degrassi: Next Class star Ana Golja, Dana Abraham and Dennis Andres are set to star in the action drama Sidd.

Abraham, whose credits include Orphan Black: Echoes and Neon Lights, also penned the screenplay for the indie pic about a Marine-turned-boxing coach that draws on his real-life experience as a competitive boxer.

The film portrays Sidd (Abraham), a retired super-middleweight boxer struggling to keep his gym afloat in a gritty urban neighborhood. When Dante, his estranged half-brother played by Andres, leads a drug syndicate that targets his fighters, Sidd must confront a dark world in his past.

And as he grows closer to his new neighbors, Giselle (Golja) and her young son, played by Logan Nicholson), Sidd risks everything to take Dante down and prevent anyone else from becoming collateral damage.

The indie from action film banner Kemodo Entertainment is directed by cinematographer-turned-helmer Russ De Jong, who will use...

Whether he likes it or not, Terry Gilliam is smack-dab in the middle of a Monty Python feud. While Eric Idle and John Cleese are doing the public mud-slinging, Gilliam and his offspring are at the heart of the conflict. Idle can’t believe the Python comedians don’t have more money in the bank, blaming Gilliam’s daughter, Holly (who runs the group’s business affairs), for financial mismanagement.

“Python is a disaster,” Idle tweeted earlier this year. “If you put a Gilliam child in as your manager you should not be so surprised. One Gilliam is bad enough. Two can take out any company.”

Oof. Cleese has fired back on multiple occasions, including earlier this year.

“I have worked with Holly for the last 10 years, and I find her very efficient, clear-minded, hard working, and pleasant to have dealings with,” Cleese tweeted. “Michael Palin has asked me to...

Americans likely know David Frost best as the TV host who took on Richard Nixon in the landmark interview that served as the basis for Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon — a film that earned rave reviews from everybody except those who went in thinking it was a sequel to Michael Keaton’s harmonica-playing snowman movie.

Frost also had a huge impact on the comedy world, thanks to his 1960s satirical news program The Frost Report, which, along with the Frost-hosted That Was the Week That Was, inarguably paved the way for future news parodies such as The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update.”

The Frost Report’s supporting cast included Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett (who later starred in The Two Ronnies) as well as a young performer named John Cleese. The show’s writing staff also included future Monty Python members Graham Chapman, Michael Palin and Terry Jones.

As much as we adore our short kings, the world absolutely loves a tall man. Sure, they’re probably sick of being asked, “How’s the weather up there?” but they always come in handy when you need something off the top shelf.

Table of Contents: Tall Hollywood Actors

Fortunately, there is no shortage of sky-scraping men in Hollywood. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the tallest actors in Hollywood. Click on a name to jump directly to their full profile and learn more about their careers and footwear stats.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – 6’2 ½” Dolph Lundgren – 6’2 ½” Dave Bautista – 6’2 ¾” Bill Skarsgård – 6’3 ¼” Vincent D’Onofrio – 6’3 ½” Jared Padalecki – 6’4” Liam Neeson – 6’4” Alexander Skarsgård – 6’4 ¼” Tyler Perry – 6’4 ¼” Jeff Goldblum – 6’4 ¼” Vince Vaughn – 6’4 ½” Armie Hammer – 6’4 ½” Joe Manganiello – 6’4 ¾” Tim Robbins – 6’4 ¾” John Cleese – 6’5” James Cromwell – 6’5” Kevin Durand – 6’5 ¾” Brad Garrett – 6’8 ⅛” Joonas Suotamo – 6’11” Carel Struycken – 7’0”

While the likes of Kevin Hart and Tom Cruise may not make the list, here are...

As a writer, John Cleese is mostly known for penning Monty Python sketches, Fawlty Towers episodes and, most recently, unnecessarily cruel social media posts about his oldest friends. He’s not generally known for being a comic book writer, but for some reason, Cleese once co-authored a Superman comic. As a career move, this was less expected than a Spanish Inquisition.

Cleese seems like an odd choice to write a Superman story, considering that his only previous superhero experience was the “Bicycle Repair Man” sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Nonetheless, Cleese and Python scholar Kim “Howard” Johnson penned an “Elseworlds” comic, 2004’s Superman: True Brit, which imagined what would have happened had the Man of Steel’s ship crash landed in Britain, rather than America. It was pretty strange.

How strange? Well, at one point a young Kal-El, or “Colin” as he’s known in True Brit, accidentally...

In 2009, Disney purchased the film rights to Marvel Studios. In 2012, Disney purchased Lucasfilm. In 2017, Disney purchased the 20th Century Fox library. Thanks to these major buys, Disney now owns some of the most bankable films of all time. When not adjusted for inflation, Disney also owns a controlling stake in nine out of the 10 highest-grossing movies ever, including two "Avatar" movies, "Titanic," three movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a Pixar film, a "Star Wars" film, and a remake of an animated classic.

But every major hit seems to balance itself out with a major loss. Disney also has ownership of some of the biggest box office bombs of all time, as the "high risk, high reward" filmmaking model has proven unsuccessful at least as often as it has worked. Disney also owns major commercial duds like "The Marvels," "John Carter," "The Lone Ranger," "Mars Needs Moms," "Tomorrowland," "Onward," "Strange World,...

While the surviving members of Monty Python will likely never reunite, at least they keep throwing shade at each other online. And that can be pretty entertaining too.

The latest online slight came after a fan recently asked Eric Idle about Monty Python’s Life of Brian, specifically the allegedly controversial scene in which the People’s Front of Judea debate their member’s right to be accepted by society as a woman named Loretta.

Some fans have interpreted this scene as an anti-trans statement, including Elon Musk. This interpretation was seemingly backed up by John Cleese, who bravely proclaimed that he wouldn’t cut the scene from his (supposedly) upcoming stage adaptation of Life of Brian — even though nobody ever asked him to.

It turned out that he himself had sensed that the scene might not play well with contemporary audiences, so he asked his cast for feedback, and...

At 86, Ridley Scott is on the cusp of releasing one of the biggest films of his career — “Gladiator II” — and already has at least two additional projects lined up for 2025, a reteam with Paul Mescal and a Bee Gees biopic. With no signs of slowing down.

He’s not the only Hollywood veteran who’s still making movies: Martin Scorsese, who turned 82 this year, made one of the best films of his career with “Killers of the Flower Moon” while Clint Eastwood (94) has what might be his final film, “Juror #2” in theaters now.

Here are 15 directors over 80 who are still busy making movies.

Photo credit: Getty Images Martin Scorsese, 82

The prolific director of “Goodfellas,” and “The Departed” was Oscar-nominated again for his 2023 historic epic, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and is now developing two films: “The Life of Jesus” and a movie about Frank Sinatra. He also returned to documentaries...

Challengers director Luca Guadagnino could be making comic book film Sgt Rock with Daniel Craig next.

Director Luca Guadagnino’s next project has been a matter of speculation for a while now, considering barely a month goes by wthout a new project being added to the filmmaker’s busy slate. This year hosts two films from the revered director: the already-released Challengers and Queer, the latter starring Daniel Craig and set for its UK debut next month. Then there’s After The Hunt, his starry drama which features Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield. That one’s currently in post-production.

Beyond that, there has been speculation over what Guadagnino will make next. While his planned remake of American Psycho has been bubbling along, there’s his take on Pier Vittorio Tondelli’s Italian novel Separate Rooms and his take on William Golding’s book, Lord Of The Flies.

Rumours of Guadagnino...

Kelsey Grammer is currently enjoying a great deal of success with the revival of "Frasier," a series that has been running on Paramount+ since October 2023. The original "Frasier," itself a spinoff of "Cheers," starred Grammer as the titular character, a radio psychologist whose persnickety attitudes and tastes invited all manner of zany shenanigans into his life. The original show lasted 264 episodes over 11 seasons, making it one of the most successful sitcoms of its decade.

But, as many might be able to point out, Grammer's career has been wildly varied in success. He often shows up in films, yet he has headlined far more bombs than hits. Grammer has played Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast in several live-action "X-Men" movies, but he has also appeared in a slew of weird, low-budget, straight-to-home-media schlock. Who could forget, for instance, the bizarre glories of Andrew Lawrence's "Money Plane"? Grammer has similarly starred in numerous low-rent Christmas movies,...

The cult classic miniseries Over the Garden Wall has an incredible story that was brought to life by the performances of its star-studded vocal cast. Over the Garden Wall is a fan-favorite autumn miniseries, and it's still popular years after it debuted. In fact, Over the Garden Wall got a 10th anniversary short, and fans of the miniseries still debate the true meaning of Over the Garden Wall's story and its symbolism a decade later. Over the Garden Wall is often considered perfect for Halloween because of its impressive and cozy animation and its lovable characters, among many other things.

Without its talented vocal cast, however, Over the Garden Wall's characters and story wouldn't have been nearly as timeless. The voice actors involved in the animated miniseries clearly put their hearts and souls into their performances, and it paid off in dividends. Over the Garden Wall also has...

Eric Idle is struggling to see the bright side of his estrangement from John Cleese.

In an interview on the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast, the Monty Python star reflected on his public feud with Cleese over the British comedy troupe’s management.

Asking about the disagreement — and likely voicing what many Monty Python fans are thinking — O’Brien told Idle that he doesn’t want “mommy and daddy to fight.”

Idle replied: “We don’t disagree about comedy, this is only about money. This is only about business. I mean, a fool and his money are easily parted — six of us, much more quickly.

“There’s no right or wrong way to deal with business, and if somebody has one view of it, and somebody doesn’t, and somebody has another, those can lead to very bad arguments.

“Unfortunately, we don’t see each other enough. I haven...

Christmas has come early to the Frasier-verse. The reboot’s second season finale was a holiday-themed episode, one which found Dr. Crane and company attempting to reunite Frasier’s old friend Alan with his estranged daughter. Naturally, hijinks ensued.

The episode was mostly serviceable, although, as Frasier fans have pointed out, it’s a little weird that the show seems to be teeing up a romance between Frasier’s son Freddy and Alice, the character played by Kelsey Grammer’s real-life daughter Greer Grammer.

Also, we couldn’t help but notice that the episode’s title seemingly references one of Grammer’s career low points — and keep in mind that this is a career that includes both Down Periscope and Money Plane.

The season finale is named “Father Christmas,” which makes sense, considering that it’s about a troubled dad during the holidays. But it also, perhaps not accidentally, calls...

The ongoing feud between Eric Idle and John Cleese has gotten a lot of attention this year. It’s basically the Drake-Kendrick beef, but for comedy lovers who can’t sleep through the night without getting up to pee at least once.

Monty Python fans who have been disappointed by their comedy heroes’ incessant online squabbling aren’t alone. Idle appeared on the most recent episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and the former Late Night host revealed that, he too, has been bummed at the troupe’s recent acrimony.

Conan is obviously a huge Python fan, so it’s perhaps no surprise that, during his chat with Idle, he brought up the spat. Prefacing his line of inquiry by noting “we don't have to talk about this,” he admitted that as someone who’s been “influenced and awed by Python, I think of it as sort of (like) Santa Claus.

This week marks 35 years since Monty Python’s Life of Brian hit theaters in the U.K., several months after its U.S. release enraged American evangelicals. Of course, the backlash was very much a thing in England as well.

The most famous artifact of this controversy is the the heated debate, on the show Friday Night, Saturday Morning, that found John Cleese and Michael Palin taking on Bishop of Southwark, Mervyn Stockwood and Christian journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, who, incidentally, was later outed as a “serial groper” of women.

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Frequent Monty Python collaborator Julian Doyle, who edited Life of Brian, has a new book out about the film. But The After-Life of Brian isn’t about the film’s production, it’s seemingly more about the film’s representation of the historical time period compared to The Bible. According to Doyle, the movie is by far the more trustworthy source.

Monty Python is often referred to as “The Beatles of comedy,” but does that mean that they have their very own Pete Best?

Monty Python’s Flying Circus wouldn’t exist without two other shows that came before it: At Last the 1948 Show, which starred both Graham Chapman and John Cleese, and Do Not Adjust Your Set, which featured Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Michael Palin (and its second season incorporated animated sequences from a young American named Terry Gilliam).

Do Not Adjust Your Set was technically a children’s show, but the surreal sketches seemingly resonated more with adults, and as word spread, grown-ups began “rushing home from the office” in order to watch it.

In addition to the future Pythons, Do Not Adjust Your Set also featured two other performers Denise Coffey and David Jason. Jason is perhaps best known for later going on to star in...

Exclusive: Erika Cevallos has been promoted to the role of Worldwide Sales Manager at Double Dutch International (Ddi) ahead of the upcoming AFM, which she will attend in her new role.

Ddi COO and President Ron Moring said the move marked a significant career milestone for Cevallos who joined the company as a Sales Representative in late 2023.

Based in Ecuador, Cevallos brings an international perspective to her work, combining her professional expertise with a strong academic background. She is also a university professor, teaching courses on film and film production.

Ddi said that in addition to her academic and professional roles, Cevallos has hands-on experience across various behind-the-camera positions.

“We are honored to have Erika among our team and recognize her efforts and success with her new title, someone so determinate to connect these standout films with audiences around the world,” said Moring of Ddi.

Ddi’s AFM line-up includes The Martini Shot,...

Double Dutch International has picked up international sales for AFM on the thriller From Embers starring Kara Wang from Top Gun: Maverick and Emmy-nominated Glee cast member Matthew Morrison.

Indican Pictures is handling the US theatrical release and Gravitas Ventures distributes on ancillary platforms.

Kate Bohan wrote and directed the story about Lily, a grieving widow who navigates a new life with her autistic son Kevin.

When she meets Marty, an alcoholic neighbour devoted to music and his beloved daughter Chloe, they uncover disturbing truths about her late husband’s suspicious death.

The cast includes Kayla Bohan, Alexander J. Lee,...

Monty Python have obviously inspired a number of comedians, writers, filmmakers and aggrieved garbage dump custodians, but it turns out that they also had a big impact on the actor best known for gunning down countless Russian mobsters and downloading kung-fu directly into his cerebral cortex: Keanu Reeves.

Reeves recently attended the Southbank Literature Festival to promote his new novel The Book of Elsewhere, along with his co-author China Miéville. When the moderator asked Reeves about which work of art from his youth “has been the biggest inspiration” in his work, the actor, at first, couldn’t come up with an answer. But then he admitted that it was actually Monty Python.

“It was such a wonderful influence and model of storytelling,” Reeves said of the iconic comedy troupe, noting that their humor “was so physical but also so intellectual and social.”

This might seem a little bit surprising, considering...