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Line 1: {{cleanup-verify}} ~~{{Infobox Movie \|~~ {{unreferenced}} ~~movie_name = Life of Brian \|~~ ~~image = [[Image:Lifeofbrian.jpg\|250px\|DVD cover for ''Life Of Brian'']] \|~~ ~~imdb_id = 0079470 \|~~ ~~writer = [[Graham Chapman]],<br>[[John Cleese]],<br>[[Terry Gilliam]],<br>[[Eric Idle]],<br>[[Terry Jones]],<br>[[Michael Palin]] \|~~ ~~starring = [[Graham Chapman]],<br>[[John Cleese]],<br>[[Terry Gilliam]],<br>[[Eric Idle]],<br>[[Terry Jones]],<br>[[Michael Palin]] \| director = [[Terry Jones]] \|~~ ~~producer = \|~~ ~~distributor = [[Warner Bros.]] \|~~ ~~release_date = [[1979]]\|~~ ~~runtime = 94 mins \|~~ ~~movie_language = English \|~~ ~~music = \|~~ ~~awards = \|~~ ~~budget = \|~~ ~~mpaa_rating = Restricted \|~~ ~~bbfc_rating = AA (1979),<br>15 (1988) \|~~ ~~eirin_rating = Mature \|~~ ~~fsk_certificate= FSK-16 \|~~ }} '''''Life of Brian''''' is a [[film]] from [[1979]] by [[Monty Python]] which deals with the life of Brian (played by [[Graham Chapman]]), a young man born nearly the same time as, and right down the street from, [[Jesus]]. '''Willa Ford''' (born '''Amanda Lee Williford''' on [[January 22]], [[1981]]) is an [[United States\|American]] [[pop singer]]. In [[2000]], readers of ''[[Total Film]]'' magazine voted it the greatest comedy film of all time. In [[2004]] the same magazine named it the 5th greatest British film of all time. On the ''[[IMDb]]'', the film is consistently ranked among the top 250 films of all time. ~~One of the soundtrack "Always look on the bright side" is used in the English football fans, whenever England lose a match.~~ [[Image:Willaford.jpeg\|right\|thumbnail\|Willa Ford]] ~~==Synopsis==~~ ==Biography== ''Life of Brian'' is essentially a classic [[farce]] and is eloquently summed up by Brian's mother (played by [[Terry Jones]]) saying, "He's not the [[messiah]]; he's a very naughty boy." This notwithstanding, the film is variously seen as a stunning critique of organised and popular [[religion]] as a [[racket]] involving [[hypocrisy]] and religious [[zealot]]s, a [[sacrilegious]] film "deserving [[censorship]]," or just a very funny movie. Willa was born and raised in [[Ruskin, Florida]]. She began pursuing her dream of becoming a singer at the age of 8, when she started singing with the ''Tampa Bay Children's Choir''. By the time she reached age 11, she had moved on from the children’s choir to the Tampa-based children’s performing arts troupe, ''Entertainment Revue''. This group consisted of 20 girls ages 5-16. The tour the area and sang at such places as, [[Walt Disney World]] and Busch Gardens. Willa worked hard in the group and moved her way up from a chorus member to the role of featured soloist. When Willa was 15, she left the troupe and landed spot with a local foursome ''FLA''. She didn’t stay long with the group before deciding to head out to Los Angeles. In 1999 Willa while performing under the stage name '''Mandah''', she was signed to [[MCA]]. While with MCA she released a song on the double-platinum soundtrack ‘''Pokémon The First Movie’'' called ‘''Lullaby''’. She also landed a spot as an opening act for the [[Backstreet Boys]]. Which managed to attract a lot of attention, for her performances as well as her relationship with one of its members. Soon Willa’s label changed her stage name from Mandah, to avoid confusion with another female singer, to Willa Ford and tried to promote a beautiful singer with a good-girl image. After some negative publicity that tainted their clean-cut image for Willa, MCA decided to drop her, letting her move on to a label that would embrace her bad-girl image. It also pokes fun at revolutionary grouplets of the [[1970s]] by featuring several factions that are nominally protesting against the Roman occupation of [[Judea]], but are in fact more at loggerheads with one another (examples include 'The Judean People's Front', 'The People's Front of Judea' and (with only one member) 'The Judean Popular People's Front').[http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/brian/brian-07.htm] It wasn’t long before [[Lava/Atlantic]] would give Willa a deal and put her in to studio with a diverse variety of writers and producers. Although she had many talented writers working with her, Willa was determined to write most of the lyrics herself, which was unlike other teen singers at the time. She would use her life for material or make up a character that she would want to be. The film contains all members of [[Monty Python]] in multiple roles, and also features cameos by [[Spike Milligan]] (who happened to be on holiday in [[Tunisia]] where the filming was taking place) and [[George Harrison]] (without whom the film would not have been made — since Harrison set up [[Handmade Films]] to help fund it after the subject matter scared off the original backers). On July 17, 2001 Willa released her debut album ‘''Willa Was Here''’. The album contained the single (with a hyper link to the sexy video), ‘''I Wanna Be Bad''’. The album used smooth pop/R&B grooves, hot dance beats and vocoders. Although Willa has the beauty and talent mixed in with a hit single, her album only reached #56 on the [[Billboard Charts]]. Either by accident or design, several characters are never named during the film, although they do have names which are used in the tracklisting for the soundtrack album and elsewhere. There is no mention of the fact that [[Eric Idle]]'s ever-cheerful joker is called "Mr. Cheeky", that the terribly well-meaning Roman guard played by [[Michael Palin]] is (aptly) named "Nisus Wettus", or that Brian's mother (Terry Jones) is named "Mandy". While promoting her album, Willa did a Mall tour for ''Nautica Kids'', served as the spokesperson for ''Pantene Pro-V’s ‘Pro-Voice’'' campaign, and appeared on the in-concert cable special, ''Teensation''. Also [[MTV]] got Willa to host their reality series ‘''I Bet You Will''’. MTV was impressed by Willa’s hosting they got her to also host their Spring Break series, which included ‘''The Morning After''’. Willa’s song ‘''I Wanna Be Bad''’ became the theme song for ''Six-Flags'' theme parks and was also use by ''7-UP'' for one of their campaigns. Willa also became a model for ''Bongo'' Ads. In 2002 Willa co-wrote and sang a duet with [[Koreans\|Korean]] Pop star [[Park Ji Yoon]] intitled ‘''Nastified''’, which was on Park's 5th album ''Man''. ~~==Blasphemy allegations==~~ In 2003 Willa came back with a hot dance song that forever immortalized a sorority chant, ‘''A Toast To Men''’, which featured a special guest rapper [[Lady May]]. The single was from her unreleased sophomore album ‘''Sexysexobsessive''’. The single did well, but cause of some legalities at her label her album wasn’t released. This also caused Willa to leave the label and go in search for a new one. The film initially attracted some complaints about [[Michael Palin]] and [[Graham Chapman]]'s portrayals of characters with speech impediments (e.g. [[Biggus Dickus]]), but Mr. Palin insisted that this was solely for humorous purposes. Indeed, his father had a stammer, and he himself gives his name to 'The Michael Palin Centre', which offers "specialist assessment and therapy service in [[stammering]]." However, what caused most contention was the film's supposed blasphemous content. While fans wait for a her sophomore release, Willa has made some appearances. In 2005 Willa was chosen from many candidates to host the fighting competition reality show ‘''The Ultimate Fighter''’. After the show’s finale Willa got a shot at being the summers guest doll, for the Vegas ''Pussy Cat Dolls'' show. As well as being one of the celebrity quarterbacks in the upcoming ''2006 Lingerie Bowl III''. Which will air during the ''Super Bowl'' halftime. Protests against the film were organised based on its perceived [[blasphemy]], not least because the film ends with a comical song sung by the victims of a mass [[crucifixion]] ("[[Always Look on the Bright Side of Life]]"). Ironically, this song was later re-released with great success, after being sung by British [[football (soccer)\|football]] fans. Indeed, many people have come to see the song as a life-affirming ode to [[optimism]]. ("The Bright Side Of Life" is also featured in Eric Idle's ''[[Spamalot]]'', a Broadway musical loosely based upon ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'') ==Discography== On its initial [[United Kingdom\|UK]] release the film was [[ban]]ned by some [[town council]]s (several even took great pleasure in banning it, even though they had no cinemas within their boundaries). This proved rather pointless, since people who wanted to see the film merely went to places where it was not banned. The film was also banned for eight years in the [[Republic of Ireland]] and for a year in [[Norway]] (it was marketed in [[Sweden]] as "the movie that is so funny it was banned in Norway!"). The film was not released in [[Italy]] until [[1990]], eleven years after it was made. The film was not shown on [[Jersey]] until [[2001]]. The [[Bailiff of Jersey]] wanted it to be watched only by adults, even though the [[BBFC]] rated it [[Motion picture rating system\|suitable for those aged 14 or over]]. ===Albums=== Accusations of blasphemy also centred on an off-the-cuff comment by [[Eric Idle]] who, asked about the name of the Pythons' forthcoming feature, replied "Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory". It has been variously reported, however, that this idea was merely one of a number abandoned at an early [[brain-storming]] stage, mainly when it became clear that a [[parody]] of Jesus' life just would not work. The focus shifted to a separate individual born at a similar time and a legend was born. When Jesus does appear in the film (as he does on two occasions--in the stable and speaking the [[Beatitudes]] ([[Gospel of Matthew\|Matt]] 5:1-48) he is portrayed according to Christian beliefs. The comedy only begins when members of the crowd mishear his statement "Blessed are the Peacemakers..." ("I think he said, 'blessed are the cheesemakers"; also, later, there is some debate on whether the 'Greek' should inherit the Earth). 2001: Willa Was Here [[Mary Whitehouse]] and other campaigners launched waves of [[leaflet]]s and [[picketing]] at and around cinemas that showed the film, ironically boosting the publicity. Leaflets suggesting that the Wise Men would not have approached the wrong stable (as they do in the opening of the film), and similar arguments are documented in the book ''Monty Python: The Case Against'' (ISBN 0413486605). Shortly after the film was released, Cleese and Palin engaged in a debate over it on the [[BBC2]] discussion programme ''Friday Night, Saturday Morning'', in which [[Malcolm Muggeridge]] and the Bishop of [[Southwark]] put the case against the film. Cleese has frequently said that he enjoyed the debate, since he felt that the film was "completely intellectually defensible". (The debate was then itself sent up the following week in the classic ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' sketch ''General Synod's Life of Python''.) ===Singles=== ~~The central tenet of the film can be summed up as the struggle between 'individual humanism' and conformity, as is demonstrated in this excerpt:~~ ~~:'''Brian (to adoring crowd):''' You've got to think for yourself! You are all individuals!~~ ~~:'''Crowd (in unison):''' Yes, we are all individuals!~~ ~~:'''Brian (to adoring crowd):''' You are all different!~~ ~~:'''Crowd (in unison):''' Yes, we are all different!~~ ~~:'''Single voice (from within the crowd)(Thought to be George Harrison):''' I'm not.~~ ~~:'''Crowd (in unison):'''Shh!~~ 2001: I Wanna Be Bad (feat. Royce Da 5'9) For their part, the Pythons contend on the [[audio commentary (DVD)\|DVD commentary]] that the film is [[heretical]] because it lampoons the practices of modern organised religion, but does not [[blasphemy\|blasphemously]] lampoon the [[God]] that Christians worship. 2001: Did Ya Understand That 2001: Santa Baby (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme) 2003: A Toast To Men (feat. Lady May) ===Soundtracks/Others=== ~~==Re-releases==~~ 1999: Pokémon: The First Movie [Soundtrack] On [[24 March]] [[2004]], [[CNN]] reported that the film distributor Rainbow Film Company would be issuing a re-release (marketed as a "Second Coming") of ''Life of Brian'' on April 30, 2004 in Los Angeles and New York before expanding to other cities across the USA through May 2004. This was variously reported to be a direct result of the release of [[Mel Gibson]]'s movie, ''[[The Passion of the Christ]]'', or the 25th anniversary of the original theatrical release. 2001: Pantene Pro Voice Vol 1 2001: Spyder Games [Soundtrack] 2001: Totally Hits 2001 2001: MTV: TRL Christams 2002: Park Ji Yoon - Man 2002: MTV-The Best Of Trl Pop 2002: Undercover Brother [Soundtrack] 2003: What A Girl Wants [Soundtrack] 2003: Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star [Soundtrack] 2004: Gay.com: Winter 2004 Hits ==~~Spin-offs~~Filmography== ===Music Videos=== Spin-offs include a script-book ''The Life of Brian of Nazareth'', which is backed by the aptly named ''MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK''... (The printing of this book also caused problems, since there are technical laws in the UK against what can and cannot be written about religion—the publisher refused to print both halves of the book, and original prints are printed by two companies). 2001 I Wanna Be Bad ~~An audio recording of ''[[Monty Python's Life of Brian (album)]]'' has been released on the Disky label.~~ 2001 Did Ya Understand That 2001 Santa Baby (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme) 2002 Uncle Kracker's: In A Little While -"Girlfriend" 2003 A Toast To Men ==~~External links~~=TV=== ~~{{wikiquote}}~~ {{imdb title\|id=0079470\|title=Life of Brian}} * [http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/brian/brian.htm Entire movie script] * [http://orangecow.org/pythonet/scripts/jesuspyt.html Transcript of the sketch ''The General Synod's Life of Python''] * [http://www.s13.invisionfree.com/MontyPythonforums/index.php Monty Python Forums] ~~=== Reviews ===~~ * [http://filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/84dbbfa4d710144986256c290016f76e/4fd8427081e93ad688256e860017a032?OpenDocument Filmcritic.com review of ''Life of Brian''] * [http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/l/life_brian.html James Berardinelli's Review on ''Life of Brian''] * [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/MontyPythonsLifeofBrian-1014194/ Rotten Tomatoes entry on ''Life of Brian''] 2001 Pantene Pro-Voice Featuring Jewel - Herself ~~==Literature==~~ 2001 The Mind of the Married Man - Herself 2002 Six Flags Commercial - Herself 2002 Rasing Dad - Edie "Bully" 2002 I Bet You Will - Herself 2002 The Miss Teen USA Pageant - Co-host 2003 Morning After - Herself 2004 VH1's 100 Most Outrageous Celebrity Moments - Herself "commentator" 2004 VH1's My Coolest Years: Bad Girls - Herself "featured" 2005 VH1's 100 Greatest Kids Stars - Herself "commentator" 2005 WB Morning Show - Herself "featured" 2005 The Ultimate Fighter - Host 2005 My Fair Brady: Episode 3 - Herself "model" 2005 The Fabulous Life Of: Las Vegas - Herself "featured" 2005 ESPN Hollywood: Lingerie Bowl - Herself "featured" 2005 Last Call With Carson Daly: Lingerie Bowl Event - Herself "featured" ==References== Hewison, Robert. ''Monty Python: The Case Against''. New York: Grove, 1981. (ISBN 0413486605) This book discusses at length the censorship and controversy surrounding the film. ===Biography=== ~~{{MontyPython}}~~ http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/ford_willa/bio.jhtml ~~[[Category:1979 films]]~~ http://www.spiketv.com/shows/series/ultimatefighter/ ~~[[Category:Comedy films]]~~ http://www.lingeriebowl.com/ ~~[[Category:Controversial films]]~~ http://www.scopemag.com/2005/06/30/pussycats.html ~~[[Category:Dramatic portrayals of Jesus]]~~ ~~[[Category:Monty Python films]]~~ ===Albums=== ~~[[de:Das Leben des Brian]]~~ ~~[[es:La vida de Brian]]~~ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/103-3054812-9291015 ~~[[fr:La Vie de Brian]]~~ ~~[[he:בריאן כוכב עליון]]~~ ===Singles=== ~~[[hu:Brian élete]]~~ ~~[[nl:Monty Python's Life of Brian]]~~ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/103-3054812-9291015 ~~[[ja:ライフ・オブ・ブライアン]]~~ ~~[[pl:Żywot Briana]]~~ ===Soundtracks/Others=== ~~[[pt:Life of Brian]]~~ ~~[[sv:Ett herrans liv]]~~ http://us.yesasia.com/gb/PrdDept.aspx/pid-1001822521/aid-561/section-music/code-k/version-all ===Music Videos=== http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/ford_willa/audvid.jhtml http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/uncle_kracker/audvid.jhtml ===TV=== http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/ford_willa/artist.jhtml http://www.spiketv.com/shows/series/ultimatefighter/ *http://www.lingeriebowl.com/ [[Category:1981 births\|Ford, Willa]] [[Category:Solo artist\|Ford, Willa]] [[Category:Pop music\|Ford, Willa]] [[Category:Pop singers\|Ford, Willa]] [[Category:Female singers\|Ford, Willa]] [[Category:American pop singers\|Ford, Willa]] [[Category:American songwriters\|Ford, Willa]] [[Category:People from Florida\|Ford, Willa]] [[de:Willa Ford]] [[no:Willa Ford]] [[sv:Willa Ford]]

Monty Python's Life of Brian and Willa Ford: Difference between pages