If there’s one thing that never seems to get old no matter how many times I watch it’s Monty Python movies like Holy Grail and Meaning of Life. So naturally when word came that Holy Grail was coming to Blu-ray, I was pretty excited.

In fact, it’s not just coming to Blu-ray, it has arrived. Oh happy day. Here’s all the details from the official press release. Plus, be sure to check out the trailer for Monty Python and the Holy Grail after the break.

Join King Arthur and his knights as they embark on a quest for the Holy Grail and battle against the Black Knight, the Killer Rabbit, The Knights Who Say ‘Ni!’ and the Black Beast of Aaaargh! The Blu-ray set is brimming with coconuts, shrubberies and swallows (African or European), OOPS, we mean loads of bonus materials, including over 30 minutes of new Blu-ray exclusive special features.

The Monty Python team are at it again in their second movie. This time we follow King Arthur and his knights in their search for the Holy Grail. This isn’t your average medieval knights and horses story – for a start, due to a shortage in the kingdom, all the horses have been replaced by servants clopping coconuts together!

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Monty Python is the gold standard for which all modern comedy troupes tend to be judged on. In the ’70s and ’80s the Pythons perfected TV sketch comedy and transitioned into films with excellent results. So many of the bits and several of their feature films are bona fide classics.

Unfortunately the untimely passing of Graham Chapman marked the end of a legendary era, with most of the remaining members gaining success in other areas of entertainment during the next two decades. Now, according to Variety, Terry Jones has managed to get the guys back together for a new film he is directing.

Plans are for filming to begin in the U.K. this spring, with the Pythons voicing key roles as a a group of aliens who endow an earthling with the power to do “absolutely anything” to see what a mess he’ll make of things — which is precisely what happens. There’s also a talking dog named Dennis who seems to understand more about the mayhem that ensues than anyone else does. Robin Williams will voice the character.

“It’s not a Monty Python picture, but it certainly has that sensibility,” Jones told Variety.

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In the 1990′s, a pair of French directors brought us two fantastical movies unlike anything I had ever seen before. Delicatessen (1991) and La cité des enfants perdus (The City of Lost Children, 1995) were wildly imaginative, twisted, and haunting, but they were also quite beautiful. Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet packed their movies with so many visual delights that repeated viewings were necessary to absorb even a fraction of them. I forgot how much I loved those films. . . until now.

Watching Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, I experienced the same awe and wonderment that those French films evoked in me. Imaginarium is like a grown up version of The Wizard of Oz, painted liberally by the storytelling brush of  the Grimm brothers. It’s dark and twisty, colorful and lovely all at the same time.

Mainstream audiences might recognize some of Gilliam’s work (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Twelve Monkeys, Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), but this film will probably not garner him any new fans, it is just too bizarre. The Gilliam loyalist, however, will be richly rewarded by this visual masterpiece. Before I continue, just a warning that this review contains mild spoilers.

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We don’t usually post video from late night shows like Jimmy Fallon’s unless they contain something very special. Well, in this case, these three videos do contain something very special. In a very rare TV appearance, the surviving members of the legendary Monty Python appeared on television as guests on Jimmy Fallon last night — and we’ve got video.

On the show, Fallon asked the guys about how they started the group, where they got their name and their new IFC documentary. Plus, Eric Idle got up on stage with The Roots to perform the Python classic “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.” I’m not going to lie, I love Monty Python and seeing these guys together sure is fun. Yes, I realize they were probably on the show in large part to promote their upcoming IFC documentary but who cares, its frakking Monty Python!

Anyway, be sure to check out the three videos (complete with descriptions) after the break. Monty Python’s IFC documentary “Almost the Truth” airs October 18-23 on the channel.

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There’s been quite a lot of buzz around Heath Ledger’s final role in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus. Not only is it the Academy Award winning actor’s swan song, but this is writer/director Terry Gilliam’s (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) first film in four years, since The Brothers Grimm, starring Ledger and Matt Damon.

The film is about Doctor Parnassus and his wondrous traveling show. Parnassus makes a deal with the devil to live forever, and living with this curse consumes the good doctor. He then comes across Tony, in his multiple incarnations, and things get turned upside down–literally.

The film is written by both Gilliam and Charles McKeown (Ripley’s Game). The cast is rounded out by the super team of Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrel, Jude Law (all playing the same character), Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole (St. Trinians), and even Tom Waits as the devil.

Check out the first full trailer for the film after the jump. Catch The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and Ledger’s final performance, on Christmas Day from Sony Pictures Classics.

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