All You Need Is Cash
Enjoying a 30th anniversary DVD release is The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash.
The film would seem dated were it not for the stroke of genius pulled by former Python, Eric Idle in lampooning a British musical institution that has a shelf-life of, well, forever.
Looking and sounding uncannily like The Beatles, The Rutles are the subject of this mockumentary (one of the first, it claims, and an inspiration for the likes of Spinal Tap) that is disciplined in its following of the timeline of the original fab four.
From their inception at '43 Egg Lane' right through to the quirky 'experimentation with tea' phase that saw bed protests and yellow submarines, Nasty, Dirk, Stig and Barry are explored via Idle's trenchcoated, bumbling host with a mic.
With some star names including fellow Python Michael Palin, John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray, and music dinosaurs Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, Paul Simon and even George Harrison himself, this cult classic is worth 80 minutes of your time, as are the extras including a making of, deleted scenes and commentary from Idle.
The humour is occasionally painfully archaic, but fans of Python will love it.
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