I just finished watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail.* Again. No matter how many times I watch that movie, I still find it funny. Actually, I've found that the more familiarity I have with it, the funnier it gets. Because there's an awful lot of stuff that goes on, mostly in terms of dialogue, that's incredibly subtle. This time around, I had an interesting new take on it. Rather than thinking too much or getting too into the movie, I remembered the first time I ever saw it. I was 14, and was away from home for a week at band and orchestra camp. By that point in my life, I'd heard tell of this movie, and was keen to see it for myself.

I convinced my brother, who was at camp with me, to come with me to see it when they played it one evening. They had to use a huge ballroom on campus because so many people were there. And the best part: they played it on a fairly large screen, from a projector.

I don't remember how I regarded the movie this first time around, other than I enjoyed it. It was kind of difficult to really follow everything, to be honest. In part, I'd say it was due to the sophistication of the humor, and also some missing knowledge in my pre-high school brain. But more than that, I think I found it difficult to follow because my brother was scoffing about once every other minute. Right in my ear. "Oh my gosh, this is so stupid." "What? That makes no sense." And, of course, "Geez, what's the point?" It was too much to hope that my periodic outbursts of laughter would drown out my elder sibling's voice.

I do know, however, that I liked Monty Python and the Holy Grail from the start. Even if I didn't completely grasp everything from the movie that first time, the fact that my brother really didn't like it was reason enough for me to totally love it. Oh, he tried to play it off like he enjoyed it, but I knew better.

*I was inspired to watch Holy Grail again because my iTunes randomizer started playing some songs from Spamalot, the amazing musical version of the movie.