Sat. Jan. 5

 "Monty Python's Flying Circus" wasn't where our love of the absurd started. Mad magazine and the National Lampoon did a pretty good job of jump-starting that, but when public broadcasting first started broadcasting the "Monty Python" British TV shows in the '70s, a whole other door to humor was opened. The silly and sublime got all tangled up, plots screeched to a halt (a giant animated foot stomping down), and the quality of irony was raised. Then came the Python movies, "And Now For Something Completely Diffferent," "Life of Brian," "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "The Meaning of Life." The Pythons tackled some major institutions - like Christianity - and brought some howling comedic lines into common usage, such as "Bring out your dead!" during the Plague. Problem is one of those "dead" wasn't "quite yet dead" and kept protesting. Well, the guy wheeling the cart of the dead took care of that one! Yes, Python could be a little bloody-minded - the attack rabbits, the lopping off of limbs - and they raise comedy to a high intellectual level. All at the same time. Well, within the same skit or movie, and some of the movies - all playing one day at the Brattle Theatre, Saturday Jan. 5 - feel like skits stitched together. Which is fine. They're calling it the "Pythonathon." So, if you feel like revisiting these flicks on the big screen, this is your day. Starts at 3:30 with " ... Completely Different," followed by "Life of Brian" at 5:30, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" at 7:30 and "The Meaning of Life" at 9:30. It's $7.50 for an individual ticket or $25 for a day pass. The photo here is from "Life of Brian," and comes from the ultimate mix of black humor and silly song, the guys being crucified singing "Look on the Bright Side of Life," whistling along. No doubt, Mel Gibson was never amused by this. (The "Pythonathon" will warm you up for the return of "Monty Python's Spamalot," which returns to town, at the Opera House Jan. 15.)

40 Brattle St., Cambridge, 617-876-6837 www.brattlefilm.org