Tonight's the night, friends. Tonight is the night you (re)watch Time Bandits, Terry Gilliam's freaking brilliant 1981 film chronicling the weird adventures of a rag tag gang of little people stealing treasures and testing Evil throughout history.
I think that a lot of you might have seen this one before, as it was definitely a staple for kids of a certain age. I hadn't watched it in years (decades??) until last night, and I was surprised at how many of the scenes still stuck with me—like, a lot. It was rediscovering an old fave and enjoying a brand new film, all at once.
For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, it all begins with Kevin, a young boy fascinated with the distant past, whose apathetic parents are only interested in the latest gadgets, gizmos, and home appliances (ahem). Then, a sword-wielding knight on a horse busts through Kevin's armoire, followed the next night by dwarves wielding a map of holes in the fabric of the universe (which is far from perfect, as the Supreme Being only had seven days to make it). They're using those holes to travel through the ages and "get stinkin' rich," and... well, go stream this damn thing. It's got cameos galore, laugh-out-loud sight gags, smart social commentary, and George Harrison sings a jaunty, synthy tune over the credits. Come tomorrow it will no longer be available on Netflix Instant; there truly is no time like the present.