8. Life of Brian (1979)
"He's not the Messiah! He's a very naughty boy!". Much loved and lampooned religious satire produced by the Monty Python boys, The Life of Brian is the story of Brian Cohen, a young Jewish man who is born on the same day as and next door to Jesus Christ. He unwittingly becomes the next Messiah when people hear him preach on the corner and begin to follow him in Christ-like fashion. I'm not a big Monty Python fan but I do think Life of Brian is terribly funny. It has a long history of being banned in several countries, including Ireland, for blasphemy. The church would have had a tighter grip on the apparels of the state back in 1979 and humour such as seen in Life of Brian would have been profoundly offensive and shocking. As times got more liberal in Ireland, the ban was lifted in 1987.