The Criterion Collection

Episode 19 sees Terry Jones playing a film director who directed his own movie called "If" that also ended with a school shooting. He also complains about other directors beating him to the punch and releasing their versions of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Rear Window" before his were completed.

Episode #29 has police inspectors arresting people impersonating famous directors, (badly). John Cleese arrests a Japanese man pretending to be Luchino Visconti. Cleese's character delivers a brief filmography of Visconti.

Eric Idle appears as Inspector Baboon later the same episode arresting a man impersonating Michelangelo Antonioni. This is the only film in the collection mentioned by name.

Cleese's character says he changed his name to "Leopard" after seeing Visconti's film. (Preferring it to his given name, "Panther".)

And now for something more obvious: movies made by Python animator Terry Gilliam. Beginning with "Time Bandits", Gilliam explored the complex relationships between reality and fantasy creating amazing worlds in the process.

One of the best films I'm reluctant to ever see again.

In my opinion, the best of the Python's films.