Monty Python's Life of Brian and Michael Palin alongside mayor Sue Jones-Davies (who portrayed Judith Iscariot in the film). However, before the showing, an Aberystwyth University student discovered that a ban had only been discussed by the council and in fact that it had been shown (or scheduled to be shown) at a cinema in the town in 1981. In 2013, a German official in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia considered the film to be possibly offensive to Christians and hence subject to a local regulation prohibiting its public screening on Good Friday, despite protests by local atheists. In New York (the film's release in
Monty Python's Life of Brian half of the film "cumulatively hilarious," with "a splendidly tasteless finale, which even Mel Brooks might envy." Gary Arnold of "The Washington Post" had a negative opinion of the film, writing that it was "a cruel fiction to foster the delusion that 'Brian' is bristling with blasphemous nifties and throbbing with impious wit. If only it were! One might find it easier to keep from nodding off." "Life of Brian" has regularly been cited as a significant contender for the title "greatest comedy film of all time", and has been named as such in polls conducted by "Total Film" magazine