Terry Gilliam's Imaginarium

! Two blog posts...AT ONCE! I've really outdone myself, now.

So Christmas blockbusters are coming down the pipe like crazy, including The Road, Avatar, and Sherlock Holmes, among others. But the one I'm excited the most about is probably the one that will get the least pub/do worst in theaters: The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

Anyone who knows my taste in movies knows I fucking love Terry Gilliam. 'Brazil' is a near masterpiece and 'The Fisher King' is one of the most underrated films of the last 20 years. Unfortunately, though, Mr. Gilliam hasn't done anything that's mattered since 1998, when he directed 'Fear and Loathing'. As many great movies as Gilliam has directed over his career, he's never been the most popular director with studios. 2005's 'The Brother's Grimm' was his self-admitted attempt to get some clout/money back to make movies he wanted to make (ironically enough, it tanked in theaters), and 'Tideland', while a step back towards the weird, quirky, fantastical Gilliam of old, was flawed (and strange...even for him) in many ways.

You can imagine, then, how 'The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus' is a long time coming. Check out the trailer:



This looks a lot more like the Terry Gilliam who wrote and directed 'Time Bandits' and 'Brazil'--crazy characters, fantastic worlds, epic story-lines. Even if you're not a fan of his strange fantasies, the trailer promises a gorgeous film and an amazing cast. If you need convincing, here are five reasons to see this movie when it comes out on Christmas day:

1. Heath Ledger's last role: he died during the filming, and the movie almost went with him until others convinced Gilliam to finish it.

Which leads me to...

2. Colin Ferrel, Jude Law...AND Johnny Depp, filling in for Heath Ledger's role. As sketchy as this sounds, it also seems so perfectly Gilliam. And hey, they're all good actors!


3. Did I mention how beautiful it looks...

4. Pay your respects: Gilliam worked his ass off for this movie. Need evidence? Ever heard of a movie called the "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote"? Yeah, didn't happen. There's a famous documentary about the epic collapse of the making of that film. This time around, his lead actor died, the producer died, and Gilliam was nearly killed when he was hit by a car and broke his back during post-production. But THIS time around, Gilliam prevailed..."[I] didn't make this film. Forces from above and below made it. It made itself. I don't worry anymore. It's got its own relentless momentum. It just needed some human sacrifice."

And finally...

5. Tom Waits plays the Devil:

Need I say more?