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11.19.2010

My Kind of Film: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

"Maestro Terry Gilliam has made a sublime film. Wonderfully enchanting and beautiful, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a uniquely ingenious, captivating creation; by turns wild, thrilling and hilarious in all its crazed, dilapidated majesty. Pure Gilliam magic!

"It was an honor to represent Heath. He was the only player out there breathing heavy down the back of every established actor's neck with a thundering and ungovernable talent that came up on you quick, hissing rather mischievously with that cheeky grin, "hey... get on out of my way, boys, I'm coming through..." and does he ever!!!

"Heath Ledger is a marvel, Christopher Plummer beyond anything he's ever done, Tom Waits as the Devil is a God, Lily Cole and Andrew Garfield, the very foundation, are spectacular, Verne Troyer simply kicks ass and as for my other cohorts, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, they most certainly did Master Ledger very proud, I salute them. Though the circumstances of my involvement are extremely heart-rending and unbelievably sad, I feel privileged to have been asked aboard to stand in on behalf of dear Heath." - Johnny Depp

No one could have said it any better. I just watched this film on Netflix InstantPlay and I loved it. Because we don't have cable and don't watch telly I hadn't heard of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. If you haven't seen it, do.

10 comments :

  1. I saw it a few months ago, and I'm usually a huge fan of Terry Gilliam. But this one left me a little meh. Maybe because the most interesting parts of the film for me (Depp, Farrell and Law) wouldn't have even been in the film if Ledger hadn't died. I dunno.

    But I do agree that the acting was incredible all around. Christopher Plummer looks like he might live and act forever, eh? And Tom Waits as the Devil? Nice touch!

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  2. Will have to see. If only for Waits.

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  3. It rambled a bit sometimes, but this cast is worth it. I also liked how Gilliam rewrote the script after Ledger died.

    I'd never even heard of it before last night, so it was a huge treat for me. I love surrealist stuff like this.

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  4. Because you so very rarely review a film on your blog, there must be something to this one. I'll have to watch it this weekend.

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  5. I think the true genius of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is Gilliam's visuals, not the script. Aesthetically, my favorite part was the scene atop the cliff at the end with Parnassus and Tony, and then Mr. Nick. Gilliam's films look like paintings. And that scene especially sticks out in my memory. Very surreal.

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  6. The visuals are awesome. I was completely absorbed into the landscape.

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  7. The visuals are awesome. I was completely absorbed into the landscape.

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  8. I think the true genius of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is Gilliam's visuals, not the script. Aesthetically, my favorite part was the scene atop the cliff at the end with Parnassus and Tony, and then Mr. Nick. Gilliam's films look like paintings. And that scene especially sticks out in my memory. Very surreal.

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