Parnassus – L’uomo che voleva ingannare il diavolo

Film presentato fuori concorso al Festival di Cannes 2009

Date e orari delle proiezioni:

• giovedì 17 dicembre 2009, ore 21:00

Scheda:

• Paese: Canada, Francia, Gran Bretagna, Stati Uniti
• Durata: 2h e 02′
• Genere: Fantastico
• Regia: Terry Gilliam
• Anno: 2009
• Distributore: Moviemax Italia

Sinossi

Il Dottor Parnassus viaggia per il mondo alla guida del suo straordinario ‘Imaginarium’, fiera itinerante che offre ai suoi spettatori la possibilità di vivere esperienze fantastiche e che travalicano la normale realtà grazie ad uno specchio magico in suo possesso. Parnassus è anche in grado di guidare l’immaginazione del prossimo grazie ad un patto che ha stretto con Mr. Nick, alias il Diavolo in persona. Il problema è che Mr. Nick inizia a pretendere da Parnassus il compenso che gli era stato promesso, ovvero l’anima dell’affascinante figlia Valentina. Per evitare di perdere l’amata figlia Parnassus negozia un nuovo patto: Valentina sarà di chi sedurrà cinque anime. Ad aiutare Parnassus nella sua opera sarà un nuovo arrivato dell’Imaginarium’, Tony, misterioso personaggio salvato dal cappio e dal passato misterioso, che pare affascinato più dalla bella Valentina che dalla filosofia degli artisti di strada…

Sito ufficiale: http://www.parnassus.it/

J’ai trouvé les critiques assez sévères à propos du dernier film de Terry Gilliam. À les entendre, le cinéaste anglais n’aurait gagné ses lettres de noblesse qu’avec Brazil pour ensuite s’embourber dans une réputation d’artiste maudit dont les films auraient moins d’intérêt que leur making-off (on se souvient des fiascos que furent Munchausen et surtout Don Quichotte dont le tournage fut interrompu). Moi qui ne suis pas particulièrement fan du bonhomme, je lui reconnais tout de même une signature et des thèmes qui lui sont propres. L’Imaginarium du Docteur Parnassus est un exemple parfait : lors du visionnage, on ne peut attribuer l’imaginaire qui se déploie sous nos yeux à personne d’autre qu’à Terry Gilliam. Même Tim Burton, à qui on le compare souvent, ne se serait pas envolé aussi loin dans l’abstraction. Alors, pourquoi ôter le titre d’ « auteur » à un cinéaste dont le style est reconnaissable entre mille ?

L’histoire nous emmène en Angleterre parmi les saltimbanques d’un spectacle de rue dirigé par le Docteur Parnassus (Christopher Plummer). Capable de matérialiser les rêves d’autrui, le vieil homme est pourtant loin de rameuter les foules. Les temps sont durs, d’autant plus que sa fille (Lily Cole) approche des 16 ans. Or, il y a des années de cela, il fit un pacte avec le diable (Tom Waits) et lui promit de lui donner l’âme de sa progéniture une fois atteint l’âge en question. C’est alors qu’un soir, la troupe tombe sur Tony (Heath Ledger), un escroc qui tente de remettre sur pied le commerce de Parnassus et, tant qu’à faire, à briser la malédiction qui plane sur sa fille.

Comme toujours chez Gilliam, le scénario mérite un grand coup de sécateur. Bien que touffu, il n’est pas pour autant à ranger parmi les désastres inextricables qu’étaient Les Frères Grimm ou Tideland. L’Imaginarium fonctionne sur l’opposition traditionnelle entre rêve et réalité. Ceci dit, chez Gilliam la différence est difficile à faire tant la réalité ressemble au rêve : des nains et des magiciens s’y promènent, de même que le diable qui parfois passe faire un petit coucou. On serait donc plus tenté de parler d’opposition entre rêve et cauchemar.

Comme toujours, le cinéaste exploite son thème fétiche : l’imagination. En cela, le film fait figure de mise en abyme. L’Imaginarium est un film-nuage, aussi merveilleux qu’insaisissable. Le théâtre de Parnassus rappelle celui des films de Méliès. Gilliam se présente en hériter, et sa fantaisie se veut tout aussi débridée. Les moments les plus merveilleux du film éclatent lorsque le personnage d’Heath Ledger accompagne les clients de l’imaginarium de l’autre côté du miroir. Dans les rêves de Monsieur et  Madame Tout-le-monde, on croise des friandises géantes, des échelles qui montent jusqu’au ciel, des gendarmes en bas résille et des rivières qui se transforment en serpent. C’est extravagant, incohérent, et pourtant on se laisse embarquer. C’est dans la folie pure que le génie de Gilliam atteint son paroxysme.

En revanche, lorsqu’on retombe dans la réalité/cauchemar, l’intrigue patine. Les personnages tombent un à un dans la caricature et finissent par complètement nous échapper. Heath Ledger est seul à faire exception. Le décès de l’acteur en plein milieu du tournage aurait pu pousser le film à rejoindre Don Quichotte dans la fosse des films maudits. Le choix de recourir à trois acteurs différents pour l’incarner dans les scènes rêvées (Johnny Depp, Jude Law et Colin Farrell) confère à son personnage une dimension schismatique inattendue et féérique. C’est finalement quand Gilliam fait preuve des audaces les plus extravagantes que son cinéma gagne en intérêt. Après tout, l’art est un langage universel auquel les fous ont aussi accès. Je déplore d’ailleurs qu’il y en ait si peu.

‘

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS (UK-Canada-Fr., 2009) R. : Terry Gilliam ; Sc. : T. Gilliam, Charles McKeown ; Ph. : Nicola Pecorini ; M. : Jeff Danna, Mychael Danna ; Int. : Heath Ledger / Johnny Depp / Jude Law / Colin Farrell (Tony), Christopher Plummer (Dr. Parnassus), Lily Cole (Valentina), Tom Waits (Mr. Nick), Andrew Garfield (Anton), Verne Troyer (Percy) . Couleurs, 122mn.

Hornswoggle va tardar un par de semanas para recuperarse de la lesión provocada por el Pedigree que le aplicó Triple H, se espera que regrese el 30 de noviembre en el RAW que tendrá lugar en Baltimore, MD, el mismo día que se espera como invitado a Verne Troyer, mejor conocido como Mini Me

WWE ha reservado un grupo de “gente pequeña” para el WWE Monday Night RAW del 30 de noviembre en Baltimore, Maryland, donde el actor Verne Troyer (Mejor conocido como Mini Me) será el anfitrión

¿No bastará con una rivalidad con Hornswoggle?

Source: eWrestlingNews.com
From comedians to politicians to musical performers to professional athletes, Monday Night Raw’s weekly guest hosts are some of past and present’s finest entertainers. The WWE Universe, therefore, can expect this trend to continue as more and more of the most popular celebrities are hopping aboard to serve as Raw special host.

Nov. 23, 2009: Jesse Ventura
This week, WWE Hall of Famer Jesse Ventura will take the reins from Hershey, Pa., on a special Thanksgiving three-hour presentation of Raw. The illustrious Superstar’s role comes just more than one week before the debut of Ventura’s new truTV series, Conspiracy Theory, which airs on Dec. 2 at 10 p.m. ET.

Nov. 30, 2009: Verne Troyer
Best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers comedy series, Verne Troyer will serve as guest host on Nov. 30 from Baltimore. One of the shortest yet largely recognizable men in the world, the actor has more than 15 years of television experience.

Dec. 7, 2009: Mark Cuban
Instead of humoring the NBA Universe with his infinite antics and making authoritative basketball decisions for one night, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will spend time delegating responsibility to WWE Superstars when he hosts Raw on Dec. 7 from Dallas.

Dec. 14, 2009: Dennis Miller
Comedian and radio talk show host Dennis Miller, meanwhile, will serve as the host of the 2009 Slammy Awards during a special three-hour presentation of Raw on Dec. 14 from Corpus Christi, Texas. The five-time Emmy award-winning comic is renowned for his improvisations and acerbic humor about pop culture and politics.

Be sure to tune in every Monday night when the biggest stars from all over the world take over as Raw’s special guest host.

La unida móbil donde se produce ROH por HDNET (10 septiembre 2009) / twitter.com/ROHonHDNet

WWE.com, publicó un nuevo artículo contrario a lo acostumbrado, pues en lugar de guardar el anuncio para crear expectativa, ahora detalla quienes serán los próximos anfitriones de los shows Monday Night RAW. A continuación están los nombres confirmados, donde destaca el nombre de Mark Cuban, por la razón mencionada

• Nov. 23, 2009: Jesse Ventura (Ex-Luchador miembro del Salón de la Fama)
• Nov. 30, 2009: Verne Troyer (Mini Me)
• Dec. 7, 2009: Mark Cuban (Uno de los dueños de HDNet, la cadena que transmite ROH)
• Dec. 14, 2009: Dennis Miller (Comediante)

VERNE TROYER: FUNNY, HE DOESN’T LOOK AMISH

There’s an autobiography of Mini-Me coming out. Verne Troyer, the pint-sized actor who appeared in the Austin Powers movies, says he is writing his “memoirs.”

Troyer says a substantial part of the book will be devoted to his Amish upbringing. According to Troyer, his parents still don’t “use electricity or drive cars.”

ARE THE AMISH ALLOWED TO MAKE SEX TAPES?

Ladies and gentlemen, there may be nothing that bothers me more than when someone new in my life learns that I have roots in the Mennonite church, and then they invariably ask “so you’re Amish?”  It’s not that I have some sort of pride about my heritage, it’s just annoying.  It’s tantamount to the frequent question I get, “how long did it take you to grow that beard?”  It’s lame, people.

Seriously, if I have one piece of advice to give everyone in the world, it is this: never be the person who asks the first question that comes to your mind.  You have to know that whatever comes to your mind first is going to be, at least 99% of the time, the first thing that comes to everybody’s mind.  And really, how is it going to affect your life to know how long it took me to grow this beard?  Live your life, friend.  Grow your own beard and see how long it takes you.

But I’m getting off course here.  I was talking about being Mennonite.

I’ve always felt that the source of that shitty question I always get is that there really aren’t any Mennonite or Amish celebrities which people could use to differentiate between the two cultures, the two faiths.  Thankfully, Verne Troyer, of Surreal Life fame, has recently revealed that he grew up Amish!

Unfortunately, there still isn’t any Mennonite celebrity, so I’ll just use myself as the representative for the Mennos.  Here I present to you a side by side comparison of myself and Verne Troyer, may now the difference between the Amish and the Mennonites be clear.

Verne Troyer (Amish): Captured on film drunkenly peeing on a rug, while standing on motorized scooter.

Dan Friesen (Mennonite): Captured on film drunkenly peeing on a tree next to the 13^th hole of the Lake Of The Woods golf course.

Verne Troyer (Amish): Has a porno tape out on the market.

Dan Friesen (Mennonite): Has seen every porno tape out on the market, but has made none himself.

Verne Troyer (Amish): Can drive a horse and buggy.

Dan Friesen (Mennonite): Can sort of drive a stick-shift, but suspects that his recklessness with the throttle is doing some serious damage to the tranny.

Verne Troyer: (Amish): His parent make homemade apple butter.

Dan Friesen (Mennonite): His parents make him slightly uncomfortable to be talking about beating off so much on the internet.

Some of you may think this is something of an elementary analysis of the two faiths, and all of you people would be wrong.  This is really all you need to know about the Amish and the Mennonites.  Amish people pee in living rooms, make their own pornography, drive buggies, and make their own preserves.  Mennonites pee on golf courses, watch too much pornography but make none themselves, feel uncertain about their ability to drive, and feel a certain amount of shame about their art.

I certainly hope this clears things up, and from now on people can stop asking me how long it took me to grow my beard.

Bwahahahahahahahha…

Verne Troyer (aka Mini-me from Austin Powers) was filmed recently getting his drink on then taking a dive next to a car.

Don’t laugh because its not politically correct to make fun of little people falling down.

Kak funny.

Good times.

Mr. Mini-Me, Verne Troyer är vår tids skönaste kortväxta människa (är det den politiskt korrekta termen för dvärg? Jag tror det) tätt följd av Wee-Man från Jackass. Om ni inte visste det så läckte det för kanske ett halvår sedan ut en sexvideo där Verne bestiger en rätt nice brud och jag vet om det här för att jag har hört om det, inte för att jag har sökt efter den typen av porr.. på väldigt länge i alla fall. Häromdan filmade paparazzi honom när han lämnar någon klubb tankad som fan! Jag är inte den som brukar skratta åt folk med förhinder (förutom Timmy, men skrattar man inte åt Timmy måste man vara hjärndöd) men jag garvade i kanske en kvart när jag såg den här videon. Se den här så ses vi i helvetet!

The Orange Film Adverts really have become part of the cinema experience over the past few years now. Wondering when it is eventually going to change after months and months of the same advert, telling you to switch off your mobile phone. So I thought I would have a little trip down memory lane and pick out my top 10 of the adverts. This could be amusing and annoying, having a look back through the adverts which you do talk about a lot. It is very good to see the actors allowing their movies or parts to be made fun of in jest.

10. Darth Vader

Got to be slightly amused at Darth Vader being told no, haha.

9. Val Kilmer

Trying to get text messages into a Western . . . only in an Orange advert. “Val’s lost that lovin’ feelin”

8. Snoop Dogg

All amusing just for the Orange guys trying to sound cool and rap.

7. Macaulay Culkin

“How old are now, 15?” “I’m 26″ that is just fantastic as everyone still sees him as the “Home Alone” kid.

6. Verne Troyer

 The obvious joke, yep Dr Evil. Fantastic!

5. Patrick Swayze

The late Patrick Swayze, is just brilliant when they all start quoting his movies “no one puts Swayze in the corner” and the use of “ditto”.

4. Steven Seagal

Just having Steven Seagal saying romantic comedy is pure brilliance.

3. Anjelica Huston

The whole Addams Family refrence and “Huston, we have a problem” fantastic.

2. Sean Astin

I always loved this one being a LOTR geek and everything. Its just hilarious at the end making it appear Sean is really Hobbit size.

1. Rob Lowe

I just love the curly haired guy “OMG Rob Lowe just looked right at me” what a classic moment and I am not joking that I laughed at this every time for the probable 6 months it was on for.

Which is your favorite?

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”

[...] quedas en manos del Doctor

El imaginario del Doctor Parnassus recorre, esta noche, los cines españoles para remover la mente de los incrédulos y encandilar a los puros de espíritu.

Llegan a cartelera los ecos de un septiembre lluvioso, cuando el último trabajo de Terry Gilliam paseó por el Festival de cine de San Sebastián (donde tuve el placer de verlo). En un teatro lleno, el director presentó con timidez -quién lo diría, a juzgar por la americana con estilo californiano que llevaba- “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus“. El humor irónico de un Monty Python, cuando afirmó en la presentación que esperaba que el público no tuviese grandes espectativas respecto al trabajo, dejo su sitio a una comunicación misteriosa entre ficción y realidad, apatía e imaginación.

El título de la obra rememora el Parnaso, el hogar de las Musas, donde nace la ficción. Donde las historias -en un camino indescifrable- transforman al público. Estas narraciones habitan en el Templo de Apolo. De igual forma, en la película, Christopher Plummer -Doctor Parnassus- y otros monjes protegen la ficción -los relatos-, para que no se consuma, porque sin ella la realidad desaparecería.

La necesidad de imaginar arrastra el coche de caballos del sabio, y también tira de un teatrillo de actores que ayudan a “cazar” a los incrédulos, para que personifiquen sus propios sueños. Así lo harán cuando crucen de un espacio a otro: de la realidad a la ficción, a través de un espejo.

Christopher Plummer interpreta al Doctor Parnassus

Terry Gilliam maneja al espectador entre estos dos mundos, y muestra el enamoramiento que él siente durante el proceso de creación de una historia. Es un sentimiento romántico anclado, que consigue adherir al Doctor Parnassus. Además, el trabajo reflexiona -en torno a este eje- sobre la inmortalidad, sobre el bien y el mal; y la confusión para identificarlo. Y sobre la sociedad actual, con críticas voraces a la hipocresía, a la superficialidad de las élites.

Es una película profunda, trabajada con mimo a través de un guión detallado, que justifica muy bien la transformación triple del personaje interpretado por Heaht Ledger. Terry Gilliam y Charles McKeown explotan su creatividad surrealista en las imaginaciones que se reproducen tras el espejo del Doctor Parnassus. En este apartado, se puede criticar, quizá, la imposición de efectos 3-D exagerados -si bien muestran los conocimientos de diseño del director, a la larga se cansinos-. Pero hay que reseñar, sobre todo, el plantel excelente de actores que componen la película, además de Christopher Plummer y Heath Ledger, también destacan el músico Tom Waits -como Diablo, impagable-; el trío sustituto (Depp, Colin Farrell y Jude Law); Verne Troyer, ayudante enano del Doctor; y Lily Cole, la belleza por la que los caballeros disputarán su honor.

Tras el golpe en el proyecto -por la muerte de su protagonista- me alegro de que el señor Gilliam remontase el ánimo y pusiese su empeño en hacer pensar al público con dos horas de cine. Disfruten ustedes con “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus arrives for the gents to consider, unfortunately without much favour. They continue into talks about movie budgets and creativity, scary children’s films and whether there will be a shift in the horror genre on the back of Paranormal Activity. They talk about True Blood, The Shield, Good Will Hunting and Sunshine, before a long trailer round-up taking in everything from The White Ribbon to Black Dynamite.

Download The Movie Overdose Episode 39

Show notes to follow, for the last three weeks. Promise…

3/5

Directed by: Terry Gilliam

Starring: Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Verne Troyer, Tom Waits and Lily Cole

How come?  What if?  Once upon a time … Our ability to wonder and our insatiable desire to expand our imaginations has made successes of such fantasy giants as Lewis, Tolkien, and more recently Rowling.  Their ability to create rich worlds, overflowing with history, mythology and culture has kept readers and viewers shelling out the coinage without reserve.  Whilst The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus presents a world with the potential to captivate our thoughts, it lacks the volume of creativity that typifies its predecessors, and ends up falling just a little flat.

Doctor Parnassus is the creation of Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam and much like his earlier work it is best described as surreal.  A one thousand year old immortal man, having made a Faustian deal with Old Red down there, leads a travelling troupe of performers in an attempt to gather five souls before his horned opponent can.  Aided by a Tony Blair inspired fugitive, Doctor Parnassus makes some major headway until he discovers that there is more to Tony than is first apparent.

Sound confusing?  That is because it is!  The main problem with this film is that the audience can never really be sure of what is actually happening or why.  We see a magic mirror with a fantastic world of individual imagination behind it, beautifully animated and wonderfully creative, but we do not know what it is or how it got there.  Thus, though much of the film is enjoyable, clouds of confusion pervade.  If you can be satisfied with stand alone exciting sequences or spectacular special effects or the alluring beauty of Lily Cole then you might not mind so much that none of it really seems to ever fit together.

What must be said, though, is that Gilliam has successfully managed to turn the potential disaster of losing Heath Ledger into a triumph of ensemble performance.  The different faces of Tony, provided by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell have been so cleverly and convincingly explained that it is hard to imagine the film without them.  Christopher Plummer is a godsend and the strangely fascinating Verne Troyer brings a much needed dollop of the extraordinary to the otherwise conventional troupe.  Ultimately, The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus fails to stay afloat of the hype left in the wake of Heath Ledger’s death.  However, just because it is not superlative does not mean it is unremarkable.  Unfortunately it is more likely a point of interest in the final chapter of the Heath Ledger biography than it is a stand alone success.

Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield, Heath Ledger, Verne Troyer, Tom Waits, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell

Score: 7 / 10

This review by me.

First things first. With this film there is an elephant in the room and let us get that out the way shall we.

Heath Ledger passed away during the making of this film so sadly this was his last film. He was great as The Joker in The Dark Knight. He was not so good in this as a character called Tony. I am not saying he was bad, he just seemed to be coasting in it. I would go so far as to say that Heath was the weakest link in the cast (well after Verne Troyer) and the fact his accent comes and goes doesn’t help the proceedings, but he does a perfectly acceptable job. Plus, despite what you may have read, this is not Heath Ledger’s film. This is Terry Gilliam’s through and through.

Like all of his films the main characters seem to exist in their own bubble of bizarreness slightly askew from the real world. In this case the real world is London and its environs. Into that world we see a strange horse drawn cart (a fantastic vehicle full of nooks and crannies) that carries the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole), Percy (Verne Troyer) and Anton (a brilliant Andrew Garfield) who is in love with Valentina.

In these first few scenes with the family / troupe all of the actors are fantastic including the model Lily Cole. They all do what they are supposed to do and inhabit their characters so well you are soon drawn into their life, squabbles and dramas as they play to people in back alleys, Homebase car parks and ruined warehouses.

We soon learn that Parnassus made a deal with the Devil or Mr Nick (Tom Waits) for immortality and youth but there was a price. It is this price that is the plot for the film as they make another deal to get out of it.

Plummer and Waits are great together. You get a sense that over the centuries they have become almost wary friends as they are the one constant they have. You see how they first met and I would have loved to have seen more of their interactions throughout the years. Mr Nick is an excellent version of the Devil. Whenever he is around you hear the buzzing of flies and Tom Waits’ gravel toned voice suits him down to the ground (I’ve just remembered he played Renfield in Coppola’s Dracula so the fly thing is mildly ironic). I also loved his reaction when….oh I’ll leave that part out.

On their journey Dr Parnassus and co find Tony (Ledger) hanging by the neck under a bridge on the Thames. They save him, but his memory is lost and we find out bits and bobs as the film progresses.

He also falls for Valentina so conflict ensues between Tony and Anton. I really must say how good Andrew Garfield (Anton) is as Anton. You really feel for the guy as he tries to keep things they same as everything changes. Lily Cole is also a revelation. I always thought she was the ginger haired model with the really young looking face, but she sure can act and looks so much better moving around then in a photograph. Like any child coming of age she wants to spread her wings and get away, but she is stuck in a position and doesn’t realise just how perilous it can be.

Then of course we have the Imaginarium itself. This is what people enter and their imagination shapes it until they are either purified by the good Doctor or taken by Mr Nick depending upon what choices they make.

It is here that Terry Gilliam’s imagination truly takes flight. Like his animated creations from the Monty Python days he basically just goes to town and the CGI fits rather well. From forests full of beer cans, cities made of sweets, endless deserts and infinitely high mountains we get some stunning imagery. We also get a very pythonesque musical number involving policemen and a Zardoz style Parnassus head.

During the film Tony enters the Imaginarium on three occasions and on each occasion we see a different aspect of his personality and learn a bit more of his past. As you no doubt know these scenes where filmed after Heath Ledger had passed away so Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepped in.

To be honest it works wonderfully and I feel it is a lot better this way than if Ledger had filmed those scenes. All three of the alternate Tony’s are brilliant with Depp being my favourite, but also having the shortest screen time of the three. In fact I would probably have preferred to see Depp play Tony throughout the film as it almost felt that Ledger was channelling Depp in a few scenes, a slight Jack Sparrow feel to his delivery. That could just be me though.

I do feel that Christopher Plummer is the true star of the film. He is a fantastic actor and the panic, terror, joy and knowledge he brings throughout the film are great. He is a legend.

The main trouble with the film, expecially in the first third, is that I felt my concentration going now and again. Little things kept pulling me out such as seeing the singer Paloma Faith or that bloke from the bank adverts, but that will be because there are lots of English actors in it from the TV so it was bound to happen. However, the main story is told in bits and pieces at the start. That’s usually a good thing as I hate it when you are told everything without having to think, but it could have done with being a little tighter and I think 10 or 15 minutes could have been shaved off the running time.

All in all I enjoyed it and it is always great to see a Gilliam movie with all that Gilliam flights of fancy. Just don’t go and see it to see Heath Ledgers last film. That’s no reason to see it. Go to watch it for the strangeness, the weirdness and quality acting from all of the cast.

Of course everything I have just seen could all be the senile ramblings of an old man wandering the streets of London who thinks he is Doctor Parnassus and Percy is his Jiminy Cricket.

I went to see it with Jinja, Andy M and Del who scored it as follows:

Jinja – 5 / 10
Andy M – 5.5 / 10
Del – 7 /10

Have you seen it? What did you think of it?

Eventually after what has felt like forever, Heath Ledger’s final role (although uncompleted) has eventually been released and I have just returned from a showing tonight (edit. I started the review when I first got back). I really have no idea where to start in this review as there really is so much to cover and say about this movie. I really do think it will need a few viewings to really see everything it has to offer as so much goes on and quite a lot of information to take in for each of the characters stories.

Dr Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) barged his soul with the devil, Mr Nick (Tom Waits) at first to become immortal. But then he done it again to become mortal again so he could be with the woman he really wanted, this came at the price of any children he had when they turned 16 would have to be given to the devil. However, three days before this was due to occur. Dr Parnassus made a new deal in a bid to keep his daughter, first to five souls wins between himself and Mr Nick.

Valentina (Lily Cole) the daughter of Dr Parnassus used to star in the show along with Percy (Verne Troyer) and Anton (Andrew Garfield). The show is to get people to go into the imaginarium which is through a mirror, upon going into the mirror the person sees what they want to see and always end up with two choices good or bad to what they want to do. If their soul will go to good or evil. The stage for the show is a very interesting wooden vehicle which is horse driven and they all live on it as well. After a show one day, they see a shadow of a man dancing on water but then realise that someone is hanging off the bridge below. So they rescue him and he cannot at first remember his name, Tony (Heath Ledger).

It is well known that Johnny Depp, Jude Law and then Colin Farrell all are Tony as well. This occurs on three different occasions when he goes through the mirror and enters the imaginarium. This actually works out so well, the many faces of Tony when he passes into his imagination. Will he always make the correct choices? Tony ends up really helping out Dr Parnassus, changing his show and really helping out with the five souls the Dr needs in order to win and keep his daughter. Valentina has a secret of her own that she really wants to run away and have a life of her own, in a proper house with a husband and to have children. Anton is so obviously in love with her, but she wants Tony when he shows up. I do not want to spoil the ending or what happens when Tony goes into the imaginarium as it all really could go a few different ways.

Performances really were to a high standard in this movie. Christopher Plummer as Dr Parnassus, although I still cannot help but think Captain Von Trapp whenever I see him was very good in this movie. Lily Cole, who I have to admit that I did not know who she was and that she was a model put in a good performance. I thought Andrew Garfield was very good as Anton as well. Verne Troyer added some comedy value. Now onto the very important part of Tony and his many faces . . . So in the “real” world it is Heath Ledger in what was his final performance as this was the movie he was filming when he died. He really was so charming, handsome and just amazing, and still such a shame that he passed away so young. It was difficult to watch thinking this was what he was doing when he died. But he was so fantastic. The first transformation was Johnny Depp, who was his usual brilliant self in the brief 3/4 minutes in which he was on screen. The second transformation brings Jude Law into the part, who pretty much smiles and grins throughout his segment, which contains extremely tall ladders. The third and final transformation, Colin Farrell into which was probably the longest segment. He seemed to be trying to hide his Irish accent, but was still good.

Being female I did just have to point out after watching the film that I could not really pick four better looking actors to all play the same character and actually all pull it off. Yes, that may sound shallow but hey I am human after all and I think that is something every female who watches this movie will notice and pick up on, as they all look fantastic in that white suit.

Overall, with the whole storyline, I thought it was such a fantastic concept of being able to go into a mirror and let your imagination take over. You could go into the mirror hundreds and thousands of times and it could be different each time you go in and I really liked that idea and I was wondering where my imagination would take me. I think that was possibly an aim of this movie to get people thinking and imagining things. Also, that everyone had two choices when they were inside the mirror one path leading to good, and the other leading to bad I thought also related to that in life you have to make so many choices, and at times they take you to different places and change things so much. I dont know if I was thinking about it too much and looking too deep, but I felt that was what you really had to do with this movie, get lost in it and wonder what you would do. Dont get me wrong though this movie is very random and off the wall at times, but I think that was part of its charm for me at least. It’s definitely a movie I want to see again rather soon, and curious to how others found it.

The credits started with, “A film from Heath and Friends” which I thought was a nice touch, but also so sad that now its all really over.

A behind the scenes look at The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus where the cast of the film talk about the characters they play.

From the excellent Trailer Addict

Vernee Troyer en "Austin Powers in Goldmember" / New Line Cinema

Parece que ahora todos los rumores tienen que ver con RAW, y en particular quienes serán los próximos anfitriones invitados, ahora toca el turno al actor Verne Troyer, más conocido como “Mini Me” en las películas de Austin Powers, a ver que resulta, pero sin duda WWE debe morir de ganas por un match vs Horswoggle