The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is Terry Gilliam's latest concoction of fantasy storytelling. Gilliam kind of took a break for a few years after his last film Tideland got pretty poor reviews. I actually happened to like Tideland for what it was and I thought it was a daring move by Jeff Bridges to take on such a dark role of a heroin addict like that. But with Dr. Parnassus, Gilliam is pretty much back in top form with his signature dark and twisted family fun fantasy film much like he was with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, my favorite Gilliam film as well as my favorite fantasy film of all time. But this film is also unique in a way that it just so happens to be the great Health Ledgers final role before his tragic and untimely death.

The film centers around an old fashioned traveling theater that gets pulled around from town to town by horse. Led by the elderly Doctor Parnassus, brilliantly played by Christopher Plummer, the theater offers it's customers much more than they bargained for once they enter through the backstage area. When the traveling theater of four stumbles upon a man named Tony, played by Ledger, hanging by the neck from a bridge, things get even more weird as Tony starts to enter the imaginarium world with the customers.

The unfortunate passing of Ledger led to Gilliam having to shoot the scenes where Tony is in the imaginarium world with three other actors playing him instead of Ledger, and it actually works giving the film yet another unique Gilliam vision. The other three "imaginarium Tony's" are played by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell thus creating a freaking all star cast. But I'll give you fair warning that Depp has maybe five to ten minutes of screen time at most, Law scraping in maybe five more minutes than that, and Farrell with the longest at maybe twenty minutes. Farrell actually has the best performance out of the three of them and has a really cool story line too. His section of the film which comes towards the end is definitely my favorite. I must admit that Farrell has been growing on me more and more over the years as I really hated the guy when he first entered the scene, but he really seems to have his shit together now and is choosing his roles more wisely.

The film is visually stunning as are all of Gilliam's films but the script and storyline get a tad confusing here and there and I was led off track a few times. Health Ledger and Christopher Plummer both turn in great performances and it was sad watching Heath knowing that it was the last time we'll see him in something new. It was actually a bit eery in some scenes where I saw the character of The Joker still in him mix in with his Tony character, keep an eye out for that. I didn't want to turn this into a Heath Ledger tribute, I'll save that for another day when I can dedicate my true time to the man, but I will definitely miss him as an actor. At least he left us with many great memorable films to remember him by. As for Terry Gilliam....keep'em coming man. I'm excited for this blu-ray as I'm sure it will look spectacular. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus gets a 3 and a 1/2 outa 5.

The Last Station

Now I'm not gonna lie and pretend I've read Tolstoy and I'm a huge fan, because I haven't read a single thing written by him other than the first 20 pages of War and Peace. But I am a fan of his quotes and what he believes in so with that being said I was looking forward to seeing The Last Station and upon exiting the theater I really want to start up one of his books, even finish War and Peace.

The film is really a character driven drama more than anything. The film starts off with Vladimir Chertkov, played by one of my favorite actors Paul Giamatti, sending a young man Valentin, played by James McAvoy, to travel to the Tolstoy compound and be his assistant. It soon follows the final days of Tolstoy and his wife Sofya grieving over the fact that he cares more about his writings then her.

We get a pretty good glimpse into the life of Leo Tolstoy and the impact that he and his writings have on people. We see the compound where his followers stay at and it was interesting to see him being followed like some kind of god. It just shows you that it takes a brave and talented person to write what he wrote and believe in what he believed in. We need more people like that in the world today.

The performances are really great by the entire cast. James McAvoy is growing on me more and more every time I see him perform. Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy was right on key and he looked so much like the pictures of Tolstoy that I've seen. I wish he would play him again and focus more on his life. Helen Mirran once again has another Oscar nom performance as Sofya Tolstoy. Her scenes are quite powerful as she plays almost a lunatic type of wife screaming and crying in one scene and being loving and laughing in the next. It was quite fun to watch. The Last Station gets a solid 3 and 1/2 outa 5.

Up

I've really been meaning to see Up for a while now and I was finally able to see it last night at a free screening in town. Free screenings are great, however they don't show trailers and in this case they didn't show the usual Pixar short that shows before all their films either. A bit of a loss. I love the Pixar shorts.

Up is the story of a young man Carl Fredricksen voiced by Ed Asner who's obsessed with traveling to South America and searching for the great adventure. He meets a young girl Ellie who shares that same dream. They fall in love and get married, never able to fulfill their dream. After growing old together, a montage that's scored by a beautiful piano piece, Ellie passes away. Carl is then eventually forced out of his home due to town construction and into a retirement home. Carl refuses to leave his house because this is the house where he and his wife met while kids when it was once abandoned. When the retirement home officials come to get him out he decides to rig hundreds of balloons to his home and float away to South America. Shortly after takeoff Carl finds that Russell, a little boy scout trying to get his final badge for helping the elderly, has found his way on board.

The film has some incredible animation and cinematography. The balloons alone and what they go through throughout the film is amazing. Just their colorful look and the sounds of them popping and rubbing against the cliffs are great. Russell has some really hilarious lines in the film and some really really funny stuff happens to him like getting dragged along the outside window of a blimp which was my favorite scene in the film. The film is a little slow moving at times and it's got a much more "sad" tone to it than previous Pixar films. I would have also liked to have seen more shots of the jungle, waterfalls, and wildlife in South America. The idea of the dogs being able to talk with their special collars was great but a tad over used at times. There is a really great fight scene with Carl and the antagonist Charles Muntz voiced by Christopher Plummer that was really well done. It's an epic senior citizen vs senior citizen battle.

To me Up is a film about never letting age get in the way of our dreams, and sometimes we have to let go of things that make us happy in order to do what's right. Up is another amazing picture under the Pixar name and will probably get a best picture nom at the end of the year. Personally my favorite Pixar as well as any animated film is still and probably always will be Finding Nemo. That film is just so amazing in so many ways. Up gets 4 outa 5.