The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus: SurREAL!!

You know, isn’t it strange how Movie Nights can get …

Well …

Strange …

Well …

Odd …

Well, ok, not odd, per sé, just unexpected musical.

You see, myself, Movie Night Adrian, Kevin D and Kevins wife, Sarah, had all got together to catch a movie.

You’d worked that out, I know.

And Sarah, bless her, got here a touch late.

Complete with a trumpet she was going to fix up, and pass on to a friend.

You know, twiddle with the valves, blow the dust out, make sure everything was working.

That’s her, tootling away in the picture. She’s rather talented with brass, I should add …

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Which is sort of going sideways isn’t it … ?

It’s also sort of incidental to the film we’d all got together to catch.

The 2009, Terry Gilliam directed fantasy that is The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. And I swear whoever voiced the trailer couldn’t pronounce ‘Parnassus’.

Wouldn’t’ve happened with Don LaFontaine, I think. But that’s incidental.

Because The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus? Is quite good.

Maybe not on a par with some of Gilliam’s best work. But certainly not his worst, either.

The film follows the title character, Dr Parnassus — played by Christopher Plummer — as he, his daughter, Valentina and his two assistants — Anton and Percy — travel around London, with his small travelling show, the Imaginarium.

The twist in the tale … ?

Is that the Dr has been given immortality by Mr Nick: none other than the devil, himself, played with a certain relish by singer/songwriter* and actor, Tom Wait.

And the price of the good Doctor’s immortality is simple: that Mr Nick get’s the soul of the Dr’s daughter, Valentina, as and when she turn’s sixteen.

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13/10/2010. 12:28

Well, ok, I say morning …

But as you’ve probably noticed from the time-stamp, it’s actually a touch later than that …

Oy!

Bless ’em, I’ve just had Paul and Graham pop in on me: just as I was going to get in the shower.

Ahem!

Now, where was I … ?

Oh, yeah …

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus …

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Which I think I managed to tell you was the film that Movie Night Adrian, Kevin D, Kevin’s wife, Sarah — who I’m thinking should maybe dubbed Sarah, Tootles — and me all managed to catch, last night.

And I’ll have to admit, I think we can safely say we all of us enjoyed.

After all, Terry Gilliam is generally regarded a genius of a director.

If he isn’t … ? He’s certainly one of the more creative: with the possible exception of David Lynchº, I don’t think I know of any other that’s quite so visual.

And definitely one that’s capable of getting some interesting performances out of his cast: do you remember seeing Brad Pitt’s deranged performance in 12 Monkeys?

Exactly.

Which is kind of my point: I think he’s managed to do that again, with the cast and crew of The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus.

The shame of it is that Heath Ledger died. Because I think — had he survived — this could have been his equivalent. An off-the-wall Gilliam hit, with the rôle of Tony showing us a bit more of his range.

That’s not to talk down Johnny Depp, Jude Law, or Colin Farrell: who was the actor who stood out for me.

After all, Depp and Law’s scenes as Tony saw the Tony character turning up the charm, something I felt they did well.

But — granted their scenes didn’t call for it — I felt both Farrell and Ledger had a dangerous streak that gave us a little of what lay beneath the charm.

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All told … ?

Well …

There’s possibly a lot more I could add: especially about Christopher Plummer who I felt really shone as the title character.

But the bottom line is that The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus is a good film: although I know there was one scene that both Kevin D and Movie Night Adrian weren’t fond of.

But on the whole?

The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus an enjoyable film that we all felt is worth catching.

* You know, whenever I use the phrase ‘singer/songwriter’, I’m actually tempted to write ‘singer/songwriter/actor/dancer/model and Page Three Stunna!’ But that’s silly, isn’t it …

º Saying that, I don’t think I’ve seen as much Lynch or Gilliam as I’d’ve liked. I know that both Brazil and Eraserhead are on my bucket-list.

Oscars, Table, and and serial seriousness

You know, I thought last night might happen …

As many people, myself included,  were expecting, the late Heath Ledger won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 81st Oscar ceremony.   You can see the BBC’s highlighted coverage, here.   And for many, one of the highlights of Heath’s performance is available, here.

I still feel, however, that one aspect to the loss of such a talented and young actor, is the simple fact that his death has overshadowed many other fine performances; – something I’ve blogged about before.

Either way, though, my congratulations, thoughts and prayers are with his family, at this time … a time that could have seen him receiving that statue in person, had events gone differently.

And I should add my congratulations to the rest of the winners at last nights ceremony, as well; – in particular to Kate Winslet, who’s managed to bag her first Oscar.   Here’s to shampoo bottles …

However, I’m going to move from the gongs to the trivial, at this point.

I know, I know, I should make this two separate posts, but this does let me introduce Tuesday nights table round, for your teasing pleasure.

Enjoy …

Q1) Danny Boyle won Best Director, this year; – for which film?

Q2) How many awards DID that Danny Boyle directed film get, in total?

Q3) Ron Howard was nominated for Best Director, and lost to Danny Boyle.   For which film was Ron Howard nominated?

Q4) Exactly how many nominations did “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” get, for this year’s Oscars?

Q5) “Wall•E” won Best Animated Feature film, this year; – which company made “Wall•E”?

Q6) Kate Winslet finally won an Oscar, for Best Actress, in “The Reader”.   Name any of the other nominees.

Q7) Penelope Cruz won the Best Supporting Actress award; – for which film?

Q8) Sean Penn won the Best Actor gong; — for his performance in which film?

Q9) Who else was heavily tipped for the Best Actor gong, for his role in “The Wrestler”?

Q10) Heath Leadger got the Best Supporting Actor this year for his performance as the Joker, in “Dark Knight”; name any of the other nominees.

On a serious note

Well, it’s happened.

Following his SAG award and the parallel Golden Globe, the late Heath Ledger has been given the Best Supporting gong at this year’s film BAFTA’s.

I must say I’m pleased for his family.

But I’ve always felt, though, that this is a tragedy on many levels.

As with many, I saw “Dark Knight”, and both enjoyed the film, and was impressed by the various performances in it, the late Mr Ledger’s among them.

What makes this such a sad thing for me is the simple fact that – although I cannot be certain and would not have the arrogance to claim to be –  deserving of the award though he was, I believe his death gave him a big sympathy vote.

I’ve an old friend, Graham, who disagrees.   Hopefully, he’ll be able to put his views up, once his net connection’s back up and running, but who felt that the performance Heath put in got him the gong, and that any sympathy factor was negligible.

We’ll never know, I think.

On a more positive note, I’m rather pleased – RABID “Dr Who” fan that I am – that Noel Clarke, who I know from his performances as Mickey Smith in Dr Who, has picked up the Rising Star gong.   Turns out that this award was open to a public vote, and I can’t help but wonder how much influence his appearance as Mickey played in that.

Either way, I think congratulations are in order for both of them.

A Dark Knight … Returns.

Well there’s a thing …

It seems that “Dark Knight”, which I posted about, a couple of weeks ago, is up for the Best Film gong, from the Producers Guild of America, at their awards ceremony, soon.   It’s generally considered to be a GOOD indicator of what’ll be up for the Oscars.

Combine that with the fact the late Heath Ledger has been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor gong, at the upcoming Screen Actors Guild do, and things look good for it.

I’ll admit my immediate cynical thought was that Heath Ledger made a damn good career move, the night of his death, considering it gave his last completed film a lot of free advertising, but thats not necessarily a side of myself I like that much.

Obviously, it’s a hell of a loss; — to his immediate family, and daughter, his fans, and to the movie going community, as a whole.

And this seems a fairly good way to offer some form of commemoration.

But the mixed feelings I have about this, are compounded by the simple fact that I’m a bit of a science fiction fan.   It’s nice to think a science-fiction-ish film could follow “The Lord Of the Rings”, by bagging one of the big ones at a certain Gong Show …

A quiet knight in: The Dark Knight — A Review

Saturday nights can be quiet, if your on a budget. But that doesn’t have to be a problem, with a branch of Blockbusters nearby …

Oh, and company. Company’s good, as well. It‘s just a shame we couldn’t head over to another friend’s place, but I was semi-expecting more people to turn up.

That’s countered, though, if you’ve got good company, and if you’ve managed to get your hands on a reasonably good movie: as it turns out, The Dark Knight is definitely a good movie.

I know it’s had a lot of hype —it’s hard not to be cynical and not define the death of one of the leading actors as a tragic, but very convenient, free advert— but Dark Knight deserves at least some of the positive comments I’ve seen in the media about it.

It’s beautifully shot, tightly scripted and nicely directed by Christopher Nolan. The actors give an all round great job, and I think I’ll put in a good word here, for three people.

I was very impressed by the late Heath Ledger, as the Joker.

Usually, I’m rather fond of Jack Nicholson: and his cut of the Joker has stuck in my mind for years, as being a standard to aim at. Admittedly, a comic book Byron to aim for, but none the less, the standard to aim for.

As Adrian and Paul both agreed, last night, Heath did a very good psychopath. I don’t know if he’d read Alan Moore’s “The Kiling Joke”, but I certainly felt that his interpretation had hints of it, but that could well be the scripting. I don’t know if he’ll get a posthumous Oscar for the role, but it’d be a strange universe if he didn’t get a posthumous Oscar nomination for it.*

Another standout, for me, was Aaron Eckhart, as Harvey Dent. Two Face, in other words, long a recurring villain in the comics themselves. And wonderfully portrayed, in this film, as a tragic figure, rather than the very cartoony villain played by Tommy Lee Jones, back in the day.

It must have been hard to keep up with the Heath Ledger post-mortem hype, but I feel that Aaron Eckhart, and Gary Oldman as Commissioner Jim Gordonº, both did.

I’m just hoping Paul and myself can persuade Adrian to not grow a ’tache — that would just be strange …

* I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I care for the idea of a posthumous Oscar, however deserving … but a posthumous Oscar nomination, now …

º I’m also going to mention Michæl Caine, as Alfred: rivetting stuff, but this is Michæl Caine we’re talking about.