Rate That Movie!

[Buscemi]

I knew something was missing from my best of 2009 list. Thanks NSpan!

[NSpan]

I knew something was missing from my best of 2009 list. Thanks NSpan!

edit: care to elaborate on why you liked it? (or, if you've posted a review already, could you point me to it?)

[numbersix]

Whatever Works - Simply put: Woody lives on a different planet, and I really really gotta stop paying to see his movies. He is so delusional and distanced from the state of the human condition (in an OVERALL sense, not just in the minds of the Hollywood "elite"). Between this and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, I think the last nail in Woody's coffin has been set..

Not a fan of Vicky Cristina Barcelona? I found it to be his best in years (although that's not saying too much!)- but I have to say rather than a nail in the coffin with VCB Woody hit that nail right on its head, to mix metaphors. I think he really did get the human condition for that one, having come across multiple examples of the 4 main characters across my life, and even one or two similar scenarios. While that can hardly excuse a movie, it's wonderful cinematography, convincing characters, and great performances (even Scralett... who would have known) made a thoroughly enjoyable movie for me. I'll be checking out WW this week, although I've heard bad things. I think Woody simply has no quality control these days, he just churns films out because that's all he knows what to do, and if he keeps churning them out eventually one or two will work (eg Match Point, VCB).

[undeadmonkey]

The Imaginarium of Dr ParnAssus 4/10 - I wanted to like it, but i just couldnt. There was no main point to the story, there were a lot of little points to the story but Gilliam didn't really focus on any. During the Q&A we kind of found out why. The guy asking the questions asked how the story came about, He said ' we really didnt have a story to tell, the story just kind of wrote itself' and i think that definitely shows in the film. It's such a shame too. The acting was ok, I suppose it's unfair to expect something as great as the joker again from Heath, but it's kind of a shame that this is his last movie. I dont think i'm biased but I did think Johnny Depp kinda stole the show. He is just really good with these quirky characters. Interesting point, Gilliam pointed out the scene that was the last scene Heath Ledger filmed, it was him running after the traveling carousel into a dark alley, I thought that was kinda creepy. I'm sure this film will get the curious people in, that want to see Heath Ledger's last performance, but I dont see this film have much appeal beyond that.

[Donte77]

I'm sure this film will get the curious people in, that want to see Heath Ledger's last performance, but I dont see this film have much appeal beyond that.

You forgot the people who watch EVERY Gilliam film and also the people who love acid-like trippy movies. I didn't watch Naked Lunch, Tideland and Eraserhead for the dramatic themes. Not that that will bring in any money upfront but the DVD sales and rentals will be slightly inflated.

[NSpan]

Not a fan of Vicky Cristina Barcelona? I found it to be his best in years (although that's not saying too much!)- but I have to say rather than a nail in the coffin with VCB Woody hit that nail right on its head, to mix metaphors. I think he really did get the human condition for that one, having come across multiple examples of the 4 main characters across my life, and even one or two similar scenarios. While that can hardly excuse a movie, it's wonderful cinematography, convincing characters, and great performances (even Scralett... who would have known) made a thoroughly enjoyable movie for me. I'll be checking out WW this week, although I've heard bad things. I think Woody simply has no quality control these days, he just churns films out because that's all he knows what to do, and if he keeps churning them out eventually one or two will work (eg Match Point, VCB).

my problem with a lot of Woody's recent work is that he only writes caricatures and stereotypes. everyone in Whatever Works was either an ignorant redneck bible-thumping closet-case or a pretentious hypocritical pseudo-intellectual snob... and, somehow, instead of pointing out the empty talk and innumerable comparable eccentricities between the two groups, Woody doesn't show any sign of acknowledging the flaws of the latter group.. in fact, he almost seems to glorify them.. it baffles me that he can write such despicable roles without showing any awareness of his own creations' faults..

same goes for VCB.. there was no protagonist because every single character was a loathsome, selfish asshole.. but nothing within the film itself acknowledges that.. if at any point during the movie i felt the director was winking at the audience, saying "look at this farce! none of these character have any connection to reality," i may have actually enjoyed it...

but it seems that Woody has lived in his own world for so long that his personal perception of reality no longer has any bearing on the world the other 99.9% of us inhabit and experience..

[Donte77]

but it seems that Woody has lived in his own world for so long that his personal perception of reality no longer has any bearing on the world the other 99.9% of us inhabit and experience..

That sounds familiar. LOL I can think of at least one person here guilty of that. Except I would count Woody in the other 99.9% and not in my group.

[numbersix]

Yeah Woody has taken a few steps back from the days in which he openly bashed the pretentious hypocritical pseudo-intellectual snob. Like that one scene in Anie Hall, where at a California party a guy is talking on the phone (a young Jeff Goldblum, I believe) and says "I've forgotten my mantra".

[undeadmonkey]

Land of the Lost 1/10 - wow, i cannot believe that studios would fund the filming of this crap. It is very rarely that a movie makes my mood worse than it was before. I dont even really know what to say... Just Dont Watch

[NSpan]

Land of the Lost... D

the movie was fun-ish, i guess... and, on blu-ray, it looked cool-ish, i guess (keeping in mind that they were aiming for a low-budget vibe while remaining somewhat stylized)... it's just that they FORGOT TO ADD JOKES... at some point during the production, shouldn't Will Ferrell or Danny McBride thought to, you know, do something funny??

[donnie]

The imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. 8/10
Good movie: touching and poetic. Sad to see Ledger on the screen: we really missed a guy that could become a great actor.
The idea to replace Ledger with three actors works: better with Depp and Farrell with that Jude Law, but it works.

OMG, I'm going to write my first short review in English ...
Since I rated Parnassus, after reading the post of undeadmonkey I want to say something more.
Parnassus is a theoretic movie: it is not perfect, of course, and you may have the feeling that something is missing. But it remains a fascinating and important movie for Gilliam.

In particular, one may have the feeling that something is missing in terms of continuity but, to judge this movie, we must bear in mind that it was completed just for a miracle, and risked never seeing the light. Therefore, if the screenplay seems a bit broken or incompleted... we also should think what would have been if Heath Ledger had completed the movie.

The jumble of special effects and CG is the superficial level of the movie linked to the "Imaginarium". But the underlying meaning is a much more prominent issue about Time and Imagination. If you pay attention, the film is almost cyclic, and finally shows its references on many interesting points which are far less hidden than in other movies of Gilliam.
We have a Parnassus/homeless-man who has something of The Fisher King; there are references to "Time Bandits" (chasms and dwarves); we have dreamers fleeing from the real world that recall Sam Lowry; we have mirrors that must be crossed as in Tideland/Alice.
Ah, yes: Tony has a tail like Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys or like Gilliam in its golden age (I was very careful ...)

The question of visual effects and CG is fundamentally simply and not so problematic, even if it may be easily attacked. But the feeling of getting lost that the "poor imaginarium" produces is the right one.
A great point, in my opinion, is that despite everything, Gilliam is able to create a weird world of entirely personal visions and, beyond the surface, one may observe many playful and colorful details that hint at his filmography and at Python's style.

All three replacements are good, especially Colin Farrell. Johnny Depp, really, is out of competition, because he's the only one who really does not interpret a "face" of Tony.
The scenes with Depp, in fact, are a simple (but beautiful) tribute to Ledger, with plenty of memory to immortals myths.

Finally, the film is thick, broken, imperfect, not a masterpiece and the characteristic that keeps him up is his very readable narrative construction on several levels.
Parnassus is Gilliam and I think this is obvious ... but also Tony represents Gilliam, given that the two characters are almost complementary: a mystic (Parnassus) and a debunker (Tony), a "saint" and a thief, one who believes that the stories rule the world and the other who has built his world upon them.
When you pass through the mirror, we find ourselves in the imagination of Doctor Parnassus, a world controlled by him but filled by us, where each of us can find what he want (and can even get lost, if do not know the right choices): really, we are merely users, "viewers" of a world ready to change the face depending on your point of view and if Parnassus is the mind, Tony is the arm, or if the first is the creator (of worlds), the other is the performer, the storyteller, the one that persuades you to buy the ticket .... In short, the dynamics are almost the same than those of "director-actor", to which we may add the Devil (the producer?): to have some chance there is always a tradeoff.

Great Movie for me: I can't wait to see The man who killed Don Quixote realized.

[undeadmonkey]

few things i wanted to point out.

In particular, one may have the feeling that something is missing in terms of continuity but, to judge this movie, we must bear in mind that it was completed just for a miracle, and risked never seeing the light. Therefore, if the screenplay seems a bit broken or incompleted... we also should think what would have been if Heath Ledger had completed the movie.

Actually Gilliam said that if Ledger would not have died, the film would probably not have been finished. They were already out of money and because of his death they got insurance money to finish the movie.

Also just wanted to point out, gilliam said that almost all of the scenes that were outside of the mirror world had been shot and all that was left were the green screen shots, he actually said that they didnt change much other than move a few scenes that were in the real world into the mirror world.

All three replacements are good, especially Colin Farrell. Johnny Depp, really, is out of competition, because he's the only one who really does not interpret a "face" of Tony.
The scenes with Depp, in fact, are a simple (but beautiful) tribute to Ledger, with plenty of memory to immortals myths.

The three replacements were good but honestly i think it was unnecessary. It could of worked better with just having one different face behind the mirror

I can't wait to see The man who killed Don Quixote realized.

He said that he was working on it and he had an actor already, but he wouldnt say who.

Honestly I think listening to Gilliam explain the movie, made me like it less, but i guess were just going to have to agree to disagree about this one.

[BarcaRulz]

The Box - 7/10. Very good acting (surprisingly). Good plot (I loved the short-story it was based on). And some seriously fantastic dialogue. However, it does drain a little bit, and you have to be 100% alert to get what they are trying to do with the ending, as well as the 'twist' in the middle of the movie.

[donnie]

The three replacements were good but honestly i think it was unnecessary. It could of worked better with just having one different face behind the mirror

So, probably, Law-Depp-Farrel helped to finish the movie because they was a sufficient motivation to increase the budget?

He said that he was working on it and he had an actor already, but he wouldnt say who

Fingers crossed!

[frendo]

Not a fan of Vicky Cristina Barcelona? I found it to be his best in years (although that's not saying too much!)- but I have to say rather than a nail in the coffin with VCB Woody hit that nail right on its head, to mix metaphors. I think he really did get the human condition for that one, having come across multiple examples of the 4 main characters across my life, and even one or two similar scenarios. While that can hardly excuse a movie, it's wonderful cinematography, convincing characters, and great performances (even Scralett... who would have known) made a thoroughly enjoyable movie for me. I'll be checking out WW this week, although I've heard bad things. I think Woody simply has no quality control these days, he just churns films out because that's all he knows what to do, and if he keeps churning them out eventually one or two will work (eg Match Point, VCB).

my problem with a lot of Woody's recent work is that he only writes caricatures and stereotypes. everyone in Whatever Works was either an ignorant redneck bible-thumping closet-case or a pretentious hypocritical pseudo-intellectual snob... and, somehow, instead of pointing out the empty talk and innumerable comparable eccentricities between the two groups, Woody doesn't show any sign of acknowledging the flaws of the latter group.. in fact, he almost seems to glorify them.. it baffles me that he can write such despicable roles without showing any awareness of his own creations' faults..

same goes for VCB.. there was no protagonist because every single character was a loathsome, selfish asshole.. but nothing within the film itself acknowledges that.. if at any point during the movie i felt the director was winking at the audience, saying "look at this farce! none of these character have any connection to reality," i may have actually enjoyed it...

but it seems that Woody has lived in his own world for so long that his personal perception of reality no longer has any bearing on the world the other 99.9% of us inhabit and experience..

Man, I liked VCB quite a bit, but Whatever Works had me laughing my ass off! Maybe it's the kind of film that only a certain percentage of the population will really get, since it's funny in a more dark and self-loathing type of way, but I was laughing out loud for quite a bit of it.