Tag: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
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9/28 Oscarweb Round-up
• Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski arrested in Zurich for 1977 rape charge. [CNN]• Steven Zeitchik reports that Summit was set to be the first out of the gate with awards screeners this year with “The Hurt Locker.” Would it have made a difference? [Risky Biz Blog]
• Nathaniel Rogers considers Julianne Moore’s Oscar chances in “A Single Man.” [The Film Experience]
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TECH SUPPORT: Best Makeup — Volume I
“Make me look good.” While this might seem a vain phrase, in the context of a movie, makeup cannot only make an actor “look good” but it can capture the character and transform the performer, providing invaluable assistance in reaching the “truth” in the portrayal.The Academy Award for Best Makeup actually recognizes the individuals who perform both makeup and hairstyling duties. Like Best Visual Effects, this category has only three nominees, chosen from a list of seven finalists which are announced in a bake-off advance.
While certain names such as Greg Cannom and Rick Baker show up here with frequency, the branch has, especially in recent years, been less averse to new talent. Creation of monsters and other fantastical characters, in addition to aging, tend to be the branch’s preferred accomplishments.
The successful reboot of the “Star Trek” franchise might very well be leading the way here. Creating the numerous famous characters and, most notably, Eric Bana’s antagonist Romulan Nero, strikes me as the sort of work which this branch embraces.
Whether a film like “Watchmen” would be seriously considered by the Academy in any category is a matter of great debate. But the makeup was absolutely fantastic and critical to the success of the film. Greg Cannom was on the crew, which has me inclined to consider it seriously here.
We’re still waiting to see James Cameron’s eagerly anticipated “Avatar,” but one can’t help but wonder if the film’s CGI and performance capture technology will be doing much, if not all of the work normally reserved for makeup. And the makeup artists on the crew have yet to be widely recognized by the Academy. Regardless, one cannot deny the success Cameron’s films tend to have in the crafts categories.
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9/4 Web Round-up
• Steve Pond talks to AMPAS executive director Bruce Davis about the Oscars’ “crisis point.” [The Odds]• Redefining the cinema alien with “District 9.” [Daily Telegraph]
• Spike Jonze and his latest gets close to 7,500 words in the Grey Lady. [New York Times]
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10 most anticipated films of the season
No fanfare. A legitimate installment of The Lists on another topic will drop from Chad later today, but here’s what has me stoked:
1. “Up in the Air” (Paramount Pictures)
2. “Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
3. “The Tree of Life” (Apparition)
4. “Where the Wild Things Are” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
5. “A Christmas Carol” (Walt Disney Pictures)
6. “Invictus” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
7. “Capitalism: A Love Story” (Overture Films)
8. “2012” (Sony Pictures) –> guilty
9. “Precious” (Lionsgate)
10. “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics)You?
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‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’ UK trailer
Sorry for the run of lazy posts, but I know a lot of you have been champing at the bit for this one. Make of it what you will … there appears to be more than enough quirk and baroque visual clutter here to keep the Gilliamites in thrall. (Oddly enough, I just passed through one of the key locations here on my morning run. “They should use this in more movies,” I thought to myself. Et voilà.)
I’m reserving judgment. But I will say that it’s both disorienting and weirdly comforting to see Heath Ledger in a trailer for something fresh. That’s never happening again.
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Gilliam talks completing ‘Parnassus’ without Ledger and his defining film moment
At Comic-Con last month, Motion/Captured’s Drew McWeeny was fortunate enough to sit down with director Terry Gilliam for a solid 60 minutes, allowing the conversation to drift from actors like Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to the Criterion Collection to Gilliam’s latest, the still domestic distributor-less “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” and everything in between.The piece is broke up into two parts. Part one is interesting enough, especially for the mid-interview interruption by some idiot who should have known better, but I think the meat of the piece is in part two, where Gilliam starts to talk the philosophy of cinema and “Parnassus” in particular.
Gillaim talks at length about the film’s state of disarray after Heath Ledger’s untimely passing in January of 2008, leaving an entire performance to be completed and no easy answers. He called Johnny Depp first, completely sapped with no idea how to go forward. Ultimately Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law filled in for Ledger for the character of Tony’s three transformations in the film, but even completing the script at hand was difficult for some on the production.
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Comic-Con on the way
Like the rest of the web geek world, I guess, I’m gearing up for this year’s San Diego Comic Con International, which begins with preview night on Wednesday.All eyes, of course, are on Thursday’s slew of events, a treasure trove of goodies that made for a ton of Sophie’s choices when putting together my personal schedule. I’ll definitely be at the Disney panel, with glimpses of Robert Zemeckis’s “A Christmas Carol” in 3D and a taste of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” among other things. Speaking of 3D, perhaps the most anticipated panel will be James Camerons “Avatar” event. I’m definitely looking forward to that, but the likely crowd of humanity that will be doing same? Not so much. Trying to wrangle some VIP consideration as we speak.
The Peter Jackson-produced “District 9” isn’t as high on my to-do list as most, but I’ll probably park it for Paramount’s “Iron Man 2” Panel on Saturday. The film just wrapped a 72-day shoot over the weekend, by the way. Warner Bros. also has a panel, on Friday, but Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is the only thing that has me interested there. Focus Features also plans a considerable presence with “Coraline” (the Blu-ray and DVD of which hits shelves tomorrow) and “9.”
Oh, and Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” I suppose I should check that out.
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French ‘Imaginarium’ poster
This French poster for Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarioum of Dr. Parnassus” (courtesy of The Playlist) looks like a snipped shot of a banner, but I had to post it because it caught my eye:
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‘Parnassus’ causes much head-scratching at Cannes
It was always a safe bet that, in spite of the curiosity value of Heath Ledger’s final screen performance, Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” wasn’t cut out to be a crowdpleaser. It’s been over a decade since the defiantly eccentric filmmaker made anything approaching the term “accessible,” much less something widely liked. And the apparent opacity of his latest, beginning with that unwieldy title, didn’t suggest he was going any easier on his audience, or himself.So it’s no surprise to report that the reviews thus far are mixed at best, with some vocal detractors already apparent. (Catherine Shoard at the Guardian describes it as “a horrible mix of reheated Munchhausen and stale Faustian mumbo-jumbo.) Still, several critics have salvaged some value from the project, and are unexpectedly supportive in their reviews.
Todd McCarthy asserts that Gilliam has made “a pretty good thing out of a very bad situation,” commending him for his “visual panache” and “considerable discipline,” but is careful to defuse any exaggerated expectations of Ledger’s work:
It’s another “Alice in Wonderland”-like playground for Gilliam, and while all the specific action may not be entirely coherent or exciting, it’s always visually stimulating and allows the three incarnations of Tony to host assorted guests.
Tony is not a demanding dramatic role, nor a particularly flamboyant one like the Joker, so this can’t legitimately be described as one Ledger’s most striking performances. Like most of the other actors here, he’s antic and frantic, dirty and sweaty, as the principals flail around trying to cope with their desperate straits.
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Gilliam wants “another award for Heath”
It may not be in the Competition lineup, but Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” is surely one of the most eagerly — and curiously — awaited films of the Cannes festival. The bulk of the interest, of course, rests on the unfinished final screen performance of Heath Ledger, and how (or, indeed, if) Gilliam’s audacious strategy of completing the late thesp’s characterisation with contributions from three other actors will work.All will be revealed when the film makes its Cannes debut next Friday, but for now, Gilliam talks up “Parnassus” in an interesting interview with the Times of London — and the famously bolshy director minces no words when it comes to his awards hopes from the film:
The planned release date for Doctor Parnassus is in the autumn. “We want to be in that last third for the Academy Awards! Maybe we’ll get another award for Heath. We’re going to get as many awards as possible for him, long after he’s gone.”
Meanwhile, he’s confident that Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell’s continuation of Ledger’s role is a success, both in terms of artistry and commercial viability:
We were lucky because we have a magic mirror in this movie. Not every movie has a magic mirror. So you can very genuinely say that these other actors are different aspects of the character that Heath plays. And it works. The point was, we’ve got to keep going. It was a bit like half being there, but apparently on autopilot I can still do a few things … It’s a hard thing to do, walk into a character and take over. But they did it.
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Coppola goes to Cannes after all
After turning down an out-of-competition slot at Cannes earlier this week, it seems Francis Ford Coppola has had a change of heart. Variety reports that his new film, “Tetro,” will open the festival’s Directors’ Fortnight on May 14, marking the much-awaited film’s world premiere.The addition of Coppola adds some welcome lustre to a sidebar that frequently gets unfairly neglected in favour of the Official Selection (where “Tetro” was previously offered a place). The Director’s Fortnight may also attract attention for showcasing significantly more US talent than the selection of competition films announced yesterday, which included a mere two American titles (and only one from a Yank filmmaker, at that).
In contrast, five American features make the Fortnight lineup, including Sundance talking-points “Humpday” and “I Love You, Philip Morris.” (Meanwhile, Lee Daniels’ much-garlanded Sundance sensation “Precious” (AKA “Push”) will appear in the Un Certain Regard strand of competition.
Though the media focus tends to remain on the 20-odd films up for the Palme d’Or, Cannes runs far deeper than that. Some have complained that yesterday’s competition lineup, with its high quotient of previous winners and established auteurs, feels a bit too safe and insular (though “safe” hardly seems an apt adjective when the likes of Gaspar Noe and Lars Von Trier are involved), but it’s not just new talent lurking in the sidebars.
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Studios could care less about Terry Gilliam’s ‘Parnassus’
Nick Plowman points us today to a Hollywood Reporter story (and really, we needed the heads up in this case…anyone reading THR anymore?) painting director Terry Gilliam’s latest film as a “tough sell.”Of course, the film in question, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” contains Heath Ledger’s swan song performance.
Here’s the Reporter’s Steven Zeitchik:
For U.S. distributors, the quirky Terry Gilliam film — centering on parallel worlds, a theater troupe and a devil-dealing 1,000-year-old doctor — presents a conundrum. On the one hand, it’s a chance for the history-making opportunity — not to mention a marketing coup — of releasing Ledger’s last movie.
But it also comes with challenges that lately have followed the stubbornly noncommercial Gilliam. The director has been behind a series of boxoffice flops and hasn’t had a hit since “Twelve Monkeys” in 1995. Buyers who might otherwise be willing to shell out for a Ledger film are holding back.
“In this market, unless I have a reason to think a movie like this is going to be a slam dunk I’m not going to take a flyer on it, even with Heath Ledger,” one distribution executive said. One specialty exec added few execs at his company had been tracking it.
And Plowman’s sharp reply:
Whenever a Terry Gilliam film is released, it’s a risky affair. They are never quite box-office or critical hits, and even the supernatural would rather he stayed away from the medium of film as well. He hasn’t had a hit since 1995…
And you know what? So be it. Penance for Gilliam’s asinine comments from last month if you ask me. Ledger lives on in infamy with “The Dark Knight.” Given Gilliam’s track record as of late, “Parnassus” could be a blight on that legacy.
