The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) - Gilliam's rambling mess

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An celestial array of surreal elements and many stars stand ready on this poster for Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

In London a traveling group of weirdos attempt to entertain ungrateful, rude drunks from a wagon that includes the ancient Parnassus' imaginarium.

 

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is written by Charles McKeown (Brazil (1985)) and American-born British master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Terry Gilliam (Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)), whose 11th feature it is.

Despite a dragging beginning, this chaotic film flows out and becomes enormously testing to watch. This is less astonishing when considering that it is a Gilliam creation that was completed with three new stars cast in the lead, since the original suddenly passed away in real life, in a script that was already bonkers. (Heath Ledger (A Knight's Tale (2001)) died at age 28 from accidental prescription medication poisoning.) All involved do what they can, in ugly hair, beards and many layers of ugly costumes, often in ugly lighting, in ugly images, with many sequences also featuring ugly 'fantastical' CGI elements.

Ledger's Tony character, as a side note, is a man who is rescued from wanting to hang himself. Gilliam's messy procession is anything but uplifting. 

 

Related posts:

Terry Gilliam:  For No Good Reason (2012, documentary) or, Ralph Steadman, Artist (interview subject)

The Brothers Grimm (2005) - Gilliam's European misadventure sort-of entertains

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Top 10: Best drug-themed movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) - Depp's Thompson lives and breathes in Gilliam's outrageous, drug-fueled masterpiece

12 Monkeys (1995) or, What's the Time?

1991 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

The Fisher King (1991) - Gilliam and Co. win with unpredictable story with major heart and amazing Williams 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 30 mil. $

Box office: 64.3 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.14 times its cost)

[The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus premiered 22 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 123 minutes. 12 companies and support bodies were involved in the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from December 2007 - April 2008, with a month-long hiatus due to the demise of Ledger, in British Columbia and in England, including in London. Gilliam engaged friends and colleagues of Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to all overtake the actor's part following his tragic death, and the three decided to donate their (unknown) salaries to Ledger's daughter Matilda. The film went about 5 mil. $ over budget. Co-producer William Vince also passed away prior to release. The sensation surrounding Ledger's death meant that the film reportedly made back its budget through presales before even getting released. It opened #20 to a 415k $ first weekend in 48 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #11 and in 607 theaters, grossing 7.6 mil. $ (11.8 % of the total gross). This was the film's 3rd biggest market. The biggest two were Italy with 11.1 mil. $ (17.3 %) and Japan with 6.5 mil. $ (10.1 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Costume Design to The Young Victoria and Art Direction to Avatar. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTAs, a British Independent Film award and other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. The film reportedly additionally made in excess of 11.7 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. Gilliam returned with The Legend of Hallowdega (2010, short) and The Wholly Family (2011, short) and theatrically with The Zero Theorem (2013). This was Ledger's final film; Christopher Plummer (All the Money in the World (2017)) returned with voice performances in My Dog Tulip (2009) and 9 (2009) prior to his physical theatrical return in The Last Station (2009). The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is fresh at 64 % with a 6.0/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus?

It (1990, miniseries) - The miniseries that horrified a generation of children

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A nightmarish monster with a clown's appearance lurks on this striking poster for Tommy Lee Wallace's It

A group of seven friends from the town Derry in Maine need to revisit their birthplace as adults to once again slay the mystical evil that resides in its sewer system... 

 

It is written by Lawrence D. Cohen (Carrie (1976)) and co-writer/director Tommy Lee Wallace (Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)), adapting the same-titled 1986 novel by Stephen King (Roadwork (1981)).

It is a recommendable and entertaining horror miniseries, though mostly due to King's eminent story and ideas. The execution is structured very like a TV series with cliffhangers and annoying fade cuts.

The acting performances are a mixed bag, except for Tim Curry's (Gingerclown (2013)) spectacular turn as Pennywise the clown. The novel has had significant trimmings done to make it serviceable to broadcasting, but Wallace's It is still a haunting and admirable work.

 

Related posts:

 

Tommy Lee Wallace: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) - Evil masks ravage in Wallace's under-appreciated horror

 

 

Watch a trailer for the miniseries here

 

Cost: 12 mil. $

Box office: None - TV miniseries

= Uncertain

[It was first broadcast 18 November (USA; Brazil) and runs two episodes totaling 192 minutes. The budget was reportedly double the norm for a miniseries at the time. Shooting took place from May - July 1990 in British Columbia, including in Vancouver, New York and in Chicago, Illinois. The show performed excellently at ABC, totaling 30 mil. viewers, becoming the network's biggest hit of the year. It also drew huge viewership of more than 6 mil. when first screened in the UK on BBC One in 1994. It won 1/2 Primetime Emmy nominations. Wallace returned with And the Sea Will Tell (1991, TV movie). Curry returned with a voice performance in TaleSpin (1990, TV-series) and physically and theatrically in Oscar (1991); Richard Thomas (Billions (2017-19)) in Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (1991, TV movie); and Jonathan Brandis (Aladdin (1994-95)) in Gabriel's Fire (1991, TV-series). It is fresh at 68 % with a 6.0/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of It?

Owning Mahowny (2003) - Towering Hoffman performance centers gambling addict character study

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+ Best Canadian Movie of the Year

 

Co-star Philip Seymour Hoffman features most prominently on this eclectic poster for Richard Kwietniowski's Owning Mahowny

Successful bank manager Mahowny makes a dangerous digression, when at work he starts covering his increasing gambling debts using fictive customer loans.

 

Owning Mahowny is written by Maurice Chauvet (The Basement (2005)), based on the 1987 nonfiction book Stung by Gary Ross, and directed by Richard Kwietniowski (Love and Death on Long Island (1997)).

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Magnolia (1999)) is epically great as the gambler, (the person struggling with a self-destructive nature), and John Hurt (Lost Souls (2000)) is good as the casino boss, and Minnie Driver (Stage Fright (2014)) ditto as his loving wife. The plot is a downwards spiral without big wild developments, but it is well-told, and Hoffman makes Owning Mahowny a late-night gem of a film.

 

Related post:

 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 10 mil. $

Box office: 1.2 mil. $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.12 times its cost)

[Owning Mahowny premiered 23 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place around March 2001 in New Jersey and Ontario, including in Toronto. The film opened #59 to a 33k $ first weekend in 9 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #50 and in 24 theaters (different weeks), grossing 1 mil. $ (83.3 % of the total gross). It was only released in a little handful of other markets. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Kwietniowski returned with Regret Not Speaking (2011), which was seemingly never released and remains his last finished credit. Hoffman returned in Mattress Man Commercial (2003, short) and theatrically in Cold Mountain (2003); Driver in Hope Springs (2003); and Hurt in a short, a voice performance and a music video prior to his theatrical return in Hellboy (2004). Owning Mahowny is certified fresh at 78 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Owning Mahowny?

Ginger Snaps (2000) or, Howl of the Emo Sisters

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Gothic and bloody indications mixed with mysterious teen sexuality howl from this poster for John Fawcett's Ginger Snaps

When one of two very emo teenage sisters are bitten by a werewolf, it gets her to run amuck in monstrous, adolescent sex!

Ginger Snaps is written by Karen Walton (Deep in the City (1999-00)), with great Canadian co-writer/director John Fawcett (The Boys Club (1996)) contributing story elements.
Here is a highly surprising and edgy horror; most of its shots are deliberately shot askew (cinematography by Thom Best (A Good Meal (2016)).)
The film is ripe with strange or unusual things, and, yes, it is also scary! Mimi Rogers' (Cleaners (2014, TV-series)) deeply humorous performance as the sisters' mother also deserves highlighting.

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 4.5 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 572k $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.12 times its cost)
[Ginger Snaps premiered 1 August (München Fantasy Filmfest, Germany) and runs 108 minutes. 15 companies collaborated to make the film. Shooting took place from October - December 1999 in Ontario, including Toronto. The film won an award at the Toronto International Film Festival and made 425k C$, making it the 5th highest-grossing Canadian film to come out for nearly a year. It made just 2k$ in the US, from two film festivals. But the film became a 'cult favorite' on DVD, though with sales undisclosed. This led to the sequel, Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004), which had an even smaller theatrical gross, and another direct-to-video sequel, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004, video). Fawcett returned with 8 TV credits before his next theatrical outing The Dark (2005). Emily Perkins (Repeaters (2010)) returned in Christy: Return to Cutter Gap (2000, TV movie), Christy: Choices of the Heart (2001, miniseries) and theatrically in Prozac Nation (2001); Katharine Isabelle (The Arrangement (2017-18)) in The Fearing Mind (2000, TV-series)), The Immortal (2001, TV-series) and theatrically in Josie and the Pussycats (2001); Kris Lemche (Haven (2013-15)) in Saint Jude (2000); and Rogers in 8 TV and short projects prior to her theatrical return in Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003). Ginger Snaps is certified fresh at 89 % with a 7.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ginger Snaps?

Brooklyn (2015) - Ronan captivates in Crowley's exquisite, soaring period romance drama masterpiece

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+ 3nd Best Movie of the Year
+ Most Deserved Hit of the Year 
+ Best Irish Movie of the Year  
+ Best Period Movie of the Year 
+ Screen Couple of the Year: Saoirse Ronan & Emory Cohen

Saoirse Ronan encapsulates the formidable power of John Crowley's Brooklyn in her look on this poster

In 1951, a young Irishwoman takes the big decision of moving to the US, where she makes a life for herself and falls in love, until an event in her family drives her back home again.

Don't judge Brooklyn out based on the possibly a bit unassuming quality of its poster and trailer; the film is pure gold!
Saoirse Ronan (Death Defying Acts (2007)) breaks out as a true star here, and she (and her incredible blue eyes along with her) simply becomes the moving Eilis Lacey here. She and Emory Cohen (Afterschool (2008)) as her Italian-American beau suit each other and the silver screen magnificently and seem destined to be the year's best movie pairing. Jim Broadbent (Another Year (2010)) also deserves singling out; here he is great as a priest.
Brooklyn has elegant, simple production design (by François Séguin (The Karate Kid (2010)) and photography by Yves Bélanger (Demolition (2015)) and a beautiful, Irish-inspired score by Michael Brook (The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)), which seems to play right into our very souls.
Brooklyn is a true winner that moves, inspires, causes recognition and joy, - and transforms your heart into a veritable lump of melting butter. It is written by Nick Hornby (Wild (2014)), based on the same-titled 2009 novel by Colm Tóibín (The Empty Family (2010)), and is the 5th feature directed by Irish master filmmaker John Crowley (Intermission (2003)).

Related posts:

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 11 mil. $
Box office: 62 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Brooklyn premiered 26 January (Sundance) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place from March - April 2014 in Ireland, including Dublin, New York and in Montreal, Canada, which doubled for Brooklyn. Funding came together as a puzzle from no less than 20 companies and governmental bodies. The film opened #30 to a 187k $ first weekend in 5 theaters (a solid 37k $ average) in North America, where it spread to peak at #9 and in 947 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 38.3 mil. $ (61.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 8.5 mil. $ (13.7 %) and Australia with 4.5 mil. $ (7.3 %). The film was nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Film, lost to the great Spotlight, Best Actress (Ronan), lost to Brie Larson in masterpiece Room, and Best Adapted Screenplay (Hornby), lost to Charles Randolph and Adam McKay for masterpiece The Big Short. The film was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won 1 out of 6 BAFTA nominations, 1 out of 5 British Independent Film Awards, 2 out of 7 Irish Film and TV Awards and many other awards and honors. In Canada, which was one of the countries behind the film, it was the highest-grossing Canadian or part-Canadian film of 2015, making 4 mil. C$. In Ireland, it had the biggest opening (650k $) for an Irish or part-Irish film since 1996's Michael Collins. The film ranked on more than 120 film critics' Top 10 lists of the year. Crowley followed up his success with directing two episodes of True Detective's 2015 S2. His next feature is the much bigger (40 mil. $) budgeted drama The Goldfinch, starring Ansel Elgort and Aneurin Barnard, which is in pre-production. Brooklyn is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Brooklyn?

Existenz/eXistenZ (1999) - Cronenberg's 1990s-flavored VR nonsense

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+ Most Deserved Flop of the Year

Jude Law handles a strange weapon on this rust-colored poster for David Cronenberg's Existenz

A prominent video game designer brings an inexperienced hunk with her into her virtual reality game universe, where they go through various strange things, - but what is real, and what is the game, - and is it even important to be able to differentiate?

Aficionados of the 1990s sensibilities and styles might rate this film by great Canadian writer-director David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises (2007)) higher, as it is a film that feels very much of its time: Jude Law (Road to Perdition (2002)), pretty and uncharacteristically oblivious here, at one point asks game designer Jennifer Jason Leigh (Dolores Claiborne (1995)), (and I am paraphrasing), if she would like to play eXistenZ benevolently with him, or something like that, (eXistenZ is the name of the game in the film.) And the film is full of lines and plot points that are postmodernist nonsense on full steam like that. The whole film feels a bit like a tiring update of Cronenberg's earlier, much better Videodrome (1983), which charted similar territory. (Existenz is also Cronenberg's first original screenplay since Videodrome.)
Besides this, the body-related aspects of the film, which are a natural part of most of the works of body-horror maestro Cronenberg, are mostly simply curious and gross in Existenz, SPOILER as when Law licks a wound on Leigh's back, or when she loses things in his hole, (which is not what you may think.)
None of the characters in the movie stir up any considerable interest, and the film is built up like a Chinese box, which on the surface can seem fascinating. But the problem is that we are never supposed to ask questions of the preceding box, - because the construction is ultimately hogwash.

Related reviews:

David Cronenberg: Cosmopolis (2012) - Cronenberg/DeLillo/Pattinson's speculative limo lullaby
A Dangerous Method (2011) - Cronenberg's rather disappointing waltz with the fathers of modern psychology 
Eastern Promises (2007) - Cronenberg invites us to meet the Russian mob in London
A History of Violence (2005) or, Who Is Tom Stall? 
Spider (2002) - Cronenberg takes us to the tormented (and slightly dull) mind of a schizophrenic 

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Dead Ringers (1988) or, Brothers and Their Instruments 
The Dead Zone (1983) - Eerie sci-fi/horror King-adaptation  
The Brood (1979) or, Marital Fury and Craze!    

Here, Cronenberg and star Ralph Fiennes talk about Cronenberg's following film, Spider (2002)

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 2.8 mil. $ - North America only
= Box office disaster
[Existenz premiered 16 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 97 minutes. Cronenberg was inspired to the plot after conducting an interview with novelist Salman Rushdie for Shift magazine in 1995, centered on the Iranian fatwa imposed upon the writer due to his controversial novel The Satanic Verses. Shooting took place from April - July in Ontario, Canada. Leigh lost a part in Eyes Wide Shut by starring in Existenz. The film opened #15 to an 810k $ first weekend in 256 theaters in North America, which was its peak. It was released around the same time as another sci-fi movie about an alternate reality and existential ambiguities, which wowed the public infinitely more: The Matrix grossed 463.5 mil. $ globally. Few numbers from other markets are known, but it seems fair to project the global gross of Existenz around 5 mil. $; according to Cronenberg biographer Bart Beaty, the film was "one of the biggest bombs of the Canadian film industry." Cronenberg was eventually forced to return to matter with more popular appeal in his great A History of Violence (2005). Existenz won the silver prize in Berlin. Existenz is fresh at 71 % with a 6.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Existenz?

Heartbeats/Les Amours Imaginaires (2010) - Dolan's second is the year's guilty pleasure #1

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1 Film Excess nomination:

Best Costumes: Xavier Dolan (lost to Pat Field for Sex and the City 2)

+ Best Canadian Movie of the Year
+ Best Youth Movie of the Year
+ Sexiest Movie of the Year

Xavier Dolan looks enamored and slightly annoyed, perhaps at being enamored, on the poster for his own Heartbeats

Two good, fashionable friends get a new friend, whom they both fall in love with and idealize, while he manipulates them.

Heartbeats, with the original French title Les Amours Imaginaires (which translates to 'the imaginary loves'), is the second feature from Canadian master writer-director Xavier Dolan (Mommy (2014)). It presents a story that seems ideal for a short film, which is then stretched to feature length. It thus comes off as a very light but also delightfully tender and elegant film of the little unhappy romances in life, and especially the ones that primarily remain fanciful.
Niels Schneider (Opium (2013)) is good as the favored Adonis, whose casual cat-and-mouse game with the two enamored 'friends' annoys me to the point where I just want to scratch his eyes out. Dolan himself is dreamy as the wildly frustrated Francis, and Monia Chokri (All Yours/Je Suis à Toi (2014)) is also divine, (although she smokes too much) as the equally frustrated Marie. They are a damn sexy trio.
The film can seem almost superficial due to its hyper-aestheticism (the neat cinematography is by Stéphanie Anne Weber Biron (I Killed My Mother/J'ai Tué Ma Mère (2009))) and thematical lightness, so it feels like a guilty pleasure still to dig Heartbeats in a big way. It employs the element of having younger people unrelated to the story discuss their love lives to the camera, which works for the most part, (and lengthens the film, which may have been the main reason for incorporating it.) Dolan has, as he likes to do, picked out the stylish costumes for the film himself.
Heartbeats is a sensuous, deliciously sounding style-soup of a film to savor, and I have enjoyed watching it several times.

Related posts:


Xavier Dolan:  2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]   
Mommy (2014) - Dolan has outdone himself and orchestrated the (probably) best film of the year
Tom at the Farm/Tom à la Ferme (2013) - Intense, eerie sub/dom-themed sex thriller (without sex)
Laurence Anyways (2012) - Dolan serves a stylish, jumbled, massive transsexualism tale 
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Approximately 595k $
Box office: 588k $
= Big flop
[Heartbeats premiered May 16 (Cannes) and runs 101 minutes. It was made on a small budget and premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes Film Festival. In the US, the film opened to a 7k $ first weekend in a single theater, widening to 10 theaters at its biggest, grossing 68k $ (11.6 % of the total gross). Its biggest markets were France/Canada with 411k $ (69.9 %) and Germany with 159k $ (27 %). The film played at various festivals and won the Sydney Film Festival's Best Film award. Heartbeats is certified fresh at 73 % with a 6.9 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Heartbeats?