Saturday, July 25, 2009

Get ur (carnival) freak on

Here's one of the more interesting tidbits that have trickled out from comic-con. Terry Gilliam was down in San D talking about his upcoming film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. His comment on "all the things I used to be good at" seems an admission that he hasn't been at the top of his game for a while. Whether this movie will put him back there remains to be seen.

The minute shown of the late Heath Ledger is absolutely magnetic. Ledger came to Gilliam straight from his (yes, majority opinion got this one right) definitive portrayal of the Joker. He's wearing a commedia mask similar to the one Alex wore during the home invasion/rape in A Clockwork Orange, which may be a sign this character isn't meant to be trusted. I do want to like him, though.

No close-up view of Tom Waits as the Devil, though. It's a good casting choice. He's taken on the role of either the Devil or a damned soul on a few of his songs. "Lucinda" from Orphans certainly sounds like it's coming from a lake of fire.

2 comments:

susan said...

In spite of the posted videos looking choppy the movie itself sounds interesting enough to be worth a trip to the theater (the only way to support Gilliam's efforts). The Zero Theorem outline sounded pretty cool too - unfortunate it's been canned. The documentary about his attempt at The Man From La Mancha was so good and so sad because he has a lot to say that would be worth our really hearing. Brazil is always worth re-watching every few years.

Ben said...

I hadn't really known about The Zero Theorem before. I like the sound of it, and it is too bad they pulled the plug.

Brazil? Yes.