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‘Parnassus’ causes much head-scratching at Cannes
In Contention — 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. ...

Early Buzz and New Clip: The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
/Film — Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus has finally premiered in Cannes. Reviews have been surfacing all day and most of them, unsurprisingly, focus on two key factors - that this film contains Heath Ledger’s final performance and that a Gilliam film is somehow difficult or appeals only to a few. I can’t argue with the first part, but the second doesn’t add up. Below the break you can see a scene from the film that clocks in at just under a minute. It has been circulated as a promotional piece for the Cannes fest by Canal Plus and as such has French subtitles ...

Cannes 2009: Gilliam's 'Imaginarium' Too Whimsical, Capricious & Incoherent?
:: The Playlist :: — Still catching up with Cannes material. So, Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" screened at Cannes over the weekend and reactions were... well mixed (as were the reactions to many of the films at the 62 annual Cannes Film Festival). The Hollywood Reporter found it unsuccessful overall. "]The] big question is whether Gilliam has produced something to rank with his great fantasies "Time Bandits" and "Brazil," and the answer is sadly no. A carnival show with a mirror to the imagination allows Gilliam to employ his remarkable gift for imagery, but the worlds ...