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Parnassus fails in tribute to Heath Ledger
Terry Gilliam fantasy only for fans.
AS a huge Monty Python fan with a DVD collection of their entire work, I'm reluctant to criticise Terry Gilliam, the American-born member of the famous comedy troupe.
But with the exception of the superb Brazil, movies from screenwriter/animator/director Gilliam haven't really done it for me.
And I'm afraid his fantasy touch has deserted him again with THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS (12: Lionsgate), a confusing plod through themes and visuals recycled from Time Bandits, The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen and The Fisher King.
Gilliam's self-indulgent tale centres on a carnival sideshow run by Dr Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) whose immortality has come at a price – the soul of his teenage daughter Valentina (Lily Cole).
In his last - but certainly not greatest - screen performance Heath Ledger plays mysterious amnesiac Tony who the Doctor befriends.
Unless they can coax a few more souls to lose themselves in the Imaginarium, Valentina becomes the prize in a deal Parnassus has made with the Devil, Mr Nick.
As Ledger died during filming, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell take over from him every time his character steps through the Imaginarium's enchanted mirror.
It's a clever way of covering up the actor's demise, but these fantasy sequences are clunky with poor special effects.
>> Writer/director Roland Emmerich has made a career out of creative destruction with blockbuster movies Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow in which humanity was obliterated by aliens and a climate change-induced ice age, respectively.
So he's in his comfort zone for 2012 (12: Sony), although this time solar flares are to blame as the planet gets microwaved.
Cue some awesome, and expensive, CGI as Yellowstone goes supervolcano, entire cities are demolished and giant tsunamis romp across the globe.
John Cusack plays a failed author who's told the truth about the end of the world by Woody Harrelson's conspiracy theory nut, and tries to save his kids and ex-wife (Amanda Peet).
Danny Glover is miscast as the President, who decides to keep information from the masses, and while the actors do their best with the nonsensical script, they're dwarfed by the special effects.
>> The heroine, Bella (Kristen Stewart), is glum and lonely and doesn't know what to do with herself in NEW MOON (12: EI Films), the second instalment of the hugely successful Twilight series - and the film-makers appear to have been similarly stumped.
Bella's vampire beau, Edward (Robert Pattinson), must leave town and in his absence she starts riding motorbikes as the danger allows her to see visions of her love.
That's just as well for Pattinson's army of fans who will otherwise miss his presence for large chunks of the film.Taylor Lautner is a bland substitute as Jacob, Bella's rebound guy, who also happens to be a werewolf.
Bike stunts and vampire-versus-werewolf scenes only drag out the wait until Edward reappears, along with a camp Michael Sheen as the vampire overlord who decides their fate.
>> There are shades of director Steven Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich in THE INFORMANT (15: Warner), in which he uncovers the funny side of a real-life story of price-fixing scams and corporate espionage.
Matt Damon is overweight, insecure and nave as the whistle-blower of the piece, Mark Whitacre, a biochemist and executive at an agricultural conglomerate who buckles under the pressure of spying for the FBI.
Viewers are made privy to his thoughts in a wry voiceover, but the tension of leading a double life doesn't come across as strongly in scenes at home with his trusting spouse.
Although Damon conveys the vulnerability of his character, the script fails to explore why Whitacre makes the choices he does.
>> TOP TEN: 1 Law Abiding Citizen; 2 The Fourth Kind; 3 Zombieland; 4 Saw VI; 5 Harry Brown; 6 The Time Traveler's Wife; 7 The Invention Of Lying; 8 Up; 9 Couples Retreat; 10 Dorian Gray. Chart from Blockbuster.
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Weather for Leighton Buzzard
Tuesday 22 May 2012
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