highly overrated, but turned into a legend post mortem
This legend making phenomenon reminds me of James Dean, only I'd say James Dean had way more charisma on screen
shareI think he's adequately rated. Brokeback Mountain, Dark Knight, and Candy are all spectacular performances. His roles in The Patriot, 10 Things I Hate About You, Monster's Ball, and I'm Not There were also very good.
Dean is great too, but he didn't have as long to showcase what he could do.
Really great in his final performance, too, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
shareThat's one I've had a hard time getting through. It's just so disjointed because he couldn't complete his part, and they brought in the others to fill in. Maybe I'll give it another try.
shareI dig weirdness, and Terry Gilliam's stuff is always entertaining for me, and so imaginative. It's weird how few Hollywood films - which should be creative and really out there, really capable of going on a trip, right? - are just copies or bland or unimaginative at all. Gilliam is always wacky and that tickles me.
But with Imaginarium specifically, I thought that they actually handled the shift pretty neatly. The mechanism was already built into the plot (the dream-scape of the Imaginarium), the motivation was there (Ledger's character did want to escape and hide at the time...), and honestly, I thought if I didn't know about the reason for that device, I think I'd have just thought it was more weirdness. Although, I might have thought they should have used it earlier or explored it more.
That said, if it's not your bag, it's not your bag. Everybody's got a different hand that turns their crank.
Oh weird is absolutely my bag. I love Terry Gilliam's films, but that one never hooked me.
shareI get it; I've had that where normally something or some artist is my deal, but then a version of it or the latest entry just isn't for me.
You have a favourite Gilliam? That's always a hard one for me, but I might go with Brazil. Runner up is The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen. Then again, The Fisher King might be the best one he's done. And after I hit "reply", I'll remember three more of his I really, really like (Jabberwocky isn't my number one - I do know that - but I also think it's grossly underrated, probably because a lot of people seem to think it should act like a Python film, and it isn't one, even if it has a lot of similarities).
Time Bandits was a favorite for a long time, and it still probably takes the cake as the funniest. I adore Brazil. There's really nothing wrong with that movie, if you watch the good cut with the downer ending. The "Love Conquers All" ending is just bad, and that cut is not watchable really. If you asked me today, and you did, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is probably my favorite right now. That movie is a full body visceral experience. I didn't see Jabberwocky until recently and I liked it quite a bit.
shareYeah, I've only ever seen the director's cut of Brazil. I keep meaning to watch them back-to-back - I've got that multi-disc Criterion set - just so I can get an insight into how to save or destroy a film with editing, but for some reason, I never feel like it once I watch the true version. It's a full, satisfying experience. Why would I watch something sub-par afterwards? I have the same roadblock whenever I fire up Godfather Parts I and II and get to III and I just think, "Mmm...I just watched six hours of near-perfect cinema, why would I hack into something lesser?"
Fear and Loathing! I definitely forgot that one! It's a brilliant movie! Great book, too. Hunter S. Thompson was a madman. I mean, I don't buy every word (maybe not even most of them), but any basis in reality and he's some kinda crazy man in the most entertaining and enlightening way.
Jabberwocky is one I think about when pondering the pervading ubiquity of CGI monsters in movies. We won't get anymore amazing puppet beasts like in Jabberwocky, and that's too bad. Not that I think CGI can't be used well or can't look great, but there's a certain vibe it gives off that is useful to some films (Smaug in The Hobbit, for instance, was realized superbly, or Gollum in the Hobbit films and the (far, far, far superior) Lord of the Rings movies), but there's also something great about the effects seen in Jabberwocky, or Dragon Slayer. Especially with the monster movies like those, or Godzilla or what-have-you, somethin' cool about stuntmen and puppeteers using rubber costumes and camera tricks to make a beastie...
The Four Feathers. HELLO !
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