We all know the story of how Heath Ledger’s death almost derailed Terry Gilliam’s latest film – and how three of Ledger’s friends [Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell] stepped in to finish the film after Gilliam tweaked the script to allow for their presences. The result, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, is one of Gilliam’s most accessible and intriguing films in years.
The story involves a series of bets between former monk Parnassus [Christopher Plummer] and Mr Nick, aka The Devil [Tom Waits] that have led to Mr. Nick’s claim on Parnassus’ daughter, Valentina [Lily Cole] in a few days from the film’s opening moments. Parnassus and his daughter have a travelling show that allows anyone who’s willing to take the chance to have their imagination unfettered in a world on the other side of a peculiar mirror. Also part of the presentation is Anton [Andrew Garfield] and the sarcastic – and almost always right Percy [Verne Troyer].
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Christopher Plummer,
Heath Ledger,
Lily Cole,
Sony Pictures Classics,
Terry Gilliam
Monty Python: The Other British Invasion is a collection of two documentaries and two short featurettes that deal with how the famous comedy troupe came together and their effect on American TV comedy.
The first doc, the [appropriately] black & white Before the Flying Circus, looks at how the members of the group came together and what their influences were. The five remaining Pythons and various key figures in their evolution are interviewed at length and these interviews are juxtaposed with photos and clips that illustrate that evolution. The second, Monty Python Conquers America chronicles the stealth comedy bombing of American comic sensibilities and how the troupe’s literate silliness changed American TV comedy.
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A&E Home Video. Monty Python: The Other British Invasion,
Eric Idle,
John Cleese,
Terry Gilliam
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