The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Terry Gilliam likes his movies fantastical and quirky and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is no exception. Despite his successes, Gilliam is also known for his string of unfortunate production problems. Again, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is no exception.

This is the movie where Heath Ledger died during a filming break. Upon Ledger's death production shut down until Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Ferrell stepped up to take over Ledger's role. Magically, this role sharing actually works with the story.

Ledger was playing Tony, a man found hanging from a bridge in London by the gypsy-like performing group of the 1,000-year old Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer). Tony stays with the group as they go around inviting people into Doctor Parnassus' Imaginarium. Like the name implies, inside people can experience worlds of their own imagination, but it's also where Parnassus can collect their souls. Soon the group has to hurry to capture five souls before Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) does. It's an alternate to Parnassus' old deal with Nick that required him to surrender his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) to Nick on her sixteenth birthday.

No doubt the film is wacky. It's part of the fun. But eventually it flounders before it reaches the end and any concern I had for the characters was gone just when it was called for most. It's really too bad. The cast does a nice job. I especially look forward to seeing more of Lily Cole and Andrew Garfield (another member of the Parnassus group) in other films. And of course there's Ledger. Ledger had reached new levels as The Joker in The Dark Knight and he was still going strong in this movie.

Rating: 3/5

Recommended for: Anyone who wants to see Heath Ledger in one more movie

Extended Review: At certain points it seems like Ledger is channeling Johnny Depp (especially Jack Sparrow Johnny Depp). So when Depp is the first to play Ledger, there's a great symbiosis.

City of Ember (2008)

City of Ember apparently came out in theaters in October 2008 but I can't remember ever seeing it advertised - anywhere. With a cast including Oscar-winners Tim Robbins and Martin Landau, as well as Oscar-nominees Bill Murray and Saoirse Ronan, I'm not sure why. On top of that, the poster uses the tagline "Escape is the only option." This makes it seem like a horror film unless you're sensitive to things like the typical use of a cool color palette on horror film posters (this one is warm) or have heard of/read the 2003 book on which the film is based.

The real travesty in this poor marketing is that this is actually a pretty darn good children's movie that adults will be able to find interesting as well.

The city of Ember itself is a completely underground community, reminiscent of Eastern Germany right before the Wall fell and built to last 200 years by the aptly named Builders. They also left behind a box containing the instructions on what to do when that time is up, but it's been forgotten. The town's generator is failing and the food supplies are running low as we're introduced to Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) who've just graduated school and have been assigned the jobs of Messenger and Pipeworks Apprentice respectively. Doon desperately wants to fix the generator while Lina is determined to find a way outside of the city. The two team up but the corrupt Mayor Cole (Bill Murray) isn't going to make it easy.

Director Gil Kenan puts forth a charming film in only his second wide-release effort. There are plenty of questions on how the city really works, but it's visually stunning and still fun to experience.

Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: Everyone looking for a fun adventure but especially kids ages 5 - 11