TERRY GILLIAM

I love Terry Gilliam's filmmaking style. He's never made a truly awful film (the worst would have to be THE BROTHERS GRIMM and I thought that was messy fun) and I have always found his movies to be thrilling on any number of levels. Just think--Gilliam has unleashed the following films on the public: BRAZIL, TIME BANDITS, BARON MUNCHAUSEN, 12 MONKEYS, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, THE FISHER KING, and TIDELAND. All of those are visionary works as far as I'm concerned, and FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS is one my top 20 films of all time.

Variety announced today that he's got a new film about to start production. Per the trade magazine:

"...the 67-year-old filmmaker, originally from Minneapolis but now a naturalized Brit, has just started shooting "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," a $30 million indie movie which he describes as 'a compendium of everything I've done.' It's his first wholly original screenplay, and his most personal statement, since "Brazil" in 1985. Set and shot in contemporary London and in parallel fantasy realms, it stars Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits and Lily Cole in a characteristically convoluted tale of a travelling theater troupe led by the 1,000-year-old Parnassus (Plummer), whose magical mirror lets his audience escape into a universe of boundless imagination."

Now...I must say....a fantasy fan I am not. However, given that this is a Terry Gilliam movie, I'll be there opening weekend.