this week in film and television

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS

Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) makes a devilish deal with Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) in new Terry Gilliam flick

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS (Terry Gilliam, 2009)
www.doctorparnassus.co.uk

Longtime Monty Python animator Terry Gilliam is perhaps the most frustrating filmmaker of the last thirty years. A remarkable talent whose works are often mired in controversy, from going way overbudget to having to deal with severe illness and even death on his sets, Gilliam has made such pure gems as TIME BANDITS (1981), BRAZIL (1985), and THE FISHER KING (1991) as well as such disasters as FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (1998), THE BROTHERS GRIMM (2005), and TIDELAND (2005). His last real success was TWELVE MONKEYS (1995), making it nearly fifteen years since he has made a worthwhile movie. His latest adult fairy tale, THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, is reminiscent of his 1988 film, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, a somewhat underrated though hit-or-miss effort that reached lofty heights while flirting with utter ridiculousness. Cowritten by Gilliam and Charles McKeown (who also collaborated on BRAZIL and MUNCHAUSEN), DOCTOR PARNASSUS is built around a Faustian plot in which a monk, Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), who thinks his sect controls the story of the world, makes a deal with Mr. Nick, the devil (Tom Waits), involving Parnassus’s daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole). Valentina is part of the doctor’s traveling sideshow, along with the trusted, all-knowing Percy (Verne Troyer) and assistant Anton (Andrew Garfield), who is in love with Valentina but is unable to express his desire. The ramshackle show offers people the chance to walk through a mirror into their own private fantasy — during which they will eventually face a decision regarding their own potential deal with the devil. When the oddball troupe discovers a man hanging by his neck under a bridge, they welcome the charming, handsome, deeply mysterious stranger (Heath Ledger) into their outfit, but he is hiding a secret that could tear everything apart. PARNASSUS is an up-and-down affair in which a captivating, beautiful scene will be followed by a baffling segment that borders on the incompetent, as if the filmmakers forgot to edit it properly or couldn’t afford more takes to improve it. Fortunately, the last half hour is thrilling, especially how Gilliam and McKeown rework the script to deal with Ledger’s death when several key scenes still needed to be shot.

AVATAR

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has a new world awaiting him in AVATAR

AVATAR (James Cameron, 2009)
www.avatarmovie.com

Canadian-born director James Cameron (THE TERMINATOR, ALIENS, THE ABYSS, and some movie about a big sinking ship) crafts an expensive, high-tech apology to native people the world over in the futuristic adventure thriller AVATAR. Borrowing elements from such films as THE MATRIX, ALIEN, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Star Wars saga, Disney’s animated POCOHANTAS, REIGN OF FIRE, and many a cowboy-and-Indian tale, Cameron propels audiences into 2154, where a team of scientists join up with military troops on Pandora, home to the invaluable mineral unobtainium as well as a native race known alternately as the na’vi, or the People. In the middle of it all is Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a wheelchair-bound former Marine who takes the place of his brilliant brother, who was recently murdered. While head researcher Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) thinks bringing Jake on board is a mistake, Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) sees it as an opportunity to make use of Jake’s expert reconnaissance skills, so Jake takes over what would have been his brother’s avatar – a giant creation modeled after the na’vi that humans can operate from a pod while asleep and that gives Jake the opportunity to walk again through this tall blue being. Quaritch secretly promises Jake that he will get him the costly procedure that will give him back the use of his real legs if he infiltrates the na’vi and sends intel back to the colonel as the military prepares an all-out assault on the People, but when Jake falls for the beautiful Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), he undergoes a change of heart. As with most Cameron films, the visual splendor is thwarted by a tired, clichéd script that devolves into complete silliness in the last half hour, spurred on by James Horner’s treacly score and plenty of poorly delivered lines. But AVATAR is still lots of stupid fun, especially if you see it in 3D.

ANTICHRIST

Lars von Trier’s ANTICHRIST will, unsurprisingly, prove rather controversial

ANTICHRIST (Lars von Trier, 2009)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at Third St.
212-924-7771
http://www.ifcfilms.com

Generally, Danish Dogme practitioner Lars von Trier makes films that critics and audiences alike are either repulsed by or deeply love. Controversial works such as BREAKING THE WAVES, THE IDIOTS, DANCER IN THE DARK, and DOGVILLE win international awards while also driving people out of theaters. In fact, at his recent New York Film Festival press conference for ANTICHRIST, he was asked how he feels when no one walks out on his work: “Then I have failed,” he replied with a sly grin. Well, there are sure to be many walkouts during ANTICHRIST, a harrowing tale of grief, pain, and despair that begins with a gorgeously shot, visually graphic sex scene followed by a tragic accident. The rest of the film details how the unnamed couple (Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) deal with the loss of their young child; a therapist, he opts to treat her more as a patient than as his wife, a highly questionable decision that threatens to tear them apart — both psychologically and physically, as the film turns into an extremely violent horror flick in the final scenes. Somehow, we found ourselves pretty much right in the middle of this one, neither loving it nor hating it while admiring it greatly despite its odd meanderings, loose holes, sappy dialogue, and occasionally awkward scenarios. In certain ways, it’s a bizarre amalgamation of Alfred Hitchcock’s SPELLBOUND, Ingmar Bergman’s SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE, Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING (and various other Stephen King stories), Roman Polanski’s ROSEMARY’S BABY, Richard Donner’s THE OMEN, Robert Wise’s AUDREY ROSE, and Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. Or something like that. Add half a star if you think von Trier is a creative genius; delete two stars if you consider him a certifiable lunatic.

HOUSE (HAUSU)

Japanese cult horror comedy finally gets a theatrical release

HOUSE (HAUSU) (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
www.janusfilms.com/house

One of the craziest movies ever made, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 1977 cult classic, HOUSE (HAUSU), is finally getting its first-ever U.S. theatrical release, in a new 35mm print at the IFC Center. Truly one of those things that has to be seen to be believed, HOUSE is a psychedelic black horror comedy musical about Gorgeous (Kimiko Ikegami) and six of her high school friends who choose to spend part of their summer vacation at Gorgeous’s aunt’s (Yoko Minamida) very strange house. Gorgeous, whose mother died when she was little and whose father (Saho Sasazawa) is about to get married to Ryoko (Haruko Wanibuchi), brings along her playful friends Melody (Eriko Ikegami), Fantasy (Kumiko Oba), Prof (Ai Matsubara), Sweet (Masayo Miyako), Kung Fu (Miki Jinbo), and Mac (Mieko Sato), who quickly start disappearing like ten little Indians. HOUSE is a ceaselessly entertaining head trip of a movie, a tongue-in-chic celebration of genre with spectacular set designs by Kazuo Satsuya, beautiful cinematography by Yoshitaka Sakamoto, and a fab score by Asei Kobayashi and Mickie Yoshino. The original story actually came from the mind of Obayashi’s eleven-year-old daughter, Chigumi, who clearly has one heck of an imagination. Oh, and we can’t forget about the evil cat, a demonic feline to end all demonic felines. The film is being released prior to its appearance on DVD from Janus, the same company that puts out such classic fare as Federico Fellini’s AMARCORD, Akira Kurosawa’s RASHOMON, Jacques Tati’s M. HULOT’S HOLIDAY, François Truffaut’s SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER, Jean Renoir’s THE RULES OF THE GAME, and Jean-Luc Godard’s VIVRE SA VIE, so HOUSE has joined some very prestigious company. And who are we to say it doesn’t deserve it?

UP IN THE AIR

George Clooney flies the suddenly not-so-friendly skies in UP IN THE AIR

UP IN THE AIR (Jason Reitman, 2009)
www.theupintheairmovie.com

Jason Reitman is now a lofty three-for-three, having written and directed 2005’s biting black comedy THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, helming 2007’s surprise runaway hit JUNO, and now serving as writer, director, and one of the producers on the high-flying drama UP IN THE AIR. George Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham, a self-assured, classy frequent flyer who travels the country firing people, proudly amassing miles and lecturing on living light. But when his boss (Jason Bateman) brings in young hotshot Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) to ground all the hit men and force them to hand out those pink slips via the internet, Bingham is afraid his cozy little world will unravel, especially now that he has met fellow mile-high-club member Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), who also likes to live life fast and loose, with no attachments. A mere thirty-two, Reitman once again displays an intelligence and sense of dry humor well beyond his years, although he clearly picked up some of his wit from his father, Ivan Reitman, who directed STRIPES, GHOST BUSTERS, and DAVE (in addition to TWINS, KINDERGARTEN COP, and SIX DAYS SEVEN NIGHTS). The first half of UP IN THE AIR is plenty charming, as Bingham goes from city to city with a big smile on his face. But following a plot hole you can fly a plane through, the latter parts are a bit of a letdown as Reitman struggles to bring it all in for a landing. Still, UP IN THE AIR is an inventive, insightful film, albeit with some misguided turbulence.

FISH TANK

Mia (Katie Jarvis) hopes there's more to life in FISH TANK

FISH TANK (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
Opens Friday, January 15
IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave. at Third St.
212-924-7771
Lincoln Plaza Cinema, 1886 Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts.
212-757-2280
www.lincolnplazacinema.com
www.ifccenter.com
www.fishtankmovie.com

Writer-director Andrea Arnold follows up her brilliant, harrowing feature debut, 2006’s RED ROAD, with the brilliant, highly perceptive, and emotionally gripping FISH TANK. Katie Jarvis, a seventeen-year-old discovered by Arnold while the girl was arguing with her boyfriend on a train station platform, had never acted before and was not a dancer, but Arnold cast her in the lead role of Mia, a fifteen-year-old troubled kid who dreams of becoming a professional hip-hop dancer as her only way out of her drab life. A loner quick to curse and fight, Mia lives with her mother, Joanne (Kierston Wareing), who loves to drink and party, and her little sister, Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths making her acting debut as well). When her mother starts dating Connor (Michael Fassbender), Mia soon turns to him for help and advice, but their relationship threatens to grow much too close and far too dangerous. Arnold shot the film in chronological order, giving each actor only parts of the script at a time, so virtually every scene of FISH TANK feels fresh and genuine, with natural, believable actions and reactions. While Wareing and Fassbender (HUNGER and 300) are excellent, the film belongs to the remarkable Jarvis, who will break your heart over and over again.

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

Mother and daughter need to face some heavy consequences in misguided French drama

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (LA FILLE DU RER) (André Téchiné, 2009)
Opens Friday, January 22
www.strandreleasing.com

French auteur André Téchiné (RENDEZ-VOUS, WILD REEDS), who specializes in deeply emotional dramas, follows up the wholly unnecessary AIDS film WITNESSES with the equally unnecessary THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN. Adapted from a play by Jean-Marie Besset based on a real-life scandal, the films stars the charming Emilie Dequenne as Jeanne, a young woman trying to find her place in the world. Flighty and flakey, Jeanne agrees to go on a job interview with a high-powered lawyer, Samuel Bleistein (Michel Blanc), whom her mother, Louise (Catherine Deneuve), used to work for and nearly had an extramarital fling with. But when Jeanne’s burgeoning relationship with a suspicious wrestler named Franck (Nicolas Devauchelle) ends in extreme violence, she acts out in a way that results in a national scandal built on lies. As with WITNESSES, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN has little to say about its subject matter. The characters seem lost, wandering around aimlessly in Téchiné’s misguided story, and Jeanne feels particularly outdated and irrelevant even though she’s the title character. Téchiné, who divides the film into two parts, “Circumstances” and “Consequences,” admits to having significantly changed both the actual events and the play; perhaps he should have left well enough alone.