Walt Disney Meets Salvador Dali: “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus”
First published January 21, 2010 - revised 1/25/10, 11:00 pm
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus - Flixter.com
Director/Writer Terry Gilliam must have channeled both Salvador Dali and Walt Disney to create this film.
I don’t know if it’s partly because I know one of the players, but I say “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” is one of the best movies I’ve seen.
Plot synopsis from IMDb: “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this ‘coming of age’ milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all… ”
From the opening scenes and throughout most of the movie there’s a “dream-imagery” which evokes the inner-fantasy part of a cozy opium-den (not that I would know) or a Daliesque landscape with bright blue-skies, rowboats and a bovine carcass floating in the water. The water scene reminds one - of the clips in Dali’s Un Chien Andalou when “the woman’s left eyeball is sliced-open with a straight-edge razor,” or “the piano/horse scene.”
The warm reds, golds, maroons, purples and whatevers of the living-quarters of Dr. Parnassus’ horse-drawn wagon A.K.A. *The Imaginarium are so soothing that I wanted those scenes to go on and on without end. Another memorable scene reveals artistic excellence when a “wall of reality” is peeled open.”
This is a streeetch, however there is a little coffee-house, in one of my favorite cities, Santa Ana, California called The Gypsy Den. I first discovered it when I was living in Santa Ana - Right, just like Columbus.
The Gypsy Den is on First Avenue and Broadway, if I recall correctly. It is anchoring a corner in the Hispanic area of Santa Ana. For me that is part of its charm. The interior is authentic Gypsy: old stuffed divans, couches and sofa-chairs, old oil-paintings, posters, old pictures and books. I recall scarves, candles, brass, a coffee-bar with pastry cases, giant coffee cups and California girls pouring coffee and serving cinnamon roles A.K.A. rolls.
There’s an old cigarette-burned piano in a stage-like area, and tables near windows which let in California sunshine. There’s a garden-of-eden patio on the North, in a bit of heaven - an old Santa Ana coblestoned town-square. Three blocks north on Broadway, you’re in Mexico, USA.
There is a point to all this, The Gypsy Den is a bit of Dr. Parnassus’ Imaginarium.
Paloma Faith - Flicker.Com
All of the actors shine: Christopher Plummer’s Dr. Parnassus is as powerful as a Star Wars character. The team effort of Johnny Depp, Heath Ledger, Jude Law and Colin Farrell (listed in order of appearance,) all playing the character named Tony is interesting and seamless.
Tom Waits as Mr. Nick, the devil should get top kudos for best performance of a devil. Lily Cole’s (Kewpie-Doll) Valentina, the good Doctor’s daughter-in-peril is sexy-sweet-charming, and Paloma Faith is stop-cold stunning [see photo.] She is Mr. Nick’s flashy, diamond-girlfriend, Sally. Verne Troyer is magnificent as Dr. Parnassus’s diminutive assistant.
If I were giving out awards I’d give Christopher Plummer an award for best actor; I’d give an award to Tom Waits for best supporting actor, or to Verne Troyer for best supporting actor. I’d give out awards for set design, art design/direction, costumes, music and more. Lily Cole is very believable as Valentina. Andrew Garfield deserves a mention. His character, Anton is the Imaginarium’s barker and Valentina’s love interest. Tony (The late Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell) should get an award for being able to wear the same suit.
*Yeah, I realize that the phenomenon of the Imaginarium extends far beyond the boundaries of the wagon.
January 9, 2010
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Tom Waits is the devil
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Following is a IMDb synopsis of the movie “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” with a steller cast including: the late Heath Ledger, most women’s heartthrob Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Colin Farrell and the aforementioned Tom Waits.
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this ‘coming of age’ milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all” more information from IMDb
In The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Tom Waits is the devil. I’m just guessing, however, I imagine Waits will slip into this role as easily as a stinky foot settling into an old house slipper. I’m also guessing that this film is high art. The muses must have been working overtime.
I am really looking forward to devouring this film. “The film’s world premiere was during the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, out of competition.[] The UK release of the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but pushed back to 16 October 2009 due to its successful premiere at Cannes. The film was given a limited release in the US on Christmas Day 2009 and a wide release on 8 January 2010″ more from Wiki
Tom Waits
Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
I imagine that Waits (Mr. Nick, the devil) will show off the same Tom Waits’ flash-bang acting style that I expierienced in a room at the Tropicana Motor Hotel in Hollywood in the mid 70s. Picking up my Martin D-28, Waits manhandled that sweet guitar as though it were a weapon, snapping the strings with ice-cold defience and a laser focused energy producing sounds that stung like hot bullets through the ego. If that guitar were a gun, I’d be long-dead under the rubble of the long-gone Tropicana Motor Hotel.
My good friend CEW would accuse me of parasitical journalism for posting this article.
December 14, 2009
Panettone French Toast
Preparing Panettone for Italian French Toast
photo LasVegasBuffetClub
When the Christmas season rolls around one sees so many of those red and gold boxes in the food stores; It’s the Italian, Christmas bread Panettone.
I doubt that it’s a coincidence that this regal loaf is shaped like a crown and embedded with jewel-like bits of fruit.
A slice of Panettone is usually toasted and buttered for breakfast or served with a bit of jam after Christmas dinner. This is a new twist on this tall, golden bread with raisins and bits of candied lemon and orange peel.
Krissy, A.K.A. “THE NAPKIN LADY” (*See her Napkin Folding video below) came up with this wonderful idea for Panettone: Panettone French Toast. Simply prepare a **standard French Toast egg-mixture, saturate a slice of Panettone with the egg-mixture, then fry it in a bit of [olive] oil, top it with butter, sliced fruit (strawberries, blackberries etc.) and/or jam or jelly. Hit it with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and serve with Maple syrup. This is a delightful twist on an old favorite.
**Since a slice of Panettone is usually much larger than a standard bread slice, add a tablespoon of orange juice to “stretch” the egg-mixture. I also add a shake or two of cinnamon.
Panettone and Coffee
photo LasVegasBuffetClub
“If I’m late to the table and you’ve been doing this for years it aien’t my fault and I’m sticking with that!”
Access a Wiki page for Panettone here
Legends, from the Wiki pages:
“Though the etymology of the word ‘panettone’ is rather mundane, three more complex and fanciful folk etymologies have arisen.”
“One suggests that the word derives from the Milanese, “pan del ton,” meaning “bread of luxury.”
“Another states that a 15th century legend from Milan credits the invention to the nobleman falconer Ughetto Atellani, who fell in love with Adalgisa, the daughter of a poor baker named Toni. To win her over, the nobleman disguised himself as a baker and invented a rich bread to which he added flour and yeast, butter, eggs, dried raisins and candied lemon and orange peel.”
“The duke of Milan, Ludovico il Moro Sforza (1452-1508), agreed to the marriage, which was held in the presence of Leonardo da Vinci, and encouraged the launch of the new cake-like bread: Pan de Toni (or Toni’s bread).”
“Another legend credits the cake being invented in the court of the Sforzas, but with the following story:
It was Christmas and the court cook had no dessert to offer. So the guests were given a sweet bread baked by a mere kitchen boy, called Toni, which won general praise. Rather than steal the praise for himself, the cook congratulated his assistant and named it after him.”
“The third, says that the invention was the work of sister Ughetta.”
From a Portuguese translation:
“An ancient legend says that the fruitcake was created in the seventeenth century by a baker in the region of Lombardy called Toni who fell in love with a girl and to impress his father created a new recipe for bread filled with candied fruit. [Com o tempo esse pão recebeu o nome de "pani di toni" ou seja o pão do toni que atualmente é chamado de panetone.] Over time the bread was called “pani di toni” that is the bread of Toni who is now called panettone.”
Here’s a recipe for Panettone. “Il Panettone Milanese - Milanese Panettone: Never made a panettone? To begin, some words of advice, which will be obvious if you have already made a panettone, but will help if it’s your first time.”
“Work the dough, if possible, with a dough mixer of the kind also used for making bread dough. Beating times with a mixer are on the order of 20 minutes, whereas hand-beating will require about 50″ read more…
*Watch Krissy the Napkin Lady’s video here.
Access the LasVegasBuffetClub’s main pages
Access the LasVegasBuffetClub’s recipe pages
February 5, 2009
Mickey Rourke is “THE WRESTLER”
The Wrestler
On some far off planet called New Jersey, where the men are as hard as grey sky and the women are as attractive as Marisa Tomei, the film “THE WRESTLER“ was crafted.
At least the movie was supposedly filmed in New Jersey. Wait a minute, it has to be from a planet called New Jersey, I’ve never seen human beings like that on this planet. At least not as many in one place, not as many who have gone astray, not as many who are so far from the PTA, and the FTA, and the CIA. But then again, that’s a Western perspective…
Mickey Rourke as Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson is a fading professional wrestler who’s holding on to his career and his life, as both are slipping away. He is proud of his trade and accepts the trade-off of having “small change” and a broken body for having self-respect; it’s just part of the deal. The fix is in, Randy feels, and the fat cats who ride in limos have the limos but no real skills. Randy has skills and talent, and long hair, and Marisa Tomei (as Cassidy - a striptease artist with a heart of gold.) He is his own boss (most of the time) and lives in a single family dwelling (a trailer in a seedy trailer park,) and fans sometime ask him for an autograph.
When times get tough-er, Randy takes a job behind a deli counter. He slices and dices - until smacked with the undeniable reality that living his true destiny - and loosing, is better than success in living a life without passion . He goes back to “take it to the limit - one more time.”
Bruce Springsteen soulfully garbles the theme to “THE WRESTLER” (Written by Bruce Springsteen) in another haunting, distant Springsteenian tune, also named “THE WRESTLER.”
Marisa Tomei
“Goowrgish” Marisa Tomei’s dual performance as Cassidy, and the mother, may win her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Mickey Rourke is also a top contender - for Best Actor - if you havn’t heard.
Access the IMDB pages for “THE WRESTLER.”
Access the main pages of the LasVegasBuffetClub.Com…
January 22, 2009
The song “Gran Torino” from the film Gran Torino
Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino
The haunting tune “Gran Torino” (Composed by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Michael Stevens, Kyle Eastwood, and Written by Michael Stevens) from the film of the same name is a bit reminiscent of the song “Skylark” (Written by Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael,) and featured in Eastwood’s memorable film: “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Both renderings have the floating, fading, disappearing quality of smoky dissipation. Listen to this musical tribute to “Gran Torino” (provided by YouTube’s “jeremjoee.”)
I was also struck by the similarity to another amateur singer’s (he was primarily a horn player) vocal work on a song from the 60s: Herb Alpert’s “This Guy’s In Love With You” presented on this YouTube clip, from someone called “thegoochman.”
Both performances have a very tentitive quality. The voice is barely there, yet it somehow manages to surface - into a moving, memorable work of audio art. Eastwood’s very short (just a few seconds) vocalization of “Gran Torino” (other performances of the film’s theme are played throughout the movie) is one of the best audio-slices I’ve heard lately “in the muggy, foggy, haze of ear polution out there,” as Walt Kowalski (Eastwood’s character) might say.
January 14, 2009
MERYL STREEP, PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN & CO hit one out of the park without DOUBT.
Hoffman, Davis and Adams
Click to enlarge IMDb photo of Hoffman, Davis and Adams
THIS POST IS FROM [The other blog] JANUARY 5, 2009)
John (Moonstruck) Patrick Shanley’s “DOUBT” is a tight, lean movie - that is to say: there is no extraneous fat, what-so-ever. Every scene, every word, every shot is integral to the movie - nothing is wasted.
Without a doubt, there will be Academy Award Action for this film. Possible nominations may be: BEST MOVIE, BEST CASTING, BEST SCREENPLAY (John Patrick Shanley,) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (Philip Seymour Hoffman,) BEST ACTRESS (Meryl Streep) and more.
Set in “The Bronx” (1964) at St. Nicholas’ Catholic parish-school, Father Brendan Flynn (Hoffman) is accused of a vague indiscretion with a black student by principal Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Streep.) Sister Aloysius Beauvier suspects that the head priest has taken the troubled minority student just a bit too far under his wing, eventhough she has absolutely no proof. She is running on her moral compass and is certain that she is right. And, she is going to win - at any cost.
Amy Adams as Sister James is stunning even under her habit, which frames her beautiful, sparkling face in a dark halo. There’s a bit of comic-relief in the form of elementary school antics from the uniformed students, and an especially amusing scene with Sister-Steam-Roller snaking down the church-isle, during mass, whacking various students for snoozing or other inattentiveness. Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller (the troubled boy’s mother) keeps it real with a heart-wrenching portrayal of a 60s era Black mother’s desperate suffering. This is a film I’ll see twice, maybe thrice, maybe more.
“It’s 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A charismatic priest, Father Flynn, is trying to upend the schools’ [sic] strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline” read more from IMDb
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