Source: MyDeco

By Victoria Harrison

The Oscar buzz is building up in the office this week. The stars, the glamour, the dresses! From a design point of view we were really curious to see which films were nominated for best Art Direction.

So… we were absolutely thrilled to snag an exclusive interview with Dave Warren, the Oscar nominated Art Director of The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. Nominated for its incredible dream-like sets, the film is quite literally a visual feast.

In between jetting from Rome to LA (it’s a glamourous life) we caught up with Dave about the inspiration behind the art direction of the film.

Best of luck for Sunday!

What was your biggest inspiration for the set design of the film?

Terry: It always begins and ends with Terry – he is the fount of all reference and the first point for the ideas. Some of the ideas he has are so outlandish and random that you can only look at them in the context of Terry’s movie-making.

How important is drawing to you vs. computer animation? Do you always start by sketching?

Yes, always. I still think the flow of eye to hand gives you a better first instinct for proportion and depth. A wise art director once told me that the first instinctive sketch you make of an idea will usually be your best. I think that the computer gives you polish and flexibility – but sometimes options, or ‘choice’ can be self-defeating, they merely extend the process – have the confidence to stand by an idea at the inception. READ MORE HERE!

This is, without a doubt, one of the best and most interesting reviews I have read of The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus.

Source: The Wesleyan Argus

Copyright © 2010 The Wesleyan Argus

By Daniel O’Sullivan, Staff Writers

Terry Gilliam’s new movie, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” doesn’t make sense—at least not in the usual way. Usually, Gilliam isn’t trying to make sense, but for long stretches of this film it’s hard to tell what he is trying to do. While Gilliam’s fantastic and grotesque imagery has been his calling card throughout his career, starting with his cut-out animations for Monty Python, much of “Imaginarium” (es¬pecially what occurs between fantasy sequences) is flat-out ugly—murky, cut too fast, full of shaky-cam. The effect looks sort of like cinema-véri¬té, but the script is closer to vaude¬ville. People are usually yelling and whacking each other; a dwarf makes lame jokes; the devil (played by Tom Waits) skulks around smoking cigars. The performances are antic, the emo¬tional pitch shrill, the images clut¬tered—it feels like a bad day at the carnival.

Strangely enough, this is all purposeful, and ultimately there is coherence. Doctor Parnassus, like the hero of Gilliam’s “Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” is an old-fash¬ioned teller of tales who is little un¬derstood in a cynical modern world. However, unlike “Munchausen” and other Gilliam films, this one is plain¬ly not a “testament to the wondrous magic of imagination.” It is a grimly self-aware revision of the Faust story in which Gilliam examines his own strengths and weaknesses with humil¬ity and even despair. Centuries ago, Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) was an optimistic and deeply peace¬ful monk, engaged, with his brothers, in telling “the eternal story” in seclu¬sion on a mountain. But the devil (who goes by Mr. Nick) paid him a visit, and Parnassus made a bargain with him for eternal life. As it turns out, eternity is awfully long, and by the twenty-first century, Parnassus is tired of it. He still presents his Imaginarium to a jaded public, ac¬companied by a couple of perform¬ers and his restless teenage daughter, but mostly he drinks. The “magic of imagination” has become cheap and dirty. READ MORE HERE

I wanted to share this wonderful article with Verne Troyer that appeared in LA Confidential Magazine in December. In the article he recalls what it was like to work with the late Heath Ledger in his final film.

My thanks to Verne and Ray for sharing this amazing article with us.

CLICK ON THUMBNAIL FOR ORIGINAL SIZE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Awesome, Verne! The snippet of dialogue Esquire has chosen is one of my favorite “Percy” moments.

Source: Esquire Magazine

By The Editors

The 11th Annual Alternative Oscars

Because someone has to be the arbiter of talent among actors, directors and writers in the film industry

Dwarf of the Year

Verne Troyer in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Christopher Plummer, as the film’s odd and possibly insane title character, to his loyal, witty, endearing sidekick: “What would I do without you?” Troyer, as the sidekick: “Get a midget.”

We just received this from our friend, Verne Troyer, who we all know is Dr. Parnassus own Percy. (I just loved Verne’s portrayal of him!) Verne just spent 11 days in South Africa making a commercial and sent this special little present along to us. I love it!

I’ll have more great news for you later today so we can all catch up on what’s happening with Verne.

And, to Verne and Ray – “Thank you for your amazing support. We love you guys!”

We wanted to share these great new HD photos of Johnny Depp, Terry Gilliam and Holly Gilliam with you. They were taken at the London premier of Depp’s new film “Alice”.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO UNTIL IT REACHES IT’S HUGE ORIGINAL SIZE.

Source: ContactMusic

COLIN FARRELL was wary of replacing HEATH LEDGER in THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS – admitting his “stomach turned at the thought of it”.

Ledger was midway through making the movie when he died from an accidental drug overdose in January 2008.

Director Terry Gilliam chose to complete the movie with an ensemble cast of Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Farrell stepping in to portray different versions of Ledger’s character.

But the Irish actor confesses he almost turned down the role.

He tells Total Film magazine, “When Jude, Johnny and I were asked if we could fill in my stomach turned at the thought of it, and then I spoke to a couple of people who were close to Heath Ledger and they thought he’d be cool with it.

“I went to Vancouver for nine days and there was an amazing sense of companionship and love and respect for Heath as an actor and a man.”

Despite his tragic death, Farrell reveals he has fond memories of Ledger: “I knew him a little bit. I hadn’t seen him in a few years then saw him a few months before he passed. He was one of the good ones – a gorgeous dude, really kind and humble and smart and creative.”

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!! The nominees for this year’s Jameson Empire Awards have been announced and Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus is nominated for both Best British Film and Best SciFi Fantasy Film. Please cast your vote today for Dr. Parnassus at the link below and spread the word for others to do the same! Tweet it, put it on Facebook, MySpace, LJ – Get the word out! We want the fans to vote in droves and to let their voices be heard!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Below is the list of nominees:

JAMESON EMPIRE AWARDS VOTE

The first round of voting for the 2010 Jameson Empire Awards is now complete. We’ve sifted through the virtual sacks of entries and assembled the shortlist of finalists who will be waiting with baited breath on the night itself. It’s not over yet, though. With the gold in sight there’s still time to cast your vote and see your pick of the year’s films and filmmakers lauded on Awards night. Let the final round of voting commence!

Voting ends 10th March

BEST NEWCOMER

Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy)
Sharlto Copley (District 9)
Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air/ New Moon)
Katie Jarvis (Fish Tank)

BEST THRILLER

Harry Brown
Public Enemies
Inglourious Basterds
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes

BEST HORROR

Let The Right One In
Paranormal Activity
Zombieland
Thirst
Drag Me To Hell

BEST COMEDY

In The Loop
A Serious Man
The Hangover
Up In The Air
The Men Who Stare At Goats

BEST SCI-FI / FANTASY

Moon
Star Trek
Avatar
District 9
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

BEST ACTOR presented by Citroën

Sir Michael Caine (Harry Brown)
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
Robert Pattinson (New Moon)
Sam Worthington (Avatar)
Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes)

BEST ACTRESS

Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy)
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Zoe Saldana (Avatar)
Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria)
Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds)

BEST DIRECTOR

James Cameron (Avatar)
Neill Blomkamp (District 9)
JJ Abrams (Star Trek)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

BEST BRITISH FILM

Harry Brown
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
An Education
Nowhere Boy
In The Loop

BEST FILM presented by Sony

Avatar
Star Trek
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
The Hurt Locker

Source: Movieline

By Kyle Buchanan

If there’s one nominee that I’m really rooting for in the Best Costume Design category at the Academy Awards, it’s Monique Prudhomme for The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. It isn’t simply that she managed to channel Terry Gilliam and make iconic ensembles that could withstand an onslaught of special effects and hastily subbed-in actors, it’s that she was nominated for outfitting a film set in the present day, and that happens so rarely. Does she have a shot at a win? If history is any judge, the odds against her are steep.

Decades ago, it wasn’t uncommon for a film set in contemporary times to be nominated for an Oscar or even win one. Helping matters was the fact that until 1966, the category gave out awards in both black and white and color, ensuring ten total nominees (with two special exceptions in 1957 and 1958 when only one Oscar was awarded).

Ironically, it was the black-and-white winners during that era that were most likely to be contemporary, including films such as Darling, The Night of the Iguana, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The color films that took home the Oscar were almost always lush period pieces like Cleopatra and Spartacus that managed to marshal hundreds of extras and outfit them in flashy historical garb, and since the two categories were combined, it’s exactly that type of film that’s most likely to win out.

In fact, in the years since 1966, only three modern-day films have won the Best Costume Design Oscar (excepting films set in another world, like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings):

Travels with My Aunt (1972)
All That Jazz (1979)
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
READ MORE HERE

Source: Screenrant

All of us here at the Dr. Parnassus Support Site would like to send our heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Parnassus Make-Up Designer, the lovely, Sarah Monzani, on her nomination for Best Make Up the Saturn Awards. Sarah did such fantastic work on this film and we are so proud of her! Well, deserved!