Good morning everyone. I hope you are having a good week. I am here to announce the winners of the Dr. Parnassus Support Site Fan Thank You French Character Poster Contest.

Before I list the winners, let me thank everyone for their entries to this contest. The participation was enormous and I’m so thrilled and grateful for that. I only wish I could personally thank each and every person. Since I cannot, then I hope you will all know how very much valued and appreciated you are by us.

Winners have been notified by email and need to provide me with shipping information for their prizes. If I do not receive shipping information, the prize will be awarded to someone else. Be aware that these posters are enormous – they are 4 feet wide and about 5 feet tall. They are printed on a fragile, fine art paper so be gentle with them. Allow 8-12 weeks for shipping.

Now, let’s dispense with the chit chat! Here are our winners!

Heath Ledger Character Poster Winner – Purplebeanie

Johnny Depp Character Poster Winner – Sgt. T. McGeehee

Theatrical Poster Winner – Rachel C

Jude Law Character Poster Winner – Ping

Tom Waits Character Poster Winner – gilliamaddiction329

Colin Farrell Character Poster Winner – krtbly

Christopher Plummer Character Poster Winner – Jacob

Lily Cole Character Poster Winner – Mastadon

Source: Empire Online

Terry Gilliam’s latest film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, is fast approaching its DVD and Blu-ray release – but just to get you through the final bump before that, here’s a sneak peek at some of the special features that take you behind the film, and the word from Johnny Depp and Jude Law on their roles in the film. Yes, we know, we spoil you.

First up, appropriately enough, is Terry Gilliam’s introduction to the film, explaining what he set out to do, how he did it even through difficult and tragic circumstances, and what he thinks of the finished movie. Then we’ve got the first ten minutes of the film with Terry Gilliam’s amiable and detailed commentary, so you can get a taste of what you’re in for with the full-length DVD. READ MORE AND WATCH CLIPS BY CLICKING HERE!

The DVD releases in the UK on March 29 and in the US on April 27

We would like to share with you this exclusive photo of the Dr. Parnassus nominees on Oscar night, Sunday, March 8, 2010. Monique, Dave, Anastasia…We are so proud of you. Congratulations to you all and thank you for giving us this wonderful movie!

Title: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (IMDb)
Starring: Heath Ledger
Released: 27th April 2010
SRP: $28.95 (DVD)

Further Details:
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced DVD ($28.95) and Blu-ray ($34.95) releases of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus for the 27th April. Extras will include a commentary with Director Terry Gilliam, an Introduction by Terry Gilliam, a deleted scene with optional commentary, featurettes (“Behind the Mirror”, “Building the Monastery”, “Doctor Parnassus Around the World”, “The Artwork of Doctor Parnassus”), a Heath Ledger Wardrobe Test with optional commentary, an interview with Heath Ledger, and a Cast & Crew Presentation on Stage. The Blu-ray release will also include “The Drunk” Multi-Angle Progression Sequence, and 2 additional featurettes (“Heath Ledger and Friends”, “The Imaginarium of Terry Gilliam”).

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.