The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Written and Directed by Terry Gilliam. Also written by Charles McKeown. Starring Andrew Garfield (Aton), Christopher Plummer (Dr. Parnassus), Lily Cole (Valentina), Heath Ledger (Tony), Johnny Depp (Tony), Jude Law (Tony), Colin Farrell (Tony).

Bottom line: The only reason I am glad I watched some of this movie was that I came to the understanding that, not only do I not have to finish a movie but I shouldn't waste time watching a bad movie (unless it is a fun-to-watch-bad-movie).
0/4

Dr. Parnassus was a monk who bet with the Devil. The devil let him win and granted him immortality. The crux of the plot is that he made another bet with the devil and needs the help of Heath Ledger/Jude Law/Johnny Depp's character, Tony, to win and save his daughter. This is the movie which which Heath Ledger was filming when he died. The different actors play Tony as he enters the Dr's Imaginarium (a device for going into his imagination). Overall, the movie was so bad I stopped watching halfway through, which I will explain below.

I hated this movie. I loathed the style, the story, the cinematography, and the dialogue. Don't see this movie. Life is too short to waste it on a movie like this. It isn't a fun-bad movie. It is just a bad movie.

For a little back-story, and how this movie helped change my perspective on film. I was sitting in my window seat on the six hour flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to San Francisco. When permitted, I opened my laptop and looked through my movies. Unfortunately, I had seen almost all of them. I had been putting off The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus so I might as well watch it. I turn on the movie and put it full screen. I notice the woman next to me, moves in such a way that indicates she has noticed the movie but felt rightly uncomfortable about commenting. She moved that way a little later too, when she saw the title screen.

The flight and film continued and, about halfway through, the man in the aisle seat gets up to use the restroom. The woman says, "Now seems like a good time to use the restroom while he's out." I agreed, put my laptop to sleep and got up. When I returned, the woman took the opportunity to ask me about what I thought of the movie. “I haven’t finished it, I’m only about halfway through,” I say, “But, so far, I’m not the biggest fan” (polite code talk for "I hate it"). "Don't even bother, it doesn't get better". I shrug and continue watching. Another 15 minutes go by and I realize that she is right. In fact, it is only getting worse.

Using our mutual disdain for Dr. P as a starting point, we got to talking about film and had a lovely couple hours of conversation. The woman whose name, I’m sorry to say, I have forgotten, wrote screenplays. I came to agree with her that there isn't really a reason to watch bad movies unless it is for the specific reason of watching them for the camp value.

I don't know about you but I came to the film-loving-party rather late. Spielberg, if my memory serves me, decided to make movies before he was 10 so I have a lot of reading and watching to do. There are too many movies to ever hope to watch all of them so I should generally pick ones that would help make my world better. In fact, we all should pick movies that make our world better.
Before I end this post, I want to note that not everything about The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus was bad. It managed to get me excited about film. It made me want to watch a really good movie and to share it with everyone I know. A movie doesn’t have to be a bad, horrible experience; it should be exciting and enlightening. In this way, I am glad I saw some of Dr. P. I say again. I beseech you. Go see anything other than The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.