The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

"I am to die and Johnny Depp, Colin Firth and Jude Law are to take my place.
Haha. Must be a joke."

At a glance:
What a mouthful. The unquiet mind of Monty Python's Terry Gilliam has done it again. While Imaginarium is definitely more accessible than his Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes in 2005 (an impossible movie for most to understand, though it is rather beautiful), the project lacks the energy of his other works like Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (1998) and will go down in the books mostly for being Heath Ledger's last appearance on the big screen. Not that it's not worth a watch. If anythin, the unfortunate death of Aussie star Heath Ledger (pic) this time last year has improved the movie, as the good director has been tellin the press that "the movie made itself" when initially he thought it was good as dead. Recruitin only friends of Ledger (Johnny Depp, Colin Firth and Jude Law, as adjudicated by Gilliam) to shoot the bits that he didn't get to complete, you know this movie wasn't easy to make, especially when you read that Depp had to cram all his scenes into just one day due to his attachment to Public Enemies (2009) at the time.

Verne Troyer

Perennial wonderment:
There are reports that Ledger was monkeyin about in a scene and the director said to him: "I know what you're doin... you're doin Johnny Depp!" How strange it must have felt for Depp when he learned this. The two do have similar qualities, don't they?
I can't remember if I cried:
When Ledger's character changes face for the first time, to Depp's. The character is Tony, a mysterious drifter who joins a nomadic theatre troupe led by the titular doctor (octogenarian Christopher Plummer, still recognisable as the captain in Sound Of Music). The old man is like an immortal eastern mystic and we learn he has made a deal with the devil (singer-songwriter Tom Waits) so together with dwarf assistant (Verne Troyer, who else?), illusionist Anton (Andrew Garfield, Boy A) and beautiful daughter Valentina (busty model Lily Cole), they must work to reverse a certain arrangement.

God knows what's goin on here.

Most memorable line:
Maybe this was the problem. I don't remember any lines. Just a lot of talkin.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Like all of Gilliam's works, The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus is impressive with a chance of engrossin, but operates at a wavelength beyond those whose appreciation for fantasy don't fall too far from, say Lord Of The Rings. Watchin Gilliam is like watchin Lynch and Burton at the same time. Well, at least we can respect old hand Gilliam for stickin to his integrity. After all, he did reportedly snub Tom Cruise when approached for one of the three replacement roles.★★ 1/2

The Dark Knight (2008)

"Here's my card..."

At a glance:
That which does not kill you will only make you stranger. Stranger still is how Christopher Nolan managed to better the already formidable Batman Begins (2005), what with how tricky the franchise is. In the past 10 years or so, blockbuster adaptations of comic book superheroes have rarely touched the greatness, nor captured the essence, of the character at hand, perhaps with the exception of Iron Man (2008). Between Bruce Wayne and the Batman however, there's already enough character struggle to perish all thoughts of any Catwomen cleavage needed for blockbuster appeal. Rarely does an overtly mainstream picture discuss power, justice, due process and the rule of law so accessibly for the regular moviegoer. Bruce Wayne is billionaire playboy and expert criminologist at the same time - yet story is filled with legal themes, almost academic even. I ain't even at The Joker yet.
Bad news on the doorstep:

Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The pre-release sudden death of Aussie star Heath Ledger - to which Warner played a good hand with - a marketin strategy that mustn't be insensitive to the late actor. Perhaps it's fittin then that he delivered his best ever performance as the maniacal Joker, the kind of precision in actin that occurs to an actor maybe once or twice in his or her entire lifetime. Don't think it's out of order to say that Joker drew from Ledger as much as Ledger from Joker. The Chelsea grin carved across the jester's face already goes some way towards tellin the tale of an entirely believable anarchist whose twisted appetite for destruction shines brighter than all the Batman beacons Commissioner Gordon could ever assemble on Gotham's rooftops.
Perennial wonderment:

Like a mad dog.

How Christian Bale is always upstaged in all his movies, to good result. You seen Terminator Salvation (2008)?
Watch out for:

Never start with the head. The victim gets all fuzzy.

The pencil-disappearin magic trick, courtesy of The Joker. Nice.
Most memorable line:
Alfred: "Some men can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with - they just want to watch the world burn."
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
★★★★★ Can't wait for the next instalment. Surely Two Face will have more screen time?

You wanna know how I got these scars?
My father, was a drinker, and a fiend.
And one night, he goes off crazier than usual.
Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn't like that.
Not. One. Bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it.
He turns to me and says, "Why so serious?" Comes at me with the knife.
"WHY SO SERIOUS?"
He sticks the blade in my mouth... "Let's put a smile on that face."
Why so serious?