I didn't really think that Parnassus would be any good - Tideland was one Gilliam film filled with spectacular images and suffering a severe lack of anything else too many, so far as my expectations went. Actually, though, it was a pleasant surprise - as visually spectacular as could be expected, and married to a decent story and some characters into whom one could actually get one's teeth (even if one of the characters is, of course, played by four different actors - Heath, Johnny, Jude and Colin). It doesn't hurt, of course, that it features Tom Waits as the Devil - as a matter of fact, it may be the least charismatic film performance I've ever seen from Waits, but given how high the man has set the bar in the past (see the Coppola Dracula and the Jarmusch pair Coffee and Cigarettes and Down By Law for evidence), that's hardly a fail.
(w/ M)
