The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus 8/10. Very Terry Gilliam in the art direction and acting. Very reminescent of both
Baron Munchausen and
Time Bandits. Heath Ledger is great in his last role, and Christopher Plummer is good, although pretty unintelligible for most of the movie. Jude Law, Colin Farrell, and Johnny Depp do excellent Heath Ledger impersonations in the alternate world through the mirror and Tom Waits is surprisingly good as the devil. You are never quite sure what is going to happen in this film, with Plummer as an immortal sideshow carnie, doing deals with the devil for his daughter's soul. Verne Troyer (Mini-Me) is excellent as Plummer's sidekick, and has some of the film's best lines. Not for everyone, but fans of Gilliam will be pleased.
Knowing 6/10. Nicholas Cage was predictable and quite manic as a single dad, whose son gets a letter from the past (via the plot device of a time capsule) covered in random numbers. Cage gets obsessed very early on (20 minutes into the movie and he's already at the "building a mountain of mashed potatoes in his living room" [
Close Encounters reference for anyone who missed it] stage) and figures out that the numbers detail major losses of life over the past 50 years. Only 1 real creepy scene, (in the trailer when they figure out what "EE" means), and the ending is pretty goofy. Good beginning, but the ending doesnt' live up to the promise.