The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Doctor Parnassus leads a travelling show around the streets of London, where he invites people to step into their own imagination.

Unfortunately I think the film will always be remembered for being Heath Ledger's final film, but his performance is nowhere near as good as in The Dark Knight, that said it is not a criticism of him the character he has is not the same as playing the joker which you can do so much more with. Personally I thought the stand out performance was that of Andrew Garfield, who we will see in the forthcoming Spiderman reboot in which he will be the title character.

The visuals of the imagination are fantastic, the occupier must always face the choice while in their own imagination to go with salvation or damnation, salvation and they will come out a better person, damnation and they will lose their souls to the devil. The loss of Ledger forced Terry Gilliam into some inspired improvisation, while having completed the real world scenes before his passing the imaginarium scenes were left unfilmed, step in Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to save the day, surprisingly this works really well, showing different sides of the Tony character and maybe exposing him as the person he really is.

Good that is was, it wasn't quite the trip I was expecting from the director of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.

I give this film 3 out of 5.

The Road

With so many films that focus on the end of the world as we know it, I'm looking at you Roland Emmerich, this film chooses to focus on how people deal with the after effects. The reason for the earth being in this post apocalyptic state is never given, I guess it is seen as being irrelevant, which I though was a nice touch, you don't need to know why this has happened just that it has.

The film follows a father and son on their way south where they believe the weather to be warmer and the food to be more plentiful. Their main concern is a band of Hills Have Eyes style hillbilly cannibals that have resorted to eating people because of a massive food shortage and they will kill women and children with out a second thought.

The film was touted as an Oscar contender before its release but fell a bit flat at the box office and got forgotten about and I can see why, the scenes with just the father and son can feel overly long at times, but not that its a slow film it just could have been a bit more entertaining.

I give this film 3 out of 5.

Anvil: The Story of Anvil

For those who know and love This is Spinal Tap, Anvil: The Story of Anvil could well be the real world version. In case you've never heard of them, and most people haven't, Anvil were a heavy metal band that hit their peek in the early 80's. Noted as a major influence for bands such as Metallica, Megadeath and Slayer to name a few, these are the guys that fame and fortune passed by.

Now in their 50's and working normal jobs, Steve 'lips' Kudlow and Robb Reiner, yes I thought that was a joke too, still believe in themselves and that fame and glory could come at any time, so like Spinal Tap they embark on a disastrous tour of Europe. You truly feel for them when they get to the Monsters of Transylvanian Rock Festival, where they are promised a crowd of 10,000 people in a 20,000 capacity venue and then only 174 people show up, it leaves the wondering why they put themselves through it, but for them the answer is simple, they love the music.

They carry on plugging away as they try to get their 13th studio album recorded and released, with constant infighting it doesn't prove easy, but with this fighting you can see their passion for what they do come through and win you over. Surprising funny in places this I loved this movie as it had something Spinal Tap doesn't, heart, and lots of it.

I give this film 5 out of 5.