Terry Gilliam's Flying Circus

And the good times have been rolling this week, starting with the monthly Doctor Who New York party on Monday, followed by Big Lou's polka extravaganza later that evening (playing to a larger audience than I had expexcted - polka lives in NYC!), and continuing with a live appearance by my filmmaking idol, Terry Gilliam, who screened his newest film The Brothers Grimm at the Learning Annex last night.

The film itself was more of a mid-range Gilliam film, not quite reaching the lofty heights of Brazil or The Fisher King but better than Jabberwocky or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The opening sequences are by far the weakest aspect of the film; they rush past in a cascade of fantistic imagery, looking great but not really resonating because the characters haven't been set up properly. It isn't until the movie is well underway, slowing down enough to really let us get under the skin of the Brothers Grimm, that it really begins to get good.

And good it remains, resulting in an entertaining piece of Hollywood fantasy; more intelligent than most, but more conventional than I might have hoped. (Now Tideland, Gilliam's next movie coming out in a couple months...that looks like it could be fantastic...)