Zero Theorem preview at Comic Con

The lucky people at San Diego Comic Con were lucky enough to get a preview of Terry Gilliam's latest masterpiece and, very kindly shared the experience.

"Terry Gilliam is the director of science fiction classics Brazil and 12 Monkeys, and he debuted the first ten minutes of his latest weird vision, The Zero Theorem, at Comic-Con this afternoon. It stars Christoph Waltz, looks like a cross between Blade Runner and Sesame Street, and will blow your mind. Though Gilliam couldn't be at Comic-Con, he included a goofy, maniacal personal message with the footage. "They've trapped me in here without access to the internet until I finish this movie!" he said, gesturing at what looked like an editing suite in his house. "I'm relying on fans at the NSA to record everything I'm saying and pass it on to you." His cheerful paranoia was the perfect introduction to The Zero Theorem, which is about a man who is sort of like a software developer of the future — his bosses at Mancom (a horrific amalgam of Facebook, the NSA, and Google) call him a "our greatest number cruncher," when in reality his job is a lot more complicated than that. All Waltz wants is some disability leave, or at least be allowed to work from home. But his superiors at work don't believe his claim — that "we are dying" — partly because he's only one person, and partly because he's in perfect health. In those first minutes of the film, it was already clear that this is another of Gilliam's meditations on the life of talented but psychologically unhinged bureaucrats who yearn for more meaning in life. Oh, and he's also waiting for a mysterious phone call to arrive on a Gilliam-esque contraption on his desk, next to glowing vials of information and swirling images of outer space."
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The Wholly Family II

A year ago I mentioned that Terry Gilliam's short The Wholly Family, which focuses on a bratty child who learns through dreams that his actions have ruined his once happy parents relationship, would be available to watch at home, rent-able from your own computer.  This meant seeing a short (normally only something you can do on the film festival circuit)  without leaving your room. You wouldn't even have to wear clothes if you didn't want to; that isn't something you could do at Sundance. 

And Guess what, a year later you can STILL rent it for less than the price of a latte:





It's the beauty of Naples, Italy mixed with the imagination of one of the most creative directors for just a few hundred pennies!!!   How many options do you have when it comes to Gilliam cinema?  Sadly and unfairly, the  answer to that is less than twenty; 18 to be exact. Eighteen! It's ludicrous especially when you consider  that his last full length movie, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was in production when Heath Ledger died FIVE YEARS AGO.  Thank the lord somebody was smart enough to finance another movie for the 72 year old director, but number 18  The Zero Theorem, which filmed this past autumn in Romania isn't slated for release until the end of 2013 and that is only if t doesn't hit any roadblocks which, being a Gilliam project seems doubtful.


However there is good news. If renting the short was too pricy last year, if that $3 would've broken the bank the short is now available free.

"Discovering Dad" aka delving into Terry Gilliam's personal archive

If you've been paying attention, you know that I am a Terry Gilliam fan. Sure I watch a ton of movies and while I can find pleasure in fluff from time to time, Gilliam movies move me. I enjoy his work with senses you don't normally need to enter a cinema. My crush on his mind is as serious than the one I have on his handsome model son! You can imagine my excitement, therefore at discovering Holly Gilliam's blog: "Discovering Dad" aka delving into Terry Gilliam's personal archive:


Holly, who appeared as Jack Lindts triplet daughters in her father's 1985 Brazil, explained her desire to share Terry with the world in her first post: The beginning... http://hollydgilliam.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-beginning.html

 
Being surrounded by such creative genius must have been awesome and the fact that Ms. Gilliam wants to share an inside look with the world is so sweet and such a treasure, that it shouldn't be overlooked. So please support the blog and follow on twitter @hollydubois for such gems as original artwork from the Python opening and God only knows what else.

CALLING ALL Rhode Island Terry Gilliam fans

This

Th

This is last minute but if you are in the area, stop by. I wish I could I am dying to see this film.

Flickers fest opens with must-see Terry Gilliam short

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, August 9, 2011

By Michael Janusonis

Journal Arts Writer

In “The Wholly Family,” young Jake has a fantastic journey while on vacation in Naples with his family.

Terry Gilliam headlines the opening night of Flickers: The Rhode Island International Film Festival when his short film, “The Wholly Family” goes on screen at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9, at Veterans Memorial Auditorum. Once of the Monty Python troupe, Gilliam has created bizarre worlds in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and “Brazil.” And “The Wholly Family,” at just under 21 minutes long, is as off the wall as some of his earlier feature films.

Set in Naples (the one in Italy, not the one Rhode Islanders retire to in Florida), it follows the nightmare adventures of Jake, a nasty, demanding boy who is on vacation with his parents. Jake has taken a liking to a figurine of a Neapolitan baker on sale from a slightly creepy street vendor. When his parents don’t give in, Jake steals the figurine.

That night, in Jake’s nightmare, the figurine grows to man size. He forces Jake into his belly where there are lots of Neapolitan bakers who force food on Jake. This is followed by a very strange sequence in which the bakers take Jake to a hospital on an island where babies are delivered from huge eggs, including Jake.

The film has an oddball twist involving baby Jake. And there’s an amusing twist at the end, too, that mimics the familiar tableau figurines of the Holy Family — Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I’m not sure what will happen theatrically with “The Wholly Family,” although it might be given Academy Award consideration. For Gilliam fans, it’s one not to be missed.

mjanuson@projo.com

source: http://www.projo.com/movies/content/CONNECT_wholly_family_RIIFF_08-09-11_REPDQFE_v8.417e8.html

“I wanted to see a show about Brazil not be in it”

“I wanted to see a show about Brazil not be in it”

Friday afternoon, during a normal “Is there anything interesting to do with GiGi in the city?” Google search I happened to come across PERSOL MAGNIFICENT OBSESSIONS: 30 stories of craftsmanship in film. Billed as a behind the scenes peak of movies and featuring production stills, artifacts, never before seen sketches, etc. of such classics as Terry Gilliam’s BRAZIL, … and, well I really didn’t know. The Google preview ended after Gilliam (which was good enough for me) and figured dedication to craft and sketches probably would’ve included something Disney and with thunder storms rolling in, it seemed like a good idea to try and see if GiGi could have some indoor fun at this.

We managed to make it almost the entire four blocks when the sky opened up three doors away from our destination. I mean literally, I couldn’t see in front of my own eyes. The only logical thing to do was continue ahead because it is a lot easier to push a carriage blindly for half a second, then to turn around and head home. We entered the first floor surrounded by nothing but the delightful toddler giggles of, “I’m wet.” With nobody to point us in the right direction, Lauren and I decided we’d just go in the elevator, checking every floor until we found the display or a person to lead us in the right direction. A few seconds later, there was a rather odd shift below our feet between the first and second floor and we stopped.

It is an interesting thing, when you get stuck in an elevator; the second it happens you know that you’re stuck. Even if you’ve never actually been in the situation before there is a sense that kicks in, at least it did with me, and you know this is not your usual elevator stall. I looked across the tiny chamber and saw Lauren’s eyes saying, “I am sure that everything I am saying right now is a lie,” as she cheerily said, “We’ll give it a minute, I’m sure it’ll start up again.” My equally lying face returned with, “Oh yeah,” as my brain began to say, “just don’t think about the Tower of Terror. Shit! Ok, just don’t do it again, remember the priority is GiGi.” When you are stuck in a confined space for God knows how long, it is imperative that you keep a toddler calm. Not only will screams and cries make the wait worse, you can do absolutely nothing to pacify or calm someone who can’t tell time. We needed GiGi to want to be in the elevator.

After not restarting, making the emergency call, and having men knocking outside asking if we were still in there, G seemed to notice something was different than usual. When they told us to pull the alarm to alert the company, she said she didn’t like “Loud” which we relayed after turning it off, and the men said it was okay because now whoever was going to save us, knew we were stuck. Great the noise can stay off, except, ut oh, Gigi heard the word “stuck.”

“No, no! GiGi no stuck!”

We told her that no, we weren’t stuck and Lauren told her how she wasn’t stuck because she could get out of her carriage; great quick thinking on her part. I immediately followed with, “Hey, why don’t you sing a song,” (can you tell I am a big fan of THE SOUND OF MUSIC) and she happily agreed as long as “Raurin and Lala” sing too, which is exactly what we did until she realized that we were still in an elevator and people were talking around her, so we told her we were in the middle of hide and seek and she had found a really good place for us to hide because the men still hadn’t found us. This made G very happy and we continued having a fun little time singing and laughing in our secret little world only stopping when workers would talk to us, until after 10 or 15 minutes, the doors were forced open and we stepped up a foot and, at long last, onto the second floor.

Everyone was apologetic and applauded GiGi for having been so brave but she was just happy to have been such a good hider. She was even more excited when she got to climb up two more flights of stairs (which looked extremely Brazil-esque) and everyone said hello to her on the way up. As we journeyed up, Lauren said the phrase in the title, an allusion to the scene in BRAZIL when Sam Lowry has to force his way out of a stuck “lift.”

When we got to the display we realized that there was no Disney, and no child related movies at all, but having made such an entrance, it seemed only polite to at least give the place a walk around. First stop was BRAZIL, complete with a video playing of Gilliam talking about his trials and tribulations during production and post production, which seemed like it would be interesting and I hoped I might absorb in the few seconds I figured G would wander around looking at the display.

“Who dat?” she asked. “That is the director of this movie GiGi, his name is Terry,” I replied.

“Sit,” GiGi motioned toward the couch directly adjacent. “Watch Terry.” Only after sitting through the whole video, which had to be as 10-20 minutes, would G get up and look at the artifacts, which include the famous Baby Mask. She had in fact sat there so long that Lauren took photos of the entire display around us (we didn’t see the sign until leaving) so I told her to watch the video if she wanted while G and I take a quick peek at the surrounding displays. There was TAXI DRIVER, with scenes playing but after asking me who DiNiro was, I was informed she, “no like” so we moved on to GHANDI which had a model of the set. After I explained we couldn’t play with that she told me we had to, “sit watch GHANDI,” but she quickly tired of so we looked at special effects lights and I told her how she had met Leonardo DiCaprio while still inside her mommy’s belly (“Oh, yes) at the AVIATOR installation.

By the time we had finished listening to heightened sounds used in cinema, one of which- bugs- Gigi hilariously kept mimicking on the way home, Lauren was done and the three of us headed toward the exit. That is until GiGi yelled “Terry.” We went back to BRAZIL and showed her that Gilliam was still there talking on the wall and asked her if we could leave. Luckily she replied, “yes, ok, bye Terry.” Then she blew the screen a kiss. I think she’s a fan.

WILL MAY 21, 2011 BE THE END OF THE WORLD? AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHO IS TO BLAME?

For, I can't even remember how long, there have been people toting the idea that tomorrow is Judgement Day and until this week I thought they were nuts but, being the paranoid freak that I am, it did start to get to me. I mean the world has to end sometime and while Christians are taught to beware of false profits, how can one be sure when they are false? After some research I feel a lot better because basically some dude decided, based on some concocted ideas and faulty math, that tomorrow will be judgement and the end of the world will be October. I also found a ton of religious people saying that God said nobody but him would know when the end was so I am 99.9% sure it will all be okay.

That said if something major happens, blame Terry Gilliam. I know what you are thinking, "I thought she was a huge fan of the maverick director. She wrote a huge blog about it in the Fall and read a book of his interviews for an obscenely long time." While those things are true, lets look at some facts.

Just this week Gilliam mentioned how he is attempting to make THE DEFECTIVE DETECTIVE, a project that he has attempted several times and every time it has collapsed. This by itself may not be a sign of the Apocalypse but pair it with his illustrious history of failure, near failure and disaster.

MONTY PYTHON HOLY GRAIL, directorial debut, plagued by bad weather, cast disputes, money trouble.

BRAZIL, first dream project, turns into nightmare as budget get sliced, stress leads Terry into temporary paralysis, and producers decide movie needs to be dumbed down for US audiences. This leads to very long public battle, that gets movie released eventually but causes Gilliam to begin to be thought of as difficult.

BARON MUNCHHAUSEN, very next film proves even worse financial issues as German producer promises huge budget and then goes Nazi when he can't deliver. Backers get mad, blame Gilliam, try to sue him and replace him. Special effects must be cut, scenes compromised, but Director makes it work. Studios Change creative heads during production leading studio to not care about project and barley release film with almost no promotion.

After this point Gilliam movies became considered Taboo, nobody wanted anything to do with anything he came up with so he decides for the first time, to do a movie where he had not created it in hopes of winning over producers to again make original work. This was 1991'S FISHER KING, a highly successful film and was followed by an even bigger success, 1994's TWELVE MONKEYS, but it would be 2009-20 years and five films before a Gilliam Original, IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS, was released. Of those five, TIDELAND lost it's distributors and funding (leading Gilliam to take to the streets of New York to beg for money, but really gain attention,) and THE BROTHERS GRIMM hit so many road blocks that it was released over a year later than originally planned and so many compromises were made in both direction that both the director and his producers hated the movie.


Both of these were considered failures at the box office but nothing compared to THE MAN WHO KILLED QUIXOTE, an original idea Gilliam was shooting in 2000 for three days before they had to shut down production. The whole ordeal was documented in LOST IN LA MANCHA (check out that link or watch it for full details) but destruction included a freak rain storm washing away the set and equipment- or as insurance companies call that an act of God (are you beginning to feel that maybe someone upstairs doesn't want him making films?)

The there is IMAGINARIUM, which did get made and is a wonderful film but, as has been well documented, only after the star, Heath Ledger, literally died mid shoot. Coincidence? The day after filming completed, one of the producers died and, oh yeah, Gilliam himself was hit by a bus breaking his back, during editing.

He was quoted as saying, "They got the star, they got the producer, but they didn't get the director!" Nice move Terry,if God is after you, you should totally mock him.Which brings us to his latest film attempt announced the week of Crackpots theory for Judgment Day. I'm sure we will be fine but again, if I am wrong, I think we all know who's ass to kick in the afterlife.

BRAZIL, TERRY GILLIAM, AND ME

This week I watched the 1985 sci-fi antiauthoritarian film BRAZIL, which was directed and co written by Terry Gillam. I struggle to say that this was my first time seeing the movie, which has hints of George Orwell's novel 1984, as I once rented it when my friend thought it would be fun to rent every single post-Python film that any member of Monty Python ever made (a failed attempt I might add.) I don't remember it though, and am pretty sure I must have turned it off or completely tuned it out. However, I decided recently that I would give the acclaimed BRAZIL another chance, something that I had recently done with the director himself. This time, not only did I reach the ending, which made me leap out of my seat not once but twice, but I thoroughly enjoy the entire thing.

Perhaps the reason that I didn't enjoy it the first go around was because it was coming after laugh out loud movies like SPLITTING HEIRS and A FISH CALLED WANDA and having something so complicated and though provoking didn't interest me at the time (I was still in school and who wants to think on their day off?) or perhaps, having just come out of a History and Purpose of Government (you know highlights of how great a country we are and how the system works) Class, I had not yet developed my antiestablishment attitudes enough to understand what Gilliam was getting at. While I’m sure both of these are true, I think a lot of it has to do with Gilliam himself or rather how my view of him has changed. When I first saw Python, I proudly proclaimed he was my least favorite member because his cartoons bothered me and he barely appeared in the show. At this point I was only watching Python as pure entertainment but as I delved deeper into the Pythons themselves with Google alerts and books written about them, I realized that my least favorite was actually Terry Jones but sort of ignored Gilliam all together. His directing was visually stunning, and BROTHERS GRIMM was an amazing take on fairy tales but that was as deep into his work as I wanted or needed to go.

After the accident three months ago and subsequent loss of DJ, I mentioned turning to Python to make me smile, when I did I realized the animations were actually worth not fast forwarding and TG did in fact appear in a lot of sketches he was just in heavy makeup and elaborate costumes. Furthermore, he was really funny, sometimes with barely saying a word; he even played the MAD JAILER in THE LIFE OF BRIAN which is my go to scene when I need a quick laugh. around this time I realized that IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS was on DVD and put it on hold on Netflix which lead me to read and Youtube interviews about the movie which, along with all of the Python stuff I was watching and new (to me) books that I was reading, made me realize that he was a really fun interview and lead me to go further back. Then I read TUNSNANAIN HOLIDAY which was a book about the making of LIFE OF BRAIN from a fan lucky enough to be invited to the set’s perspective and I learned all about the movie making process and so on and so forth, down the rabbit hole I fell.

Aside from his amazing talent and work ethic here are some of the things I like most about Gilliam.
*He is still married to his only wife, Maggie, whom he met when she was the Python makeup girl and their three children worked with him many times over the years including all three taking part in IMAGINARIUM. Family is very important to me so the fact that it is to him too impresses me. And for the record only two of the five living Pythons are still with their first wives.
*He said in an interview that his biggest fear is not death but rather becoming old. He prides himself on being a child even though he turns 70 this month. I want to be like that, he doesn’t seem to care what people think about him, he likes himself and if you remember WAVING THE FREAK FLAG neither do I.
*Imagination and Imaginarium:
Terry wrote IMAGINARIUM (one of my new favorite movies) which in itself speaks volumes about the imagination the man has. He once mentioned that his mind is so vivid that he actually though that he could fly because all of his instincts told him that he had so, as an adult mind you, he had to lay on the ground and attempt to levitate. He failed but the fact that he tried (without the aid of drugs) made me smile.
*Terry gave up his American Citizenship in the middle of the last decade (he had duel citizenship after he became a citizen of Great Britain in 1968) and kind of said without outright saying it that it was because of George W. Bush. I can’t tell you how many times I said I wanted to move to Canada because of that man so hearing someone actually fulfill my half serious empty promise made me well up with as much pride as when Obama was elected.



This brings us back to BRAZIL. From the time I was a fresh faced first time voter in 2004 (ready to elect the new President, about to change the world) to today a lot of things have happened to make me hate politicians John Edwards and distrust Government so now that movie resonates. Also, it teaches the valuable lesson the life isn’t always the way it appears which, lately, is an idea that I kind of like. An idea that goes along with this line from IMAGINARIUM:

Remember

Nothing's permanent

Not even death

The Short Film taking on the Cursed Raceway

Legend of the “Talladega Raceway Curse.”
The curse has been blamed as the cause of a series of unusual and unpleasant incidents that occurred at the 2.66-mile superspeedway over the years. While things did happen at other tracks, they were never as mystifying or eerie as they were at Talladega.
The story goes that the curse began centuries ago, when Andrew Jackson drove the Indians out of the valley in which the speedway is located today. As the Indians made their trek away from their homeland, a medicine man stood atop a hill, turned toward the valley and put an eternal hex on it.
OK, it makes for a good story, anyway.
But then unsavory things began to happen at the speedway. Driver Bobby Isaac was racing Bud Moore’s Ford when he claimed he heard a voice telling him to get out of the car, which he did. Driver Larry Smith clipped the wall in the third turn in what everyone assumed was a minor mishap. Smith was killed. He had removed the padding from his helmet to protect his pompadour.

Several cars were mysteriously sabotaged while under lock and key on the eve of a race. A driver’s mother was struck and killed by a pickup truck in the paddock area while her son was racing. Two drivers, nearly a straightaway apart and the only ones on the track during practice, mysteriously managed to crash. An ARCA driver barely outran a tornado that roared along the back straightaway during qualifying.
During a race, Jimmy Horton and Stanley Smith were involved in a crash that sent Horton’s car soaring over the wall. It ended up a shattered hulk outside the speedway. Remarkably, he was unhurt but Smith sustained serious injuries.
In 1993, Davey Allison lost his life in a freakish accident that occurred while he was trying to land his helicopter in the infield. His passenger, Red Farmer, suffered major injuries.

I am not a racing fan, and I have never even seen TALLEDEGA NIGHTS: THE LEGEND OF RICKY BOBBY starring Will Farrell, so I didn’t know this. In fact I have never seen a race, not even a part of a race. I am so oblivious when it comes to the sport I wouldn’t even know what a part would be called; inning? Round maybe? Whatever it is I can honestly say I have no interest in ever seeing one. For this reason, it seems kind of strange that I would be talking about a movie based around this premise but I am anyway.

The short film grabbed my attention because it combined several things that I enjoy. It was directed by the eccentric but brilliant Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus) and stars actor Justin Kirk, probably best known to audiences as Andy on WEEDS but who grabbed my attention when he starred in the indie play turned film LOVE, VALOUR, COMPASSION and made me a forever fan with his underrated portrail of Prior in HBO’s ANGELS IN AMERICA. The 18 minute story, turned out to be a comedy done in a mockumentary style (great for horror averse people like me) and, best of all, you don’t need to like NASCAR or even know anything about it to enjoy.

To see it for yourself go to

http://www.LegendofHallowdega.com/

where it is free to view, another plus!

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

There are certain movies that have a reputation the proceeds them. Usually it something that generates Oscar talk before it’s completed or the latest in a string of blockbusters like the most recent PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, or the long awaited sequel to something like WALL STREET. IMAGINARIUM was one of these long awaited and much talked about pieces because it had the unfortunate fate of being the late Heath Ledgers final film.


When Ledger past in early 2008, the film was mid shoot and it was mentioned almost as a passing fact; “Ledger, who had been working on Terry Gilliam’s latest film, THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS, was found late this afternoon.” As time went on and sleeping pills were found as part of the lethal (though nothing over intended dosage) combination in Ledger’s system, the film took on the role of scapegoat to some in the media; “Ledger said that the intensity and darkness of his latest role was affecting his sleep.” As summer came, and Ledger’s Oscar winning turn as the Joker in BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT hit theatres it became clear that that role was in fact the one that affected him so adversely. Around the same time, IMAGINARIUM began to make headlines because, in spite of the fact that one of his stars had died without completing his narrative arch, Gilliam had decided to continue the film without reshooting any of Ledger’s existing scenes.


Without any explanation of how this would work out, it also became known that Ledger’s role, Tony, would be completed by not one actor but three headline grabbing A-listers: Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. From a movie goers’ point of view, I think this is what really got interest in the film to peak because even though Gilliam’s phantasmagorical mind and reputation of- I’ll go with unique- narratives in his films made him the only person possible of pulling something like this off, it failed to reason how three men of vastly different ages and looks to pass for the same man portrayed by Ledger, who himself, resembled none of them.


The film was released in theaters in late 2009 but poor timing mixed with my unease with crying uncontrollably in public made me wait for the DVD release and this week, I finally watched it and I was not disappointed. The main points of the film, wanting eternal life and making deals with the Devil have appeared in many stories throughout time but the story of Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) manages to be fresh and exciting as we find out that the price he’s paid for it is his only daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole), who will be taken away by the Devil (Tom Waits) on her 16th birthday. Taking place on the last remaining days before this will occur; Parnassus and his mythical acting troupe must race against time to stop this from happening. The Devil has given Parnassus one last chance to reverse Valentina’s fate; he must get 5 souls to go through the Imaginarium (A magic mirror on the stage that allows patron’s to enter their own imaginations) before he can collect 5 soul of his own. Unfortunately for Parnassus, people are no longer interested in attending his traveling shows but, thanks to the serendipitous meeting with Tony, the mysterious stranger, all hope is not lost as bit by bit, Tony gathers up patrons for the shows and people start entering into the Imaginarium.


The film, not surprisingly for Gilliam, is a wonderland for the eyes as scene after scene becomes increasingly more stunning but the truly beautiful thing is how smoothly it plays. The setting of the film is London and the world of imagination and at the time of Ledger’s death all of his London scenes had been shot so what you see is Heath Ledger’s Tony taking an audience member through the mirror and reappearing on the other side in identical hair and costume but portrayed by Depp, Law, and Farrell as the way Tony is seen in the patron’s imagination. The first time viewers encounter this transformation, Tony is wearing a mask and he goes through about half of the fantasy following around a woman who then removes his mask and we see him stare in awe as his reflection is that of Johnny Depp and not Ledger. This moment for me was a bit of a shock as I truly believed that I was watching Ledger through the entire sequence, and was trying to figure out in my mind if maybe he had managed to shoot it before his death even though it was reported that he had only done the London side of things. The transition from Ledger to Law and later, Ledger to Farrell are just as seamless thought not as shocking once you get the concept.


Though it would seem to be the contrary, this movie is actually really easy to follow and the acting of everyone involved is top notch. I would recommend it to anyone who asked and am personally really glad that the film- billed as a Film by Heath Ledger and Friends rather than the contractual a Terry Gilliam Film- didn’t end up in a trash can.