After a prolonged period of anticipation, Terry Gilliam’s fantasy/parable The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus opens in limited release in the United States today, with showings at two theaters each in Los Angeles and New York City. A wider release is planned for January. The filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was interrupted by Heath Ledger’s untimely death in January 2008; Ledger’s role was completed by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. After the film’s premiere at Cannes last May, Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan wrote, “A tale of good and evil battling for souls that’s made with Gilliam’s fantastic and fantastical visual imagination, Imaginarium is the director’s best, most entertaining film in years.”

You can read more about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus on the Zone’s News and Views and Porch forums. –Part-Time Poet