Film: The Brothers Grimm

I think most die hard Gilliam fans will like this movie, especially on repeated viewings. The film sort of harkens back to the feel of Jabberwocky, and is no where close to be being as engrossing as 12 Monkeys or any of Gilliam's more mainstream flicks. Style definitely rules over substance and plot. Because of this, the story frequently seems thin and slow and, consequently, most of the people I saw this with became very bored. The sets and forests are beautiful, but the CGI is truly awful. It would have been nice if Miramax had sprung a bit more for the special effects, but such is the legacy of Harvey Scissorhands and the last of his old projects. Nevertheless, it's good to have anything from Gilliam. The leads all do a good job, with some Monty Python-type moments arising from time-to-time. Still, because on the concentration on style, I think most people will not like this movie.

I read an article about Gilliam in Time or something that said he would spend entire days on the set cursing the Weinstien bros for butchering his movie. Then Time went and labeled "Fear and Loathing" a dismal flop, and after the entire Judith Miller/Plame affair I was convinced Time mag needs to burn in hell for eternity.

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I thought it was pretty good. As mentioned the plot was fairly thin but the quirky Gilliam moments made up for it.

I probably wouldn't watch it again though.

Harvey Weinstein is a class-A douche, and I'm not surprised that he ruined the movie. However, I don't understand why a director of Gilliam's caliber didn't simply ask for final cut and a respectable budget.

Film - Brother Grimm

Anyone seen it?
Is it good?

UTFSE


This thursday. About fuckin time!

eatit

TBG is a stylish flick with frequent charming little bits of humour which made me smile more than once, but overly produced and commercialised it remains just a heavily watered down Gilliamesque.

Hopefully Tideland makes up for it.

This was better the second time through. I was able to spend less time thinking about what was going on with the story and more time concentrating on the details, the very thing at which Gilliam excels. Beautiful set designs, cinematography, and much comedy that I didn't catch the first time. The French torture room and Jonathan Pryce's final scene are my favorite parts.

Prepare for a Gilliam Bash-a-thon.

Jesus Christ Gilliam, you've finally dropped the ball. CG bent you over and penetrated your ass, old man.

How could the same human being that made brilliant classics such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Twelve Monkeys, Brazil, and Time Bandits, have possibly made this film?

Yes the forest sets were beautifully rich and deep and vivid but the shots were way too short, there was no time to enjoy the details in this clunky confusing storyline with characters that - IMO - are NOT Gilliamesque at all. They seemed like overblown forgeries of Gilliams characters. Brothers Grimm did for Gilliam what the Star Wars prequels did for Lucas - made him look really washed up. And who's the brainiac who cast Matt Demon in the lead?? He's B quality at best, nowhere near the acting caliber of his classics, not to mention Monty Python.

I was really frightened that CG was going to kill Gilliam, and it has, can he ressurect himself from this abomination? I really hope so, save some face, man. Brothers Grimm is not a Gilliam movie if your a Gilliam fan. Don't even bother renting it. It was painfully empty, bereft of the emotion captured in his classics - don't go looking. I felt no emotion, I felt no attachment, I felt like the plot and characters were so thin and smalltime, like you could tell it was filmed in a barn in 2 weeks or something. Even my 5-year-old daughter was struggling to watch the whole thing, we were both bored for about 90% of the movie.

This is my first impression, I can't see it changing, I own the DVD and I'm going to put myself through the hell of watching it again just to make sure I wasn't having a nightmare the first time I watched it.

I actually liked it. Unqiue storyline that combined all of the brothers grimms fairy tales in a fun and original way, with a little comedy mixed in for good measure. It's certainly not a 'smart' or 'groundbreaking' film, but it sure is fun to watch. Kill an hour or so watching fairytales play out, there is worse things in life.

psychetool, are you a fan or are you very familiar with Giliam and his other works, including Monty Python?

I know I'm very picky about film quality but I think as a Gilliam follower I've just come to expect a certain level of quality from him.