The Imaginarium of Terry Gilliam

I haven't actually seen the movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, just the trailer, and I know virtually nothing about the movie. But just the trailer gives me one thought. While we talk about how advances in computer technology enable people like James Cameron to realize their visions that were never practical to realize before, we need to think about the other side of that equation. It also means there will soon be nothing to stop Terry Gilliam from realizing his visions.

If you've watched his progression through movies like Jabberwocky, Time Bandits, The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, and The Fisher King, think about the idea that, soon, anything he can imagine, he can render in photorealistic 3D imagery. You should be filled with an odd combination of feelings, a mixture of excitement and trepidation. It will probably be indescribably awesome. It may be alarmingly self-indulgent. It's also entirely possible it will render many of us insane, and possibly open a gateway to a parallel universe of surrealistic paradoxes, whose designs on us will be too incomprehensible to be evaluated. It seems very likely that if there is a way that a realized imagining can begin the End Of All Things, or at least its transformation into forms beyond our conception, Terry Gilliam is the man for the job.

Should we be alarmed, or should we embrace the madness and start getting fitted for our flamboyant new costumes?