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For people who didn’t think Across the Universe was trippy enough: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The production of Terry Gilliam’s 2009 fantasy film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, was temporarily suspended in January 2008 when news broke of Heath Ledger’s unfortunate death at the young age of just 28 years. In order to keep Gilliam’s film alive, close friends of Ledger’s – Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell – were cast to portray the late actor’s character in scenes that had yet to be filmed. The justification? The additional men would represent transformations of Ledger’s character as he travels through a magic world.

According to the nation’s critics, the quick solution mostly worked. Courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes, about two-thirds of film reviewers liked the movie, which follows a theater troupe leader who allows people to explore their imaginations after he makes a deal with the Devil. The movie’s box office performance, however, was less than stellar. Against a production budget of $30 million, the film earned just $7.6 million in the United States.

Disc includes: Six behind-the-scenes featurettes, Heath Ledger interview, Wardrobe Test featurette, deleted scenes, audio commentary, The Imaginarium of Terry Gilliam featurette, Heath Ledger and Friends: Cast and Crew Remember Their Friend featurette, The Drunk Multi-Angle Progression Sequence featurette

For people who don’t want to miss a thing: Armageddon [Blu-ray]

Like a typical Roland Emmerich disaster flick, the science in Michael Bay’s Armageddon doesn’t make any sense. Come on… crash-landing a shuttle on a Texas-sized asteroid hurtling more than 20,000 miles per hour in space, then blowing it up with a bomb? Really? NASA, actually, screens the film during its training program for potential new managers, who try to find as many scientific inaccuracies as they can. Consider it Hollywood’s way of giving back – at the expense, of course, of making L.A. filmmakers look like idiots.

Out today is a Blu-ray version of the popular film, which made bank for its distributor, Touchtone Pictures, a dozen years ago. Worldwide, the $140 million movie starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler and Ben Affleck earned a staggering $554 million worldwide.

Disc includes: “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” music video by Aerosmith

April 27, 2010


Blu-ray
Armageddon
Brothers Five
The Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha
The Delightful Forest
Disgrace
District B13 / District B13: Ultimatum (Double Feature)
District B13: Ultimatum
Dune
Elizabeth
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Five Minutes of Heaven
The Heroic Ones
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
It's Complicated
The Jackal
La Bayadere: Paris Opera & Ballet
Out Of Africa
Pride and Prejudice
Ride With The Devil (Criterion Collection)
Romeo & Juliet: Paris Opera & Ballet
Sex and the City
Tombstone
Traffic

DVD
The Descent: Part 2
Disgrace
District B13 / District B13: Ultimatum (Double Feature)
District B13: Ultimatum
Five Minutes of Heaven
Ghost Hunters: Season 5, Part 2
The Hills: Season Five, Part Two
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
It's Complicated
It's Garry Shandling's Show: Complete First Season
Orson Welles: Paris Interview
Ride With The Devil (Criterion Collection)
Rita Rocks: The Complete First Season
Survivors: Complete Seasons One and Two (Set)
Survivors: The Complete Original Series 1975-77
UFOs & Close Encounters (Deluxe Edition)
UFOs & ET: Men In Black, Aliens & Flying Saucers
Voyeur (Special Edition)

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