Tideland

Eirebear

I missed this when it was in the cinemas, due to factors such as my nearest cinema being 40 miles away...and crap (i dont even think it was shown), and also being a little bit put off after Gilliam's attempt at the Brothers Grimm.

Anyway i watched it the other night on DVD and all i can really say is that my faith has been restored in the great man, what a movie.
Its not an easy watch by any means, dealing with issues like drug abuse, child abuse (sexual, physical, and mental) among a host of other things but its a wholly rewarding film as its shown through the eyes of a fantastic little girl.
My wife watched it with me and described it as almost being a cross between Pan's Labyrinth and fear and Loathing in las vegas...TBH its a fair enough description when you take in the alice in wonderland references, along with Gillams directorial style and the harsh subject matter.
I've spoken to a few people recently who had been put off it by bad reviews and just general disinterest from the media, but i would highly reccomend it to anyone out there. Go watch it....now!

nacho libre

Yes it's up there with his finest work. A great film with a masterfully bleak ending.

Sad Professor

I agree completely, excellent film, one of my favourite movies of last year. It's definitely not for everyone though . You'll either love it or hate it, there doesn't seem to be any in between.

I heard they f**ked up all the dvds so I've been holding off on buying it. Hopefully there'll be a Criterion release eventually anyway.

Eirebear

Yes it's up there with his finest work. A great film with a masterfully bleak ending.

Bleak but uplifting, strength of the human character etc etc etc. i like it.

How did they screw up the DVD? the one i watched seemed ok tbh

Sad Professor

Eirebear wrote:

How did they screw up the DVD? the one i watched seemed ok tbh

Wrong aspect ratio, cropping, miss-framed, etc. It's a big mess. Gilliam is supposed to be working on a re-release but seeing as how the film barely made it to the cinema it's not likely to be forthcoming.

More details here:
http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/tidecrop.htm

Eirebear

Sad Professor wrote:

Wrong aspect ratio, cropping, miss-framed, etc. It's a big mess. Gilliam is supposed to be working on a re-release but seeing as how the film barely made it to the cinema it's not likely to be forthcoming.

More details here:
http://www.smart.co.uk/dreams/tidecrop.htm

wow seems like they did **** it up!
TBH im not sure it would have made that much difference, obviously i didnt see it on the big screen so i wouldnt have noticed.
Unless your looking for the difference i doubt it would matter.

johnny_ultimate

I really dislike this film with a passion, and I have very much enjoyed the other Gilliam films I have seen (Fisher King, Fear and Loathing, and the masterpiece that is Brazil). But this film was a shambles. To me it was controversial just for the sake of it - the

decomposing corpse and weird love story

were to me the cinematic equivelant of a spoilt kid just looking for attention. I didn't get into the film at all - the 'plot' went nowhere and the pacing was all over the place. It was like Pan's Labyrinth on speed, but not in a good way. Pan came across as subtle and powerful, Tideland was obnoxious and instantly unlikable. Sure it looked good - as all Gilliam films do - but that was nowhere near enough.

Without a doubt, one of the most unpleasant film experiences I have had recently.

Petey2006

I really liked it- http://criticalmassreviews.blogspot.com/2007/04/tideland-2005-terry-gilliam.html

Eirebear

johnny_ultimate wrote:

I really dislike this film with a passion, and I have very much enjoyed the other Gilliam films I have seen (Fisher King, Fear and Loathing, and the masterpiece that is Brazil). But this film was a shambles. To me it was controversial just for the sake of it - the

decomposing corpse and weird love story

were to me the cinematic equivelant of a spoilt kid just looking for attention. I didn't get into the film at all - the 'plot' went nowhere and the pacing was all over the place. It was like Pan's Labyrinth on speed, but not in a good way. Pan came across as subtle and powerful, Tideland was obnoxious and instantly unlikable. Sure it looked good - as all Gilliam films do - but that was nowhere near enough.

Without a doubt, one of the most unpleasant film experiences I have had recently.

A little bit harsh here i feel, but each to there own.
For me it was a fantastic way of showing the strength of the human "spirit" especially in a child, without going into some blubbling "based on a true story"
Midweek movie scenario.
The use of the dolls heads as a way of giving us the inner most thoughts and worries of the child was a great idea, and the "love" story bit was designed to make us re evaluate everything we percieve as "Normal", whilst we may have felt uncomfortable watching it, it still managed to have a strangely likeable quality, because of the circumstances (back history included) it almost felt like the most right thing possible for the two of them.
Of course we were never allowed to think this for too long, reality(or at least the reality of the film) always came crashing home just as we were getting comfortable and allowing ourselves a little smile.
This is where the pacing of ther film comes in, i thought it was spot on, the roller coaster of what was the little girls life(sorry i cant remember her name right now) came through perfectly in this, one minute your laughing along with her and the various characateurs which lived around her and then band, something happens which makes us realise that no...this is actually wrong, its going to far, and we start squirming in our seats.
great movie.

PS, how do i do the spoiler thingy? At least then i could back myself up with examples.

Sad Professor

Eirebear wrote:

PS, how do i do the spoiler thingy? At least then i could back myself up with examples.

Like this:

{spoiler}Your text goes here{/spoiler}

Just use [ ] instead of { }

Eirebear

Sad Professor wrote:

Like this:

{spoiler}Your text goes here{/spoiler}

Just use [ ] instead of { }

Thankyou my good man!:D

evad_lhorg

I saw this in the dvd shop there the other day and it intrigued me. from the cover alone it reminded me of pans labyrinth and big fish.

I must check it out