The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

It's unmistakably Gilliam in its use of 2D environments on a 3D plane, and the physical sets and miniatures are spectacular, but the deplorable reliance on blue/green screen means the handmade quality and beautiful rough edges are eliminated. At those times it’s about as visually interesting as the next TV commercial trying to sell you insurance or a new car.
The story itself has a similar contrast, but it's used to better effect. The fantastical and the real exist side by side, with only one of the two states being oblivious to the other. Connecting them is the titular Doctor Parnassus, who does so for reasons that become clear as you watch.
Seeing the inside of Terry’s mind externalised and captured on film is hugely entertaining, but the CGI does an ugly job of presenting it to us.

3 sustaining stories out of 5

St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009)

It's a new term at St Trinian's, but instead of terrorising the classroom the girls are out hunting for pirate gold. It’s a ludicrous story far removed from the scholastic concerns that you'd expect to see, but somehow slightly more entertaining because of it. You could call it a kind of history lesson, I suppose.
As before, Firth and Everett kept me from slipping into unconsciousness.

2 under studies out of 5

St Trinian's (2007)

Our reintroduction to the all-girls school is alongside rich girl Annabelle (Talulah Riley), who gets enrolled by her waste-of-space father. She’s ill at ease in an institution where the girls make moonshine in the Chemistry lab and some of the staff are on drugs.
The Minister for Education is a wanker (art imitating life?) who wants to make an example of them, so the girls have to fight for their right to party.
Unless you’re a fourteen-year-old girl (or think like one) then it's a complete washout. For adults, the allusions made to things outside the film are likely to be the most entertaining (e.g. the horny dog, Darcy).

1½ belles with (hockey) balls out of 5

THE ZERO THEOREM [2013]

Director Terry Gilliam returns to his bizarre dystopian future form, as explored in Brazil and 12 Monkeys with The Zero Theorem.
Christophe Waltz does a fantastic job playing the tragic Qohen Leth who's lost in a world that doesn't want or need him.  The earnest Qohen is on the constant search for a definitive meaning to life but is assigned the job of confirming human existence is meaningless, which in turn gives his being some sort of purpose.  Gilliam's dismal paranoid future is candy colored and rich in texture which gives it a absurd sense of menace.  The film's making a pretty bold statement but it never feels heavy-handed and still pleases with it's eccentric characters and outlandish sets.
A fine return to form for Gilliam that reminds us sci-fi films can still be personal to the film-makers and not lost in a sea of merchandise.

3½ Churches of Batman The Redeemer out of 5

SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMEN [2012]

Director Rupert Sanders' Snow White & The Huntsmen takes the dark overtones of the original fariytale and enthusiastically runs with it.

The idea has potential to be quite a startling piece of cinema, nodding it's head to Guillemero Del Toro and Ridley Scott, but doesn't quite reach that height.  Riddled with some uneven acting, a mess of a plot and forced moments that seem it's trying to hard to be different from previous incarnations of the tale.  Strengthened by strong female roles, (particularly Charlize's slightly over-the-top performance) and some glimpses of great imagination, Snow White's world could have been wonderful and begs to be further explored.

3 wood trolls out of 5