TIDELAND

However misguided and off-the-mark Tideland may be, you can't say that it lacks artistic merit.

-Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly

My DND group deiced to start having movie nights, the first movie we watch was Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. It’s a rather ridiculous forgotten B Movie that is the exact kind of thing you would expect from an ex member of MONTY PYTHON. This movie is… not that

Tideland is a 2 fantasy film co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam. It is an adaptation of Mitch Cullin's novel of the same name. The film was shot in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and the surrounding area in late 2004. Pre-teen Jeliza-Rose's parents are hopeless drug addicts. When pa, rocker Noah, finds ma's OD'd, he fears to be charged with homicide and takes Jeliza along to his ma's place, in a desolate country region. With Noah dead in his chair, the girl mentally transfers to a fantasy world she and her doll heads enter magically. Jeliza's adventures also star the crazy locals, notably Dell, and Dell's grown but intellectually disabled brother Dickens

You know that crazy ass scene in NATURAL BORN KILLERS where Rodney Dangerfield plays a horribly sexually abusive father? This movie feels a lot like that scene. casting Jennifer Tilly as Jeliza-Rose's mother and Jeff Bridges Jeliza-Rose's father really warps the perception I already had of both of these actors, and does a good job of setting the tone for this deeply disturbing movie. As someone who has had to call CPS before, this movie feels painfully close to home. As much as this movie eventually dives into almost total fantasy, this opening is painfully realistic. It’s the painful combo of child abuse, drug addiction, and the minds ability to slip into fantasy without you even realizing it.

But here’s he thing about this movie. It has won serval high profile awards, and plenty of folks like Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News call this movie a masterpiece. I can see where they are coming from, but Jesus Christ is this movie boring to me. Its well directed, very well acted, but still feels like a 3 hour Snyder cut we never knew we didn’t want.

I know I’m supposed to me Mr. Sophistication here talking about motifs and shit, but sometimes I just get to bored to even the movie.

7/10