Daily Front Row

2009 December 8

Imaginarium Friends

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Lily Cole
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(NEW YORK) "It was a real accomplishment that this film was even finished," explained Lily Cole at last night's screening of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, hosted by The Cinema Society and Sony Pictures Classics and held at the Crosby Street Hotel. "Jude Law, Johnny Depp, and Colin Firth wanted to help," smiled director Terry Gilliam. Buzz for the film began back in 2008 due to Heath Ledger's untimely death, which occurred on a break from filming Gilliam's project. In June, Peter Biskind's widely-read Vanity Fair piece, The Last of Heath, made the anticipation even more heated.

After Adam Duritz closed out the press line, the crowd of Moby, Olivia Thirlby, Lee Pace, Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, Michael Stipe, Daniel Benedict, Olivia Palermo & Johannes Huebl, and Bettina Zilkha settled into the screening room for popcorn, bottled eau and a healthy dose of pure fantasy. "We're going to get started, because I hate being late," said Gilliam before the lights dimmed. "We were waiting on Courtney Love, but she's not in the car yet!"

The late Ledger's performance wasn't the film's only revelation. At the after-party, Cole was virtually mobbed with well-wishers like the Strokes' Nikolai Fraiture marvelling at her performance--a bona-fide starring role, rather than the supporting one many expected. Amy Sacco and crew made it to the Crosby after a private Sting show, while Duritz, Gina Gershon and Patti Smith lounged on the sofas and indulged in crab cakes, sliders, and a mini-BLT or two. The generous bartenders poured remarkably stiff drinks--which were much appreciated on one of the frostiest nights we've seen so far. But overall, the atmosphere was delightfully juvenile. "The best way to see the movie is like a child," said Gilliam. For one night, anyway, Andrew Saffir's Cinema Society's grown-ups were game to go back.
ASHLEY BAKER