In the 1990′s, a pair of French directors brought us two fantastical movies unlike anything I had ever seen before. Delicatessen (1991) and La cité des enfants perdus (The City of Lost Children, 1995) were wildly imaginative, twisted, and haunting, but they were also quite beautiful. Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet packed their movies with so many visual delights that repeated viewings were necessary to absorb even a fraction of them. I forgot how much I loved those films. . . until now.

Watching Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, I experienced the same awe and wonderment that those French films evoked in me. Imaginarium is like a grown up version of The Wizard of Oz, painted liberally by the storytelling brush of  the Grimm brothers. It’s dark and twisty, colorful and lovely all at the same time.

Mainstream audiences might recognize some of Gilliam’s work (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Twelve Monkeys, Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), but this film will probably not garner him any new fans, it is just too bizarre. The Gilliam loyalist, however, will be richly rewarded by this visual masterpiece. Before I continue, just a warning that this review contains mild spoilers.

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If you’re looking forward to Shane Acker’s upcoming film 9 as much as we are, then you’ve probably already seen the cool website, the posters, clips and other ways the filmmakers are getting the word out about the movie around the Internets. And now there’s a new way you can experience and join in all the 9 adventure yourself — and maybe even help make a bit of history along the way. How is this possible? Read on to find out.

The Talisman is a key component in the story of the movie 9 and is a device integral to the film’s “Stitchpunk” characters. Now you can create your own Talisman to share your pictures and thoughts with friends. To make this happen, check out the film’s website and “dive into the World of the Talisman” Once on the site, user pics from around the world can be viewed in an “infinite zooming” gallery.

You can then “create your Personal Talisman by uploading your own photos, which can then be shared via email, blogs or social networks. Once you upload your Talisman, your memories will be preserved forever.” After you’ve created your Talisman, the site will give you a personalized URL that you can share with friends. There’s also a widget version of this you can stick on your profile at MySpace, Facebook or the social networking site of your choice. Cool, right?

9, which features the voice talents of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau and Jennifer Connelly, hits theaters on 9.9.09.

While the summer blockbusters are still going strong, there’s one film that just misses the “summer” requirement but is still making a name for itself. The film is Shane Acker’s 9, which is based on his award-winning animated short from a few years back, and is produced by Tim Burton. The film is out this September and the marketing team has just released a series of character posters, showing off the animated cast of the film.

In the film, a group of numbered “people” are given the task of saving a post-apocalyptic world from destruction of giant robotic creatures. If you’re thinking “this sounds like every other movie out this summer”, then you should watch the original short that the film will be based on, because it’s got just enough of the Tim Burton fantasy-feel to make it a great movie.

The new posters show off the pretty big ensemble cast, with Christopher Plummer playing 1, Martin Landau as 2, John C. Reilly as 5, Crispen Glover as 6, Jennifer Connoly as 7 and Elijah Wood as the main character 9. Check out the character posters after the jump. 9 hits theaters September 9th.

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