Creative budget adjustments have paved new, broken-stone ways to stretch and contort every dollar we make. The unemployment rate, as of September, was at a 26-year high and still moving towards darker depths. The Hubble has been repaired, Billy Mayes died and Shatner did Palin.

Bah, humbug Deez

But none of this really matters. They pale in comparison, as a matter of fact, to the subject which these words are inching towards. So funk the economy all together, and the assorted occurrences of the past nine months or so. Christmas is going to be beautiful this year, despite what we don’t find under our collective Christmas Trees. Because our greatest present? No, it isn’t the freakish looking, Jim Carrey plastered Christmas Carol. But something far more grand. Far more real.

Like glittering snow against a backdrop of Autumn leaves, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus will be arriving. Finally. The best present, two front teeth aside, we could possibly ask for. Prepare to be wowed, moved, and maybe even a little hoodwinked. In a good way. December 25th. Boom.

I’ve written about the movie’s details in a previous article (check it out), so I won’t burden you with them here. Instead, I’ll humbly ask that you watch the below trailer once again and revel in the induced excitement with me. Not to mention the dope ass Gilliam visuals. Or the fact that Tom Waits is collecting souls. I couldn’t imagine a better point on which to close out 2009. Could you?

The film, somehow, didn’t get picked up immediately after it premiered at Cannes. The hows and whys are now irrelevant, however, as Sony is closing on a deal that will provide them distribution rights. According to Variety, we may by lucky enough to see Dr. Parnassus as early as this year. Let’s just hope the distribution isn’t too limited, as so many fear might be the case.

The story centers on the title character, Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), and his Imaginarium: a traveling show that offers its audience an opportunity to choose between joyful light and gloomy darkness. Despite the good Doctor’s many blessings, he houses one especially execrable secret: a pair of bets with the devil, known within the story as Mr. Nick (Tom Waits). The first bet provides him with immortality… an immortality which he later trades for his youth after meeting the lady of his dreams. Unfortunately, this second deal comes with the condition that his first-born will become the property of Mr. Nick on its 16th birthday.

When Parnassus’ daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole), finally hits her sweet 16th, that handsome devil comes to collect his literal dues. Always ready for another deal, however, Mr. Nick can’t resist negotiating another contract. The wager? The first to seduce five souls will be the one to claim Valentina. The Doctor then promises his daughter’s hand to whomever  helps him win the bet… and the race begins!

As the man attempting to lend the good Doctor (and his daughter) a hand, Heath Ledger steps in… the young actor’s last performance. Given that he passed away in the middle of shooting, the slack left in his role has been taken up by several actors. Apparently the character undergoes several transformations: from Heath to Johnny Depp, and later onto Jude Law then Colin Farrell. A plethora of pretty boys all playing a guy named Tony.

I hope you enjoy the trailer, as I certainly have. Pray that the release of this coming masterpiece is both immediate and wide-spread.