Tideland

Terry Gilliam may be one of the most overrated modern directors. After watching the misbegotten Wonderland-influenced Tideland, even die-hard fans will agree that whatever rabbit hole Gilliam fell through, we’d all be better off if there were no movie cameras down there. It doesn’t help that Gilliam shows up before the film to explain that the only reason to dislike his unwatchable film is an excess of “fear, prejudice and preconceptions” in the viewer. Well, that and the 121 minutes of unleavened tedium posing as a necrophiliac/pedophiliac/talking-doll-head freak fest. Jodelle Ferland gives a spooky but tiresome lead performance as a wildly imaginative girl trapped on the plains with the rotting corpse of Jeff Bridges for a father. Remarkably, it’s even worse than it sounds.