Terry Gilliam isn't a fan of the real world. The 73-year-old director's movies are each an exercise in escaping it, whether through fantasy (2009's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus), satire (1985's Brazil), or surrealism (pretty much all of Monty Python). His latest, The Zero Theorem—starring Christoph Waltz as Qohen, a reclusive computer savant working for an all-seeing British corporation—is Gilliam's flinching reaction to today's hyper-stimulating Internet culture. In a move away from typical dystopian dullness, his vision of London is a riot of colorful advertisements that stalk pedestrians down the street, balanced by a dreamy virtual reality that Qohen uses to escape the onslaught. The world may have changed since Gilliam started offering his scathing critiques, but not for the better—and he's as pissed off as ever.
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