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| Sweeney Todd The Movie | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 22 2007, 01:21 PM (558 Views) | |
| Black Tiger | Dec 22 2007, 01:21 PM Post #1 |
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Charter Member
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I have a bias in that I love the Sweeney Todd musical and have seen 4 different productions of it. If you are not a fan of the musical, I'm not sure how the film adaptation resonates, although the movie audience I was with enjoyed it enough to even applaud at times. Lots of younger folk who I'm sure have never seen a staged performance of the material. It's undoubtedly Sondheim's darkest and arguably best work. It tells the tale of Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp), once a barber commuted for life to a penal colony on a trumped-up charge by a corrupt judge (Alan Rickman) who lusted after the barber's beautiful wife. Escaping prison and arriving back in London 15 years later, Todd finds his wife had committed suicide and his daughter raised as the judge's ward. Todd joins forces with Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) in a plan to gain revenge on the judge and in the process, provide Mrs. Lovett with plenty of "meat" which she uses to create a successful Meat Pie business. Tim Burton has really created a wonderfully seedy and dank vision of the ugly underbelly of London. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman are very good. While not as powerful vocally as any of the stage productions, their voices are quite good enough and fit within the framework of the movie. Some might find the blood-letting in the second act gratuitous, but it fits well within the framework of the story. It's a horror film with romance, social injustice, revenge and some wickely clever tunes. As a matter of fact, one thing I enjoy greatly about this film is how it captures the spirit of the original story, the original characterizations and the story itself is intact. In other words, unlike I Am Legend and countless other cinematic adaptations, this film actually cares enough about the original source material to treat it with respect, not making unnecessary "improvements" to the story. Another memorable and fine work by Burton and company. Now pass a shepherd's pie peppered with actual shepherd, please. |
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| Inspector Carr | Dec 22 2007, 01:53 PM Post #2 |
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Charter Member
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Tim Burton......one of my favorite directors today......him and the Coen Brothers..Did you see it with Len Cariou?.....that is the version I saw on stage... |
| "Life is a Crapshoot however you need a pair of dice to participate" | |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Dec 22 2007, 03:19 PM Post #3 |
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Mouth Breather
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Great news! Now if the damn thing will just come to Chico... |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| Barcroft | Dec 22 2007, 04:36 PM Post #4 |
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Charter Member
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Paul: You could just drive down to Sacramento and go see Sweeney Todd with Gravy. LOL Barcroft |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Dec 22 2007, 04:42 PM Post #5 |
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Mouth Breather
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How 'bout it, Mr. G? I could get down there someday next week. |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| AndyFish | Dec 23 2007, 08:36 AM Post #6 |
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Movie Watcha Foist Class
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I saw it on Broadway a number of times WAAY back in the late 80s. I also watched the PBS broadcast I recorded so many times I wore the tape out! I just picked up both DVD versions from 1982 and 2001. Andy |
| www.andytfish.com | |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Dec 25 2007, 08:39 PM Post #7 |
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Mouth Breather
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They're both great, but the more recent one comes to a screeching halt for an interpolated song by Judge Turpin. I recommend skipping that number: it adds nothing to the story. |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| copperhead | Jan 3 2008, 01:12 AM Post #8 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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members, i recently [sunday]viewed the BEN KINGSLEY version of sweeney todd----very well done, good attention paid to costumes, details --ben was wonderful as the demon barber. i did not each sandwiches for a few days after that
----i watched it with a friend as a warm up to seeing depp version tomorrow--ralph g
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| copperhead | Jan 4 2008, 03:55 AM Post #9 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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members, despite the fact that i do not think the subject matter reacts well with a musical, i liked it. a few numbers were very good, and there was gore galore. depp did his usual good job as did " borat" and alan rickman. my friend described it as grand guignol, quite so--coppy |
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| Ignatz Ratzkywatzky | Jan 4 2008, 08:25 PM Post #10 |
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Charter Member
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I loved the film--like a Hammer horror film set to music. I had not seen a stage production prior to seeing Tim Burton's version, but I rented the Lansbury/Hearn version via Netflix afterward. I have to say, I like both versions equally. I think the screenwriter did an excellent job at trimming to bring the film down to movie length, and some of the cuts tightened the material and made it stronger. In fact, I think the ending especially worked better in the film version, bringing the curtain down as soon as the main story had concluded. I also liked the decision to cast the film younger. It made the judge's decision to marry his ward more perverse and gave more weight to the perils of Tobius, Anthony, and Johanna. That said, I wish that Burton hadn't cut a few verses out of some of my favorite songs, especially "A Little Priest," which is as good a song as Sondheim ever wrote. However, had he not trimmed a verse here or there, he would have likely had to cut more songs entirely. Although not the best musical film of the year (that being ONCE), SWEENEY TODD is the best stage-to-screen musical since LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. |
| IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF! is a movie recommendation site, focusing on forgotten classics, lesser-known gems, and oddball discoveries. https://www.bottomshelfmovies.com | |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Jan 27 2008, 03:45 PM Post #11 |
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Mouth Breather
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I'll go a lot further: Sweeney's my favorite film musical ever -- and I love musicals. There has never before been a Hollywood version of a stage musical that didn't sweeten and soften the orchestrations in the Hollywood manner. This movie uses some original and some new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, which are what makes Sondheim sound like Sondheim. Depp and Carter both give powerful performances -- despite her wobbly singing Carter does a lot to humanize Mrs. Lovett and make her more believable -- she's cold as ice but also a sentimental Victorian. I prefer her to Lansbury and LuPone. Depp does everything that can be done with Sweeney, who is of necessity a one-note character. Our friend Borat makes the usually-dull Signor Pirelli impeccably slimy, and some new dialogue converts Johanna into a rounded character rather than the caricature of Hal Prince's production . As somebody said above, the movie does treat the show respectfully, but also enriches it with a great many little touches that eventually added up to a greater experience than the play -- and it's already one of the greatest stage musicals I ever saw. Best picture of the year. Panzer's highest recommendation and a resounding return to form by Tim Burton. He actually improved on a masterpiece. |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| Laughing Gravy | Apr 20 2008, 06:24 PM Post #12 |
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Best Picture of the Year? I dunno 'bout that, but I saw it today with Strawberry Gravy, and if you like good, bloody macabre fun, this is the movie for YOU, folks. "Oliver" as written by Charles Addams. |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Apr 21 2008, 10:19 AM Post #13 |
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Mouth Breather
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Well, so far anyhow. It's a lot more fun than Juno. |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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----i watched it with a friend as a warm up to seeing depp version tomorrow--ralph g
12:14 AM Jul 11