Sweeney was smooth, Sweeney was subtle. Sweeney would blink and rats would scuttle.
Sophia and I saw Sweeney Todd last week. It was a sweet date, actually. We ate at Baker's Crust before the movie; we shared a Sonoma (Valley?) salad (with nummy blueberries and then each ordered a soup in a bread boule. I had Brie and Mushroom soup, Sophia had roast crab and corn chowder. Then since we had missed the 7:20 showing of ST:tDBoFS we wandered around the mall trying to spend all the gift cards we'd gotten as gifts for our wedding. We struck out at Pottery Barn but came away with a giant haul from crate and barrel. It was mostly stuff related to party hosting. Hee!
On to Sweeney Todd! Keep in mind that I love the Sondheim stage show. It is arguably my favorite musical, actually. I love the vocal virtuosity, the black humor, the technical wizardry involved with the chair, chute, and Mrs. Lovett's and Sweeney's apartments. I love the dark musical themes, especially those based on Dies Irae. And I loved Angela Lansbury's performance as Mrs. Lovett; she was a complete hoot!
I liked the movie, all things considered. They had to cut some of the songs and alter others to match some minor changes in the order of event sin the plot, but most of the songs cut were unnecessary to begin with. "Parlor Songs" was a particularly annoying part of the stage show that I appreciated was cut. It did demonstrate Beadle Bamford's complete and total lack of testosterone (Dude's a freakin' castrati!) but I just wanted to yell out, "Get on with it!"
I did miss "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" (This is the one based on Dies Irae). I read that Burton did record the various incarnations of this song to place throughout the movie (Sung by Sweeney's victims, including blink-and-you'll-miss-him Anthony Stewart Head aka Rupert Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) but did not include them in the movie for whatever reason; probably that it would work quite right. This is one reason I am looking forward to the "Special Edition" DVD; it would be the acme of foolishness to exclude these songs from the special features section.
Anyway, the movie was pure Burton Magic. Dark, twisted, nightmarish, dirty, and bloody as hell. When Sweeney starts slitting throats, the audience sees this close-up. The blood drips, sprays, squirts, and runs and the audience sees it all. This is in no way a movie for children under 18. The music is orchestrated very well and although the major characters played by Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, and Sasha Baron Cohen weren't particularly strong singers, they made up for this fact by selling the song and scene though their acting. The camera was right there in the scene, so they didn't need to project quite as much as the stage actors. The supporting, or shall I say, younger cast of characters (Johanna, Antony, Toby) were cast by unknowns and were fantastic singers! Of particular note and pleasure - look out for Johanna's "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" and Toby's "Not While I'm Around."
Now, Sophia is not a big fan of blood, gore, and the creepy crawlies. She does not deal well at all with horror movies and spent much of the latter part of this movie with her face in her hands. She did enjoy much of the earlier parts of the movie, especially the humorous scenes such as "A Little Priest", "By the Sea", and "The Worst Pies In London". She also likes the sweeter side with "Johanna" (Sweeney's version) and "Pretty Women".
The production values were outstanding. Sets, costumes, props, were all very rich and detailed. You can expect no less from Tim Burton, really.
And as gruesome as the final shot is, it's one of the most striking beautiful and horrifying images I've seen on the silver screen.
If you like Tim Burton's work, you'll love this movie. If you like Sondheim you might have some problems with the cuts and alterations in the songs, though the music itself is still very powerful. You may also dislike the underpowered vocals from the older, better known cast members, but the younger crowd is amazing.
And if you like horror movies and don't mind a little song and dance, you'll probably like it, too.
On to Sweeney Todd! Keep in mind that I love the Sondheim stage show. It is arguably my favorite musical, actually. I love the vocal virtuosity, the black humor, the technical wizardry involved with the chair, chute, and Mrs. Lovett's and Sweeney's apartments. I love the dark musical themes, especially those based on Dies Irae. And I loved Angela Lansbury's performance as Mrs. Lovett; she was a complete hoot!
I liked the movie, all things considered. They had to cut some of the songs and alter others to match some minor changes in the order of event sin the plot, but most of the songs cut were unnecessary to begin with. "Parlor Songs" was a particularly annoying part of the stage show that I appreciated was cut. It did demonstrate Beadle Bamford's complete and total lack of testosterone (Dude's a freakin' castrati!) but I just wanted to yell out, "Get on with it!"
I did miss "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" (This is the one based on Dies Irae). I read that Burton did record the various incarnations of this song to place throughout the movie (Sung by Sweeney's victims, including blink-and-you'll-miss-him Anthony Stewart Head aka Rupert Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) but did not include them in the movie for whatever reason; probably that it would work quite right. This is one reason I am looking forward to the "Special Edition" DVD; it would be the acme of foolishness to exclude these songs from the special features section.
Anyway, the movie was pure Burton Magic. Dark, twisted, nightmarish, dirty, and bloody as hell. When Sweeney starts slitting throats, the audience sees this close-up. The blood drips, sprays, squirts, and runs and the audience sees it all. This is in no way a movie for children under 18. The music is orchestrated very well and although the major characters played by Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, and Sasha Baron Cohen weren't particularly strong singers, they made up for this fact by selling the song and scene though their acting. The camera was right there in the scene, so they didn't need to project quite as much as the stage actors. The supporting, or shall I say, younger cast of characters (Johanna, Antony, Toby) were cast by unknowns and were fantastic singers! Of particular note and pleasure - look out for Johanna's "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" and Toby's "Not While I'm Around."
Now, Sophia is not a big fan of blood, gore, and the creepy crawlies. She does not deal well at all with horror movies and spent much of the latter part of this movie with her face in her hands. She did enjoy much of the earlier parts of the movie, especially the humorous scenes such as "A Little Priest", "By the Sea", and "The Worst Pies In London". She also likes the sweeter side with "Johanna" (Sweeney's version) and "Pretty Women".
The production values were outstanding. Sets, costumes, props, were all very rich and detailed. You can expect no less from Tim Burton, really.
And as gruesome as the final shot is, it's one of the most striking beautiful and horrifying images I've seen on the silver screen.
If you like Tim Burton's work, you'll love this movie. If you like Sondheim you might have some problems with the cuts and alterations in the songs, though the music itself is still very powerful. You may also dislike the underpowered vocals from the older, better known cast members, but the younger crowd is amazing.
And if you like horror movies and don't mind a little song and dance, you'll probably like it, too.