Sweeney Todd
 

I just got back from seeing it. It was sublime to say the least. While the lack of true singing by Bonham and Depp aggravated me a little, they did a VERY good job. It was very dark and bloody, but it deserves the essentially unanimous praise it is getting.

I'm really excited to see this. People I know that have seen it say it feels almost intimate, since there isn't an ensemble, so to speak, but I loved the most recent scaled-down Broadway production, so I'm excited for the smaller feel.

Is it true "By the Sea" is the best scene in the film? That's what I've heard thus far! Super excited for every scene Alan Rickman is in too!

"By the Sea" was great because in film, you are not limited to the stage. This was where HBC SHINED her a$$ off. That, and the "No One's Going to Harm You" number, which was sublime. She really is such a talented actress. Her singing was good, but not like Lupone (then again, who is? ) My only big complaint was the make and clothes on JD and HBC were almost also rans in that they are dressed like that and in the same kind of make up in most movies, to wit: Edward S., Harry Potter, etc.

And now, for Patti (in a better and higher key than in the Broadway show --



Here she is on Broadway ( Tony Award Nominee :woohoo: )



Here is HBC (audio only) -- she does well, but mind you this is HEAVILY produced and not live - good though and kudos to her! IMO, she has a little Julie Andrews in her voice (just a little mind you)

And, the woman who owns the part and IMO always will as I see no serious competition - not even Patti :shrug:

I hate you, but in a nice way. I am DYING to see this.

(I loves me some Angela Landsbury, but I think Patti totally reinvented the part. Can't wait to see her in Gypsy next year!!!)

^^^^^^^^

I am very lucky that a friend gets the passes to the advance screenings. So, not only did I see it early, I was there with the swells and it was FREE :p:p

i'm doing an advanced screening tuesday night for work. i can't wait to see it and i'm pleased to no end that its seemingly translated so well to screen :thumbsup:

Awesome! I cant wait. I'm a big fan of Tim Burton's work. Not a fan of musicals so much, but Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman being in the cast make up for that!

I can't wait to see this -- I saw a stage production in Dublin a few months ago and it rocked my socks off.

I'm a bit concerned that Tim Burton's doing it though -- don't get me wrong, I really love his work and Johnny Depp works brilliantly with him. But the Sweeney Todd story is _already_ so dark and quirky and Tim Burton-ish that if Tim Burton gets involved the universe might cave in on itself with all the Tim Burton-ness going on!

i am obsessed with this.

seriously.

i think the performances were excellent. i'll justify that if required. johnny and helena were well matched. i was glad to see that it wasn't just the musical on film.

i personally - bring the flames - hated the lupone/cerveris revival. i was disappointed in the "orchestration" and thought that the vocals were way too broadway. i always imagined the characters as being much darker and more subverted.

I am sooooo spanking you when I see you next :mad:

:D

Also, on ION at 9:00 EST tonight is the 1998 version with Ben Kingsley, Campbell Scott, and Joanna Lumley (FABULOUS!!!!!)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147582/

From ww.nytimes.com

Review Summary

John Schlesinger directed this razor-sharp retelling of the familiar Demon Barber legend, previously a Victorian penny-dreadful by Christopher Bond (The Story of Pearls), a stage play by George Dibdin-Pitt, a Tod Slaughter film (the 1936 Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street), and the 1979 Stephen Sondheim stage musical (Sweeney Todd). Sondheim's musical has been televised in a production with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury heading the cast. This John Schlesinger drama, scripted by executive producer Peter Shaw, is set in turn-of-the-century London where bald barber Sweeney Todd (Ben Kingsley) runs a cutting-edge business with an affluent clientele. He also has several sidelines, including the sale of his murder victims' jewelry, plus a profitable agreement with Mrs. Lovett (Joanna Lumley), who uses an industrial-size meat grinder to prepare her tasty "meat pies" for her unsuspecting customers. American insurance investigator Ben Carlyle (Campbell Scott), tracking $50,000 worth of missing diamonds, encounters corruption throughout the city as he attempts to solve the case. Victorian London locales seen here were actually filmed in Dublin. Shown April 19, 1998 on Showtime. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide



I have the popcorn here ready to be popped!

Oh, I'll bring the flames...

No one messes with La Lupone. Isn't it bad enough she gets snubbed for awards and fired by Andrew Lloyd Webber for a job well done?

(I think I might have to make a YouTube video: Leave Patti Alone!!!! with the requisite mascara and bleach blonde hair)

I recorded it, but I haven't watched it yet. It should be interesting, as I am only familiar with the Sondheim musical.

^^

It was okay. Very different from the musical. It is hard to watch flithy, obviously unbathed people with bad teeth :laugh:

That's why I never go to family reunions...