'Destiny'
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
I think maybe I am conflating two movies, or something... Perhaps freaks AND a documentary. I don't know. But this is all very interesting.
As I recall, there are parts of FREAKS where to movie sort of just stops and observes the everday life of the characters that has a pretty strong documentary feel to it (the Human Torso lighting his own cigarette is one of the more unforgettable bits).
According to CNN, Tim Burton is talking with Johnny Depp about playing the Demon Barber of Fleet Street in a film version of Sweeny Todd.
There is a documentary made recently about some sideshow in...Florida?
There's a town in FL where a lot of the carnies & freaks wintered, so quite a few settled there when they retired. Maybe it's about that?
Aha, yeah, it's Gibsontown, and there's a documentary called Gibtown about it.
In another cynical grab-for-cash, there are two new DVD versions of The Princess Bride just released. The "Dread Pirate Edition", or the "Buttercup Edition"; they're the same content but with a different cover (and presumably, picture on the disc). The extras are what you get on the "Special Edition" dvd, plus a new featurette called, "Dread Pirate Roberts: Greatest Legend of the Seven Seas" mockumentary.
...Can Johnny Depp sing? I mean, if they're making a non-musical version, I'm fine with that - I've seen the non-musical version of Sweeney Todd, and it contains an awful lot of the greatness - but the article seemed to imply that it was based on the musical. With musicals so big these days, that wouldn't surprise me...
But is Johnny Depp a bass/baritone?
Also, I hope they don't focus too much on the current stage version that's getting rave reviews for the movie - somehow, I don't think the device of having the actors also be the orchestra would work on film. I'm sure Burton knows that, however, so I have little fear in THAT regard, at least.
...Can Johnny Depp sing?
Well, he used to be in a band, but I only ever saw him play guitar when he was a teenager.
...Can Johnny Depp sing?
I'm 99% sure that I remember he was dubbed by another singer for CRY-BABY (I know Amy Locane was because it was Rachel Sweet who did her singing), but I have not idea if that means he can sing of not.
I guess they could dub Johnny in Sweeney Todd. That feels so 1950s musical though.
A few years ago, the rumor was that Russell Crowe was going to be Sweeney. My mind's version of Sweeney (the character) is more of the burly type, so I think I prefer that casting choice over Depp--they were probably going to dub the singing, either way.
I just hope the movie gets made eventually, since it has so many wonderful songs! The Carnegie Hall salute to Sondheim from the early '90s has a heartrendingly beautiful version of "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" that ends with a note that is worth the cost of the entire CD to hear.
Depp is obviously a busy man