I gather I'm in a minority, but not completely alone in not loving the Burton Sweeney Todd. (Let me be fair though: rumor is Sondheim loves it.)

Yes one thing that is wrong (IMO) is throwing out too many of jokes, so you don't get dark comedy. Another thing is I think the flashing neon blood and gore detracts from the story. It is really hard to laugh at the remaining jokes with blood spattered all over you. Also I think part of the play was about extremism - with pre-murderer (when happy with his Lucy) and Anthony representing an extreme of romanticism, and Mrs. Lovett and the Judge and the Beadle (and returned-to-London Sweeney) representing extremes of cynicism. And Joanna in spite of not having much power to act on it represented healthy balance. And (putting this in generalities so as to avoid spoiler font) one seemingly minor change between the play and the movie took away one of the few opportunities Joanna has to be an actor rather than someone acted upon. In general it is hard to get not only the jokes, but the wit, and the themes and the subtleties while cleaning blood out of your hair. I don't know how else to put it: even though you are in a movie theater you end up covered in blood, which makes it hard to pay attention to anything else.

Was Juno a big release in the States? I just saw a TV advert for it here (in the Yew Kay) - it doesn't open until February, so it's almost unheard of to advertise this far in advance.

So Gar, you're saying there was some blood in SWEENY TODD?

I suspect this is Burton's revenge for having eschewed any blood (despite numerous decapitation scenes) in SLEEPY HOLLOW and getting an R rating anyway.

Juno has been in the top 10 since its release. As of Thursday, it had grossed a little over $15 million. My DH and I saw it as a free sneak preview and loved it!

So Gar, you're saying there was some blood in SWEENEY TODD?

Yeah, I know it seems like an odd complaint. But in the play is ABOUT violence. Violence is not an independent co-star, outshining the actors. (That Mrs. Lovett was completely miscast, and that they chose someone to play Joanna who could neither act nor sing did not help. They did not even choose (IMO) a great Pirelli.)

Juno has been in the top 10 since its release. As of Thursday, it had grossed a little over $15 million.

Which is pretty amazing when you consider it's only showing in 998 theatres.

Oh, I loved Cohen as Pirelli. I thought he had the right mixture of bluster, evil and vulnerability.

I loved both Pirelli and Johanna. Her voice was odd, but in an unearthly type of way. And her acting worked for me too, in that I-am-so-helpless-and-slightly-crazy-not-to-mention-really-funny-looking-and-possibly-stupid sort of way. Not exactly the show's character, but considering how her story was shaved, it worked for me in the movie's character.

I thought both Anthony and Johanna were altered in interesting ways. They were both so very young, and really, I thought both of them came off as already kind of crazy. The NYT review touched on that, saying something like it was the kind of movie where innocence had no chance to survive.

Pirelli may have worked. It may have been I was already grumpy at the time. But I can't see the Joanna. In terms of acting she projected nothing. She did not convey helpless stupid and possibly crazy. She conveyed absolute vacancy and vacuousness. And she showed absolutely no singing ability.