I thought the movie was a really excellent rendition of Sweeney Todd, honestly. Though I agree that the music was definitely not the strong point, I thought they did a great job of keeping the tone, humor, and character of the original, and blew the visuals away. I would have preferred if they could have gotten better singers, but not if it would have degraded the look, since the look is where I wanted the movie to exceed the play. And frankly, I'm not sure Burton is capable of working with anybody but Depp and Carter these days, so it probably
would
have degraded the visuals if they had cast other people. I was not disappointed. Yes, they dropped some things, but it didn't bother me since I wasn't looking for the play; I was looking for a movie adaptation that played to the strengths of the film form, which I got.
Honestly, though, it might bother me more with Into the Woods, which I generally prefer to Sweeney Todd. But then again, I've loved Into The Woods in every horrible bastardized form I've ever seen it in, including an inner-city, shoestring-budget middle school production of the Junior version (which REALLY loses the themes of the original by cutting the whole second act). There's so much good there that even if you cut 80% of it and perform the remaining 20% badly, I STILL like it. So I'm hopeful for the movie.
Oh, and I meant to say, I think Sweeney and Into the Woods are both hard to sing, but for different reasons. Sweeney is hard because most of the score is semi-operatic in style, and really requires extraordinary singers to fulfill its potential. Into the Woods is a little more standard musical-theater in sound, but sped up to about 200 words per minute, so good annunciation is key, which can be incredibly difficult. I wouldn't choose Helena Bonham Carter to do either form, however, based on "Worst Pies in London" in the movie, which is the song in
Sweeney Todd
most similar to
Into the Woods.
Whatever happened to voiceovers in musicals? I know we don't give enough credit to Marni Nixon and that's a shame, but I'm sure glad they had her sing over Hepburn for
My Fair Lady.
Not that Audrey had a bad voice - she definitely didn't - but Nixon had more gravitas. Depp could have used some help on that score.
New pic of Effie Trinket in
The Hunger Games:
[link]
Zooey was excellent in that movie, ita. The movie was not excellent. Kinda made me think of "Justified" and I halfway watched for Raylan...too bad he didn't show up.
Speaking of the Angela Lansbury's Sweeney Todd, it's playing on TCM this month on Weds, 1/25.
That's on a night full of musicals so if you want to sit down with a tub of popcorn and a pony keg of your favorite potable you could also watch: Funny Girl, Gypsy and There's No Business Like Show Business.
On the 24th there are some interesting, somewhat rare spy comedies/spoofs that don't often get shown. So if you like Matt Helm or Derek Flint, check out Where the Spies Are, Agent 8 3/4 (with the gorgeous Sylvia Koscina) and Salt and Pepper (with Sammy Davis, Jr.)
Also on the 26th they're showing The Liquidator - another spy spoof with Rod Taylor and Jill St. John. I caught an earlier showing of this and it's pretty good, but worth catching mainly for the Amazing Spy Bachelor Pad they give him. Also Jill St. John is absolutely gorgeous and it's a fairly early movie role for her.
For the Cineaste's they're showing Ophul's "La Ronde" and "The Earrings of Madame De..." on 1/23 (The latter often makes lists of The Ten Best Movies Ever Made, so if you've never seen it, try it out. Suave, sophisticated and witty and wise about the human heart.)
Also Fellini's Nights of Cabiria is playing this month.
1/18 is Angela Lansbury night so aside from Sweeney Todd they're showing Manchurian Candidate and The World of Henry Orient (anybody else a fan of that movie? It reminds me of a proto Wes Anderson in some ways. The girl characters would fit right into Rushmore.)
Netflix sent me
Crazy Stupid Love
this week and I finally got around to watching it last night. It's a slight rom com, but nicely done, compared to most of the stuff that's out there. I really enjoyed both storylines. Ryan Gosling can do comedy -- who knew?
Also, Emma Stone is made of adorable and that scene where she marches to Gosling's character, all dripping wet and determined, and mack the hell on him (and the way he goes from shocked to befuddled and amazed delight) was HOT. It's not that the character was written especially well (I mentally substituted her with Katherine Heigl and grimaced at the image); but Stone is just a very appealing presence in the movie.
I take some points off the movie for using the word "soulmate" though. UGH.
TCM is on the most expensive digital cable package here. So unfair.
It is here in SF too. Very annoying.
But since I've pretty much decided buying a new TV so I can go cable-free will pay for itself in six months, the question is moot. (And yes, I know I could get a converter thingy, but since I've never bought a new TV in my life I figure I'm due.)
Hey, do you want a 19 inch picture tube TV for free?
