and again, where the fuck are the Gayming-age/evilgay brigade on this one?! aren't you all supposed to love Broadway shit? or is it only shitty musicals like "Mamma Mia" or "Grease" or whatever that you like, leaving the good ones to us ramrod straight alpha males?
Movies like Moulin Rouge had shit happening during the songs. Movies like Across the Universe had shit happening during the songs. They were fucking part of the fucking plot, and they actually PROGRESSED THE STORY. Maybe Sweeney Todd will do this, and maybe someone can enlighten me on if the stage version does or not.
I don't think EB is big enough to have a gay sub-community.
It's TVC, demi, and PD, and that's it.
i don't like the sondheim telling of the tale because it essentially becomes the count of monte cristo with recipes and dancing.
and again, where the fuck are the Gayming-age/evilgay brigade on this one?! aren't you all supposed to love Broadway shit? or is it only shitty musicals like "Mamma Mia" or "Grease" or whatever that you like, leaving the good ones to us ramrod straight alpha males?
It's good, because Johnny Depp is hot... :o
You bet he has a huge cock huh? :P :lol
My wife is a bigtime Sondheim snob and a musical fangirl in general, she's really excited to see Sweeney Todd, but is very apprehensive about it being faithful to the source material, or any good for that matter.
Depp acts too flamboyant to be a manly man.
QuoteMovies like Moulin Rouge had shit happening during the songs. Movies like Across the Universe had shit happening during the songs. They were fucking part of the fucking plot, and they actually PROGRESSED THE STORY. Maybe Sweeney Todd will do this, and maybe someone can enlighten me on if the stage version does or not.
ST is the poster child for this. Most of the story progression happens through the songs --- there's not much spoken dialogue anyway. It's almost an opera. You can listen to the soundtrack (which contains the songs with a line or two of dialogue here and there) and follow the whole plot through the song lyrics without reading the liner notes, at least if you're paying attention.
You didn't like Ed Wood? That was the high point of his career and it was out after Batman.QuoteMovies like Moulin Rouge had shit happening during the songs. Movies like Across the Universe had shit happening during the songs. They were fucking part of the fucking plot, and they actually PROGRESSED THE STORY. Maybe Sweeney Todd will do this, and maybe someone can enlighten me on if the stage version does or not.
ST is the poster child for this. Most of the story progression happens through the songs --- there's not much spoken dialogue anyway. It's almost an opera. You can listen to the soundtrack (which contains the songs with a line or two of dialogue here and there) and follow the whole plot through the song lyrics without reading the liner notes, at least if you're paying attention.
Thanks. This is a good thing. Hopefully this will translate into a Burton film I might actually LIKE for the first time since... Batman (1989)
^ Corpse Bride was awesome, great songs in that. :)
Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a great, big taco. If I were less of a cigarillo, I wouldn't have the original 1979 Broadway cast recording of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd on my iPod. If I were less of a cigarillo, I wouldn't have watched the 1982 Emmy Award–winning television broadcast of the national tour of Sweeney Todd—featuring Angela Lansbury and George Hearn—seven or eight thousand times. And if I were less of a cigarillo, I wouldn't have flown to New York City last year to see Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris in John Doyle's acclaimed Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd (which should have won the Tony for Best Revival, but was robbed by The Pajama Game).
In short, if I weren't such a great, big, huge, fucking taco... I might have enjoyed Tim Burton's new film version of Sweeney Todd more than I did.
Like Chicago, Sweeney Todd was before its time. When Chicago opened in 1975, audiences weren't all that interested in seeing a musical—a musical—about corrupt lawyers who manipulate the media and turn a murder trial into a circus (literally), not only getting a guilty person off but turning her into a celebrity, too. When Chicago was revived on Broadway in the mid-'90s, in the cultural wake left by the O. J. Simpson trial, audiences were ready. The revival scooped up a bunch of Tony Awards, and a film adaptation won the Oscar for best picture.
Sweeney Todd, like Chicago, got a cool reception when it opened on Broadway in 1979. A musical starring a serial killer? A musical comedy with cannibalism? Sweeney Todd opened long before Silence of the Lambs, long before Saws I–IV, long before Hostel, long before Dexter. In short, long before the serial killer became our reigning pop-culture antihero. But audiences are ready now.
For a fan of the musical—a rabid fan—it's hard to overlook what Burton got wrong and enjoy what Burton got right.
So let me quickly tick through the wrongs. Helena Bonham Carter can't sing—which is a big problem, as Mrs. Lovett has almost as many songs as Sweeney in Burton's version. And so many songs have been omitted or scaled back that anyone familiar with the score—you know, big fegs like me—is going to leave feeling cheated. (I particularly missed the "Kiss Me" quartet.) And some of the violence—particularly a certain immolation—is so over- the-top gruesome that it draws attention to the filmmaker and away from the barber.
And Burton, even with Sondheim hovering over his shoulder, somehow manages to blow two of the show's most devastating moments: When the corrupt judge who raped Sweeney's wife and stole his daughter informs Sweeney (whom he doesn't recognize) that he now intends to marry his daughter... Sweeney, razor in hand, doesn't react? Not a twinge? Not a twitch? Nothing? Then, when Sweeney's rage and the action reach their bloody climaxes, Sweeney suddenly pardons one of his intended victims?
So what did Burton get right? The first two-thirds of the film transport you into a thoroughly hellish vision of early 19th-century London. Sacha Baron Cohen is a brilliant choice for Pirelli, a rival barber, and the rest of the supporting cast—mostly unknowns—is equally strong. (Although it seems odd that the actor playing Anthony is 500 times prettier than the actress playing Johanna.) The music, as much as was used, is beautiful and (when Bonham Carter isn't singing) beautifully sung.
Johnny Depp's Sweeney is a bit too mannered for my tastes—and too dark. When Mrs. Lovett accuses Sweeney of always "brooding on his wrongs," it's a self-serving exaggeration; Depp seems to have built his performance around it. Still, Depp has the charisma to carry the film and to make us sympathize with a monster.
And two numbers redeem the production entire. During "A Little Priest," Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney leer out of the windows of Mrs. Lovett's meat-pie shop, picking out the Londoners they intend to pick off. It takes the song to a darker place without losing any of the song's humor. And Bonham Carter, who can't sing (have I mentioned that?), can act. You can see her heart breaking—a heart you didn't think Mrs. Lovett had—when she decides, during "Not While I'm Around," that the child who completes her macabre little family is destined to be pie filling.
If you're a big cigarillo like me, you'll have issues with this Sweeney Todd. (Here's another one: Mrs. Lovett's oven is too small to bake all those pies, let alone get rid of all those bodies.) But if you're not a big cigarillo—if you're not overly, faggily familiar with this show—skip Saw V and see Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd instead. It was made for you. recommended
I was excited for about 19 seconds of seeing the trailer for this until I saw Helena Bonham-Carter. :'(She is the mother of Burtons kids, she'll be in everything.
I was excited for about 19 seconds of seeing the trailer for this until I saw Helena Bonham-Carter. :'(
Eh? It's Burton's movie. Not Sondheim's lol. Even if Sondheim was hell bent against Bonham-Carter she would be in it. The fact she sleeps with Burton insures she'll be in every picture of his.
still, Sondheim was always more interested in acting than technical singing ability.
With the premiere of Sweeney Todd approaching, Bonham Carter knows she’s in for a barrage of innuendo about nepotism, having scored a lead role that show-tune fans on chat boards had envisioned for a more seasoned singer-actress like Meryl Streep. ”I’m sure people will think, Aah, it’s because I’ve slept with Tim,” she says. ”But I didn’t sleep with Sondheim. And he ultimately chose me.” The composer says he watched a dozen or so audition tapes and insists that Bonham Carter’s performance was the best. ”Even in a recording studio, wearing a schmatte, she is as beautiful and sexy as they come,” he says. ”She knew what she was doing, more than the others.” Sondheim is equally pleased with Depp. ”There are very few people who can act and sing at the same time,” he says. ”He’s one.”
Sondheim supposedly had casting approval.Yeah, but still Burton would get her in the movie. Burton wouldn't do the movie if he said no to her or Depp I'd expect. She's been in every Burton movie since PotA, aka every movie he has done since they met.QuoteWith the premiere of Sweeney Todd approaching, Bonham Carter knows she’s in for a barrage of innuendo about nepotism, having scored a lead role that show-tune fans on chat boards had envisioned for a more seasoned singer-actress like Meryl Streep. ”I’m sure people will think, Aah, it’s because I’ve slept with Tim,” she says. ”But I didn’t sleep with Sondheim. And he ultimately chose me.” The composer says he watched a dozen or so audition tapes and insists that Bonham Carter’s performance was the best. ”Even in a recording studio, wearing a schmatte, she is as beautiful and sexy as they come,” he says. ”She knew what she was doing, more than the others.” Sondheim is equally pleased with Depp. ”There are very few people who can act and sing at the same time,” he says. ”He’s one.”
Maybe Burton made sure the other eleven auditions were all terrible, I dunno.
does depp sing his own songs or did someone else record them?He sang.
Depp has a weak voice; sounds like he can't hit high notes to me.