Sweeney Todd

Post by **The Dreaming** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 10:03 am

bloodguard bob wrote:
The Dreaming wrote:Sondheim ain't for everyone.
West Side Story, I thought, had many moods as did Sunday in the Park with George which I truly enjoyed; ST just seemed to have only three different tunes and I rather liked two of them.

Sondheim wrote the *lyrics* for WSS, Bernstein wrote the music. Sondheim has a weird musical style, that seems incredibly simple, but is actually really complex.

Post by **[Syl]** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 4:39 pm

Enjoyed the movie. Preferred the play.

Post by **Cagliostro** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:18 pm

Enjoyed the movie, but hated that the loudest man in the theater was sitting right behind me. It kinda ruined my para-aesthetics.

Post by **SoulQuest1970** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:24 pm

I loved it! It was creepy, but way cool. SyrenSong wants to see it, but I got to see it Christmas Eve. It would have been more enjoyable even if I had not been getting sick.

Post by **caamora** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 4:30 pm

Liked the movie. I wish they had used better singers because I think some of the songs would have been easier to listen to.

Johnny is hot no matter how he looks and I loved Helena Bonham Carter. She is always terrific.

Overall, I loved the cast.

Post by **Cagliostro** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 5:58 pm

I just wish they had more music. I still find it a bit weird that the title tune isn't in it.

Post by **dANdeLION** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 4:03 pm

caamora wrote:Johnny is hot no matter how he looks

Agreed. He belongs in the mancrush thread, for sure.

Post by **dANdeLION** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 7:31 pm

Lucimay wrote:the blood was a crappy color

dlbpharmd wrote:the blood was red, wasn't it?

A friendly health alert to my fellow Watchers: If your stool is the color of the blood in Sweeney Todd, inform your doctor IMMEDIATELY.

Post by **Chrysalis** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:16 am

Finally got to watch this tonight. I was impressed. I usually can't stand Burton, wel maybe thats a bit harsh as he has done some good films, but I did like this one!

The blood was a bit weird but reminded me of the colouring of Sin City. Depp was really good and his English accent has improved since his role in From Hell.

I hear the stage version is so much better though.

Post by **Tull** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:49 am

I liked Sweeney Todd a lot - though I tend to like musicals in general, and I tend to love everything Tim Burton does, so put the two together and you can't go wrong. I have not, sadly, seen the stage show, though, much to my dismay.

And, of course, the creepiest part of Sweeney Todd was when the movie ended and we walked out of the theater... and there was absolutely nobody else around. It was, like, 1 AM on Christmas morning, and I think either me or my friend commented that this sounded like the start of a bad horror movie - deserted movie theater on Christmas morning. We considered what we had just watched, and got the hell out of Dodge.

Post by **The Dreaming** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:52 pm

I finally saw the movie. I have to say, probably the best treatment a musical has ever gotten, and Sweeney is probably my favorite musical. (With Into the Woods). Never have I seem a piece of art be so many things at once so well. The Music is beautiful, the humor is pitch black and spot on, the horror (thanks mostly to Burton) is sublime. It's a musical that plays perfectly to the strengths of the Musical format, while discarding it's weaknesses. I can't remember any movie that has gotten quite so under my skin. (The music, the feel, the mood, the characters).

Sondheim is a Genius. When anyone excels to the degree he does it is worth noticing, whether it's in Literature, Music, or eating Hot Dogs.

Anyone else think Burton needs to do Into the Woods?

Post by **CovenantJr** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:34 pm

Saw this a couple of days ago. I did enjoy it, but there are a couple of gripes:

1) It took me a good hour or so before I was able to overlook the fact that Depp's Sweeney Todd voice is exactly the same as his Jack Sparrow voice. Distracting.

2) So grey. I know it's meant to be a dismal representation of London, but...sooooo much grey. Began to get to me after a while.

3) The songs were surprisingly nondescript. I know it's not intended to be a cheery musical with catchy tunes that you'll hum for days afterwards, but still... It made me wonder if the songs were really a worthwhile element at all. I'll have to watch it again.

Despite those complaints, I did think it was a good film.

Post by **The Dreaming** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:46 am

I actually was constantly reminded of From Hell. (an older movie than Pirates) Why develop a new British accent when you've already got a perfectly good one?

Post by **CovenantJr** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 12:41 am

But it's not a perfectly good one!

Anyway, my complaint on that front isn't the re-use of his accent, it's that it's a comically hammy accent, which is fine for Sparrow, but not so appropriate for Todd.

Post by **The Dreaming** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:20 pm

Hrm, you don't think the show lends itself to a slightly hammy performance? I mean, you've *seen* "A little priest" right?

Most of the show is fairly tongue in cheek. (Sondheim's lyrics are always so damn droll too) In fact, Burton did a lot to darken the mood of the source material, which is actually pretty cool, but it's still flirts with being black comedy most of the time.

Brits have a finer ear for it I guess. Carter's american accent in Fight Club is a little weird sometimes

Hell, talk about Hammy, you realize the OBC Mrs. Lovett is Angela Lansbury right? Hearing Mrs. Pots in that part was actually a little traumatic for me

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Sweeney Todd