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acesover Special user I believe I have 821 Posts |
If so how was it?
Curious minds want to know.
If I were to agree with you. Then we would both be wrong. As of Apr 5, 2015 10:26 pm I have 880 posts. Used to have over 1,000
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scheda Loyal user Chicago, IL 287 Posts |
I thought the movie was great. I haven't seen the play version of it, so I can't compare the two, but IMO, Burton did a great job with it. The soundtrack is amazing as well.
Coming soon... Who knows!
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Harley Newman Inner circle 5117 Posts |
I thought it would be hard for them to live up to the previous movie of the musical, just because Angela Lansbury is so amazing. But they did.
It's a great movie! Overall design is very Burton (what a surprise). The script is almost all the Sondheim one. Depp sang as well as he needed to, which wasn't bad at all. I think there aren't many actors who are so good at characters,though I don't think of him as a character actor. Helena Bonham Carter did a fine job also. CInematography was quite interesting. They were able to sharpen some of the character portrayals, much more than in the other productions I've seen. The history, ah! the history... I've seen it said that the story is fictional. But I've also seen a repro of the court records in which Todd was sentenced to hang. The romantic element of the story is not part of the real story. The guy was just bad.
“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus” -Mark Twain
www.bladewalker.com |
Doug Higley 1942 - 2022 7152 Posts |
Not being said much by the media because Burton is such a darling but basically the movie flopped big time and was a deadly bomb at the B.O. Too bad...it had great reviews but I'm sure it will be HUGE on DVD.
One thing though...seeing Depp all Gothic and linked with Burton, there is that feeling of been there done that (many times) which I'm sure didn't help.
Higley's Giant Flea Pocket Zibit
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KOTAH Inner circle 2289 Posts |
Enjoyed the music and cinematography; good character for sasha choen. Too much blood. I still enjoy the Angela Lansbury version more, Ingenious set settings and changes, plus people who can actually sing. Depp and company did their best; but still rate second inmy view. paretti's assistant turned pie maker was wonderful however. THe sailor who loved joanna, just plain creeped me out.
Kotah |
Steve_Mollett Inner circle Eh, so I've made 3006 Posts |
Saw it; loved it.
It's still pulling packed houses in my area.
Author of: GARROTE ESCAPES
The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth. - Albert Camus |
SpellbinderEntertainment Inner circle West Coast 3519 Posts |
A Broadway musical is a totally different animal (even a video of the play)
than a movie translation of that musical. That said, Sweeny Todd met most all my expectations. I saw the original cast in the dark-ages, and of course, the voice were matchless. The film cast sings just fine for that medium, though their sound would be lost on a stage. The characterizations are more true and focused in the film, but don’t have (for instance) Lansbury’s razor sharp timing and tempo (no pun intended). I agreed with most of Burton’s choices, of what to keep and cut, and there is still a strong sense of Sondheim there, which is a very good thing. I did not miss the chorus singing, but I did miss their title song which was cut. I thought it was daring to re-imagine Toby as being so young. This was a fine example overall of the Grand Guignol style transferred to film, and the bright red blood shocked but did not disgust, as was the intention. All and all, I’m so glad it finally got made, and Depp is one of our hopes for the tradition of fine acting on the screen. Magically, Walt |
acesover Special user I believe I have 821 Posts |
Thanks for the responses.
John (acesover)
If I were to agree with you. Then we would both be wrong. As of Apr 5, 2015 10:26 pm I have 880 posts. Used to have over 1,000
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Necromancer Inner circle Chicago 3076 Posts |
Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd is visually incredible (as you'd expect from an artist of his talents), and the orchestrations are absolutely magnificent. But its primary flaw, in my estimation, is that it drains the story of too much of its humor.
Some of this comes from a lack of musical training of the actors -- Bonham-Carter's first song, typically hilarious on stage, is incoherent at times and largely thrown away here. But at other times, it appears that Burton has made a conscious decision to minimize the humorous and elevate the brutal. In the stage play, the violence becomes business as usual as the main characters pursue their paths with a kind of joy; there is no believable joy in the film -- "Little Priest," a darkly funny turning point in which the characters formulate and rejoice in the devilish cleverness of their bloody scheme, is performed here with no sense of fun, no laughter at the wry puns each spins for the other's benefit. Instead, Burton focuses on making the experience disturbing for the viewer. The framing device of the play is eliminated, so viewers are given no objective distance, and the killings are designed to be as disturbing as possible, with each one more horrible than the last. The only major breaks in the heaviness come from the Pirelli sequence and Mrs. Lovett's fantasy song, "By The Sea" (the film's funniest moment); both made me wish for more of the dark humor I missed so much. Maybe I would have enjoyed the film more had I not been so familiar with the stage version. As I said at the beginning, there is much to like about this Sweeney Todd: the visuals are stunning, from the first moment of the opening credits; the music (with the exception of a couple of voices) is amazing; and the acting is generally exceptional -- Alan Rickman as Judge Terpin is sensational, and Sasha Baron Cohen as Pirelli is a perfect bit of casting. Overall, it's a quality production that's exposing Sondheim to a wider audience, so I really can't complain too much. My recommendation: if you haven't seen the stage musical and have a real appreciation for quality gore, you'll probably like this Sweeney Todd. And even if you've seen the play, I think you'll find Burton's handling of certain story elements wonderful -- but in the end, you'll likely prefer the original. Best, Neil
Creator of The Xpert (20 PAGES of reviews!), Cut & Color, Hands-Off Multiple ESP (HOME) System, Rider-Waite Readers book, Zoom Pendulum ebook ...
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illusioneer Special user NYC 751 Posts |
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Things are about to change........ LIGHTS!!!
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Tony Iacoviello Eternal Order 13151 Posts |
I plan to see it soon, but cannot get the image of Doctor Spector as a barber out of my mind.
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Rory Raven Special user Providence, RI 514 Posts |
The wife and I saw it, and I like it better then she did.
I don't like musicals, brecause I just don't get it -- people do not suddenly burst into song and dance through a perfectly choreographed routine in daily life. Of course, they don't speak in iambic pentameter either, and I have no problem with that. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. I really enjoyed it. My wife, however, knows the play very well, and agrees with Neil T above -- she felt that by removing the humor, much of Sweeney's humanity was lost, and he became far too one-dimensional. Maybe I enjoyed it more because I really don't expect much from musicals, so I'm pleasantly surprised when they don't suck. Harley -- I thought one of the reasons people say the story is fictional is because there are no court records to be found. And as far as I know, Sweeney's story first appeared in one of those penny dreadfuls called "A String of Pearls." Not to say that thaty couldn't have been based upon actual events, of course. Be well, all. Rory
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." -- Groucho Marx
visit www.roryraven.com today! |
KOTAH Inner circle 2289 Posts |
Johnny Depp won a golden globe award today as leading actor in a musical/ comedy.
Just goes to show I guess, I don't know what I'm talking about most of the time. |
kosmoshiva Loyal user Canada 255 Posts |
Not a substitute for the stage show but a remarkably successful translation, methinks. It managed to keep the scale of the original - except for the singing, which was all half-whispered and done with the mouth mainly closed ... ah well, can't move the face around too much on screen, eh?
My companion left the theatre saying 'now I want to see it on stage'.
Don't forget to breathe.
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