Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
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The Saturday-morning PW didn't really make much contextual sense to kids unless you'd already seen either the Burton movie, or the HBO Groundlings "pilot" special. Preferably the latter.Whippet Angel wrote:Yeah, I've heard many people say that he had that effect on them as kids. Lucky for me, I was an odd child, with a rather twisted sense of humorWendy's Jane wrote:Pee Wee's scared the living bejesus out of me since I was little.
Either you Got the Joke, or you Didn't.
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Not really. As a 6 year old, I understood it just fine, and so did plenty of other kids.
The show wasn't really in the same format as most classic children's programming. Each episode consisted mostly of a bunch of nonsense that eventually tied in with some sort of generic message (it's normal to be afraid of things, be nice to your friends, it's okay to be different etc.....).
Aside from the character himself, PeeWee's Big Adventure had very little to do with the TV show. And even as a kid I understood that
The show wasn't really in the same format as most classic children's programming. Each episode consisted mostly of a bunch of nonsense that eventually tied in with some sort of generic message (it's normal to be afraid of things, be nice to your friends, it's okay to be different etc.....).
Aside from the character himself, PeeWee's Big Adventure had very little to do with the TV show. And even as a kid I understood that
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Sweeney Todd
I can't understand why this hasn't gotten any posts since the film came out.
Well, I won't give away any spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it, and I will warn against possible spoilers, but what I'm about to write is really for people that have seen the film (and hopefully some people who have seen the stage musical it's based on).
Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd is EXCELLENT and I LOVED it. I've seen the filmed DVD of the original Broadway version and a community theater production, and this was a very faithful adaptation. The majority of changes were simply cuts of complete songs or parts of songs. Tim Burton must be praised because the cuts were almost all for the benfit, with some possible exceptions but I can't say without seeing the film with whatever I think shouldn't have been cut put back in. Burton's direction is fantastic, and I think this is his best film (this might have to do with Sweeney Todd being a great complete work on it's own). But all the things Burton decided to show, and all the designs, and all the camerawork, all top stuff. It's a little amazing, this London. It feels like they got everything (that they needed to).
The acting is also wonderful. I felt the best actor was Helena Bonham Carter, who every theater geek says had the weakest singing in the film but I found it to be one of the most beautiful voices to listen to in the film. One person I read said they felt she was like an emotionless person (in a good way, like life had drained her of her emotions), but I can't see what they mean since Helena gave heartfelt love for Mr. T, sadness for the bad things going on, and anger and fear in the end.
The opposite of her was Johnny Depp, who many said "could sing" which I'm guessing means he was a strong singer and he was indeed very beautiful to listen to but his acting only had one emotion, in my opinion. He's consumed with anger, and though the anger is subdued when he smiles at the prospect of exacting his revenge or trying to remember his love for his lost family, I didn't catch any or enough joy or sorrow from him. I think I really needed to see him more sad when he finds out about his loss and at the end when he discovers the secret about his loss. He's great when he's doing his rage and darkness but I feel there was something missing.
As for everyone else, I don't feel Alan Rickman was believable. He seemed very keen when he tells Anthony he knows what he's up to with Johanna, and that awareness is subverted when he doesn't see why Johanna wouldn't want to marry him, and it seems unlike him to be dumb enough to fall for Sweeney's allegation that Johanna wants him later (all part of a plan to fool the judge). I similarly didn't believe that Toby was really going to sing "Not While I'm Around", because I didn't see enough to get me thinking he felt that way about Mrs. Lovette before the song.
So this movie is very, very, good and perhaps the best film of the year (can't say since I haven't seen them all, but I feel that it is), and it's only Depp's performance as a lacking lead that makes this lose the + for an A movie, in my opinion.
Well, I won't give away any spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it, and I will warn against possible spoilers, but what I'm about to write is really for people that have seen the film (and hopefully some people who have seen the stage musical it's based on).
Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd is EXCELLENT and I LOVED it. I've seen the filmed DVD of the original Broadway version and a community theater production, and this was a very faithful adaptation. The majority of changes were simply cuts of complete songs or parts of songs. Tim Burton must be praised because the cuts were almost all for the benfit, with some possible exceptions but I can't say without seeing the film with whatever I think shouldn't have been cut put back in. Burton's direction is fantastic, and I think this is his best film (this might have to do with Sweeney Todd being a great complete work on it's own). But all the things Burton decided to show, and all the designs, and all the camerawork, all top stuff. It's a little amazing, this London. It feels like they got everything (that they needed to).
The acting is also wonderful. I felt the best actor was Helena Bonham Carter, who every theater geek says had the weakest singing in the film but I found it to be one of the most beautiful voices to listen to in the film. One person I read said they felt she was like an emotionless person (in a good way, like life had drained her of her emotions), but I can't see what they mean since Helena gave heartfelt love for Mr. T, sadness for the bad things going on, and anger and fear in the end.
The opposite of her was Johnny Depp, who many said "could sing" which I'm guessing means he was a strong singer and he was indeed very beautiful to listen to but his acting only had one emotion, in my opinion. He's consumed with anger, and though the anger is subdued when he smiles at the prospect of exacting his revenge or trying to remember his love for his lost family, I didn't catch any or enough joy or sorrow from him. I think I really needed to see him more sad when he finds out about his loss and at the end when he discovers the secret about his loss. He's great when he's doing his rage and darkness but I feel there was something missing.
As for everyone else, I don't feel Alan Rickman was believable. He seemed very keen when he tells Anthony he knows what he's up to with Johanna, and that awareness is subverted when he doesn't see why Johanna wouldn't want to marry him, and it seems unlike him to be dumb enough to fall for Sweeney's allegation that Johanna wants him later (all part of a plan to fool the judge). I similarly didn't believe that Toby was really going to sing "Not While I'm Around", because I didn't see enough to get me thinking he felt that way about Mrs. Lovette before the song.
So this movie is very, very, good and perhaps the best film of the year (can't say since I haven't seen them all, but I feel that it is), and it's only Depp's performance as a lacking lead that makes this lose the + for an A movie, in my opinion.
Last edited by Dusterian on January 1st, 2008, 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.