Non-Disney Entertainment
Topic: Sweeney Todd: Who's seen it?

#	Author	Message
11	christiemarsh88 Fri 12/21/2007 1:38p	In honor of the day, you should get her to consider naming the baby Todd. Unless it's a girl--then she can name it Nellie. ;)
12	jasmine7 Fri 12/21/2007 3:18p	Oh, man, they really do need more theatres here. The crowds for Sweeney weren't bad (maybe 1/3-1/2 full); it looks like most people are going to The Chipmunks or National Treasure 2 (that's what the cattle ropes were this afternoon). As for the movie, wow! Just dang wow! Johnny amazed me with his voice and broke my heart as Sweeney (as did the boy playing Toby). Gonna have to see this again soon, maybe Sunday, but don't eat too soon before or after seeing it, lol.
13	woody Fri 12/21/2007 3:20p	How is it? I will not go. Not very appealing. There are no interesting songs.
14	smeeeko Fri 12/21/2007 4:11p	I'm looking forward to seeing it! I too am surprised at how well Johnny Depp & Helena Bonham Carter sound.. Last night on KCSN (Cal State Northridge) they were playing holiday music and in honor of Sweeney Todd's opening, were playing some of the songs from the soundtrack. Fun stuff.. ;P
15	jasmine7 Fri 12/21/2007 5:11p	<<There are no interesting songs.<< Well, I guess that depends on your definition of "interesting." Sondheim is probably my favorite Broadway composer, and I absolutely love the score of Sweeney. It's so complex and layered; I find new little touches just about every time I listen to it. And as far as interesting lyrics, you can't get any better than "A Little Priest." Pure perfection in my book.
16	Spooky Ghost Fri 12/21/2007 9:45p	I just got back. Bar none my new favorite movie musical. My theatre was really into it. Everyone clapped at the end of A Little Preist, By The Sea and at the final credits. All the performances were spot on, I so hope Depp takes the oscar this year. I think the "no interesting songs" comment is incredibly ignorant and narrow minded. I think this is easily one of the most complex and clever scores ever written
17	Labuda Fri 12/21/2007 9:51p	Got to the Drafthouse (www.alamodrafthouse.com) about 30 minutes early and was a bit bummed that I'd missed part of the pre-show entertainment. What was it, you ask? Frankenweenie! A 1984 Tim Urton short film - 29 minute runtime. I came in about 2 or 3 minutes in. Anyhow, after the previews, on to the movie. Oh, wow - I LOVED it! Though I hate to admit it, I was not familiar with the play prior to this - I knew the basic plot, sure, but not the intricacies of it, and definitely not the songs. But, that said, WOW - I loved it from the first shot through to the end! Only real issue I had with it - the guy playing Antony TOTALLY looks like Claire Danes IMO. LOVED Rickman and Cohen, and VERY impressed with the young boy who played Toby! Great voice on that young one!
18	Labuda Fri 12/21/2007 9:53p	OH,a s for crowds - I went to a 3:30 showing - and the theatre was almost full when I got thee at 30 til, and was CHOK full by the time the movie started. The two later showings at that theatre tonight were already sold out when I got online to buy my ticket today at noon.
19	Spooky Ghost Fri 12/21/2007 9:59p	I saw it at the arclight cinerama dome, at 5:35 it was about 75% full. Everyone responded really well. Afterwards there were some people i'm assuming from the stuido handing out comment cards, a little odd since it wasnt a prescreening or anything but stil, a touch odd
20	gadzuux Fri 12/21/2007 11:41p	I saw it tonight with a friend. Neither of us were familiar with the score and I only knew the basic structure of the plot. Century theater in daly city was essentially full for the 4:20pm showing, but the biggest theater capacity is for 'national treasure' and 'I am legend'. I enjoyed it enough to pass the time, but can't say that I actually "liked" it. I don't think I'll give it the time to ever see it again. The movie looked great in a sooty grey tone - a kind of hyper-stylized bleakness. Johnny Depp's performance is so brooding that he's almost zombie-like throughout much of the movie - no camp at all. Only once in awhile does anything close to emotion bubble up, and then it's anger and rage. You never get the feeling that he takes any delight in his villainous ways. Instead he quietly dispatches his victims with bored detachment. And he's barely a passable singer. He tries gamely anyway, and with a cockney accent that seems to come and go. Helena Bonham Carter does better, and she seems to be having some fun with her role too. Her character conveys that she envisions a future with sweeney, but he never seems to reciprocate - he's got no interest in her at all. Which is an odd choice for two characters obviously meant to be together - they even look similar. She's a (slightly) better singer, and a more interesting character, if only because she shows some enthusiasm and a spark of life - unlike depp's todd. The score may be more enjoyable to those who already know where it's going. We didn't - and you don't walk out of the theater with any melodies remaining in your head. What it lacks in broadway sytle "show-stoppers" it makes up for in clever lyrics and wordplay. But they go by awfully fast and in faux cockney and so they're easily missed. Cohen is almost the only comic relief, and he's terrific as the pompous huckster. His sidekick kid has a good voice, but - to me anyway - he also had that precocious and too-knowing aura of a child actor. He can sing better than he acts. Alan Rickman is always fun as a villain, except here he's mostly all talk - or sing. He never does much more than threaten and swagger. Since his comeuppance is coming, it would have been better if he had actually done something more heinous to deserve it. Finally - the blood and gore - lots and lots of it. And corpses tumbling to the pavement head first - again and again. Too much for my tastes. This is the biggest deal-breaker in the movie. It could have been played either more comicly or more subtlely. It does neither, but serves up lots of spurting blood and crumpled corpses in a grim and grisly manner. As well as disembodied pieces. It's heavy on the gross-out factor when it doesn't need to be - this is a MUSICAL, fergawdsakes! So it's long on atmosphere and creepiness, and actual gore, and short on toe-tappers and character development. My guess is that if you go in not knowing the score or the details of the story, you'll have an okay time but cringe at the bloodletting. And you won't need to see it a second time. If you're a sondheim fan, you'll knock yourself out. If you're a Johnny Depp fan who wants to see captain jack in a dreamy new role, you'll want out of the theater within the first hour.

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