Review: ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’
Posted by David Onda Categories: DreamWorks, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Classics, Drama, Horror, Musicals, Period, Thrillers, New Releases, Theatrical Reviews,
I just got back from the midnight showing of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Previously, I had seen the original Broadway cast perform this show via video cassette tape in my “History of Theater” class. I also saw a very stripped down version of the show performed by a national touring cast without sets or costumes. This film was every bit as good visually, musically and narratively as either one of those shows. For those of you who are unaware of the plot, let me catch you up.
Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) is a happily married man with a beautiful yellow-haired wife and a bouncing bay girl living in ye olde London. A man by the name of Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) takes a liking to Barker’s wife and frames him for a crime which he is convicted and exiled for. Upon Barker’s return to London years later, he finds that his wife is dead and his little girl is being held hostage by the evil Turpin. Hell bent on revenge, and now going by the name Sweeney Todd, Barker takes up residence above Mrs. Lovett’s (Helena Bonham Carter) Meat Pie shop. There, the trained barber kills his customers in hopes that one day it will be the Judge’s turn for a shave.
Oh yeah, and the bodies get baked into the pies.
Click to continue reading Review: ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’
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In Theaters This Weekend (12/21)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Musicals, Romance, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:
- Charlie Wilson’s War (R): starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman (directed by Mike Nichols)
- National Treasure: Book of Secrets (PG): starring Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren (directed by Jon Turteltaub)
- P.S. I Love You (PG-13): starring Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow (directed by Richard LaGravanese)
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (R): starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen (directed by Tim Burton)
- Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (R): starring John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Kristen Wiig (directed by Jake Kasdan)
- Steep* (PG): starring Ingrid Backstrom, Doug Coombs, Shane McConkey (directed by Mark Obenhaus)
*limited and/or gradual release
2008 Golden Globe Nominations (Film)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Foreign Language, Independent, Music, Musicals, Period, Political, Romance, Comedy, Thrillers, Awards, Lists,
Assuming the ongoing writers’ strike doesn’t put a wrench into everyone’s plans, the 65th Annual Golden Globes ceremony is scheduled to air on Sunday, Jan. 13th. (The NBC telecast will come just 9 days prior to the Academy Award nominations.)
Here are the most notable omissions/additions in this year’s list of film honorees:
- Atonement led the nominations with seven; Charlie Wilson’s War came in second with five.
- Musicals (Sweeney Todd, Across the Universe, Hairspray) dominated the Comedy/Musical category.
- Cate Blanchett received two acting nominations (Elizabeth: The Golden Age, I’m Not There).
- Philip Seymour Hoffman was also a double-nominee (The Savages, Charlie Wilson’s War)
- Hoffman’s Savages co-star, Laura Linney, was not nominated for her performance.
- The Kite Runner was nominated in the Foreign Film category.
- Javier Bardem was the only actor nominated from No Country for Old Men.
- Into the Wild was left out of all major categories.
(Click below for the full list of film nominees; click here for the TV nominations.)
Click to continue reading 2008 Golden Globe Nominations (Film)
Hollywood Foreign Press Association
‘No Country for Old Men’ Earns Big Honor
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Miramax, Paramount, Warner Bros, Action, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Horror, Musicals, Romance, Comedy, Thrillers, Awards, Lists,
Although there’s a large slate of movies yet to be released, the National Board of Review kicked off awards season this week with its list of honorees. Joel and Ethan Coen’s film, No Country for Old Men, walked away with NBR’s prize for Best Film along with two other categories.
The NBR is not necessarily known for predicting Oscar success. Nevertheless, the group consisting of educators, historians and film industry professionals did select Forrest Whitaker and Helen Mirren as its winners last year.
Here’s a list of the 2007 NBR honorees. Even if you can’t use these selections in your Academy Awards betting pool, you now know which films you should become familiar with:
- Best Film: No Country for Old Men
- Best Director: Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd
- Best Directorial Debut: Ben Affleck, Gone Baby Gone
- Best Actor: George Clooney, Michael Clayton
- Best Actress: Julie Christie, Away from Her (Read the FilmCrunch review here.)
- Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
- Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, Gone Baby Gone
Click to continue reading ‘No Country for Old Men’ Earns Big Honor
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
Johnny Depp and Tim Burton: Together Again
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: DreamWorks, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Drama, Musicals, Casting, Upcoming Releases,
Over the years, many actors have come and gone. Few have had the staying power of Johnny Depp, who continues to get high-profile roles and enjoys his pick of scripts. The raven-haired thespian has showcased his acting talents over the years with an array of somewhat odd roles, preferring darker-toned movies rather than lighthearted comedy. A long-standing director-actor relationship and Depp’s penchant for the unordinary makes him perfect for Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, an adaptation based on the successful Broadway play.
The movie, set in London more than one hundred years ago, features Depp as none other than Todd, a deranged barber bent on murderous revenge. DreamWorks and Warner Bros. both lent studios to create this tale of cannibalism, revenge, death, and darkness. By the way, it’s a musical.
Sweeney Todd hits theaters December 21.
Hollywood Reporter
Burton To Direct Disney Films
Posted by David Onda Categories: Disney, Animation, Short Films, Family, Musicals, Comedy, Filmmaking, Rumors, Scripts, Upcoming Releases,
Tim Burton will direct a pair of 3-D films for Disney: Alice in Wonderland and Frankenweenie.
First, Burton will direct Alice, which will be filmed using a mixture of performance-capture imagery and live action footage, a la this weekends #1 film, Beowulf. Next, Burton will helm Frankenweenie, based on his 1984 short film (of the same name) about a dog who gets run over by a car and is brought back to life by his owner. ’Weenie will be filmed using stop-motion animation and shown in digital 3-D.
The original Frankenweenie had an odd cast, which included Daniel Stern (as the owner), Shelley Duvall, Sofia Coppola and The Wonder Years’ Jason Hervey. No word if any of the actors will return for this version.
Variety
This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 9, 2007
Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Classics, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Home Entertainment, Lists, New Releases, Upcoming Releases,
The war between Blu-ray and HD DVD rages on, but this week the battle looks particularly one-sided.
HD DVD has only one exclusive release this Tuesday (and not even a very good one), which can’t counter-balance the nine exclusive Blu-ray titles. Now, one could see this as merely a slow week for the format’s proponents—Universal has the one title, and Paramount has zilch—or maybe Fox, Sony and MGM have simply realized that the holidays are fast approaching, and that … well, this is a war! Whatever the case, HD DVD loyalists will find little to drool over this week. As for the Blu-ray fans, they’ll find three day-and-date releases plus a high-def 28 Days Later to supplement its impressive new-release sequel.
Have a look at this week’s HD releases after the jump.
Check out this week’s standard-definition releases,
or take a look at the TV-on-DVD titles.
Click to continue reading This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 9, 2007
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