Cutthroat Competition: Review for "Sweeney Todd" 2-Disc DVD

Sweeney sure does "polish 'em off" inn this new 2-Disc Collector's Edition DVD. The movie is of the utmost imaginative. Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) is a sweet, meaningul barber in love with his wife, Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelley). However, a corrupt judge (Alan Rickman) covets Barker's wife and sends the young barber to jail on flase charges. He comes back, vengeful, only to find that his wife killed herself and his daughter, Johanna, is the ward of Judge Turpin. The film is dark, but funny in some parts. The black comedy that was in the stage musical is still there. Tim Burtin goes a little haywire with the blood, but it shouldn't be a problem for most. This tale is not supposed to be real. It's not supposed to take place in a real London. The London that Todd slashes in is surreal. Not to mention the slashes. It's not the gruesome and graphic slash you might find in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but it is done in a balletic motion, very much choreographed to the song "Johanna". It's not the way Freddy Krueger might do it, but any way you slice it, it's entertaining. During these killings, he is lamenting the death of his wife and the loss of his daughter. It's a great film. The special features include an interesting documentary on the callaboration of Helena Bonham Carter, Johnnyy Depp, and Tim Burtin. My favorite featurette is Sweeney is Alive: The Real Demon Barber, which chronicles the original tale of the barber, from his first appearance in The String of Pearls to his latest venture on the big screen. Other features include a Making Blood featurette, costume design, and more.
Film: A-
Extras: B+
Overall: A-

And the Winners Are...: The Golden Globe Winners

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Best Supporting TV Actor
Jeremy Piven, Entourage

Best Actress in a TV Drama Series
Glenn Close, Damages

Best Supporting TV Actress
Samantha Morton, Longford

Best Actor in a TV Drama Series
Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Best Animated Feature
Ratatouille

Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical
Marion Cotilliard, La Vie en Rose

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Best Actress in a Mini Series or TV Movie
Queen Latifah, Life Support

Best Actor in a TV Comedy
David Duchovny, Californication

Best Comedy Series
Extras

Best Actress in a TV Comedy Series
Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Best Director
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical Motion Picture
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best TV Drama Series
Mad Men

Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama
Julie Christie, Away From Her

Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Motion Picture Drama
Atonement

There are the winners for the 65th Golden Globe Awards.

Born to Be Bad: Review for "Ed Wood"

Ed Wood is the biography of writer/director/producer/actor Edward D. Wood, Jr., who is claimed as the worst director of all time, while his films Glen or Glenda, about a man who likes dressing in women's clothes, and Plan 9 from Outer Space, which is about aliens raising corpeses from the dead to attack earth. Plan 9 is said to be the WORST. From it's less-than-convincing special effects to it's outrageous plotline. In reality, Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) was a good hearted young man, who liked to dress in women's clothes (which was his insparation to direct Glen or Glenda), who was a visionary artist with all the wrong ideas and crew. He eventually befriended his idol, Bela Lugosi (excellently portrayed by Martin Landau), who's career since Dracula and others had gone done the drain. He had been addicted to drugs for the last 20 years, but that didn't stop the child like wonder in Wood's eye.The film chronicles the making of some of his films. It is well done, though I think that Tim Burton tried to hard to give the Wood like feel to the film, corny music, bad camera angles, and weird lighting. While Ed Wood remains the worst director, Tim Burton is still great! It's just a matter of overdose.
Grade: B

For more on Ed Wood, click here

Sheer Genius: Review for "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Sweeney Todd is the story of a barber (Johnny Depp, in his best role) seeking vengeance on the judge (Alan Rickman) who sent him to prison for 15 years on false charges. He gets help from his pie making landlord Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) and opens up his old barber shop again to slit throats. Mrs. Lovett takes the bodies and puts them into her "World Famous Meat Pies". Contrary to Mrs. Lovett's ditty, "The Worst Pies in London", this is the best musical in years. Johnny Depp is excellent, and you can feel the tension in his voice. His voice is impressive, though not perfect. The rocky sound gives more emotion to the character. This man, who's real name is Benjamin Barker, is a sad sap: his wife was stolen, he was sent to jail for something he didn't do, the judge took his daughter from him, no wonder he looks like a corpse. Helena Bohnam Carter is wonderful as Mrs. Lovett. Her voice is wispy, but okay. Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen plays an Italian barber who is Sweeney's rival. He plays him quite flamboyently. Burton is a genius: any filmmaker who can combine blood (enough of it) and emotional drama is a great artist. The scene in which Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly), Todd's wife, goes to the ball at the judge's house is very interesting. Everyone is dressed as a different animal, which can be interpreted as a carnalistic world where the real animals in us rule. The original history is very interesting: it was originally a serial tale by the name of The String of Pearls. In the 1960's, Christopher G. Bond turned the simple story into a heartfelt tragedy. Then it was made into an awards winning Stephen Sondheim musical, which this is based on. Depp and Carter look as if they had recently been in Corpse Bride, though Depp's make up really reminds me of Edward Scissorhands.This adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical of a madman is exquisite! The end packs and unexpected punch! The film is extremely dark, and (I will admit) has an excessive amount of blood. The musical performances are eloquent ("Johanna"), heart renching ("Not While I'm Around), hysterical ("By the Sea", "A Little Priest"), and clever ("Epiphany"). Tim Burton thankfully doesn't just add the music for music's sake, but keeps Sondheim's pulse pounding score and films the scenes to the music, rather than while the music is playing. Sondheim's score brings the emotion to the film, where it was originally in the play. This film is a work of genius. This film is Bloody Brilliant!
Grade: A

For more on the real Todd, click here

"End" of the Line: Review for "Pirates: At World's End"

John Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley are back in this latest installment of the Pirates series. In a nutshell, the film is better than Dead Man's Chest, but still not a cinematic achievement. The film has too many subplots, for instance: Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) wants to avenge her father's death, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) wants to get in touch with his soft side, Pirate lords are teaming up against the British, Will Turner (Bloom) wants to rescue his father from the Flying Dutchman, and countless others. The film jumps from one scene to another without explaining how it got there. Johnny Depp is, as usual, hilarious and hysterical as Captain Jack. The story is a bit too long for me to put into a synopsis (2 hrs. 47 min.). The special effects are a bit over done and there are quite a few scenes that were not needed in any way. Grade: C+ Stars: 2.5