Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ~ Now I loved the stage play, and the music and Angela Lansbury from that version so I had high expectations for this. And while I didn't like it, it wasn't for the reasons that all the other critics seemed to have. Even though I loved Ms. Lansbury, I really had no problem with Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett or her singing, or Johnny Depp's for that matter. I thought they were just fine. The atmosphere, and the coloring (solidly Tim Burton) were just about on target and the opening is one of the best mood setters for a film I have seen in a long time. My problem is that Sondheim's score, which is dark and vibrant, different and brilliant - all appears to be one long droning song in this thing, and one that almost never ends. I don't know what Burton did to Sondheim's work but it's butchered in my opinion. The other main obstacle I see here is that Burton seemed content to make a Tim Burton version of the play, rather than what he was supposed to do - make a film version of the play. Props for atmosphere, but that's about it.
Dark Harbor ~ This is another loser from the insomnia club on
Fearnet. A couple picks up a stranger as they vacation at a deserted island cabin. Predictable and sad, and probably the only time I've seen a bad performance from Alan Rickman. One of the most boring films I've seen recently.
Alvin and the Chipmunks ~ This could have been such a disaster but it turned out to be quite entertaining. The flick puts an updated spin on the old story of songwriter meets rodents. Featuring elements to entice both adults and children, whether you know the characters or not, I loved this. Yeah, it's a bit predictable, but in a fun way, as opposed to the movie above. Any movie with the same bad guy (comedian David Cross) as
Pootie Tang gets a thumbs up from me, and Jason Lee is fun as David Seville - although he has officially lost his street cred as a skater with this flick. Sometimes you can never go home again. My highest recommendation - I may buy this when it comes out on DVD.
Next ~ Another Philip K. Dick adaptation, this one has Nicholas Cage doing his best Nicholas Cage imitation as a stage magician who can see two minutes into the future. Well done scifi with lots of twists. Worth seeing.
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