Tom Smith ([info]filkertom) wrote,
@ 2007-10-04 21:06:00
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Entry tags:horror, movies, music, theater

SWEENEY TODD Trailer
Continuing in the horror theme -- 'cause, hey, it's October -- you can now view the trailer for Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd, starring Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin, Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, and, oh yeah, some guy named Depp.

On a sheer acting level, it looks fantastic. But the music suffers even in this trailer. Depp is doing a Rex Harrison, which can be just fine, but he's also doing a very, very quiet Todd. It may work.

I think the movie will be entertaining; I hope it will be good. But nobody's prying my George Hearn videos or Len Cariou OCRs away.


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[info]morpheus0013
2007-10-05 01:22 am UTC (link)
Oy. I was afraid of this. Johnny Depp is too young, too pretty, and too...too Backstreet Boy when he's singing. Too whispy. The clip of him in the trailer singing, I wanted his voice to be menacing, not pretty.

I'm not saying I'm unwilling to give it a chance; I think he's an amazing actor, I adore Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman, Anthony Stewart Head is in there someplace, and I'd watch a Sondheim show put on by Beanie Babies.

But...yeah. I hope, as has been the case so often lately, that the trailer sucks arse compared to the movie. I really, really want to love this.

Pardon me while I get my Sondheim fangirl glee on. *pops in Len Cariou*

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[info]eleri
2007-10-05 02:07 am UTC (link)
Oh, I likes the way he sounded. Quietly insane.

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[info]drzarron
2007-10-05 02:36 am UTC (link)
And sorry, Helena Bonham Carter is NO Angela Lansbury either

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[info]sifractusfortis
2007-10-05 02:44 am UTC (link)
I admit he's playing it quiet, but I am SO there anyway. Depp, Rickman -- what's not to love?

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[info]lizreay
2007-10-05 02:56 am UTC (link)
I am so very excited about this movie...Sweeny's my favorite musical ever...and now I'm afraid to look at the trailer. Poop, I say.

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[info]indyellen
2007-10-05 03:00 am UTC (link)
I think we're almost going to have to look at it like looking at some of the more recent superhero/comic movies or when comparing books to tv/movies: it is *not* the same as previous versions, so don't think it will be when you go see it. We'll need to compartmentalize, I think.

However, I liked the atmosphere and characterization as shown in the trailer, and I think it might hit a broader audience than something that is overtly "musical".

But I could be talking out my arse, too. ;)

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[info]tomreedtoon
2007-10-05 03:35 am UTC (link)
I've said it before and I say it again; the real project Tim Burton should approach, to pull his career out of its nosedive, is Sondheim's Assassins.

I get the feeling that Sweeney Todd will be extraordinarily wimpy, compared to what Tom mentioned - the video of the original Broadway production. If you haven't seen it yet, scour your video stores; it will probably become unavailable when the movie hits theatres.

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[info]filkertom
2007-10-05 03:43 am UTC (link)
Or the video Hearn made twenty years later, Sweeney Todd In Concert -- different venue, minimalist staging, Patty LuPone rather than Angela Lansbury, but still unbelievably powerful.

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[info]morpheus0013
2007-10-05 04:59 am UTC (link)
Does it make me a bad Sondheim fan to admit I prefer Patti LuPone? Not that I don't love Angela Landsbury, but the whine in her voice gets to me after awhile.

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[info]morpheus0013
2007-10-05 05:01 am UTC (link)
Actually, the George Hearn/Angela Landsbury version is available on DVD. I waited YEARS for it to come out after seeing the video when I was in high school. =)

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[info]dr_zrfq
2007-10-05 03:45 am UTC (link)
I was in the pit for the first *ever* amateur production of ST. That's one of my standout memories from college. Although I can say from experience that attempting to play all three trombone parts at the same time is a Major PITA.

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[info]ravenclaw_eric
2007-10-05 03:56 am UTC (link)
Oooh! I wanna see! When I was in college, my nickname was "Sweeney Todd," mainly b/c whenever I got lit up, I'd wake the echoes all the way home with songs from the show. This being St. Olaf, most of the commentary I got was to the effect that while I sang quite well (and why hadn't I at least tried out for the main St. Olaf Choir, hmmm?) I really shouldn't try to sing songs meant for duos or more all by myself.

I even referenced "Sweeney Todd" in my latest filksong.

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[info]jhyanmar
2007-10-05 03:58 am UTC (link)
Speaking of trailers, have you seen this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-l93gltkCc

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[info]filkertom
2007-10-05 04:15 am UTC (link)
Forty THOUSAND times. Sorry, but everyone's been hitting me with that one since about this time last year.

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[info]jhyanmar
2007-10-05 04:48 am UTC (link)
Much apologies. I should have figured.

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[info]faxpaladin
2007-10-05 05:47 am UTC (link)
The thing that immediately bugged me about this trailer was the way it only barely hints that this is a musical.

The thing that took me a bit longer to put my finger on... are they trying to save the Meat Pies subplot as a spoiler? You don't get any notion at all of how Mrs. Lovett is helping Sweeney out on his murder spree. Two possibilities occur to me:

1) This was a marketing decision. If so, it was a really bad move. Brief digression: One holiday I was home from college, and Mom decided we should go see a movie together. She thought Little Shop of Horrors sounded like a fun little movie from the ads she'd seen. Then Rick Moranis is chopping Steve Martin into plant food and Mom's visibly squirming... Sure, you get more people into the theater by leaving that part out of the ads. And then they walk out angry because they feel misled, the way Mom did. But hey, as long as they bought their opening-weekend tickets first... and if that is the marketers' attitude, then they need to take Bill Hicks' advice.

2) They didn't have any choice in the matter because the MPAA would have declared the trailer unfit for general audiences if it had even hinted at cannibalism. I don't honestly know how likely this is, but it is possible. And also idiotic.

There is also of course the possibility that I'm overreacting...

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[info]pyrephox
2007-10-05 11:49 am UTC (link)
Personally, I'd /rather/ see a trailer that doesn't give away all the plot. Too many of them spoil /everything/...when Mrs. Lovett gets that sly look on her face and sings, "Seems an awful waste..." I want those who haven't seen it before to gasp as they realize what she means. It /should/ be a shock, something disgusting that (as the song goes on) you can't believe you're laughing about.

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[info]fuuberry
2007-10-08 06:55 am UTC (link)
While I can understand where you're coming from, I don't think it'll be quite the same situation. Yes, the pies may be a bit more bloody than some might expect if they go into the movie with their only knowledge being the trailer, but at the same time, they do make it clear throughout the whole trailer that it's going to be rather dark and gruesome.

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[info]pyrephox
2007-10-05 11:46 am UTC (link)
I like the trailer very much. While Depp may not have the manic quality in this production that some other Todds have had, he's clearly seriously off his rocker, in that gleeful/bitter way that suits the character.

I'm really looking forward to this!

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