Sweeney Todd in Concert (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)As one who has been associated with the creators of "Sweeney" on other productions and as a champion of the original production, one still has to admit to the plot problems at the end of the original's second act. This new production effortlessly aviods those traps on the way to the most focused performance of "Sweeney" yet. Featuring two former Sweeneys (Geoarge Hearn as Sweeney and Timothy Nolen as a wonderfully re-conceived Judge Turpin), Patti LuPone making the role of Mrs. Lovett totally her own (no easy proposition with the spectre of Angela Lansbury always nearby) and a wonderfuly talented supporting cast, Director Lonny Price guides this production effortlessly to it's grizzly end. Featuring amazingly thoughtful camerawork which actually advances the plot as opposed to observing it, one gets to know the characters as readily as if this were a fully staged production. Then again--maybe "less" really is "more" in this case. The San Francisco Symphony under Rob Fisher is impeccable. If you value musical theater, if you value Steve Sondheim's supreme contribution to the genre, you must own this version. But go first class---own them all!

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This delicious production of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," a musical thriller of revenge and romance set in Victorian England, features Broadway diva Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett and veteran stage actor George Hearn in the title role. Premiering in 1979, the legendary "Sweeney Todd"--winner of nine New York Drama Critics Circle Awards and eight Tony Awards--is recorded with the San Francisco Symphony as conducted by Rob Fisher. Now a major motion picture directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp! Opens in theaters December 21, 2007

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Inside the Actors Studio: Johnny Depp (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)Johnny Depp has always seemed like a character actor trapped in a leading man's body. He was initially cast as a teen heart throb in the popular television show, 21 Jump Street - The Complete First Season - a role he grew uncomfortable with because he saw himself being transformed into a commodity for a corporation. So, he decided to deconstruct this image by starring in cult filmmaker John Waters Cry Baby (Director's Cut). He never looked back, starring in a number of diverse films that saw him playing a colourful assortment of oddball outsiders, from Dead Man to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Criterion Collection.
Depp finally sat down with James Lipton in 2002 for an episode of Inside the Actors Studio. It seems rather odd that he would get a career perspective so early in his life, but he has assembled an impressive resume which this show skims broadly over. Depp talks about how he got into music, joined a band and how this led to his first acting gig in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Unfortunately, Lipton skips over Depp's pivotal role in Cry-Baby and instead delves into his first collaboration with Tim Burton with Edward Scissorhands.
Depp also talks about how he got the role in Ed Wood and how he approached the character as well as what influenced his performance: a mix of Ronald Reagan, the Tin Man and Casey Kasem. Thankfully, they cover Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and talk about how he got involved in the project and how he lived with Hunter S. Thompson in order to portray him accurately. Sadly, some of his other films, like Dead Man and The Ninth Gate, aren't discussed leaving you wanting for more. This is certainly not a comprehensive profile but rather a primer on Depp's life and career.

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Johnny Depp is one of the most versatile and intriguing actors working today.Launching his career as a teenage heartthrob, then moving into eccentric roles in films like Edward Scissorhands and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, he has alternated between independent films like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and mainstream blockbusters like Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, leading to the inescapable conclusion that his future is as bright and varied as his vivid, unbridled imagination. In this unforgettable 2002 interview, Depp gives the students of the Actors Studio a rare glimpse inside the method that brought inspiring characters, like the charismatic Don Juan DeMarco, gonzo journalist Raoul Duke, and eccentric filmmaker Ed Wood, to life.

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Sweeney Todd - The Director's Cut (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)Although some have tried to argue that he was an actual person, it seems likely that the story of a throat-cutting barber named Sweeney Todd arose first as a bit of urban myth that was developed into an 1846 story titled THE STRING OF PEARLS by writer Thomas Prest. A year later the story was adapted to the stage as SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. It proved a popular ticket, and in age that knew little of copyright law, versions of the play were soon springing up all over the place, each one tweaking the story a little bit in the process. Consequently, it is almost impossible to say that any one particular version is "more authentic" than any other.
In this particular version, filmed for BBC in 2006, Todd (Ray Winstone)is a barber who spent twenty years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Released, he finds himself shaving a prison guard and on sudden impulse slits the man's throat. One thing leads to another, as you might say, and he soon makes the acquaintance of bake-shop worker Mrs. Lovett (Essie Davis); his fondness for her not only leads him to set her up in her own business, but to supply the occasional cut of meat as well. The twist to this particular version of the story is in the relationship between Todd and Lovett, the latter of whom is more sinned against than sinning.
The script is quite clever, essentially winding most of Todd's motives (including his interest in Mrs. Lovett) around his own mistreatment while an inmate of the notorious Newgate prison, and both Winstone and Davis are extremely impressive in their performances. But for all the blood, and there is aplenty, and for all the sex, and there is some, the film looks exactly like what it is: a made-for-television movie. It is also rather slow and quite often a bit too "stiff upper lip" for its own good.
The DVD release offers a good transfer but, excepting cast credits, nothing in the way of bonus material. Those interested in the various directions the story has taken will find it intriguing, but most others will likely be only mildly interested.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer

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SWEENEY TODD - DVD Movie

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