Entertainment Weekly predicts the Oscar nominations... — Page 3

Cutting the Ballad in Sweeney is much lower on the list of reasons I think Tim Burton "missed" as much as he "hit" on Sweeney.

My (bigger) directorial issues have to do with how much the film drags until Pirelli shows up. You could say the Ballad helped propel the initial story along and give it a more "epic" feel right from the start, but if you as the director take it out, then you'd better come up with something else to grip an audience besides piercing eyes and backstory for 45 minutes. He didn't. It's kinda dull, and only mildly intriguing until the lead characters venture out into the street to actually DO something. And my bigger complaints lie at the end of the film, directorially. I blame Depp's one-note performance (he starts out angry and insane, and ends up angry and insane) on Burton too. Sweeney's tragic "what have I done" moment of realization is plowed over and underplayed to the point of being invisible. This key moment, a major directorial flaw, left many (including me) "shaken" but not "stirred" as they left the theatre. There's no "human tragedy" in Sweeney. No emotional journey from A to Z. No hint of layers underneath. Just a cold, killing machine. And it's a "small" story now. Not a bigger picture of "man devouring man" in an Industrial Age struggle. Where the bigger fish eat the smaller fish... literally... to stay alive and appease their appetites.

This movie is just some deranged guy in a basement who kills people with his wannabe girlfriend. We get one or two of those on the news every year, sadly. Film at eleven. Tragic? Yes. Disgusting? You bet. But ultimately incidental and pointless. Except for the Art Direction and the glorious music, there's little to hold onto.

It's really a shame when I hear "movie folk" out here saying Sweeney was only "okay" or "not a very interesting movie, but I guess they did a good job with it." Those sort of comments.

Considering the source material and what "gold" wasn't mined from it... Those comments have to come down on Tim Burton as a major issue with his approach and focus. So, as much as he got right with the film (and there was plenty), there were a couple of major things he got wrong.

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Updated On: 1/12/08 at 11:17 AM

Oh, I missed it too, blue... especially since without it everything drags during the first part of the film.

I miss the chills I get from hearing it. And as wonderful as the movie orchestra was, trying to compensate for its absence, it wasn't anything unusual to hear that. Big orchestras show up in many movies today.

But hearing a huge chorus sing those lyrics in 5.1 surround in a major movie? THAT would have been unusual and chilling.

So... I DID miss it. But there were other things I missed even more.

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Updated On: 1/12/08 at 11:33 AM

best12-

I see what you're saying, but I have to disagree. I thought the film moved at a consistent pace throughought. I have to admit I was initially surprised by how Depp underplayed the what have I done moment, but when he turns to Lovett for the "you're a bloody wonder" bit, I saw exactly what he was keeping inside.

It's really a shame when I hear "movie folk" out here saying Sweeney was only "okay" or "not a very interesting movie, but I guess they did a good job with it."

That is a shame. Thankfully, a lot of the feedback from people who haven't seen the show has been very positive.

Can't get too excited about the Oscars because too many of the potential nominees didn't interest me as much as the international films and/or films and performances that stand no chance. My favourite American film was THE LOOKOUT which has been criminally ignored by everyone but Richard Roeper of all people. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has given three great performances in the last few years--MYSTERIOUS SKIN, BRICK and THE LOOKOUT--and he gets ignored. I'm excited about supporting actor because Bardem is seen as a lock, and I want him to win since he was overlooked for THE SEA INSIDE and unfairly lost (to Crowe) for his performance in BEFORE NIGHT FALLS.

best12 and Scotty, thanks for the sober and sensible analyses of "Sweeney"'s shortcomings. I think it may still get a Best Picture nomination, at least, partly because of the Globes, and partly because I think everyone is overrating "Michael Clayton"'s chances. I enjoyed it, but it was strictly a genre movie, a well-made set of variations on a John Grisham-type premise. It didn't have the epic kind of heft the Academy usually goes for; nor was it a "little movie that could" a la "Little Miss Sunshine" or "Juno."

Depp is a shoo-in, though, as well he should be; he did a dedicated and honorable job. He might have done even better if he'd had a stronger Lovett to play against...Nope, not going down THAT road again.

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I enjoyed Sweeney, but did think the ending left something to be desired. I liked Depp's rather flat performance in the early scenes as a contrast to when he "Comes alive" during Epiphany.

And Burton's best directorial move was "By the Sea." Spectacular!