Is SWEENEY TODD Burton's Best Film?- Page 2

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 10:52am

I should share some of the comments I heard on the cruise ship going to Alaska last week, after they showed the movie. Everyone was leaving and talking about it.

Now, granted, this was the "blue hair" crowd, but they totally cracked me up.



Old man: What'ja think?
His wife: Well, it sure was gory. The music was beautiful, but I think I need to watch Mary Poppins now.

Old woman to her husband: You know this is a remake. The original had Angela Lansbury in it.
Husband: Well, why didn't they show THAT one instead?

Old man to his wife: I guess this music is too hard to really sing.
Wife: Yeah, they weren't very good, were they? Why was everybody whispering?

Woman: I would've left but the music was so darn pretty.

Old man: Boy, this movie makes you not want to trust anybody. Next time, we should watch something cheerful.

Old woman to her husband: I had to look away, did you?
Old man: No, I wanted them all to die.

Old man to wife: How am I supposed to eat dinner after that?
Wife: I'm sure you'll find a way. (laughs)

You gotta love the Cruise Ship Crowd.

Updated On: 5/23/08 at 10:52 AM

[Elphaba]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 10:55am

I certainly did not expect a slasher film roscoe. The same thing was accomplished on stage without the blood spurting from the neck crap so prevelant in American slasher films.....no thanks, not necessary to accomplish the goal......

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 11:10am

Eh, I kind of liked the Kill Bill blood spurting. It kind of gave the whole movie kind of a mythic quality.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 11:41am

Personally I think Beetlejuice and Ed Wood are his best. Sweeny I found good though not stellar. Thought Depp was too "one Note" characterwise. You knew he was insane from is first appearance. The Epiphany was sort of redundant.
Pee Wee's Big Adventure is a great, well made film also.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 11:43am

I actually think BEETLEJUICE is one of Burton's three weakest, with PLANET OF THE APES and the first BATMAN, which really just has absolutely nothing for it at all.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 11:53am

I didn't have a problem with the film being bloody. I sort of expected it. I just didn't like the CGI blood, which looked cheap and out of place. The style of the film was utterly gorgeous except for the damn CGI blood and bugs, which I found completely distracting and unnecessary. It was like sticking a wad of chewed gum on a beautiful painting.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 11:55am

The actual making of it was pretty cool. They had to key in all of the grey skies and fog because the entire London was a set with lights above it.

[chris d]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 12:04pm

for me it's:

Edward Scissorhands (his masterpiece, imo)
Beetlejuice
Sweeney Todd
Ed Wood Updated On: 5/23/08 at 12:04 PM

[Jon]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 1:33pm

I just rewatched it on video for the first time since seeing it in the theatre, and I must say, Burton's staging/shooting of "Epiphany" is absolutely breathtaking - from Sweeney grabbing Lovett by the throat, throwing her up against the wall and then into the chair, to the shots of him walking through the busy streets, invisible to the passers by, to the final overhead shot. Brilliant fimmaking.

[worrell4077]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 2:33pm

I expected it to be bloody. I didn't expect something like the Ben Kingsley's movie or the way the blood is on stage with it just being a thin red line, I expected it to be close to realistic in terms of the throat being slit. He's slitting the jugular, there's going to be blood spurting out, not just a thin line of it, but I will say I hated the CGI blood.

I don't think it's his best film. It's definetly up there on my list with Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Batman, Batman Returns, and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. I still have to see Ed Wood though.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 3:15pm

I wanted to like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but it was something of a spazzy mess. The Oopmah Loompahs were awful, but their songs were worse (I couldn't understand a word). And Depp's Willy Wonka was just a walking nightmare. The designs were stunning and the makeup on the children was absolutely outstanding, but the crude one-liners and ridiculous hip-hop dance music numbers were completely unecessary and spoiled the magic and charm of the story. Suddenly, Dahl's fantasy world was completely at odds with the current pop trends and sexual innuendos injected into the story. For me, it was Burton's biggest disappointment. Planet of the Apes was better.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 3:32pm

Matt, which sexual innuendos were injected into CHARLIE AND CHOCOLATE FACTORY? It all seemed pretty un-innuendo'd to me...

Updated On: 5/23/08 at 03:32 PM

[Kasie]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 5:15pm

I love any Tim Burton film.
Sweeney is definitely up there, but I would say Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood are definitely the best.

Oh, and FYI, Burton will be directing Alice in Wonderland soon. So excited.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 5:21pm

Sorry, "sexual innuendo" was not really what I meant. I'm in a really bad place today. It was the blatant immature joke about nuts, which came off as a 10 year-old giggling about his punny euphemism for testicles. Cheap, tacky and completely out of place.

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 5/23/08 at 8:34pm

nightmare before christmas <3

if you walked into my room, you'd see how much i love nightmare.

i also love edward scissorhands.

then sleepy hollow come in a close third.

[thatgirl712]

Posted: 5/24/08 at 3:36am

I like Ed Wood the best. Followed by Edward Scissorhands, and then Sleepy Hollow.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/24/08 at 8:23am

Matt, I agree about that "don't touch that squirrel's nuts!" joke. Silly and lame. What very nearly sinks the film, for me, is the sudden avalanche of pro-family sentiment, which completely contradicts everything the movie has been about so far.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/24/08 at 10:22am

There is a bit of pro-family sentiment rooted in the story as it surrounds the character of Charlie, but I agree it was a bit heavy-handed in the film. I thought the marriage of Tim Burton and the material was inspired, but in the end, I didn't get the feeling that Burton ever connected with the story. It was just another canvas for a Burton creation.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/24/08 at 11:44am

I would have to say Ed Wood

I would like to see him direct Alice with a touch of Sweeney like the mad hatter going around with a blade & slicing throats.It would be an interesting take on it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/24/08 at 8:51pm

I would like to see him direct Alice with a touch of Sweeney like the mad hatter going around with a blade & slicing throats.It would be an interesting take on it.

I would if it were somehow justified by the actual story, but just for gratuitous psychotic violence, no.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/24/08 at 8:56pm

Oh, please... why don't we just have Mary Poppins hack up the Banks children and be done with it. Off with their heads!!!

Alice In Wonderland doesn't need "darkness." It's there already in the confused, nonsensical, mystifying story.

What it needs to stay afloat is WHIMSY.

A much more difficult tone to achieve in a film.

GOOD.

LUCK.