A BUNCH of SWEENEY Film Clips..(Priest, Toby, Pirelli etc.)- Page 4

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 12:13am

I think Not While I'm Around sounds more innocent, keen. I think that will actually end up having a greater aspect, because I don't think Tobias fully grasps what is going on (he realizes Todd shouldn't be trusted, but he's not quite sure as to why). I think the innocence of Tobias' character will make his the impact of the story greater at the end.

[JKlock]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 12:19am

I'm the total opposite, after seeing these clips I am even more excited about seeing this film! Thank you so much for posting the link!

[JoshuaEads]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 12:32am

While I agree that the movie looks fantastic and that it appears to be generally well-cast, I have to say how much I feel having such a young Tobias doesn't serve the piece as well as a mentally handicapped "man-child". It's an extremely complex role with many different layers (I've always likened it to an onion ... every layer you peel back brings another tear to your eye) and I have yet to see any child (no matter how talented) capture those nuances. And to those who say how refreshing it is to have an "age appropriate" Tobias, I have to counter that there is no evidence proving (either way) the age of Tobias Ragg. Moving past the original legend, the context clues of the Bond and Wheeler adaptations point to him being (as I mentioned before) a "man-child", someone who could actually pose a threat to Sweeney and Lovett.

That being said, I am very excited about the film and am on pins and needles for its release!

~Joshua

[Eos]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 12:32am

On the whole, I'm excited as hell! I can't wait to see this!! I'm so happy the music sounds perfectly intact.

I'm a little disappointed with "The Contest", though. I guess I'm used to Pirelli really hamming up the singing. Not really feeling Sacha.


(updated for spelling)

Updated On: 11/28/07 at 12:32 AM

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 12:32am

I loved the clips. As a fan of both Burton and Sondheim, I can't wait to see the film.

[asyoulikeit]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 1:34am

At first when i heard they were making sweeney into a movie
I was a bit disturbed. But watching this clips has given me some hope.

guess i'll just have to wait until christmas.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 2:17am

After hearing those clips, I think Helena should have been dubbed. I know that that is unheard of in our new movie-musical era...and for the most part, I'm glad that directors have made an effort to find actors who can actually sing. But if they go with someone who really can't sing that well, I'd much rather them just admit it and find a Marni Nixon for crying out loud. I've heard clips of Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn singing their own songs, and I honestly thing West Side Story and My Fair Lady (two of the greatest movie-musicals in my opinion) would have suffered if they had done their own singing. Carter just sounds very weak and breathy to me. I also found it funny that she talked about how her character is quirky and zesty (not her exact words) to counter Sweeney's introvertedness, and yet she seems to have majorly downplayed the quirkiness that we have come to expect from Lovett.

And does it bother anyone else that Depp holds out all his consonants instead of his vowels? Isn't that a big no-no in proper voice technique?

All that being said, I am still very excited by this clips. I loved "Not While I'm Around". Yes, the boy played it rather straight-faced, but I still saw a child trying to bravely stick up for his loved one. I think having a child Toby has a different effect, because when Toby is a man-child, he is actually capable of physically protecting Mrs. Lovett. But to me, it is heartbreaking to hear this song from a small boy that could actually do very little to protect his motherly figure.

[AKDPerformer]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 2:31am

Goosebumps!!!

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 3:55am

Not while.....Was brillant, creepy, i can not wait and this will be the last thing i watch before i see the movie. Too much is being leaked.

[NJluvstheatre]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 7:07am

I agree with you Rentaholic2. She also "scoops" her notes a bit, which drives me crazy. As a MAJOR Sweeney Todd fan (saw the original cast 11 times and dozens of other productions since) I am looking forward to this, but a bit concerned about both their vocals throughout the film. Both are "underplaying" the roles, which is far different than what I am use to seeing on stage. We'll see. I'm still excited about it, though.

[Nonfreak]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 7:09am

the only thing I don't like with Toby, during "not while I'm around", is that his face lacked expression. Now, granted I didn't see him on the big screen yet, and yes, this is a movie, so it shouldn't be played "theater big", it should be more subdued. He still looked a little blank in the face, as if Tim Burton was saying "ok,...now.....look at her.....keep looking", I just didn't see any hint of what the lyrics were saying and implying, he's still a kid, but, he obviously has feelings. As for the choice of making him young, he supposed to be a boy, I like it, and his voice is perfect.....even in "pireli's miracle elixer"....he reminded me of the artful dodger (jack wilde) in the film "oliver" during "consider yourself"...so....still a good casting choice

[artscallion]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 8:06am

is it just me or have they pretty much eliminated the dissonance in the orchestration of that song?"

If I'm not mistaken, Toby's part is normally done without the dissonance. Lovett's part is when the dissonance comes in to show the contrast between her and him.

[broadway86]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 8:18am

Wow, I'm amazed. The movie looks amazing, and just as menacing and humorous as promised.

The whole cast (almost) seems perfectly chosen, and I have a feeling that Timothy Spall will steal the film.

Depp sounds great and seems to be up for the chellenge, but I'm surprised that a lot of people are complaining about his voice, while the real issue is Helena Bonham Carter. On the acting side, she's much more dubdued then usual, but still dark, funny, and kinda sexy. Unfortunately, her voice is - putting it nicely - lackluster.

I'm sure that Ed Sanders will be a great Toby, but his "Not While I'm Around", though really nice to listen to, isn't particularly interesting to watch. I know the show very well, and I'm still not sure what this particular Toby's intentions are.

All that said, the 21st can't come soon enough!

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 9:32am

It's true, Depp is much more the "smooth and subtle" Sweeney than, say, George Hearn whose rather angry interpretation didn't work for me at all. But Depp is totally emotionless whenever he sings. One could say, he doesn't act while singing. And neither does Helena Bonham Carter. That's okay in some parts but definitely not a good idea as a concept going through.
I've rarely seen "The Worst Pies in London" done with so little comic timing, so little feeling for the rhythm of the song, so little motion.
I'm really afraid that whereever the scenes tend to be a chamber piece it'll fallt flat and become static and boring.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 10:22am

You might want to wait to see the film before judging "Worst Pies". The behind-the-scenes footage doesn't show you how it is edited. Or the bugs.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 10:29am

Artscallion - you may well be right as this is the early part of the song, and it becomes increasingly dissonant as the double meanings (and her discomfort) mount up. I just don't want the Sondheim sound to be normalized - kind of defeats the purpose of using the music in the first place.

FranklinShepard - you have a good point about the lack of animation during the songs. I fully expected the movie would "take everything down a notch" but even "Priest" is kind of flat when it should be almost vaudevillian. I am still anxious to see the movie.

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 10:59am

Well, don't get me wrong on that, Smaxie. I still totally look forward to seeing it on the screen (having seen 3 stage productions of it up to now). I'm not sure though whether the aspects I addressed can be solved by mere editing. I really hope so but I highly doubt it.
It's the feeling that Burton tries to implement a certain mood that is what I'd call "comfortable horror". The kind of horror that leaves you shivering shortly but smiling rather than scaring you. And to be honest, I'd love to get scared by a film version of Sweeney Todd.
It seems to get more of a sad social drama about a few rather mentally sick people and leave all thriller-related aspects alone.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 11:04am

All of this hand-wringing. Jeezus.

Jonathan Tunick did the film orchestrations, with Paul Gemignani conducting, same as the original 1979 Broadway production. The film orchestrations follow the model of the original show orchestrations quite closely, but are on a bit of a grander scale, of course.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 11:19am

>It's the feeling that Burton tries to implement a certain mood that is what I'd call "comfortable horror". The kind of horror that leaves you shivering shortly but smiling rather than scaring you.<

Nothing can compare to the visceral thrill of seeing Sweeney that first time in 1979, but there is nothing "comfortable" about the horror elements in Burton's film. The final sequence in particular is as intense as I've ever seen it on stage, and in some instances, even more so. And unlike some of the recent film versions of Broadway musicals, the film version of Sweeney gets the show's tone right, juggling the show's odd mix of humor, horror, obsession, revenge, tragedy, and social outrage, without losing any of those important elements.

[artscallion]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 11:34am

Keen, I just listened to both OBCR and Revival versions to see if I was remembering this correctly. The music under Toby does not have any dissonance. The dissonance only appears under Lovett's singing after Toby discovers Pirelli's purse.

The reason this stuck out to me is that I think I remember reading an interview with Sondheim talking about how Toby's words were true and his intent was pure. So the music reflects that. Lovett sings the exact same words, but the music is dissonant to illustrate that, when she sings them, these same words are warped and off because they're skewed by her madness and not-so-pure intent.

I do agree with most of the reservations voiced here concerning Helena's underplaying and Toby's static performance. But I am optimistic because I know that context and editing can really work wonders.

I think Carter is an amazing actress, as are the rest of the cast. And I can't imagine they went into this without some intelligence and planning as to the way they would play these characters. If Carter appears to underplay it, I'm sure it is underplayed well, and with some specific intent that is made clearer when seen in larger context than these bits show.

I also think/hope that the static presentation Toby gives in that small moment must serve some purpose in the overall presentation of the song, as well as for his character arc, that we can't yet see.

Fraklin, I totally get what you're saying when you talk about Burton's comfortable horror. And I'm not altogether sure that that's not what we'll get. Sondheim himself has said that his original intention was to create his version of a "Grand Guignol" horror show. But just because he's who he is, it can't help but end up being a sad social drama as well.

But I think that I have to let go of my ideas of what Sweeney should be. This is Burton's vision of it. And if I'm going to enjoy it, I need to embrace that. This will not be a replication of the stage show. This will be something new, based on it. And I'll take that any day over the rest of the crap hitting cinemas lately.

Updated On: 11/28/07 at 11:34 AM

[TheBoyDownstairs]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 12:27pm

I dont know how I feel about this film at this point, Sweeney is one of my 3 favorite musicals of all time and was scared that a movie may turn out really horribly, especially since I loathe Johnny Depp's acting and havent liked a thing he has ever done.

After seeing the clips though, there are things that get me rather excited. While Carter's singing is definitely troubling, I really love her acting and interpretation, which surprises me, because I tend to think Lovett should be played like Lansbury's Lovett (I didnt care for LuPone's Lovett at all). I guess I'll have to wait to see the movie, but I'd never think an understated Lovett would work, but it did for me in the clips.

Still don't like Depp in the role at all, especially not in Epiphany, that was not the sound of a man going insane...he definitely needs a bit more George Hearn in that song.

Eh, I guess in the end I am insanely excited to see this acted out on the screen, but the singing from Depp/Carter is beyond disappointing.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 12:43pm

You can always stay home and watch the DVD of the stage version.

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 1:12pm

I would love him to have a little more Len Cariou, a little more of this sombre intense obsession in his voice, without just roaring out loud like Hearn.
As I said, he should be subtle indeed (as indicated in Sondheim's lyrics), but there should be something breeding behind his subtlety. Some hidden anger, something more than just the usual way of Johnny Depp looking bizarre, which is exactly what he obviously loves to do in most of his movies.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 1:36pm

So the film looks and sounds fantastic in my opinion. Couldn't enjoy it more. I was extremely skeptical of Bonham Carter (not so much doubting her talents but I did want Meryl Streep to end up playing the role), but after seeing her in that clip of "Not While I'm Around" I'm actually excited about seeing her.
My question is, do you think the film has a genuine shot of hitting it big during award season? It'd be great to see Depp, Bonham Carter, Burton, and the rest of the people involved getting nods for their work.

[seravance]

Posted: 11/28/07 at 3:14pm

I was very worried about Johnny Depp's voice when I first heard he was doing this movie. I'm convinced now that it was a good choice to cast him, but not so much a good choice to cast Helena Bonham-Carter. I really hated her voice at first and it has taken a few listens to the clips to get used to it. I think Burton should have just chosen someone else. I mean, you can hardly hear her when she and Johnny sing together! I still wonder how/why Sondheim liked her.

As for Ed Sanders (Tobias), I think he's perfect! It's very odd to see an actual child in that role, but I really like it. The ending scene will be even more disturbing now.

What little we heard of Johanna sounded amazing. Unless Laura Michelle Kelly proves to be a phenomenal beggar woman, Jayne Wisener will be my favorite singer in the movie (though everything that Johanna sings but Green Finch was cut, and even that was trimmed.)

Sacha Baron Cohen cracked me up, he will be everything I wanted and more. I'm not sure how I feel about his voice though, it's alright, but nothing amazing.

Alan Rickman sounded very good as well, though I have problems with the way he says 'shave.'

The clips have me torn. I've really wanted to see this movie since I first heard about it in January, and I still want to see it, I'm just not as excited as I was. Some of the things in the clips just disappoint me. (Have I mentioned that HBC disappoints me? Yeah, she disappoints me.)

*goes back to lurking.*

EDIT: At the offical Sweeney Todd mvie site (www.sweeneytoddmovie.com), full(?) song audios are up. Updated On: 11/28/07 at 03:14 PM