Can we please get a GOOD Sweeney Todd movie?

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 1:48pm

Thankfully we have the video of 1982 cast but the Tim Burton adaption was pretty awful.
Does anyone else have the same opinion?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 1:51pm

PBS will be broadcasting the Emma Thompson concert version. That will be a good one to have.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 1:53pm

And there's also the Hearn/LuPone concert dvd. There are options.

[haterobics]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 1:55pm

"Does anyone else have the same opinion?"

I tend to put Sondheim in the pizza and sex category, so I enjoy it...

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 1:56pm

Love the title of the thread...

Don't hold your breath.
Yes I wasn't thrilled either with the Burton version.

Thankful to have the Lansbury recorded from the stage version.

[tazber]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 2:08pm

I'm with you, but it's not going to happen.

Looking forward to the Thompson version being broadcast.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 2:28pm

I really like the movie version. Sure, it wasn't a very good adaptation of the musical itself in terms of style, but it was a really good film when you separate it from the material. HBC and Johnny Depp were both very good and sung the material the way that Tim Burton wanted them to. Still in my top 5 musical movies.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 2:40pm

I love, love, love the Tim Burton ADAPTATION. It's one of my favorite stage to screen adaptations.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 3:13pm

I enjoyed some of the cast but Johnny Depp and HBC were disappointing when compared to previous performers who have played their parts.

I honestly lost all interest when I saw that the ballads were cut.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 3:43pm

First there would have to be a Follies movie.

THEN you can have a second Sweeney.

[BobbyBubbi]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 4:11pm

"PBS will be broadcasting the Emma Thompson concert version. That will be a good one to have."

Lord. How many "recorded live concert versions" of Sweeney Todd do we need?

I like Emma Thompson but come on.

Follies as a movie would probably go over about as well as Nine did. Rob Star-****er Marshall would cast Madonna and Lady Gaga.

Updated On: 7/1/14 at 04:11 PM

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 4:20pm

For a Follies movie they should cast older broadway stars such as Bernadette peters, Mandy Patinkin, Patti Lupone, etc.

I would really like to see Meryl Streep and Hugh Jackman tackle sweeney and Lovett Updated On: 7/1/14 at 04:20 PM

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 4:22pm

I actually just re-watched this movie the other day and I think it's pretty great. No, it isn't the musical word for word, but does it really have to be to be a good movie? And would the ballads really work in a film setting? I think they would come off as too cheesy in a movie because they're such a theatrical storytelling device.

I think the style they chose really works for the material as a whole. The only thing I really hate about the film is the way they cut out a lot of Johanna and Anthony's actual interaction (which gives the song "Johanna" an unneeded creep factor absent in the stage version).

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 4:34pm

"Lord. How many "recorded live concert versions" of Sweeney Todd do we need?"

When you see what a great job Emma Thompson does with the role, it will make you want to grab a torch and have a dvd burning on Patti LuPone's front lawn.

[BobbyBubbi]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 4:35pm

HAHAHHAAH!

I look forward to it then.

is there an air date yet? Updated On: 7/1/14 at 04:35 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 4:50pm

Sept 26. It's a Live From Lincoln Center so I doubt it will be rebroadcast or released to the public. So get someone to tape it.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 5:11pm

Well, guess what? Mr. Sondheim himself actually gave the film version his entire stamp of approval!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naHgXkV-JlI

The thing you simple-minded folks still can never understand is that there are certain things you can do in plays that you can't do in movies, and there are certain things you can do in movies that you can't do in plays, so you've really got to take (good) advantage of that!


Updated On: 7/1/14 at 05:11 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 5:18pm

"Well, guess what? Mr. Sondheim himself actually gave the film version his entire stamp of approval!"

That doesn't mean much. He's given his stamp of approval on a lot of things that he shouldn't have. Ca-ching, ca-ching.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 5:27pm

I honestly think that the musical is so perfect that they shouldn't have changed anything.
I also didn't enjoy the complete lack of humor or the constant whisper singing.

[BobbyBubbi]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 5:43pm

Goth- Thanks for the heads up.

And, that's for sure. I'd add A Little Night Music to the list of Sondheim projects that need a reboot. That movie with Liz Taylor is awful.

[jiff]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 6:19pm

I would love to see Bette Midler play Miss Lovett. I don't want to dis Helen's performance, but a restrained Miss Lovett? The show is already on a rather grim subject so we needed "The Worst Pies in London" to be a tad more funny than it was in the movie version.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 6:29pm

By all means, dis Bonham Carter's performance! I usually love her, but she ruined that film as surely as if she had meant to do so.

[BobbyBubbi]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 6:47pm

I don't think it was Helen's fault. As I said before I think she could have done it justice. I'm just speculating but I think there was a call made for her to underplay the role for fear it being too over the top for the medium.

Lord knows she can pile on the crazy.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 6:51pm

Seconding a new Little Night Music, firsting almost anything else.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 8:14pm

I think HBC is a good actress at what she does but she really doesn't have a pleasant voice.