#76
Posted: 1/3/08 at 8:33pm
There were actually more similarities between these two movies than are immediately evident--
John Travolta's Edna and Helena Bonham Carter's Lovett each generated passionate controversy;
Each movie had a great supporting cast who chewed up their roles with gusto, but without overdoing it (Rickman, Cohen and Spall for SWEENEY; Pfeiffer, Walken, and Latifah for HAIRSPRAY).
The main difference? SWEENEY's screenplay stayed reasonably faithful to the stage show while streamlining it for the movies. Most of the deletions were warranted and the scenes added fit in very well (the "Life is for life, my dear", for example.) However, the tone and delivery of the material changed completely onscreen. HAIRSPRAY made numerous changes (replaced many of the jokes, fooled with the structure so it was no longer definitively Act One/Act Two, added new songs) yet the spirit of the original was duplicated in the movie almost exactly.
If one of these two wins, I think it'll be HAIRSPRAY, which was widely loved across many demographics. Plus, the Globes aren't really known for rewarding risks--they're much more "Entertain us."
John Travolta's Edna and Helena Bonham Carter's Lovett each generated passionate controversy;
Each movie had a great supporting cast who chewed up their roles with gusto, but without overdoing it (Rickman, Cohen and Spall for SWEENEY; Pfeiffer, Walken, and Latifah for HAIRSPRAY).
The main difference? SWEENEY's screenplay stayed reasonably faithful to the stage show while streamlining it for the movies. Most of the deletions were warranted and the scenes added fit in very well (the "Life is for life, my dear", for example.) However, the tone and delivery of the material changed completely onscreen. HAIRSPRAY made numerous changes (replaced many of the jokes, fooled with the structure so it was no longer definitively Act One/Act Two, added new songs) yet the spirit of the original was duplicated in the movie almost exactly.
If one of these two wins, I think it'll be HAIRSPRAY, which was widely loved across many demographics. Plus, the Globes aren't really known for rewarding risks--they're much more "Entertain us."
I ask in all honesty/What would life be?/Without a song and a dance, what are we?/So I say "Thank you for the music/For giving it to me."
