Saturday, May 24, 2008
Sweeney Todd
****½ Sweeney Todd. Horror/musical.
Directed by Tim Burton.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman,
Carl and I saw this at the Hercules by ourselves. Although we were apparently in the minority in thinking it wasn't appropriate for the kids. I was a little disturbed by the number of 5 - 10 year-olds in the audience.
Maybe their parents were all, like me, mostly unaware of the plot (though the R rating is a hint, as is the subtitle "the Demon Barber"). I hadn't even realized it was a musical. I'm so out of touch sometimes.
Anyway. Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp) used to be a happily married barber named Benjamin Barker, until Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) gets him transported to Australia on a trumped-up charge to get Barker's wife for himself. She then poisons herself in despair, and their daughter Johanna becomes the judge's ward.
Now Barker is back, rechristened as Sweeney Todd. He reconnects with old friend Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) and prepares to reopen a barbershop. When his identity is discovered by rival barber Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen), he kills him, and Mrs. Lovett uses the body for meat pies in her shop... which becomes very popular, and the two of them go on a killing and baking spree, intended to culminate in the murder of Judge Turpin.
This is very dark humor--typical Tim Burton--but somehow it works, and you're simultaneously horrified and amused. And of course, it is a musical, and the songs are great.
Categories: Movies, 4.5stars, Horror, Musical
Labels: 4.5 stars, horror, Movies, musical
Monday, December 03, 2007
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
***** The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Musical. Directed by: Jim Sharman. Starring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien
We didn't end up having time to watch this on Halloween, so we watched it a week or so later on video.
The story, in brief: Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) get stranded in a rainstorm and take refuge in a spooky mansion inhabited by creepy servants (Richard O'Brien) and a flamboyant transvestite mad scientist (Tim Curry) who happen to be aliens.
Surprisingly, we hadn't actually watched this video, though I was certain we had. Or maybe we'd only watched part of it. Probably, we'd only watched the one we'd taped from German TV (complete with German subtitles--thank goodness they didn't decide to dub it!--and a short documentary about how to watch it, with props, etc.) It's driving me nuts because our videotape has a different ending from the one I saw (over and over) in the theater, and right after we watched it, I looked it up and found an explanation, which I can't link to because I can't find it. ARGH. (okay, deep breath)
Anyway. This is a movie (or play) that needs to be experienced in a crowd to be appreciated, and my 5-star rating has more to do with remembering those midnight (and occasionally 2 a.m.) shows at Briarwood (it wasn't a dollar theater then--this was *mumblemumble1979-1982mumblemumble*), and the couple of times we've seen it as a play.
If you haven't seen it, I've read that some DVDs have an option with audience prompts like subtitles, and I'd suggest using that--otherwise, it'll just seem odd and fairly pointless. The boys liked the music and found Tim Curry's Frankenfurter hilarious, but got a little impatient with the quieter parts of the movie... or maybe they were just impatient with us alternately trying to explain and trying remember what to shout at the screen.
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Categories: Movies, 5stars, Musical
Labels: 5 stars, Movies, musical
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Hairspray
***** Hairspray. Musical.
Directed by: Adam Shankman.
Starring: John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah
We saw this at the Hercules. Interestingly, we only knew about it because the boys saw John Travolta on The Tonight Show and thought it would be hilarious. We didn't dance out of the theater, but that was only due to massive amounts of self-control.
I haven't seen the play or the original version of the movie, though I did put it in my Netflix queue, so I really didn't know what to expect other than musical comedy set in the 60s.
Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) is an overweight teen who loves to dance, and her dream is to get on the Corny Collins show. Her mother (John Travolta) cautions her against auditioning, wanting to spare her daughter the disappointment, but her father (Christopher Walken) encourages her to go for her dream.
Tracy does get on the show, and her dancing and sparkling personality make her a big hit, much to the chagrin of the program manager (Michelle Pfeiffer) who wants her own daughter to be the star.
When Tracy finds out that the show's "Negro Day" is being cancelled, she joins with Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) to protest segregation.
There are some serious issues presented: racism, obesity, and the value of family, but it's overall a feel-good movie. The racists get their comeuppance, overweight Tracy gets the cute boy, and Wilbur and Edna Turnblad are solidly in love.
The music is catchy and fun, and like I said, it was nearly irresistible. If I'd been watching it at home, I'd've been dancing.
And the humor... when I wasn't dancing in my seat, I was laughing, or at least grinning. My cheeks hurt afterward, I was smiling and laughing so much.
I'll be buying this DVD as soon as it comes out.
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Categories: Movies, 5stars, Musical
Labels: 5 stars, Movies, musical
Monday, May 21, 2007
Fiddler on the Roof
***** Fiddler on the Roof. Musical.
Directed by: Norman Jewison.
Starring: Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Paul Michael Glaser.
I'd never seen this, or at least never seen the entire film. I knew all the songs already, and Carl says we saw it as a play, but if we did, a lot of stuff was cut out. We got this from Netflix--it was in my "classics" queue. It's not the only classic I've never seen.
Milkman Tevye (Topol), his wife, and five (!) daughters in pre-revolutionary Russia. I remember my parents going to see this at the theater, probably back in 1971, when it was released, and listening to my mom and some of her friends swooning over Topol. I have to say, I can see their point. It's not the appearance, it's the character.
One by one, his older daughters buck tradition and choose their own husbands by falling in love: a penniless tailor, a revolutionary teacher, and a local, non-Jewish Russian boy. And despite his bluster at not being obeyed as the head of the household, one by one they twist him around their little fingers. (The last one almost doesn't succeed.) One of the sweetest moments in the movie comes when all this romance gets to Tevye and he asks his wife of many years if she loves him.
It's a wonderfully emotional snapshot of the setting--the time and the place, but it's not just historical drama. It's about the struggle to find, accept, and hold on to one's roles in the family and in society, something everyone can relate to.
The historical parts--the anti-Semitism that forced these people from their homes--were hard to watch, but important, especially if the thinking they provoke extends beyond the specific people, time, and place. The lesson is all the more powerful for being surrounded by warmth and humor.
The music is, of course, the first thing I think of, and is just perfect. Even the boys liked it, and I've heard warped versions of "If I Were a Rich Man" around the house a few times since we finished watching the movie.
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Categories: Movies, 5stars, Musical
Labels: 5 stars, Movies, musical
Monday, April 23, 2007
Cannibal the Musical
***** Cannibal the Musical. Comedy, musical.
Directed by: Trey Parker.
Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Dian Bachar.
I'd bought this DVD for my older son for Christmas, and we finally got around to watching it. Thanks to the
Mild-mannered Alfred Packer (Parker) finds himself leading a small group through the mountains and ends up accused of cannibalism. The movie starts after his arrest and is told in flashbacks to the reporter (Toddy Walters) who'll do anything to get her story.
There are vicious trappers, Japanese Indians, and a bittersweet love story between Alfred Packer and Lianne. And in true musical fashion, the characters have a tendency to burst into song.
As you might guess from the presence of Parker & Stone, Cannibal the Musical is hysterically funny and cheerfully disgusting. Add several weird and catchy songs, and it's impossible to resist. Truly, it's a shpedoinkal movie.
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Categories: Movies, 5stars, Comedy, Musical
Labels: 5 stars, comedy, Movies, musical
