SWEENEY TODD
RYAN: It’s a given that we love musicals, so we were hotly anticipating the release of the movie version of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”
CAROLINE: It’s not traditionally one of my favorite musicals though this movie has made me a huge fan of both the story and the music. It’s seriously fabulous.
RYAN: I’ve never even seen this musical so I barely knew any of the music, but I 
totally loved it. Tim Burton directed it, so you know right off the bat that it’s going to be highly stylized, dark and spooky; but in a hauntingly beautiful way.
CAROLINE: And in this case, really bloody. It’s a veritable bloodbath, but in an over-the-top, almost funny way. The blood is thick like red paint and it spatters early and often.
RYAN: But there’s so much of it that there’s definitely a gore factor to this film.
CAROLINE: It’s so great to see Sacha Baron Cohen in a legitimate musical role too! Don’t get me wrong, I love him in wacky comedies, and his role is this is comedic for sure, but it’s a much more stylized film than he usually does.
RYAN: He looks completely ugly, which is funny because he’s a hot man in Hollywood.
CAROLINE: And he had a huge bulge in his very tight pants.
RYAN: I noticed! Definitely look for it.
CAROLINE: Honey, you can’t miss it.
RYAN: I was very happy to see Timothy Spall in a supporting role. He’s having a fab year having also appeared in “Enchanted” and “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”
CAROLINE: Who cares about him? It’s all about Helena Bonham Carter who is amazing in this. She has the best delivery, she looks amazing and creepy, she sings pretty well and she gets the best lines. Some are meant to be funny and some are just so sick that they’re hilarious.
RYAN: We’ve seen her in this creepy makeup already this year as Bellatrix Lestrange in “Harry Potter,” but she’s so outstanding in this movie I was blown away. It’s a career-making role for her. She deserves an Oscar nomination for this in my opinion.
CAROLINE: Johnny Depp is good of course, .as we’ve come to expect from him. He didn’t sing so much as chant or talk his lines in a sing-songy way.
RYAN: Yeah, I didn’t walk away thinking I really know what it sounds like to hear Johnny Depp sing.
CAROLINE: But LBH, he sounds decent and I’d rather hear him chant and sound good than sing and sound like crap.
RYAN: Alan Rickman is great as always, but it was hard for me to look at him and not think “Professor Snape.”
CAROLINE: He is just so brilliant at playing the sinister guy. And I must admit, sometimes I find him oddly dashing especially with all that gray hair.
RYAN: Um… ok honey, you can have him. Simmer down.
CAROLINE: Bottom line?
RYAN: I’ve always liked Sondheim, and the music in “Sweeney Todd” is so good. It’s a really great film adaptation of a musical and it’s not what most people think of when they hear “musical.” It’s not singing and dancing numbers like “Hairspray,” it’s more stylized like “Moulin Rouge!” and “Chicago.” You should also know that this is based on a true story of a homicidal barber, which just adds to the creepiness.
CAROLINE: I loved this movie, and it’s inspired me to go buy the Broadway soundtrack. I urge you to go see this, even if you don’t think of yourself as a person who likes musicals. The singing is done in a very actorly way… and it’s Tim Burton and Johnny Depp! Come on now. Don’t let the singing scare you! Go out and see this immediately.
RYAN: It’s not too long either. When it ended, I was like “Oh, I could have even handled one more scene.”