Sweeney updates, Dark Knight posters, and Army of Shadows

[thehefner]

So, be warned and prepared, fans of SWEENEY TODD: all of the chorus songs (including the classic opening/closing "Ballad of Sweeney Todd") have been cut from the film. The opening credits just plays the instrumental of "Ballad" and Burton had filmed all the dead characters at the end singing it, but decided that it didn't fit the tone of the ending as they'd filmed it, so perhaps expect to see that on the DVD? I don't see why we couldn't have at least had it playing over the credits, but whatever. Kinda lame.

Also, the theme I keep hearing is that Helena Bonham-Carter's voice is weak as water, but her acting is fantastic. I suppose that is the more important aspect, at least in a movie version.

So, yeah, I think it's best to be prepared for such things, as we snobs try to appreciate Burton's film for what it is. Which is, according to multiple sources, his best film since ED WOOD. I mean, in terms of substance and quality, not just fun and beautiful spectacle (SLEEPY HOLLOW has its supporters).



Hey, adaptor, we watched ARMY OF SHADOWS. Fascinating movie, if only due to how little of that world we Yanks ever really hear about. fiveseconddelay would call it a "Hefner-paced" movie, but really, without an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, it really did drag for us at times. But speaking as someone who often has serious issues with French cinema, it was a great film, but not one I shall likely be revisiting unless I need to research the era.



And finally: sometimes, Europe (the continent, not the band) sometimes gets better versions of movie posters than we do. Such is the case with THE DARK KNIGHT.

Namely, this badass one of the Joker and this one that CHUD.com observed looks like Batman has been grounded and is looking out of his window longingly.

Cannot wait to see this. Cannot wait. One way or another, Bloo, we're totally seeing this together.

Comments

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

One of my most prized DVDs is SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, starring Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, and a singing German Brent Spiner. Also, my favorite musical is CHESS. Also, I will sometimes burst out in Oingo Boingo song and dance here in the comic store when no one is looking.

And lately, I've been tempted to grab customers and belt "THEY ALLLLLLLLL DESERVE TO DIE! TELL YA WHY, MRS. LOVETT, TELL YA WHY!!! (the comments section alone is comedy glee, but only to comic book nerds who love SWEENEY TODD)

Oh marvelous, great! So, what were you expecting? Yeah, the art is magnificent. I so wish Mazzuchelli were still drawing comics regularly.

[kagome654.livejournal.com]

Heh, geek humour. I have to admit that as far as musicals go I'm really only familiar with Webber (I know, I know) and some Sondheim and Rodgers & Hammerstein. The rest is pretty much all Greek to me, unfortunately.

It's hard to explain what I was expecting with Batman: Year One, exactly. Something that felt like a summer blockbuster or an 'event' comic storyline like 'Sinestro Corps' or 'Hush' (though ideally better written than the latter), if that makes any sense. It was much more subdued than I thought it would be, especially compared to something like DKR. I remember when I finished the book I flipped the last page wondering where the rest of it was because I wanted to keep reading. That only makes sense, given that the entire point of 'Year One' is it's the beginning of Batman's story, but it threw me a little. I was going into it expecting a certain pace and mood and instead it delivered something much more restrained.

I loved it though, probably because it wasn't what I was expecting and was much more down to earth and human.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

If you like SWEENEY TODD, I think you're one of the few people I can actually recommend to see SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE if you can find it on DVD. I say again: singing Brent Spiner with a German accent!

And that's a damn good way to sum up Year One. I love how subdued and human it is. As years go by, I come to prefer to small humanity of B:Y1 to the dystopian grim 'n gritty epic of DKR. I kinda wish BATMAN BEGINS would have stuck a bit closer to that, but then again, they stuck closer to it than any previous Batman movie, and was better off for it.