Movies

[filkertom]

Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd is pretty damn good.

Roadhouse, with Patrick Swayze, would've been completely unwatchable without the RiffTrax.

Discuss.

Comments

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

"His name is... Dalton"

We SO need to have a MiSTy day sometime soon.

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

I hope to see Sweeney Todd this afternoon or evening.

I hope never to see Roadhouse. Crow T. Robot summed that movie up in that long-ago Christmas song of his, "Let's Have a Patrick Swayze Christmas":

"It's my way or the highway when it's Christmas at my bar
I'll have to break your kneecaps if you bastards touch my car."

[fair-witness.livejournal.com]

I saw Roadhouse in the theater at a tender age, in the company of my age peers. I blame my younger sister: it was her idea, after all.

[ericcoleman]

How dare you speak badly of Patrick's second finest work. Second only to the sublime Point Break.

[old-fortissimo.livejournal.com]

"Be nice."

[razzle.livejournal.com]

Sweeney - YES. I do hope they release the DVD version with the *full* soundtrack, tho. :)

[n-e-star.livejournal.com]

My thoughts on Sweeny Todd

Alan Rickman was wasted in the way the role was rewritten.
Antony comes off as a stalker because of the song cuts.
"Sweeny Todd" without the "Ballade of Sweeny Todd" is just Swodd.
Soundheim is a genus, trust that and DON'T make cuts to every song and jumble the story line!
Toby was the sweetest thing ever, poor little poppet.

I know that TB was setting out to make an old-fashion horror movie and he did. But "Sweeny Todd" really isn't about the horror, it's about the people who are thrown into horrible situations; the man ripped from his family, the woman driven to kill her self, the man trying to reform from his past but falling back into the same paths, the woman who has been so kicked about that she could think of cannibalism as a way to escape.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Personally, I get the feeling that Tody grows up to be Jack the Ripper.

I have high hopes that they release the Directors Cut first.

[faxpaladin.livejournal.com]

You do know that it was Sondheim himself who made the cuts...

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

I disagree greatly. Rickman was exactly appropriate. Think of it...Snape WAS a pedophile and child abuser. This film confirms it.

The ballad was not sung - AT Sondheim's request - because it would have undercut Burton's directing. Musicals on stage have to be blatant. When that gets transferred to film it acts stupid. Burton didn't want to have people dismissing this film as ridiculous.

And the point of the play IS an old-fashioned horror story. In modern horror child killer Freddy Krueger is a freaking hero and evil always wins. Goth kids who slice the vaginas out of virgin girls are comic heroes. On the other hand, the story of this play/movie reaffirms the principles of classic horror, which this generation has discarded; if you would seek vengeance against your enemy, dig two graves. Greed and lust are not virtues. Objectification and obsession is not love. Obviously not popular with you guys in the Grand Theft Auto generation.

If this really troubles you, think of this; the popularity of this movie will lead local theaters to present the original play, score much more intact. Local stages didn't want to put on this play because they thought only gorehounds and pervs would be interested, and it would be a hard sell to the general public. Now it's possible they might do the Sondheim original in a theatre in Des Moines or Orlando.

[knitmeapony.livejournal.com]

Still pulling for the Pushing Daisies/Sweeney Todd crossover.

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

So what does happen when Ned touches ground meat?

Ewwwwwww.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

I would amend the second statement to read:

"Roadhouse, with Patrick Swayze, would've been completely unwatchable without either RiffTrax or the presence of Sam Elliott."

Otherwise, yeah. It is a movie that begs to be MiSTed.

[ddrussianinja.livejournal.com]

Get the Roadhouse DVD and watch the commentary with Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. It's hilarious.

[batyatoon]

Loved Sweeney Todd.

Would have liked the music to remain intact, alas -- I missed "The Ballad Of" something fierce, and I really wish they'd kept the Quartet.

The visuals in "By The Sea" made me laugh. A lot. And say things like "Oh Burton, you crazy bastard, live forever."

[pandoradeloeste.livejournal.com]

Oh man, "By The Sea" alone was worth the price of the ticket.

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

I don't think it was the visuals. I think, whatever was going on in set decoration or not removing all the color, it was Depp refusing to react to anything Bonham-Carter said or did. Even in her fantasy he was a monomaniac.

Whatever you might think of the other stuff, I think the film rested on his performance. He understood that for film, the character could not be played extravagantly, like on stage.

[voiceofkiki.livejournal.com]

Well, my thoughts on the movie are well-chronicled over in my journal.

As for Roadhouse? Rifftrax is the only thing that could ever tempt me to see that.

Opposing view from the Curmudgeon

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

Sweeney Todd is going to be one of the rare Depp movies I refuse to go see.

I've always hated the idea of a musical based on the storyline. I REALLY hate the idea of making Todd a misunderstood anti-hero.

The best adaptation ever done of the story was the version from '98 with Ben Kingsley playing Todd and Joanna Lumley playing Mrs. Lovett.

So yeah ... Burton's shitefest goes in the same garbage can as 300. Both examples of stunning movies which are trash in my eye due to the source material or the raping of the storyline.

Re: Opposing view from the Curmudgeon

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

You could just not go, y'know. ;) I ask this only out of curiosity, not to set you off or anything: Have you ever actually seen the musical, or listened to the original cast recording? Because it is, literally, my favorite musical. Period.

[batyatoon]

*blinks* Misunderstood anti-hero?

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

But I love "Roadhouse".

I don't know what a Rifftrax is. Do you mean the music?

"Roadhouse" is watchable because of Patrick Swayze. Yum.

[wwetuesday.livejournal.com]

Rifftrax is like MST3k. a background commentary that dogs the movie

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

*** SPOILER ALERT***
I flippin' HATED Sweeney Todd. Absolutely detested it. I enjoyed the "beach" scene - that was clever as hell. But other than that and a couple of other goofy moments, and a general appreciation of the darkness of the set, there was nothing there for me. I mean, I get what the story was going for - the classic tragedy, with the character's life going totally to shit, then further destroyed by the character's own actions, in this case in his quest for revenge, with a bigass reveal at the end. But I never liked Oedipus Rex either.

Burton's at his best when he tempers his darkness with goofiness. When he doesn't, his style is just unrelentingly harsh, and it grates on me after a while. Sleepy Hollow's another good example of this.

And don't get me started on the cheerleader directly behind us (I knew...I KNEW at some point I'd have to listen to her gasp "Omigawd, it's his wife!" eons after the rest of us had figured it out) and the guy with the frat boy laugh who apparently thought every moment of every preview reinvented comedy (I re-wrote his laugh in my brain as "Huh huh! Plane flip over! Thass funny cuz, cuz it's not sposed to be THAT way! It's sposed to be the OTHER way! Huh huh!")
*** END SPOILER ALERT***

My favorite part of the movie was listening to Kim's amazing rant about the fact that it cost us $14 for two matinee tickets and another $13 for popcorn and a drink, and watching the stares she got from the young'uns as a result of said rant. We're officially that old now. :)

-=ShoEboX=-

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

I should add that I've never seen the musical. Reading the rest of these posts suggests there's a major difference between the Burtonized version and the original (surprise!) Anyone wanna try to talk me into seeing said musical?

-=ShoEboX=-

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Evidently everyone in mid-19th century London bled creamy tomato soup.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Honestly? I was more grossed out by the throat-ripping in Roadhouse. After you've seen Evil Dead 2 a few times, your definition of "gory" evolves.