Review of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982) by Chris M — 16 May 2010

I had my wisdom teeth out on Friday, so the past few days I've been laying low. Combined with the fact that a Windows poser tries to sell me anti-virus software every five seconds I'm on the computer, my relative absence from RT as of late is explained. Still, it's been nice to watch the Olympics (Michael Phelps never ceases to amaze me, and that 4x100 relay....MAN!) and a couple movies. In fact, the day of my surgery, I took advantage of Blockbuster's wonderful movie deals and bought [i]Steamboy[/i], [i]Planet Terror, Paris, Je T'aime[/i] (!), and [i]An Inconvenient Truth[/i]. Once I'm off the drugs, I think I'm going to back and pick up some more. Four movies for twenty bucks: you can't beat that.

On the bad side of my post-surgery status: I've missed two nights of work, and I'll be missing tonight, as well. I don't mind not working, but this is my last week, at least for a while, and I'm sure my managers and co-workers are royally pissed. Plus, I'm not raking in the dough, and when I'm planning a Europe trip next summer with one of my best friends, dough needs to be raked in. Also, I'm falling behind on theater viewings. I still haven't seen [i]Step Brothers[/i], and I hope to catch [i]Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder[/i], and [i]The Clone Wars[/i]. Considering all the schoolwork I now have less than two weeks to finish, I'm getting a little nervous.

Now, reviews...

Yes, I am reviewing [i]Sweeney Todd[/i] yet again, but again, this isn't the same thing. I found a DVD of Angela Lansbury, George Hearn, and friends performing the musical shortly after it opened on Broadway. As far as I know, this is the original cast (save Hearn, who was Len Cariou's replacement), and they are truly exceptional. It's a lot of fun to see how the show was originally done, especially considering the extremely different revival that is currently touring, and I love that nearly all the songs are intact (the Judge's "Johanna" is gone and not missed, and "Parlour Songs" is shortened considerably). The performances are really great. Lansbury absolutely shines as Mrs. Lovett, and George Hearn is chilling as Sweeney. His "Epiphany" is one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

The actress playing Johanna leaves something to be desired, speifically during "Green Finch," but she isn't as bad when joined by Anthony. I was extremely moved during the final "Ballad," during the lines "To seek revenge may lead to hell/But everyone does it, and seldom as well." It was like a little of the magic of seeing a show in the theater leaked out of my TV, and I was extremely glad it did. If you've seen Tim Burton's masterful interpretation, you owe it to yourself to see this and get a better, more complete picture.

Of the movies I bought at Blockbuster, [i]An Inconvenient Truth[/i] is the only one I've gotten around to watching. It was a very informative, well-made documentary. It consists largely of Al Gore showing charts and talking about them, and while it sometimes is hard to keep up with what's being said and how it relates to everything else being said, the overall message is communicated very clearly. Gore is a great speaker, and he does a nice job of mixing in some slight comedy elements into his speaking. The little side notes about his life seemed strange and unnecessary, but they didn't really detract. Global warming is a pressing issue, and this movie does a fine job of showing just how worried we all should be. One quote that shows during the credits has really stuck with me, and not merely in an environmental capacity: "If you believe in prayer, pray that people will find the strength to change.".