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• Sweeney Todd: 2-Disc Special Edition / Date: 6 Apr 2008 / Author: Stephany |
 STUDIO: DreamWorks/Paramount
RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2008
STARRING: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Laura Michelle Kelly
WRITTEN BY: John Logan
DIRECTED BY: Tim Burton
It’s strange how movie musicals are hits and misses with moviegoers. Although the musical hasn’t yet suffered a slow and tragic death on the big screen, success has often depended on the specific generation of moviegoers and their tolerance for projects from a bygone era. In today’s world, I can’t remember the last time I heard someone express a deep love of musicals. Well, certainly not from anyone under the age of 30. It’s a shame. Aside from late night airings of such classic as Singing in the Rain or The Wizard of Oz, what type of exposure do younger moviegoers get in the way of movie musicals? Sure, there’s the animated classics like The Lion King and other recent animated musicals, but when’s the last time you saw something new on the scale of greatness as Fiddler of the Roof and West Side Story? And no, South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut doesn’t count. The only live-action that comes to mind, and close to a well-made modern classic, is Moulin Rouge and, believe it or not, that was seven years ago. When Tim Burton made The Nightmare Before Christmas though, it proved that there are even more directors out there who love musicals and can make them well.
At any rate, when Tim Burton signed on to adapt Stephen Sondheim’s pioneering 1979 operatic stage play Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and then recruited Johnny Depp for the title role, it seemed like a great, creative endeavor and a perfect match. In many ways, it was. Given Burton’s dark cinematic legacy with such shadowy and offbeat films as Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd was in good hands. In fact, there wasn’t much room for failure and it was almost a no-brainer that Burton would do justice to Sweeney Todd, flaws and all. Sure, Sweeney Todd won Best Picture at the Golden Globes and turned a huge profit when you factor in foreign box-office receipts, but there’s more to it than that.
Synopsis:
Taken from our own film review of Sweeney Todd, which can be found here.
"Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) was once a happy man with a wife and child, but he was falsely imprisoned and his family stolen from him. Years later, he returns to London, takes up residence above a meat pie shop owned by Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), and finds an unusual way to get his revenge on not only the people that wronged him and his family, but also the ones who turned a blind eye as injustice was done. Barker changes his name to Sweeney Todd and comes home with a young man named Anthony (Jamie Campbell Bower), who falls for the comely lass in town named Johanna. Johanna is being held captive by the nefarious Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), who rules the town with his sidekick, Beadle Bamford (Timothy Spall). Mr. Todd comes up with a vicious plan to get his vengeance, give Mrs. Lovett some business, and even help Anthony save the fair Johanna. And it all comes with a song, a dance, and buckets of blood."
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• 'Sweeney Todd' star quit school for film / Date: 24 Jan 2008 / Author: Stephany |
One of the young stars of musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has revealed that he quit his A-Levels to appear in the film.
Newcomer Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays sailor Anthony Hope in the Tim Burton production, said he had auditioned for the part while he was preparing for his exams.
He said: "My plan was to go back and finish my A-Levels, but I didn't."
He added that he now works in a shop while auditioning for new roles, adding: "It's a really nice shop. It's cool to do that, I guess."
Co-star Ed Sanders, who is still at school, said he was "looking forward" to returning to his normal life.
The movie, which stars Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman, opens in UK cinemas on January 25.
- Source
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• Sweeney’s fresh blood / Date: 21 Jan 2008 / Author: Stephany |
 Jamie Campbell Bower: “You have Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall, all with dark, interesting characters. Then I come along and it’s, ‘Oh just f*** off! We wanna see Johnny do his thing!’ ” Jamie Campbell Bower is describing the perils of playing Anthony, the love-struck sailor and sweet-centred heart of Sweeney’s nightmarish world. Yet somehow the 19-year-old’s screen charisma, subtle command and fey, otherworldly looks have transformed the role into a calling card for an increasingly hot player – he’s just finished shooting Guy Ritchie’s latest gangster flick, RocknRolla, and, 48 hours after our interview, he flies to Denmark to meet Lars Von Trier about a new project. Plus, internet rumours of a coveted place in the next Harry Potter movie abound. Campbell Bower was an A-level pupil at Bedales School in Hampshire when a family friend suggested he audition for the role of Anthony. He has since abandoned his studies in favour of the limelight and seems to be coping with his newfound status. He adds that he’s still working in a shop, an interior design store in Notting Hill Gate, and is quite prepared to let go of the Hollywood dream. “I could end up going, ‘I used to be that guy in Sweeney Todd!’ And I’m willing and ready for that, if it happens.”
Source - Times Online
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