There is so much to enjoy here. Amy Adams is sensational. Patrick Dempsey is cute. The set up (the Walt Disney cartoon opening, and then the characters arriving in New York) is a joy. It's a shame that it doesn't develop in a more interesting way. The story is very signposted with no real twists. It takes too long for Prince Edward and the Qicked Queen to meet up with Giselle, and so she and Robert spend a lot of time just mooning around waiting for something to happen. But the songs are great, and Amy Adams keeps us interested.
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Tim Burton's fascination with the gothic and macabre is well-suited for his adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, producing a musical that combines both fountains of blood and gore and moments of great comedy. Central to the success of this film is his understanding that this is a musical which works as well in an intimate studio setting as it does in a large theatre.
Burton creates a claustrophobic London, all dark alleys and dirty sewers. The locations are unpleasant and the dark gloomy colours of the film help to create the drab and threatening atmosphere of the city in which power has been abused and corrupted. The only bright splashes of the film come in the dreams and memories of its two main protagonists.
Tim Burton's fascination with the gothic and macabre is well-suited for his adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, producing a musical that combines both fountains of blood and gore and moments of great comedy. Central to the success of this film is his understanding that this is a musical which works as well in an intimate studio setting as it does in a large theatre.
Burton creates a claustrophobic London, all dark alleys and dirty sewers. The locations are unpleasant and the dark gloomy colours of the film help to create the drab and threatening atmosphere of the city in which power has been abused and corrupted. The only bright splashes of the film come in the dreams and memories of its two main protagonists.
I don't know how I missed this when it came on TV back in 1998 ... but I'm sure glad I found it now.
This is an extremely good adaptation of a very readable Dickens novel - if you haven't read the novel, I'd recommend it. This adaptation cleverly keeps 90% of the original story while leaving out a couple of minor characters that add interest to the novel but are not necessary. The casting, locations, storyline, everything are spot on and it is a cracking story.
If you are a fan of costume drama, you really don't want to miss this one.
Oh, and have a go at the book, too - but give yourself a lot of time, it's MASSIVE!
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I haven't read the fourth book yet, so can't make any comment about how true the plot runs. However, what struck me most about this film, is how much the pupils of Hogworts seem to have grown up! They're moody, argumentative, and when Ron told Harry to 'p*** off' I had to rewind to make sure I'd heard him correctly! Its clearly aimed more at an older audience, as the first three films were much more child friendly - I'm not sure if I like this turn of direction, and I certainly wouldn't recommend this one for younger viewers! But that aside, its still a great film and builds upon the success of the previous Harry Potter films very nicely.
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I had been waiting for the DVD set of this for years to replace my vastly incomplete recordings from the TV as well as fill in some gaps. I fought the temptation to fire off a review after watching one disc and have instead waded my through it all.
Initially I was a little dismayed by the composite nature of the episodes: the conjoining of two episodes to make one 'film'. Coupled with that is the removal of Old Indy, it did not bode well. Previously I had thought either a strict chronological ordering of the individual episodes would have worked best. However, I can see Mr Lucas' reasons - it does cut down on the volume of opening/closing credits. The other way might have been to simply order the episodes as they had been aired. This might have ironed ... Read More:
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As a fan of Tim Burtons films I had high hopes for 'Sweeney Todd' and from the distinctive opening credits I knew I was on familiar Burton ground and in for a treat. The direction, make-up, costumes and sets are wonderfully atmospheric and give that dark feel to the film straight away. To be honest I found the musical aspect of this film got on my nerves by the end, but the acting and actual story itself was so good that I enjoyed the film immensely anyway. Depp is as great as ever and Sasha Baron Cohen was surprisingly good. This film isn't overly long and although the murders were quite gruesome at times, it didn't feel excessive or gratuitous, they were almost tongue in cheek in some ways. Alan Rickman plays an excellent 'baddie' again and all the supporting cast performed ... Read More:
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As a fan of Tim Burtons films I had high hopes for 'Sweeney Todd' and from the distinctive opening credits I knew I was on familiar Burton ground and in for a treat. The direction, make-up, costumes and sets are wonderfully atmospheric and give that dark feel to the film straight away. To be honest I found the musical aspect of this film got on my nerves by the end, but the acting and actual story itself was so good that I enjoyed the film immensely anyway. Depp is as great as ever and Sasha Baron Cohen was surprisingly good. This film isn't overly long and although the murders were quite gruesome at times, it didn't feel excessive or gratuitous, they were almost tongue in cheek in some ways. Alan Rickman plays an excellent 'baddie' again and all the supporting cast performed ... Read More:
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The chickens are tired of life on the farm, and fed up with being eaten when they get too old to produce eggs. They hatch various plans to escape , but none succeed. Then Rocky the Rooster (voiced by Mel Gibson) lands among them, and they think that he can fly and will help them to escape. But can he really fly?
This film is very amusing and the children love it. I enjoy it too. I do however always find myself rather cynically wondering (at the end of the film, when they have escaped to their life of freedom), how they are going to fare the first time they encounter a fox, or when it gets cold and food is scarce and they find themselves longing for their nice warm hen-house back on the farm. Stifle such doubts, just enjoy it.
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The third film in the series, this is by far the darkest up to this point. Whilst the imagery is stunning, and the clever twist at the end is well executed, for many hardcore Potter fans, the changes to some of the story lines and the character traits don't go down very well. This is still a good effort though, and you can always read the book if you want to fill in some of the gaps (recommeneded, as it actually enhances your enjoyment of the film if you do). A great addition to the first two Harry Potter films.
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