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Friday, January 25, 2008

"Sweeney Todd" reviewed below, but first - a salute to Erik! I arrived home late last night after a long, grueling trip... But I slept in...

Happy Birthday, Erik!


Erik has been my friend for nearly 25 years! Now that's staying power. This great picture is my iPhone photo of Erik.


Here's Erik in the Rockies, 2005. Sunshine on his shoulders makes him happy...


just the two of us..


Erik taking in the eerie travertine limestone terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone.


Beware of Meat Pies


I saw the Sweeney Todd film Saturday with Steve, and it did not disappoint. Like the play, whose revival I saw two years back with Christi, it's fairly dark, cynical, and goulish for a musical comedy... but, it manages to be humorous, fun, and romantic even with cannibalism and throat-slashing. Stephen Sondheim does have a genius for sharp lyrics.

Without further ado, the 5 Parameters.

1. Four Words That Encapsule: "Bloody, Edible, Lucrative Revenge..."

2. Haiku (5/7/5): "London was a sewer; Rich fiends preyed on the helpless; Victim gets revenge."

3. Oblique comments: a) Both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter can really sing well! As always, Johnny Depp does excellent, memorable work within his growing range. I never realized Carter was married to Tim Burton, the film's director; b) Burton's the right director for this project, being a specialist in macabre but fanciful universes. The gore is more comic than chilling, though the blood-dripping opening credits are slightly unnerving; c) Today's London is considerably less cruel and wretched but that history colors my view of London far more than, say, tenements affect my view of New York. In my very home-centric quirkly world view, New York is the gleaming metropolis of glass and steel, and London is the teeming masses breathing poorly and eating awful meat pies. : - )

4. Insight: Hats off to the director, cast, and crew for making you feel arch laughter, slight horror, a dollop of romanticism - they really pulled it off. And Bravo to the further consolidation of the Broadway musical in modern American cinema. Welcome back, we missed you! : - )

5. Link: Metacritic Summary Reviews. It was very well-reviewed. Will its strengths lead to Oscar nominations, leaping over the extra hurdle of being a musical? Actually, by the time this is posted, we'll already know that - I'll update it before then. Happy Friday!



And here's the movie trailer...



Paul Lynde Snappy Answer of the Day:

Q: A cub scout holds up two fingers. A boy scout holds up three fingers. What does a girl scout hold up?
Lynde: Well, that just depends on how many cookies you buy.

Cartoons du Jour:




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