Movie Info:
Writer: John Logan, Stephen Sondheim
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Laura Michelle Kelly, Jayne Wisener
Rating: R
Studio: Dreamworks

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: October 21, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $27.95

I don’t tend to watch many musicals, though the ones that I do find interest in quickly become my favorite movies. Among them are Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I never got a chance to see the play written by Sondheim. The first time I got to see anything concerning this Demon Barber was when it was released on DVD earlier in the year. I think I have been singing “Worst Pies in London” ever since.

It was only the genius of Tim Burton that could have convinced Sondheim to sell the rights to his play. Still he only agreed on the basis that he would have ultimate casting say over the movie. Burton was set on having Johnny Depp in the lead role and that is where he and Sondheim butted heads. Sondheim did not feel that he would be right for the role due to what he perceived as a more rock vocal style. However, upon hearing Depp’s vocal ability he was pleased enough to grant Burton’s wish and place Depp in the lead role.

Helena Bonham Carter was trickier. Some would assume that she only got the role because of her relationship with Tim Burton. The truth is that she beat out numerous big name actresses after taking extensive vocal lessons and sending around a dozen tapes to Sondheim personally. He was pleased with her vocals and was the one to approve her as the love-starved Mrs. Lovett. Sacha Baron Cohen on the other hand, had auditioned for his role specifically for Burton. In order to show off his vocal ability he decided to sing the entire score of Fiddler on the Roof. As you might have guessed, he won the part of Adolfo Pirelli.

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Movie Info:
Writers: Tim Burton, Michael McDowell, Caroline Thompson
Director: Henry Selick
Cast: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, Ken Page, Edward Ivory, Susan McBride, Debi Durst
Rating: PG
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: October 29, 1993
DVD Release Date: August 26, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $22.99

I know this may sound weird, but I used to hate Halloween. I couldn’t stand the holiday. I think it had to do with the fact that, due to my disability, I couldn’t always do the one thing a kid wants to do on Halloween…trick or treat. Because of that, I associated my negativity of those specific Halloween days to Halloween, as a whole. It wasn’t until I became a parent that I started to truly appreciate this holiday. In fact, back in the 90s, when The Nightmare Before Christmas was released, I was too young to appreciate the film. I knew it involved Halloween in some way, so I just never wanted to see it. Today, I can admit how wrong I was in judging a film by what I believed was its premise.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a movie by Tim Burton. I think Burton is visionary in his approach to cinema. I liked his interpretation of Sweeney Todd and how Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was more on par with the book the movie is based on, as opposed to the equally as good Gene Wilder version. Even going back as far as Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, I’ve liked Burton. I don’t think I really even knew who he was back then, but I knew I liked his movies.

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Writers: Various
Directors: Various
Cast: Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, Virginia Bruce, Una Merkel, Sid Silvers, Buddy Epsen, Ann Sothern, Robert Young, Lionel Barrymore, John Carroll, Red Skelton, Jack Benny, George Murphy, Binnie Barnes, Jane Powell, Tony Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Walter Pidgeon, Ann Miller, Russ Tamblyn, José Ferrer, Merle Oberon, Helen Traubel, Doe Avedon, Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Dolores Gray, Vic Damone, Monty Woolley, Ann Sothern, Barry Sullivan, Carmen Miranda, Louis Calhern, Ricardo Montalban, Ann Harding
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Warner Bros.
Release Date: April 8, 2008

I love musicals. There are romantic musicals. There are entertaining musicals. There are cheesy musicals. They really don’t make musicals like they did in the old days. Many big name actors have starred in musicals and while not every storyline for a musical is logical nor does it make a lot of sense the entertainment value of the singing, acting and dancing are what make these movies worth watching.

I had never seen any of the musicals in the Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory: Volume 3 box set collection. While I had heard of many of the actors and seen most of them in other movies, I’d only heard of Kismet out of the nine movies included in this box set. I figured the set couldn’t be all that bad. With names like James Stewart, Jack Benny, Lionel Barrymore, Eleanor Powell, Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Richardo Montalban, and Red Skelton, it is hard to argue about the quality of the acting, but I have realized that I should be prepared for anything. Luckily, while this certainly is a diverse group of films to put together in one set, I wasn’t too disappointed with what I found in this set.

Release Information:
The nine movies that are included in the Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory: Volume 3, were all originally released from dates that range from the 1930s-1950s. Hit the Deck was released in March of 1955. Born to Dance was released in November of 1936. Lady be Good was released in September of 1941.

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Writer: Gill Dennis
Director: James Mangold
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick,
Rating: Unrated
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: March 25, 2008

20th Century Fox must know a money maker when they see it because this is the third release of the movie about the man in black. I did not catch this movie prior to the Oscar ceremony. I should have known that it would be good with the cast and the buzz surrounding the film. Of course, buzz can be wrong and since I was not a huge Cash fan (I was a little young to feel him the way older folks might) I had no reason to jump right out and go see it. However, when I did, I promptly kicked myself for not seeing it sooner. I fell in love with this movie and have seen it several times since that day.

This Walk the Line: Extended Cut has added more playing time to the film, though the moments are not so much that if you have the film already (or the other two, I should say) you aren’t going to need to rush right out and buy this one. The supplemental additions are interesting, but not mandatory. Likewise, there are some pretty decent special features here, but many of these have been on the other releases, so there is not any need to assume that you need to rush out and purchase this one unless you really desire the material that is new on this cut. Of course, if you’re buying this for the first time, this is definitely the way to go and it comes highly recommended, for reasons you already know if you’ve seen it, and will understand later in this review, if you haven’t.

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Writer: John Logan, Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Wheeler
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter
Rating: R
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Release Date: April 1, 2008

I love movie musicals when they are well written, entertaining, and engaging. I should like movie musicals considering how many musicals I’ve been in and how many classes I took, in college, concerning musicals both on stage and in the movies. With that in mind, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard Johnny Depp and Tim Burton had teamed up, together, to bring Sondheim’s best musical (at least my favorite of all his work), Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, to the big screen. I wasn’t sure how Sweeney Todd would transfer from stage to screen because some musicals transfer exceptionally well and others just don’t work at all.

The story of Sweeney Todd in its various incarnations, dates back to the 1800s, when the legend of the London butcher was first published. Since then, the story has changed with each creative individual’s vision for the characters and the story. Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was first staged in 1979 by Sondheim. The composer spent over 25 years turning down ideas from Hollywood before consenting to allow Burton to adapt the musical into a screenplay. The only stipulation was that Sondheim had to approve casting. Burton, had his own stipulation, and that was that Johnny Depp had to be the lead character, Sweeney Todd.

At first, Sondheim wasn’t sure whether Depp could handle the score, vocally. There is no doubt Depp is a talented actor, but Sondheim had the same concerns I did. Could a cast of “Hollywood-ish” actors carry a music-intensive score? I wasn’t sure if Johnny Depp could sing at all. Evidently, Depp impressed Sondheim enough for him to agree to allow Burton to cast him in the lead. From there, the adaptation ofSweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was in development, and I must say, I’m all the better for seeing this.

Release Information:
Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opened in 1,250 theaters on December 21, 2007. The film had a successful opening weekend, grossing close to $10 million and since then, the popularity of the film, in correlation with the many positive reviews the critics have given it, have lead the film to a worldwide gross total of over $142 million as of the beginning of March. Not wanting fans of the movie to have to wait too long before releasing the film on DVD, Paramount has been promoting the DVD heavily before its April 1, 2008 DVD release.

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