Bryan Says... Anyone that knows anything by now knows that J.J. Abrams is nothing short of genius. He brought back Star Trek for a new audience, while still managing to thrill fans of the original series, and created Lost. 'Nuff said. Give me anything he does and I'll probably love it. Super 8 did not disappoint.
Everyone is calling the film a hybrid of 80's classics like Stand By Me and E.T. with movies like Cloverfield and Godzilla. These thoughts are spot on! The movie first ropes you in with the absolute joy that you get from watching a bunch of silly kids - played to perfection by a great group of young actors, including the stellar Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning, who's definitely following in her sister's footsteps and creating quite the buzz - and then it terrifies you with relentless force with the...wait, is it the smoke monster? Is it an alien? WTF IS IT?! The story is nothing original, and that's why it succeeds. What would happen if you plopped a supernatural force into Stand by Me? The movie is thrilling, touching, and exciting. Michael Giacchino's brilliant score didn't fall short either. The mastermind behind the music for Lost and Up knows how to perfectly accent the happenings of a scene, without being distracting. You sometimes don't notice the sheer beauty of his scores until you find tears running down your face. Super 8 is destined to be a new classic - and if it wasn't about a giant monster, would definitely be a front runner for the Academy Awards come January. Yep - I went there. 4.5 Movie stubs for the super Super 8. | Emily Says...SUPER 8...is everything that a movie should be. Maybe it's my bias as a die-hard Lost fan (WE HAVE TO GO BACK!), but J.J. ABRAMS is a genius. In SUPER 8, he combines suspense--the kind of suspense HITCHCOCK became famous for, that you-can't-see-it-but-you-know-it's there suspense--with the delectable mixture of hilarity and emotion seen in classic films like THE GOONIES and E.T. Even while sitting on the edge of my seat and burying my face in terror, I still found myself tearing up multiple times. The young but talented cast helped make me into the weepy woman that I was. In his acting debut, JOEL COURTNEY excels in the lead role. His merry band of adventurers, including the pyromaniac Cary (RYAN LEE) and the slow-witted Martin (GABRIEL BASSO), added humor to the heart-wrenching story. The only less than stellar cast members were ELLE FANNING, who gave a solid but forgettable performance that's somehow generating a lot of buzz, much to my confusion, and RON ELDARD who was at times laughably bad as FANNING's alcoholic father. Overall, though, the film was everything I hoped it would be and more. I strongly recommend it along with the beautiful score by MICHAEL GIACCHINO. Oh, and make sure you stick around for the credits! 4.5 movie stubs for Super 8. |
Bryan says...![]() Sweeney Todd is the perfect example of how to chop down a stage show's score to less than half of its original numbers, while leaving a comprehensive version of the show that still resembles the stage version. This is where almost every movie musical fails - Nine, Rent, Phantom of the Opera - they were all so insistent on cutting down on time that they forgot that they also needed to keep a consistent and understandable story.
Sweeney may be down to its skeleton, but its skeleton is still a masterpiece. Based on the original musical by Stephen Sondheim (Into the Woods) it has been critically acclaimed since its Broadway opening back in 1979. The craziest thing about the film is that it ditches the classically trained singers that are almost always cast in the roles, and instead goes for the entire cast of Harry Potter. All joking aside - almost no one in the cast was known for singing before being cast in the film. Johnny Depp turns out to have a low, growly voice that is nearly perfect for the score and it earned him his third Oscar nomination. Helena Bonham-Carter also shines as his co-conspirator Mrs. Lovette, who was played by the delightfully ditzy Angela Lansbury in its original run. Bonham-Carter plays the character on the completely opposite side of the spectrum - instead of a belty, full voice, she whispers every line with a borderline sweet sound, making her murderess antics even creepier. Alan Rickman as the main character's main enemy is absolutely perfect. For once, he's allowed to play his age - and the fact that he isn't a singer is even endearing. For anyone who complains that Sondheim's score isn't 'catchy' enough, please go elsewhere and watch this. He proves that a musical's score can be intricate and sophisticated, but still something you'll hum on your way out of the theatre. Tim Burton does his thang and brings his own style to someone else's work. When he creates something original, it's often incredible (um...Edward Scissorhands, anyone?) but when he puts his hands on something written by someone else, it's much more hit-and-miss. Sweeney hits the bullseye; the dark, Gothic style is absolutely perfect for the musical and the R rating opened the door for buckets (and buckets...and buckets...) of blood. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street isn't just a good musical adaptation, it's one the best movie musicals of all time. It's exciting, gripping, scary, and funny. It's a masterpiece. Oh, I'm going there. Sweeney Todd gets five meat pies from me - er, stars. Rewatch Value: It's hummable, funny, and scary. AKA a total triple threat. | emily says...![]() My love for Sweeney Todd began around the age of six. Messed up? Probably. An amazing childhood? Hell yes.
So, when I heard about the upcoming film and the fact that Tim Burton was directing and Johnny Depp was starring, I could not have been more excited. And the film didn't disappoint. A Burton film in every sense of the word, it's visually stunning and eerily gloomily. Unlike Chris Columbus's unoriginal, uninspired, and unacceptable version of Rent (2005), Burton's adaption of the 1979 Stephen Sondheim musical eliminates many of the songs from the stage version and approaches it from a different angle. Though the musical is obviously dark, Burton's version is much darker and much bloodier--making it a unique adaptation instead of a poor carbon copy of a great Broadway musical. Part of the reason the film succeeds so well is that the cast is virtually flawless (and all from Harry Potter...). Yet neither Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd) or Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs. Lovett), the lead actors in the film, are singers. So, how did Burton accomplish this? The answer lies in the cast's acting skills. Yes, Depp kind of speak sings some of his songs, but he does it in such a disturbed, frightening manner that you forget he's not crooning. And Carter, who must have felt pressure to copy the famous manner in which Angela Lansbury portrayed Mrs. Lovett, instead makes the character completely her own. She's still a love sick puppy...but now she's a much more psychotic one. Alan Rickman once again uses that perfect sneer to capture Judge Turpin, and Sacha Baron Cohen is hilarious as the "Italian" Pirelli. Even the youngest lead, Ed Sanders as Toby, succeeds with his angelic voice (listen to "Not While I'm Around" and you'll understand). The only cast member that bleeds out is Jayne Wisener as Johanna. I'm not sure if that's her fault, though, or just the fact that her character has the worst song in the movie (who doesn't want to take a nap during "Green Finch and Linnet Bird?") and a very one-dimensional damsel in distress role. Other than Wisener, there are only a few parts where the movie falters. Though Carter's acting chops can easily distract audiences from her weaker voice when she's onscreen, during numbers where she's not shown like "Poor Thing" audiences cannot fail to notice the shaky voice. She makes up for it in "A Little Priest" and "By the Sea," though--easily my two of my favorites. Burton's masterful adaptation of Sweeney Todd actually allowed me to believe that Broadway musicals could actually make good movies since my faith was shaken by The Phantom of the Opera (2004) and Rent (2005). Todd is an extremely bloody good time. I give Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 4.5 cotton candies with a meat pie on the side for Helena Bonham Carter. Rewatch Value: As long as I'm not eating, then anytime. |