Oh, I do love him so much, I can’t tell you, but …. Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd?
The musical Sweeney Todd? I could see him, actually, as the character; he’s got the brooding and the pathos and the sardonic air, but can he sing?? Sweeney’s gotta be able to SAHHNG, man. Rabid fans of the musical, like me, won’t accept anything less. I really like the idea of him as Sweeney — if it weren’t for the singing. Maybe he’ll blow me away, though. I hope so.
Also in the cast:
Mrs. Lovett: Helena Bonham Carter
Sigh. This one actually bothers me more than Depp, mainly because, well, I flat-out don’t like her. Her powdery boneface. Her spade-like chin. Her eerie, bottomless eyes. Oh, and also the wee fact of her stealing Kenneth Brannagh from my beloved Emma Thompson. Do not hurt Emma, chippy, and expect me to still like you. And can your husband — (er, boyfriend??) — Tim Burton do a freakin’ movie without you, please? I know this Sweeney is still “in development” — I mean, last I heard Russell Crowe was going to play Sweeney — but if you really do play Mrs. Lovett, I will relish what happens to you in the end.
Signor Pirelli: Sacha Baron Cohen
Don’t know anything about his singing ability, but just on pure physicality, I think he’s great for it.
Judge Turpin: Alan Rickman
Ooooh! I love him; he’s one of my all-time favorites. Love this casting. Don’t care if he can’t sing. LOVE it. I will even sit through “Johanna (Mea Culpa)” — a song that literally makes me squirm, what with the self-flagellation and all — if he’s the one doing it. I don’t care if he just speaks it. That face. That voice. He’s perfect.
So, come ON, Tim Burton! Hurry up and make the movie already so that I can be the only person in America who goes to see it.
(By the way, Tim Burton, I think Emma Thompson would make a fabulous Mrs. Lovett. Don’t know if she can sing, either, but I just prefer a Mrs. Lovett who seems more substantial, more full, more of a woman; not some spindly-sharp little boy. You’re clearly being hypnotized by the biggest things on that Bonham Carter chippy — those bottomless bog black eyes.)
Alan Rickman? Emma Thompson? Sense and Sensabilty Part Deux?
Ohhhh, I LOVE his voice. Love it. Love it. Love it.
Spade-like chin. Ha! And the hair! I don’t like her hair. It gets a bit Medusa at times.
I get frustrated with Tim Burton, especially when he gets waaay too into his personal issues like with Sleepy Hollow. (Save that for therapy, not the big screen, ok Tim?) But he’s much more hit than miss, so I’ll hope that he doesn’t gussy this up too much. (Or worse – TAKE OUT THE SONGS.)
It’s so personal for me, this show. My experience with it in Seattle was just so great. I haven’t written about it much — I don’t really know how. But, yeah, I so want it to be done right, you know? Do it right. It’s slated to come out later this year and I already feel nervous about it. Just … don’t mess it up. That’s all I ask.
Well – it’s not Shyamalan filming it. Point, Burton.
I love it when Tim Burton gets personal. Big Fish was my favorite of all of his films, I think. Doesn’t feel like therapy to me. Feels like turning what is personal and perhaps into an art. Maybe it doesn’t work all the time, and the end product isn’t as successful as you would like – but that’s always the risk you take when you make something.
I LOVE Alan Rickman. I’d watch him read the phone book.
I am way over Helena Bonham Carter. I think I was really over her after her ridiculous turn on Miami Vice ‘lo many years ago – as a junkie. So stupid. She was terrible.
I would watch Alan Rickman just sit there. Which sounds exactly like the stalking that I’m sure it would become.
I think the moment I decided Helena Bonham Carter was just ikky – was her teary-eyed moment, looking up at Don Johnson, and she said, in a thick Cockney accent (please imagine the accent here):
“Crockett ….. I’m a junkie.”
And meanwhile she looks GORGEOUS. I was like – babe, you are so not a junkie, and I am so over you. And seriously, why do I remember that horrible moment so vividly? I wish I could get rid of it, excise it from my brain!!!
Sheila – Big Fish is my favorite of his, too. (I’ve probably used this line before, but it’s like he saved all of the colors from his five previous movies and used them all in that one – not that it’s the reason I like it, but it was in that way very un-Burton.) And it works (for me) precisely because it doesn’t seem like therapy, he succeeds in taking the personal and making it into a fable, where everyone can connect.
I guess I should have been more precise – not so much when he gets into personal issues, as when he can’t get US into them.
Listening to him read the phone book would be just fine w/ me.
I’m just sayin’.
Nightfly – yeah, you’re right – it’s like he finally put it all together in Big Fish, and stopped trying to sneak in his father-son issues into movies where it might not be appropriate (hahaha) – and made a movie solely about that whole topic. Maybe that’s why I loved it so much – it really was about that, and he just went for it.
Am I the only person who saw Helena Bonham Carter on Miami Vice? I feel so alone right now. hee hee
Sheila — I have vague, obviously repressed memories of her on that show. You have now unleashed something dark and stupid from some locked-away place in my mind. DAMN you! 😉
I swear I can see her now, croaking that out:
“Crockett … I’m a junkie.”
Wasn’t she his love interest or something for a few episodes?