Knight at HOME at the Movies
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Blood! Murder! Music! More!
Red, red, red is the prominent color in this murderous, marvelous quartet in this edition of DVD Recommendations.
Red, red, red is the prominent color in this murderous, marvelous quartet in this edition of DVD Recommendations.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – From Paramount. The
latest collaboration from director Tim Burton and Johnny Depp is their strongest yet and
for fans of the dean of musical theatre composers, Stephen Sondheim, the almost 20
year wait for a film adaptation has been worth it. This thrilling version of the dreaded
razor wielding Sweeney and his venal companion, the funny and morally bankrupt Mrs.
Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) is a perfectly pitched combination of a bitter black
comedy, haunted drama, and exquisite music. And the look! As I mentioned in my
review of the film, the movie is a sensation on that score as well (Goth fans will overdose
on the inky visuals). I think Burton does his best work here and deserved an Oscar nod
(Depp and Bonham Carter are no slouches either) and Paramount has given us a jam
packed two-disc edition. The first has the movie and an 30 minute behind the scenes
look at the film and the second has everything from a featurette delving into the origins
of the Sweeney Todd legend to a nice, almost 10 minute piece on Sondheim’s score with
Sondheim himself as the centerpiece. There are several making of featurettes
(SQUEAMISH ALERT: many feature multiple shots of Depp in graphic action with his razor),
stills and more but no deleted scenes (which would have been lovely). And an isolated
music track would have really been cool but these are minor complaints. This one’s a no-
brainer for your collection.
Sweeney Todd – From Warner Home Video. This is a record of the original Sondheim
stage version with Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovette and George Hearn taking on the role
of Sweeney from Broadway original Len Cariou. This is the touring version (I saw it in
Chicago – it was terrific) and holds up very well. For those only familiar with Tim Burton’s
movie, this edition of Sweeney fleshes out the story with much more music, plot, etc. and
makes a nice contrast (or try both as a double feature). This new edition features new
packaging (a keepcase and box cover art) but no new content.
There Will Be Blood – From Paramount. Now we move from bloody to bloodthirsty –
for oil. Over three months after first experiencing Daniel Day Lewis’ performance in There
Will Be Blood I’m still raving about it but now after taking it in again in this new 2-disc
edition of the film I’m reminded again how good Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie is as
well. It’s a thrilling tale and the methodical, majestic pace of the film doesn’t seem slow
to me for a second. I think the movie has had trouble connecting with a larger audience
because of its originality and refusal to romanticize a story that audiences have been
conditioned towards. This epic story of an early oil wildcatter has none of the phony
melodrama or preachy uplift of Giant, How The West Was Won, or many other grandiose
portraits of epochal periods in American history. Its epic, alright, and breathtakingly
photographed but it’s not gussied up for a second with the patina of falseness and that’s
just one reason I dug it. Here is a movie true capitalists will take to their hearts and by
presenting such an unvarnished view of one of this characters (a fictional one but based in
reality), Anderson’s movie will resonate for decades. I’m also still besotted with the music
score of Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood which provides the basis for an early silent film
(about 30 minutes long) commissioned by an oil company to explain the drilling process
that is included as the most intriguing of the special features on the movie’s second disc.
There are also a few deleted scenes and some background featurettes that are presented
all of a piece, another creative approach that surely Anderson had his hand in. Stop
reading and order this right now.
Sleuth – From Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Finally, a nice slice of murder is
offered up in this cool remake of the Laurence Olivier-Michael Caine 1972 cat and mouse
thriller. This time Caine plays the older, wealthy cuckolded husband and luscious Jude
Law the young upstart lover who comes to confront the husband. As I mentioned in my
original review, the theatrical linguistics between the two actors (who dive into their roles)
are matched by the fantastic, uber modern home that seems as deadly as the games of
wit the two men play with each other. The theatrically inclined, naturally enough, will take
this to their hearts (like the original, it’s basically a filmed play with all the action set in
Caine’s home). This version also ups the homoerotic undertone, by the by, a decided
plus for gay audiences. The disc includes a few special features.
latest collaboration from director Tim Burton and Johnny Depp is their strongest yet and
for fans of the dean of musical theatre composers, Stephen Sondheim, the almost 20
year wait for a film adaptation has been worth it. This thrilling version of the dreaded
razor wielding Sweeney and his venal companion, the funny and morally bankrupt Mrs.
Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) is a perfectly pitched combination of a bitter black
comedy, haunted drama, and exquisite music. And the look! As I mentioned in my
review of the film, the movie is a sensation on that score as well (Goth fans will overdose
on the inky visuals). I think Burton does his best work here and deserved an Oscar nod
(Depp and Bonham Carter are no slouches either) and Paramount has given us a jam
packed two-disc edition. The first has the movie and an 30 minute behind the scenes
look at the film and the second has everything from a featurette delving into the origins
of the Sweeney Todd legend to a nice, almost 10 minute piece on Sondheim’s score with
Sondheim himself as the centerpiece. There are several making of featurettes
(SQUEAMISH ALERT: many feature multiple shots of Depp in graphic action with his razor),
stills and more but no deleted scenes (which would have been lovely). And an isolated
music track would have really been cool but these are minor complaints. This one’s a no-
brainer for your collection.
Sweeney Todd – From Warner Home Video. This is a record of the original Sondheim
stage version with Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovette and George Hearn taking on the role
of Sweeney from Broadway original Len Cariou. This is the touring version (I saw it in
Chicago – it was terrific) and holds up very well. For those only familiar with Tim Burton’s
movie, this edition of Sweeney fleshes out the story with much more music, plot, etc. and
makes a nice contrast (or try both as a double feature). This new edition features new
packaging (a keepcase and box cover art) but no new content.
There Will Be Blood – From Paramount. Now we move from bloody to bloodthirsty –
for oil. Over three months after first experiencing Daniel Day Lewis’ performance in There
Will Be Blood I’m still raving about it but now after taking it in again in this new 2-disc
edition of the film I’m reminded again how good Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie is as
well. It’s a thrilling tale and the methodical, majestic pace of the film doesn’t seem slow
to me for a second. I think the movie has had trouble connecting with a larger audience
because of its originality and refusal to romanticize a story that audiences have been
conditioned towards. This epic story of an early oil wildcatter has none of the phony
melodrama or preachy uplift of Giant, How The West Was Won, or many other grandiose
portraits of epochal periods in American history. Its epic, alright, and breathtakingly
photographed but it’s not gussied up for a second with the patina of falseness and that’s
just one reason I dug it. Here is a movie true capitalists will take to their hearts and by
presenting such an unvarnished view of one of this characters (a fictional one but based in
reality), Anderson’s movie will resonate for decades. I’m also still besotted with the music
score of Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood which provides the basis for an early silent film
(about 30 minutes long) commissioned by an oil company to explain the drilling process
that is included as the most intriguing of the special features on the movie’s second disc.
There are also a few deleted scenes and some background featurettes that are presented
all of a piece, another creative approach that surely Anderson had his hand in. Stop
reading and order this right now.
Sleuth – From Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Finally, a nice slice of murder is
offered up in this cool remake of the Laurence Olivier-Michael Caine 1972 cat and mouse
thriller. This time Caine plays the older, wealthy cuckolded husband and luscious Jude
Law the young upstart lover who comes to confront the husband. As I mentioned in my
original review, the theatrical linguistics between the two actors (who dive into their roles)
are matched by the fantastic, uber modern home that seems as deadly as the games of
wit the two men play with each other. The theatrically inclined, naturally enough, will take
this to their hearts (like the original, it’s basically a filmed play with all the action set in
Caine’s home). This version also ups the homoerotic undertone, by the by, a decided
plus for gay audiences. The disc includes a few special features.
