Movie Review - Sweeney Todd

Having never seen the stage version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, I can't speak to the fidelity the film shares with the play. That said, let there be no doubt that Tim Burton has crafted a true piece of musical cinema from Stephen Sondheim's bloody masterpiece. To their discredit, early previews have hedged a bit regarding the singing in the film. In them we only see Johnny Depp canting some recitative as he prowls the streets of London. While this scene is certainly in the movie, it's barely representative of the actual film which contains at least a dozen fully-staged numbers and only intermittent dialogue.

As the former Benjamin Barker, Depp is magnificent as Todd. His voice may lack the thunder that would be expected on stage, but on the big screen it's more than suitable. Purists may find it a little ragged and flat at times--Michael Crawford needn't worry about Depp--but it's an ideal manifestation of the corrupting anger and rotting vengeance that fill Todd's soul. The same can be said for Helena Bonham Carter as the fiendish Mrs. Lovett. Sure she will occasionally descend into something approaching a hectoring screech, but consider for a moment that she's a baker who grinds people into meat and serves them up in piping hot pies!

Voices aside, both actors deliver rich, complex performances. The focus and intensity that Depp brings to his role is riveting. Within minutes of the film's opening there is no doubt that Depp will have his revenge and have it with gusto. Taking a step back from the film, realize that Todd is a thoroughly despicable character. He often kills indiscriminately, but Depp is so powerful as Todd that you eventually begin to relish his countless murders. Carter's Mrs. Lovett is, perhaps, even more of a psychopath. Slicing a throat is one thing. Butchering a man and then serving him up for dinner is quite another. Nevertheless, you delight in her, too.




As for the killings, Burton stages them in spectacularly gory fashion. The phrase 'geysers of blood' is often used casually when describing a violent film. In Sweeney Todd the phrase is explicitly correct. Depp is often obscured under the high-powered jets of plasma that repeatedly erupt from his customer's necks. Amazingly, these scenes aren't even the most disturbing. Once Todd finishes giving a 'shave', he dumps the corpse down a hole where it cracks loudly at the bottom as the skull splinters and the neck breaks cleanly. It's all completely over the top and, of course, wonderful, hilarious, inspired.

The same can be said for the film as a whole. In Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton has found material that meshes perfectly with his artistic sense. You could call it a horror film or a screwball comedy and you'd be right both times. The design is, as would be expected from a Burton picture, lavish and spectacular. The supporting cast, especially Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall, are superb. Only the love story between Johanna and Anthony falls a little flat. It's a minor quibble, though, in an otherwise outstanding film. Sweeney Todd joins Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands as Burton's finest work. It may eventually even be considered his best.

Start Your Own Sheet Music Collection

Starting a sheet music collection is easy, once you've decided what you want to collect. Sheet music is inexpensive and relatively easy to find. You can find music at yard sales, antique shows and on the internet. Only music that is very scarce or rare is expensive. Most pieces can be found at a price between three and twenty five dollars. Extremely rare sheet music can carry a price of up to a thousand dollars, but few pieces fall into this category. You will find music in any color graphic or subject matter you are looking for.

People collect sheet music in many ways. Sometimes sheet music is collected by the genre or songs. You could put together a history of music in America with a sheet music collection. You could do this with the entire history of our country or concentrate on one time period or decade. The possibilities are endless - be creative when building your collection! Songs have been written about most important events in our history, including wars, plane crashes and natural disasters. Themes such as love or the evolution of images of women in music are popular themes for sheet music collections. Other collectors focus on one composer or cover artist.

Ragtime music from the early twentieth century is popular with collectors of vintage sheet music. This music is considered the foundation of modern jazz music. A ragtime music collection looks great displayed in a room decorated in the Early American style. And the cover art on rag time sheet music looks great displayed in picture frames on a wall or sofa table.




Music written by famous composers is popular among sheet music collectors. This music is readily available in all music genres. Other collectors focus on rare or vintage sheet music. The value of these documents depends largely on the condition of the sheets. Pieces in mint condition will be more expensive. Most sheet music isn't found in perfect condition. The spine of the sheet was usually broken to make the score stand up in the music stand. Spills, tears and names written on the covers are common because sheet music was often used at parties.

Sheet music displayed in a family room or bar area makes a great focal point. Even people who don't collect sheet music use it in a display of other collectibles. Collectors of beer, whisky, golf, military, cigars or trains can find sheet music to accent their collection. A few pieces of sheet music with great cover art enhance a display of other collectibles. Collectors of memorabilia from movies or Broadway productions often look for sheet music written for the production.

Any sheet music that isn't displayed should be stored properly to preserve the condition. Store each set of sheet music in a plastic baggie like those used for comic book collections. Place those bags in a large plastic storage container to protect them from being ripped or crumpled. Store your containers in a dry place away from sunlight or moisture, which can damage the music

Shopping For DVD Movies

Technology has taken us from Beta to VHS and now to DVD movies. With each new step of technology, the pictures became more clear, the sound more defined and an improved experience overall. However, nothing has matched the quality of DVD movies. With crystal clear images, incomparable sounds and tons of added features, DVD movies are a hit.

Gone are the days when a movie rental was just a movie. These days, a DVD rental includes not only the movie, but also deleted scenes, cast interviews, commentary and often even a documentary on how the film was made. Video store rentals are excellent, but what if you don't have a local rental store? No problem. Several big name retailers offer online rentals, which means that a video store is now just a click away. For a monthly fee, online rental companies will allow you to create a wish list of DVD movies that you want to see. They will send a movie from your list and, after you watch it, it is returned in exchange for another selection on your list. This process goes on and on without any additional cost to the customer. The only thing you pay for is a monthly membership fee. So, whether it's online or in person, a video store is a terrific place to rent Hollywood's latest hit movies.

If you are looking to purchase a video, the options are equally unlimited. Virtually every retail store has an electronic section in which they offer DVD movies for sale. The new releases are generally more expensive than others so, if you're on a budget, check out the titles that have been released for a year or longer. You may be surprised at the bargains to be found. Another purchasing option is through a video club. With this type of membership, you simply sign up and select several movies at an unbelievable low price. In exchange for the bargain, you agree to purchase a predetermined number of movies over the next several years. Each month, the video club will send a video catalog and selection card. Be sure to read the selection card carefully because you may have to return it to the company. Typically, a director's selection is chosen every month and is automatically sent to the customer unless they indicate they do not wish to receive it. A customer can indicate that they do not wish to receive this selection simply by marking the appropriate box on the selection card and mailing it back. Or, often times, customers may indicate their wishes online without having to spend money on postage to mail the selection card back. Video clubs are a terrific way to build a nice collection of DVD movies and they offer terrific deals every month




If you're still in the market for DVD movies and haven't found a video rental store or local retailer, check out one of the many online retailers who offer a wide variety of DVD movies for sale. With the internet, a customer's options are virtually endless. A never ending sea of DVD movies are just a click away.

Napster Gives Away Music For Free (This Time It's Legal)

Online music provider Napster was made famous for offering free music downloads. Back in the 1990's that philopsophy was their undoing. Today Napster is back with a new legal way to listen to music for free without any contracts or other obligations. Music lovers can browse through their library of millions of tracks from every genre and listen to the complete song just by clicking on a link. You can use these links to allow others to instantly access the same music that you were just listening to by posting them in your blog, on your web site, or in an email message. What's the catch? You can only listed to a song five times before you have to buy it and without paying a subscription or buying the track you only get access to the low-fidelity version. Still, the service provides the complete track for most songs, not just the thirty second snippet that you get from most sites.

For music teachers and others that just like to browse this new feature could be a great curriculum resource ( www.musicedmagic.com/curriculum/bringing-listening-back-to-the-band-room.html ). In the music classroom a teacher might want to play part of a Beethoven sonata ( play.napster.com/track/13954030 ) or another piece that the school does not own in their local music library. Instead of shelling out fifteen or twenty bucks for a complete CD the teacher can go to Napster, use their free plays to show the song in class, and if in the end you decide you simply have to own the track anyway for future use you can buy it online and download the complete HIGH-fidelity file to your computer for only ninety-nine cents. Once downloaded you turn around and burn these tracks to a CD for use in any CD player in any classroom.

For the music lover or an online author these new Napster links are a great way to add easy and useful content to whatever you are trying to share. In fact, that is exactly what the folks at Napster want you to do! Link away! Like a new song off of Korn's newest CD? Link to it! For all of Napster's bad press many years ago they have finally come out with something that even their biggest skeptics cannot deny. The new free music service is a great and long overdue idea that will be great for sharing musical information across the Internet.