Skip to main content

Now I have reason to dislike Sweeney Todd even more

From Monday's Variety...

"The achievement in makeup Oscar will go to one of seven films announced Monday by the Academy.

Big spectacles fill the list: "300," "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." Two French-language pics were also mentioned: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and "La Vie en rose." Eddie Murphy's many transformations in "Norbit" round out the contenders.

The Academy's makeup branch will screen samples of the films Jan. 19 and pare the list down to three in time for the complete nominations announcement Jan. 22."

You'll notice that "Hairspray" is not on that list and that is bullshit. "Sweeney Todd"? Really? For what, the flow of blood and the white makeup on the actors? Hell, might as well nominate "Saw" and "Hostel".

Each time I watch "Hairspray" I forget that it is John Travolta in a suit. And the fact that he dances his way through the movie is not only a tribute to him, but especially the makeup effects artists who created the suit and made it durable.

Damn.

Comments

Jeff said…
Sweeney Todd is NOT a good movie. Burton can shoot a good flick, sure, and the acting is great, natch. But it's a corny, cheesy romp that aspires to be more Argento slasher than melodramatic musical. The third act is the worst, where Tim Burton unveils his inner Joel Shumacher and deviates from controlled flight.

It's not horrible like, say, Brown Bunny, but it's not better than a C+ if I'm in a good mood.
8:41 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MARATHON FOOTNOTES (for those who didn't think I would really footnote a stream of consciousness thought): Footnote #1 Academy Award Winning Best Picture Films from 1969 to the Present: Midnight Cowboy, Patton, The French Connection, The Godfather, The Sting, The Godfather II, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Rocky, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Ordinary People, Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Terms of Endearment, Amadeus, Out of Africa, Platoon, The Last Emperor, Rain Man, Driving Miss Daisy, Dances With Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler’s List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, The English Patient, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, American Beauty, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Chicago, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Footnote #2 Members of the band YES, from 1969 to the present: In 1969, Yes is formed with Jon Anderson on vocals Peter Banks on guitar, Bill Bruford on drums, Tony Kaye on keyboards and Chris Squire playing bass. This group records...
41 comments
Read more

Basement Songs: "Golden Gates" by John Cougar Mellencamp

I’m not sure when my brother, Budd, bought his copy of John (then) Cougar Mellencamp’s “Uh Huh”. The cassette just showed up in the basement on summer, years after its release. Like most of America, I was a big fan of “Pink Houses”, and I was thrilled that now had copies of his other big hits from that album, “Crumblin’ Down” and “The Authority Song.” At this point in his career, Mellencamp was ready to establish himself as a legitimate artist, hence the use of his real name (the record label wouldn’t allow him to ditch the “Cougar” until years later for fear record buyers may get confused….huh?) In addition, there was the radio staple (at least in Cleveland), “Play Guitar”, on side 2, which borrowed heavily from Them’s “Gloria” (Mellencamp often slipped the “G-L-O-R-I-A”’s into his concerts during that number). The rest of “Uh Huh” is filled with more of the same 60’s garage band type of rock that Mellencamp champions, as well as one of Budd’s favorite tunes, the John Prine co-pe...
1 comment
Read more

In Praise of Kanopy

When I was 17, I worked at American Video, a small business housed in the Great Northern shopping strip. My time there was short, as was American Video’s lifespan. The days of the mom-and-pop video stores were cycling out. Blockbuster had just opened in my hometown and within a couple years, American Video, as well as the store where I first fell in love with movies, First Run Video, would shutter their doors. What I loved about these indie video stores was the variety of choices and the limited number of copies of movies each store had. Come in looking for Back to the Future and it’s already rented? You strolled the aisles until you found something similar like Innerspace , or something completely different, like And Now for Something Completely Different, Monty Python’s first movie. Blockbuster, and its cousin Hollywood Video, may have offered more copies of movies, but they didn’t always have the quality. Maybe your Blockbuster was different.   When Netflix and the stre...
2 comments
Read more