Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: *
Nonna Rating: #
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
I saw Sweeney Todd at Lyric Opera and hated it. But I went to movie with a relatively open mind, expecting that it might tranlate better to the screen. After all, Rotten Tomatoes' reviewers were approving at a rate of 86%. Well, they were wrong. It's still a dark story about truly despicable human beings. There's no smidgen of hope or redemption. The cartoonish stage violence of the opera gives way to graphically violent murders in the movie, each one more nauseating than the other. (Here, I must confess that, as a matter of policy, I do not attend slasher or horror films. I just don't get why some people find them enjoyable.) Finally, even Sondheim's music does not redeem the film. Only one song, "A Little Priest, is memorable at all.
Here is a film with a marvelous cast: the always fascinating Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and Sacha Baron Cohen -- and they do their best, but it's not enough.
Whenever I pan a film, I try to recommend another which is thematically similar. In this case, that's pretty tough. There's nothing quite like this movie unless we turn to much less violent films based on Dickens' novels. If you're looking for a violent film that is worth watching, try Eastern Promises.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: *
Nonna Rating: $
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Another film with a great cast that, in my estimation, falls far short of the rating it received on Rotten Tomatoes (76%). So, a 1920s English drawing room farce starring two American actresses: Frances McDormand (with an accent) and Amy Adams (playing an American). English farce depends entirely on excellent actors (at least we have that here), impeccable timing (completely absent), and brilliant physical comedy (also absent). English farce should be nothing short of delightful. We should have smiles on our faces during most of the action. When it really works, the upper classes get a satiriacal treatment that's deeply satisfying. So skip this one or watch it on cable. If, after ten minutes, you're feeling sleepy or bored, bail.
Instead, rent Season 1 of Jeeves and Wooster, the brilliant BBC/Granada adaptation of P.G. Wodehouse's novels starring the inimitable Stephen Fry as the archetypcal British butler Jeeves and Hugh Laurie (yes, Hugh Laurie of House , who is definitely very English) as the ultimate English twit, Bertie Wooster. Watch one episode. You'll be hooked and watch all twenty-three.
Nonna Rating: #
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
I saw Sweeney Todd at Lyric Opera and hated it. But I went to movie with a relatively open mind, expecting that it might tranlate better to the screen. After all, Rotten Tomatoes' reviewers were approving at a rate of 86%. Well, they were wrong. It's still a dark story about truly despicable human beings. There's no smidgen of hope or redemption. The cartoonish stage violence of the opera gives way to graphically violent murders in the movie, each one more nauseating than the other. (Here, I must confess that, as a matter of policy, I do not attend slasher or horror films. I just don't get why some people find them enjoyable.) Finally, even Sondheim's music does not redeem the film. Only one song, "A Little Priest, is memorable at all.
Here is a film with a marvelous cast: the always fascinating Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and Sacha Baron Cohen -- and they do their best, but it's not enough.
Whenever I pan a film, I try to recommend another which is thematically similar. In this case, that's pretty tough. There's nothing quite like this movie unless we turn to much less violent films based on Dickens' novels. If you're looking for a violent film that is worth watching, try Eastern Promises.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: *
Nonna Rating: $
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Another film with a great cast that, in my estimation, falls far short of the rating it received on Rotten Tomatoes (76%). So, a 1920s English drawing room farce starring two American actresses: Frances McDormand (with an accent) and Amy Adams (playing an American). English farce depends entirely on excellent actors (at least we have that here), impeccable timing (completely absent), and brilliant physical comedy (also absent). English farce should be nothing short of delightful. We should have smiles on our faces during most of the action. When it really works, the upper classes get a satiriacal treatment that's deeply satisfying. So skip this one or watch it on cable. If, after ten minutes, you're feeling sleepy or bored, bail.
Instead, rent Season 1 of Jeeves and Wooster, the brilliant BBC/Granada adaptation of P.G. Wodehouse's novels starring the inimitable Stephen Fry as the archetypcal British butler Jeeves and Hugh Laurie (yes, Hugh Laurie of House , who is definitely very English) as the ultimate English twit, Bertie Wooster. Watch one episode. You'll be hooked and watch all twenty-three.
Leatherheads: *1/2
Nonna Rating: $
Rotten Tomatoes: 53%
Maybe doing movies about the 1920s is the problem. Here's another film that doesn't make the grade. About half the critics were right on this one. Another movie with big stars, a disappointing script, and lackluster acting. I had high hopes for this would at least be a pleasant diversion. After all, George is in it. The problem is that Clooney seems to sleepwalk through the film. And then there's Renee Zellweger who is fast becoming a perpetually annoying actress with her squinched up face (If you've ever seen Tracy Ullmann imitate her, you know what I mean). John Krasinwski is his charming self, but it's a one note performance that certainly can't sustain the movie. The film seems to aspire to the screwball comedy of Howard Hawkes. It doesn't come close.
So, rent His Gal Friday, one of Hawkes most brilliant films. Hawkes direction, Ben Hecht's play, and the suberb acting of Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant combine to make this one of the best comedies ever filmed. And if you acquire a taste for screwball comedy, rent I Was a Male War Bride, It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby, Holliday, Some Like It Hot, The Lady Eve, My Man Friday, The Awful Truth, Philadelphia Story, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, To Be or Not to Be, and Arsenic and Old Lace.
Nonna Rating System:
$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$ = Worth paying the Matinee price
$$ = Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it
$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$ = Worth paying the Matinee price
$$ = Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it
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