One of the darkest musicals to hit the Broadway stage is now on the big screen, thanks to director Tim Burton.  It’s Stephen Sondheim’s dark masterpiece, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Johnny Depp plays Sweeney, a man sent to prison by a pious, yet corrupt judge who did so to get to Sweeney’s wife.  Sweeney’s back and thirsty for revenge.  Thanks to his barber’s razor blades, saved for Sweeney by pie shop owner, Mrs. Lovett, he may have it.

But, there’s no sense in rushing.  Sweeney needs some practice and he and Mrs. Lovett need some money.  So, they hatch a scheme in which Sweeney kills a few customers here and there and then Mrs. Lovett serves them up in meat pies.

Needless to say, this isn’t your typical Broadway show.  In fact, it barely falls into the category of Broadway, thanks to the master Broadway composer, Stephen Sondheim.  This work, arguably his strongest, is often produced by light opera companies, it’s that good.  The score is one of the most moving, demanding an emotional response from you, whether you want to give one or not.  And, the lyrics are so well crafted, you’ll walk away knowing you’ve heard something of significance, but thinking it over, trying to figure out exactly what it is.

Sweeney Todd is one of my favorite Broadway musicals.  And, Tim Burton is one of my favorite film directors.  Unfortunately, Burton usually messes with his source material, when he’s not working on one of his original stories.  His dabbling usually diminishes the final product.  Not here.  Thankfully, Burton decided not to add back stories or mess too much with Sondheim’s work.  While songs are reduced in length for time’s sake, the spirit of the stage show is still very much intact.

And, let me warn you again, this is not The Sound of Music type of Broadway.  People are murdered, chopped up and served in meat pies.  There’s blood.  Lot’s of blood.  And, the themes are quite dark.  This isn’t really horror, though.  It’s social commentary.  To help drive that home, there’s also a lot of humor in the mix, which really messes with your senses, as you’re repulsed and yet enjoying yourself at the same time.

Posted: December 27th, 2007 under Film.
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National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Some say the first adventure wasn’t worth it.  Even so, National Treasure is back for a second round in Book of Secrets.

Nicolas Cage returns as treasure hunter Ben Gates.  This time, he’s hunting for the missing page of John Wilkes Booth’s diary, certain they hold the secret to a worldwide conspiracy and prove Gates great-great grandfather’s innocence in the assassination of President Lincoln.

The entire cast is back, including Sean Bean, who was left for dead in the last film.

Critics hated the first film.  For myself, I really enjoyed it.  Their   major criticism was how unrealistic and impossible the film was.  Can’t the same be said of Harry Potter?  At any rate, I enjoyed the adventure of the first film, even if the clues were odd and obscure.  So, other than Nicolas Cage, I don’t mind returning to the land of historical treasure hunting.  Set reality aside and just enjoy the action.

 Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

From the producer behind Talladega Nights, Knocked Up and Superbad comes Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a movie some say is the best of the four.

Walk Hard is a mockumentary of the life of Dewey Cox, a legendary musician who very much resembles Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly and Ray Charles, with a few more musical stars wrapped up in there, too.

John C. Reilly, longtime in supporting roles, is finally in the front spot, proving that’s a move that’s long overdue.  You feel like he’s in on the joke with you, which makes the jokes that much more enjoyable.

As for humor, there are some groaners in there, and a lot of low-brow, sexual innuendo stuff.  But, when the jokes are a hit, rather than a miss, they hit hard.

Posted: December 20th, 2007 under Film.
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I Am Legend

In I Am Legend, Will Smith stars as the last man on earth, the world’s only healthy survivor of a biological attack.  Everyone else in the world is now a zombie-like mutant, sleeping by day and hunting Smith by night. While the sun shines, Smith hunts for food and waits in one spot for any other survivors to show up.  But, at night, he holes up in his home as a zombie mob presses in after him.

The film feels like two movies.  It starts out as an apocalyptic, sci-fi study of human pathology.  But, halfway through, it descends into a mere horror movie, losing its psychological strength.  That’s not necessarily bad, though, as the wild ride keeps your heart racing.

What is bad is the CGI zombies, which look like they’re from a video game.  That’s where you’ll need to focus most of your suspension of disbelief strength, looking past the poor visual effects and concentrating on the thrill of the film.

I Am Legend is rated PG-13.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Someone had the nutty idea to update and revive the classic cartoon characters created by his father, which brings Alvin and the Chipmunks to the big screen, by way of CGI.

Jason Lee stars as Dave Seville, an unsuccessful songwriter who finds his big break when he unknowingly brings home a trio of talking chipmunks.  Turns out, they also sing.  And, if they sing Dave’s songs, they can live with him.

Of course, Alvin, Simon and Theodore don’t just sing Dave’s songs.  They also sing some of today’s popular songs in their fast forward voices.

David Cross plays a record label executive and may be the only one most people in the audience find funny.

While there is the cuteness factor and a lot of energy to the film, the major thing going against this movie is Tim Hill, the director, who also directed Garfield Deux.  It also feels like it’s a short idea stretched into a film that feels too long.  And, just as in Garfield, Hill prefers low-brow slapstick and poop jokes to anything clever.

Alvin and the Chipmunks is rated PG

Posted: December 13th, 2007 under Film.
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Circa 21’s current on stage offering is Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, a holiday musical based on the movie of the same name.  As in the movie, two former soldiers make a name for themselves in show business as a song and dance team.  Phil’s effort to set Bob up with a mate leads them to Vermont, where they’re putting on a holiday show with the Haynes sisters.  The show is also a chance for the boys to encourage their former General, who now runs the Inn in which they’re putting on the show.

To be frank, I didn’t expect to be wowed at Circa.  I vaguely remember the movie and how I didn’t think it was all that interesting.  However, I very much enjoyed Circa 21’s production.  The show itself may lack enough conflict to keep you captivated to the end, but Circa managed to make an enjoyable experience of it, with some smile-inducing performances.

I was most impressed with Autumn O’Ryan, who plays Martha Watson, a former performer herself and now the woman actually running the General’s Columbia Inn.  O’Ryan is feisty, with an attention grabbing stage presence.  I wanted more lines for her.  The couple at the table next to me were tickled pink by her, with the wife stating “There she is!” every time O’Ryan walked on stage.

Kent Lewis, who plays Bob Wallace, is the only actor that didn’t seem to be acting.  While the rest of the cast portrayed their characters at stage level, with appropriately exaggerated facial expressions, enunciation and inflection in order to be picked up by audience members in the back of the room, Lewis offered a smooth portayal of the lead character.  And that’s the word that kept coming to mind, smooth.  Not that he’s a smooth dealer, but his presence and delivery has a smoothness to it, which is natural and inviting.  I wanted to watch him on stage because I liked his Bob.  However, my companion for the evening pointed out he didn’t offer a lot of variation in emotions, moving from his love interest telling him off and walking out at one moment to being full on smiles and performance ready in the very next.  While I would agree Lewis offered limited variation, I don’t think it detracted from his performance.  He was so natural and likeable, drawing you in to enjoy Bob’s experiences along with him.

While I found Gabriel Beck’s Phil Davis and Erin Dickerson’s Judy Haynes a bit too over the top, I enjoyed them together.  They made for the perfect pair, matching each others levels.  And, while I don’t usually like dance numbers with only two people, I was captivated by their dance during “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing.”

Megan Rosenblatt often drew my attention away from the main action.  As Rhoda, she was never out of character while on stage.  It’s not that she pulled focus, but that I happened to notice how she was “on” every moment she was on stage and then couldn’t help but watch her.  In fact, I preferred her while she was in the background to when she actually delivered lines, which were delivered well, but often too loud, distorting the sound and making it difficult to understand her exact words.  This isn’t to say she was bad.  She was one of the most enjoyable supporting cast members.

Don Hepner’s Ezekiel would be another.  His moments on stage brought many laughs in the audience.

The set is also remarkable.  There’s nice use of floating pieces (stages, boxes, etc.).  There’s also a remarkable barn that’s worth noticing rather than just accepting as a background.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show.  I laughed out loud frequently and left with a smile.

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas runs through January 5th at Circa 21 in Rock Island.

Posted: December 6th, 2007 under Theater.
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