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Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Look! Martin Scorsese is my friend!
No, really, it’s not an April Fool’s joke - the greatest of all working film directors is my friend - on MySpace, that is.
OK, so it’s not as glamorous as the headline might make it seem, but I still think it’s very cool that Scorsese has this site, timed to promote his Rolling Stones IMAX concert film, Shine a Light, which I will review shortly.
One of the reasons Scorsese is my favorite director is the way he eats, sleeps, lives and breathes movies and brings so many influences to his own pictures. He even makes cool commercials, as in this spot, where he brilliantly channels Hitchcock, who happens to be my favorite director who is no longer living.
What’s your favorite Scorsese movie? I vote for Raging Bull. If he isn’t your favorite director, who is?
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Home (Re) Viewing: Sweeney Todd vs. Alvin
It’s another lackadaisical week for DVD releases, although the two big releases today inspire dreams of a terrific steel cage match. Just imagine. Alvin and his falsetto versus Sweeney Todd’s soaring solos - not to mention his razor blades. Oo-ee-oo-ah-ah, indeed.
Alvin and The Chipmunks: The trailers looked awful, but the movie was a huge hit anyway. Honestly, was it nostalgia or quality talking? Either way, I’m still mad at this movie for keeping Enchanted from being a bigger hit.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Unlike much of the moviegoing public, I was aware that Johnny Depp sings in this movie, but that’s not why it underwhelmed me. I must give director Tim Burton props for his willingness to go for broke in making this film so dark and morbid, but the movie is so oppressively grim, the sour mood distanced me from the material. I admired it more than I enjoyed it. GRADE: B-
Question for those who know the stage version of Sweeney: How did the film play versus the live version? I get the distinct feeling it plays better without all the realistic-looking gore.
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