Sweeney Todd & Thrift Tuesday

First a Sweeney Todd review: Well, it was pretty gruesome. I'm familiar with the stage version, and although I knew the subject matter is dark as dark can be, it is far less....squirty...than this movie version is. It was like Tim Burton took the "Tim Burton" dial and turned it up to 11. The bleeding was really quite over the top, as was the scene with Mrs. Lovett's demise. The movie itself was visually striking, even though all of the colors were very grayed out. I loved the pop of color in the "By the Sea" number, and covet Mrs. Lovett's kooky red striped dress & stockings.

I was surprised at how well Johnny Depp sang, especially considering that he had no voice training at all for the movie. Helena Bonham Carter was adequate, but her voice was thin and it was obviously a big stretch for her. The music is quite difficult anyway, but a more accomplished singer might have sounded stronger. I was disappointed that a portion of my favorite song, "A Little Priest" was cut--that's the funniest part of the whole show and I think the lyrics are brilliant, so I was disappointed at so much of the humor cut out. I also think they could have played it a lot more manic--on the stage, it's played up for the laughs, and Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett are terribly amused with themselves. I thought in the movie version was a lot drier and just really missed out on how sickly funny the whole song is. Also, much of the really great harmony was cut, although I suspect that's because it was just too difficult for the actors to sing.

Overall, my feelings are mixed. It was really quite gory--from the spurting blood to the way the bodies are unceremoniously dumped from quite a height straight onto their heads, to Mrs. Lovett's fiery end. If you're squeamish, this is not the movie for you. It is dark and sinister and not the least bit uplifting. I quite like the music, and I enjoyed the actors' performances. I don't know that I'd want to see the movie again, although I am hoping we can get tickets when the most recent Broadway version of Sweeney comes to Denver this summer.

In other (less bloody) news, I went thrifting yesterday! I've been on the hunt for Valentine candy boxes to use for my swaps so I've hit all the local stores in the past few days. I was lucky and found one box, which I'm working on to send to Amy, and I've got my fingers crossed that I'll find another before the next swap is due out. I found a few other fun things as well: The dishes are the salad bowls that match my Christmas dishes. I don't have any, which I realized earlier in December when I offered to host a table at a church Christmas dinner and had to use another set of non-matching salad plates. I only found six dishes (I have service for eight) but I think six is better than none, and they were only 50¢ each. The vintage cards are unused and were only 80¢ for the stack. Not like I need any more vintage cards, but when I see old cards I am powerless to resist! I love the one on top with the bear and the red & aqua color scheme. Also shown are two pair of sparkly vintage earrings. They were more than I usually like to pay but they're really pretty and I'll put them to good use.

When I saw this fun old Coke bottle carrier, I grabbed it as fast as I could before anyone else had a chance to see it! It isn't terribly old--there's a date of 1976 on the inside--it is a fun piece, great bright red, and it was only $1.99. Not sure what I'll do with it yet but I couldn't leave it behind for that cheap. I also found these books for Maren (with the CDs still sealed), a darling pair of cherry-print linen Ann Taylor LOFT pants for Maren (did you know they had kids' clothes? I didn't), and a gorgeous vintage dress for me that is so fabulous that it deserves a post of its own.

If you signed up for the Sweet Goodness Hanging Hearts swap, you should have your partners by now! Be sure to email your partner and introduce yourself! I'll be back tomorrow with some Silver Bella projects that I finally finished.