Golden Globe Musings

Atonement wins Best Picture – Drama: Not overly surprising, but a little bit because No Country for Old Men was establishing itself as a juggernaut. I think this bodes well for Atonement because it secures it a Best Picture nomination, as people were questioning whether it would even receive a nomination. I think when the Academy Awards rolls around; No Country for Old Men will emerge victorious.

Sweeney Todd wins Best Picture – Musical or Comedy: I have seen the two front-runners – Sweeney Todd and Juno – and always remained steadfast that Sweeney Todd should win. Similar to Atonement, I feel that this will secure a Best Picture nomination for it. Tim Burton’s musical falls into the same vein as Chicago, but I do not think it will have the legs to win Best Picture.

Daniel Day-Lewis wins Best Actor – Drama: His acceptance speech would have been four words: “I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE!” An easy choice and no surprise here.

Julie Christie wins Best Actress – Drama: I have not seen Away from Her, but I am told that Christie is stellar. She has received a lot praise and has won a few awards along the way already.

Johnny Depp wins Best Actor – Musical or Comedy: Similar to Day-Lewis, this is no surprise and Day-Lewis and Depp are the clear front-runners for the Oscars, with Day-Lewis having the significant edge right now.

Marie Cotillard wins Best Actress – Musical or Comedy: Like Away from Her, I have not seen La Vie en Rose, but I am not surprised that Cotillard won. While the movie may not have had excellent box office returns in America, it has a foreign audience and her turn is supposed to be spectacular. I thought that Ellen Page would have won for Juno because the Golden Globes like to reward younger talent, but she does have a bright future.

Javier Bardem wins Best Supporting Actor: Really? What hasn’t he won?

Cate Blanchett wins Best Supporting Actress: I figured Blanchett to be the long shot in this category. Roberts is beloved by the Hollywood Foreign Press, Tilda Swinton is heralded for all her work, Saoirse Ronan is the young talent, and Amy Ryan has won the most critic’s awards so far. This surprised me, but I would not expect a similar surprise at the Academy Awards.

Julian Schnabel wins Best Director: This was the hardest category to figure out. Burton, the Coen Brothers, and Ridley Scott are all veterans that the Hollywood Foreign Press enjoys, while Schnabel and Wright are newer filmmakers. I thought Scott had a great chance to win this award, but as a courtesy for his entire career. I think that the Coen Brothers may have lost some votes as the voters may have seen it as two different people, even though the Coens are incredibly idiosyncratic. Schnabel may have been rewarded because The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is getting no other love, but I would not regard this as a fluke. Schnabel will get an Oscar nomination.

No Country for Old Men wins Best Screenplay: A little surprising that it beat Juno because the dialogue is lifted from an articulate novel with a lot of speaking / thought process.

Atonement wins Best Score: Another easy choice. Watch out for There Will Be Blood though…

Ratatouille wins Best Animated Feature: No surprise here either. I think the Disney film could have encountered a problem if Persepolis was nominated.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly wins Best Foreign Language Film: This is not surprising either.

Random Musings:

• I liked the brevity, though the speeches can be entertaining sometimes.
• More importantly, who was the male co-host? Sweet mother of mercy put that man out of his misery. The man was jumbled in his speech, continually called television shows “films,” and his analysis was horrid. When making comparisons to the Burton-Depp collaboration success over the years, the best pairing he could come up with was Di Caprio-Scorsese? What!? That is the best that he could do? It was ridiculous. Banish him to the far reaches of the globe and tell him to run along and play and never come back.
• James McAvoy’s clip from Atonement didn't even really feature him as the focus, which is a shame.

Sweeney Todd Review

The trailer for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street makes the film look like a grim tale of revenge directed by the master of the melancholy, Tim Burton. However, the film is a hybrid of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Kill Bill, and – one of Burton’s previous films – Sleepy Hollow. It embodies Sleepy Hollow through its style, Kill Bill through its depiction of violence, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg because about 90% of the lines in the movie are sung.

This works to a dazzling effect that will treat the viewer to a film experience unlike any other in recent memory.

The titular character, Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp), is a man named Benjamin Barker, who is sent to prison on a falsified charge because a judge coveted Barker’s wife. Barker, now Todd, returns fifteen years later as a shell of who he once was and thirsty for revenge against Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman). Todd returns to his old haunts to form a partnership with Mrs. Lovett (Helen Bonham Carter), which becomes a twisted collaboration of murder and bakery as they move towards Todd’s ultimate plan against Judge Turpin.

The singing in this film is better than Chicago. While the cast of Chicago had the better voices, the nature of the songs here require a particular realism to them. Depp’s gravely voice, Bonham Carter’s seductive whispers, even Sacha Baron Cohen’s over-the-top opera voice is welcome and greatly satisfying. The songs stick with the audience long after they have left the theatre.

The most engaging element in this movie is Depp. The camera is on him for the majority of the film, but the viewer never tires of him. The make up, the outfits and even his singing make the viewer sympathize with this man’s plight. Years of collaboration has allowed Depp to be comfortable and roam within a character under Burton’s deft and subtle direction. The harrowing portrayal of this man allows Depp to work beyond the role of Captain Jack Sparrow. He is haunting, lustful, and lethal.

The other performances in the film are excellent too. Freddy Highmore and Timothy Spall show up in small roles, while Alan Rickman makes a nice return to villainy. Bonham Carter is whimsical as the want some Mrs. Lovett. She evokes the memory of Angela Lansbury’s heralded Broadway performance.

The gothic, monotone setting is subdued as Burton – per his usual – utilizes a muted color palate to place more emphasis on the character’s faces. The camerawork and set production are also limited in order to keep with the theme of a staged musical.

Though a musical, there is a substantial amount of violence. Blood flows like the Thames, but not in a graphic, sickening fashion. The blood sprays enormous amounts inviting the audience to laugh at the moment’s ridiculousness. This was one of the fantastic parts of the night, as the elderly couple in front of me flinched and winced at this rather comical site. While this aspect may have made marketing this film a difficult task, it offers the audience a chance to view pessimistic reality.

While this film may not be the exact picture that is portrayed in trailer, it is still one of the best films of the year. The film floats along like a dream, as the viewer will leave the theatre singing the songs of the film, wishing that there was more to take in.

When to See It: ASAP