Sweeney Todd

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below, you can also now rent the 2008 Kids' Choice Award winner for Best Movie: Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
It's no secret that Tim Burton's film adaptation of the musical Sweeney Todd was a major critical hit. It racked up tons of awards, including the Golden Globe for Best Picture and several Oscar nominations in visual categories, not to mention a Best Supporting Actor nod to the film's star, Johnny Depp. Accolades aside, this movie is simply a match made in heaven, with Tim Burton's dark film aesthetic falling perfectly in sync with Stephen Sondheim's bloody, scary musical.

Johnny Depp plays Sweeney Todd, the disturbed barber who becomes a psychopathic serial killer after being wrongfully imprisoned. Burton's beautiful visual style along with an outstanding cast that includes Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman make this movie a can't-miss. One word to the wise though: it's incredibly gory — not just lots of blood but also chopped-up human meat. So, proceed with caution if that kind of thing makes your stomach turn.

The special edition two-disc set features behind the scenes footage of the cast in rehearsals as well as a featurette titled, "Sweeney Todd Is Alive: The Real History of the Demon Barber."

A couple lesser-known titles up next so read more

Who knew Stephen King and John Mellencamp had anything in common, much less a desire to write a Broadway musical together? Not I, but apparently it's true, and the two men are collaborating on a musical theater project, scheduled to debut in April 2009, titled Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.

The story follows the legend that grows out of the tragic death of two brothers and a girl in the fictional town of Lake Belle Reve, Miss. The basic musical idea was originally Mellencamp's. He knew he needed a writer to help bring it to the stage and quickly thought of King.

While audiences have seen ghosts and gore on stage before (think Sweeney Todd) spokespeople for the production say this is a touching tale — more Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me, less Carrie.

What do you guys think? Discuss.

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In the days leading up until the Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees in the various visual categories. This week, I'll be looking at the nominees for Best Costume Design. We've already taken a look at the costumes in Across the Universe, Atonement and La Vie en Rose. Today I'm highlighting the costumes in Sweeney Todd.

Veteran costume designer Colleen Atwood has already won a Costume Designers Guild award for her work outfitting the stars of Sweeney Todd, so things are looking good for this Oscar nominee. The drab woolen fabrics of many of the clothes contrast starkly with the dashes of bright color, especially, of course, the garish red blood. The palette of mostly muted grays, mustard yellows and browns helps to paint this grim world, with splotches of brilliant blues appearing with the showy character of competing barber Signor Adolfo Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen) and the sweet Johanna (Jayne Wisener) draped in pale, innocent hues. Overall, the costumes do well to transport us back to this dark old London where treacherous things happen in barber shops and beneath pie stores.

To see the rest of the gallery of costume images from Sweeney Todd, read more

In the days leading up to the Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees in the various visual categories. This week, I've been looking at the nominees for Best Art Direction, which encompasses the entire look and feel of a film from the scenery to the lighting. Check out my galleries of production stills from Ridley Scott's darkly evocative American Gangster, the lovely Atonement and the fantastical world portrayed in The Golden Compass. Today I'm turning my sights to Sweeney Todd.

As I mentioned in my review of Sweeney Todd, the visual aspects of this film are largely why I liked it so very much. Tim Burton has a way with dark whimsy and Sweeney Todd is no exception. Burton's sinister, ominous-looking London is depicted in drab hues of browns and grays — all the better backdrop for the gallons of brilliant red blood that gush from Sweeney Todd's victims. By contrast, Mrs. Lovett's cartoonish and candy-colored dream sequence in which she entertains fantasies of marrying Todd and living "by the sea" are jarringly, ludicrously bright and hopeful.

Though I like all the nominees in this category, I must admit I have a soft spot in my heart for Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd.

For more stills from the movie, just read more

Don't Johnny Depp and Tim Burton looked thrilled at yet another screening of Sweeney Todd? The duo hit the black carpet in Paris yesterday, but you would think there would be a little more excitement from the Golden Globe winners and new double BAFTA nominees. Even if he can't give us a smile, at least Johnny opened up a bit about his big win, saying, "I was very surprised certainly. Flattered. Honored!" He also made a quick comment about the writers, saying, "We need to get them back working." Short and sweet, but we couldn't agree more.

More pics including Johnny finally cracking a smile so just read more

The dramatically scaled-back Golden Globe Awards spread things around Sunday night, with Atonement, Sweeney Todd, No Country for Old Men, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly each taking home two awards.

Atonement and Sweeney Todd nabbed the night's biggest prizes, for the Best Dramatic Picture and Best Musical or Comedy Picture; Atonement also won for Best Original Score, while Johnny Depp won the Best Actor: Comedy or Musical prize. Diving Bell took home awards for Best Foreign Language Picture and Best Director for Julian Schnabel. No Country won the Best Screenplay award, and Javier Bardem was recognized for Best Supporting Actor.

In the television categories, Mad Men and Extras won the series awards. To see the complete list of winners, just read more

Johnny was showing off some more of that smooth chest for the Sweeney Todd premiere, but something about his suit seems supersized. Luckily, new mama Helena Bonham Carter was there to take some of the attention off Johnny with her bright red dress. Johnny may be your choice for Favorite Male Star, but he credits his success to his director, saying, "Tim is what makes it special, I love to work with him." We think Johnny is pretty special all by himself but love that he has so much admiration and appreciation for his BFF.

Lots more pics, including Alan Rickman and everyone you see above, so just read more

Johnny Depp took his signature hat and sunglasses to Japan to promote Sweeney Todd today. He swapped his plaid shirt with a suit for the premiere with his BFF Tim Burton, but kept it quirky as usual with his untied tie. Now that the Golden Globes are officially canceled, we're sad that we won't have Johnny's pretty face gracing the red carpet this weekend, but hopefully at least he and Tim will take home some of the awards they've been nominated for. We'll still be covering the event and winners, so if you think you already know who's going to end up with those trophies this weekend (or even if you're just a great guesser), be sure to fill out a ballot for your chance to win a free year of entertainment!

More of Johnny and Tim in Japan, so just read more

• According to the MTV Movies Blog, the young members of the cast of Sweeney Todd claim they would love to make sequels to the gory musical.
• TV Squad has details on a huge Futurama marathon happening now through Dec. 31.
• Stereogum gets pumped for Radiohead's New Year's Eve webcast.
• Popwatch wonders which movies should be preserved for future generations, citing A Christmas Story and When Harry Met Sally as key titles on their list.
• Give Me My Remote has a fan video of the Office crew reacting to the saga of
  Jim and Pam.
• Cinematical has a great interview with the stars of The Great Debaters, including "Big Denzel" and "Little Denzel."

Poster image courtesy of Paramount Pictures

National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the sequel to Nicolas Cage's 2004 hit, scored big at the box office over the long holiday weekend, bringing in an estimated $65 million in the five-day period between Friday and Tuesday.

I Am Legend finished second, pulling in an estimated $47.5 million over the five days. Fox wouldn't estimate how much money Alvin and the Chipmunks made over the long weekend, but as of Sunday it had brought in $29 million and was in third place behind National Treasure and Legend.

Two Golden Globe nominees, Charlie Wilson's War and Sweeney Todd, battled for fourth and fifth place. Charlie Wilson brought in $14.8 million over five days, edging Sweeney Todd with $12.8 million.

Other notable numbers: P.S. I Love You finished sixth with $9.1 million. Meanwhile, Walk Hard failed to match the heights of Superbad or Knocked Up, bringing in just $5.8 million.

Next week's numbers should be interesting, as three relatively big movies — Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem, The Great Debaters, and The Water Horse — opened on Christmas Day.

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