This post is titled:

Three Good Things About Going to the Movies This Weekend

The Movie: Sweeney Todd

Tim Burton continues to make gutsy movies that entertain while engendering a definite uneasiness. This movie is way gorier than I even expected, but somehow still watchable. Many people will hold up Johnny Depp, but Todd's character in this is perhaps the least interesting. Helena Boham Carter's meat pie lady has many more layers; she's the real star here. The film is not too long, and the pacing drives inexorably to the horrific end. This film will be a favorite of the Gothic crowd for decades, but everybody should see this wonderful rendition of a Sondheim classic.

The Amenities: This Theatre Has a Bar

What more can I say? It's a serviceable bar. In the same building. If you pay extra, you can walk right from the bar into the upper seats of the theatres holding your drink, but even a general admission ticket lets you upstairs before the show. It sure beats trying to meet up with your companions inside the dark theatre, and it's suprisingly free of advertising in there, which I cannot say about the lobby.

The Pre-Show: Not Boring

When did studios start producing the "no smoking, no talking, no phones, etc." announcements before the film as advertisements for their upcoming films? Since I'm sitting there expecting film advertising, this doesn't bother me, and it's prefereable to the service announcements theaters used to buy from stock houses or have produced once and use for the next twenty years. Now, can we stop with the truck commercials and TV promos?

2008.01.00 at 12:00am EST

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