Johnny Depp and Tim Burton – Together Again
As soon as I saw the massive stand-up display in my locals movie theater for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street I noticed Johnny Depp’s hair and I just KNEW that Tim Burton was involved in the picture. I remember smiling in pleasure. I think the world can always use another Johnny Depp/Tim Burton adventure.
I had a fleeting crush on Depp back when he was Tom Hanson on “21 Jump Street”. I guess I was 16 or 17 when that show first started airing. Cops undercover as high school kids was something I found intriguing. After Depp left the show, it quickly became evident that his career was destined for bigger things than episodic television. That man has had some of the best roles in movie history, hands down. He is never just playing Johnny Depp. He loses himself in the characters and no matter how familiar his face becomes, he is always JUST that character while I am watching him. I wish I could say that all other actors.
I love him best in roles where he plays a gentle innocent. Benny & Joon is a movie I can watch over and over, no matter how ultimately cheesy it is in the end. Depp is child-like and lovely, all at once. I fell in love with him just a little bit when he played Sam and reenacted the Buster Keaton moments.
I also adored Finding Neverland. I’m not sure how truly innocent Sir Barrie was in real life, but Depp brought a dreamlike quality to the character and a depth that made you want to lose yourself in the both the story and the man that wrote Peter Pan. He has a line that kind of sums up how I feel about my daughter growing up: “Young boys should never be sent to bed… they always wake up a day older.”
I could go on and on. There are SO many of Johnny Depp’s films that make me think of him as one of the best actors of my generation. If I had to pick only one film, I suppose I’d go back to Finding Neverland. But please – don’t ask me to choose.
So, here we are on the cusp of the film version of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. The movie opens for wide release on December 21, just in time for people to be off work for Christmas and to have the time to relax and enjoy a good movie.
Whoever predicted the death of the film musical needs to be flogged. Americans cannot seem to get enough of the musical right now, but doesn’t that historically seem to be the case in wartime? And Johnny, my friend, you sound delightful. I took the time tonight to visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site. I knew Helena Bonham Carter had a great voice, but I’m pretty sure the only other time I had heard Depp sing was when he did the drunker singing in the Pirates of the Caribbean films – and when I went though the updated Pirates of the Caribbean ride as Disney World back in February.
If you are as excited about this film as I am, don’t forget to visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace.
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