Tom Fudge : Joining us to talk about five new movies are Beth Accomando and Scott Marks. The first film we'll talk about is Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street . Musical theater fans will recognize the story of the man who "shaved the faces of gentlemen, who never thereafter were heard from again." Sweeney Todd is a British legend. He's became known to modern audiences thanks to the outstanding stage musical by Steven Sondheim.
In the story, a Londoner is wrongly convicted and robbed of his wife and daughter. He returns to London determined to get revenge on the evil judge who sent him away. When he fails to do it, he goes mad and decides to seek revenge on all mankind, slitting their throats in his barber's chair. He also hooks up with Mrs. Lovett, an enterprising cook who decides to turn Sweeney's victims into meat pies.
The movie stars Johnny Depp (pictured) as Sweeney Todd and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett. The movie is directed by Tim Burton, the man who brought you Batman and Beetlejuice .
Sweeney Todd opens in area theaters this weekend.
Juno is set in Minnesota and is about a teenage girl who gets pregnant. Before you think this is a tragedy of the sad fate of a teenage mother, be advised right off the bat that it is actually a comedy. The father of Juno's baby is a sweet-natured high school classmate named Paulie. Juno's parents are taken aback by the news, but they don't freak out. After Juno rejects the idea of getting an abortion, she and a girlfriend start looking through ads placed by parents seeking to adopt.
Juno finds an adoptive couple, but as she gets to know them, it becomes clear that the husband doesn't really want a child, and he and his wife are heading toward a divorce. Juno ponders her choices. She has to decide whether to give up the child, and whether the couple she thought she wanted to give the baby to are worthy recipients.
Juno stars Ellen Page in the title role. J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney play Juno's father and stepmom. The movie is directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody.
Juno is currently playing at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a French movie made by American director Julian Schnabel. It is based on a memoir by the late Jean-Dominique Bauby. The movie tells the story of the writing of his memoir, which is a story so extraordinary it would have been hard to accept it didn't really happen.
Bauby wrote the book after he suffered a stroke that placed him in a rare condition called Locked-in Syndrome. He was paralyzed from head to toe. His brain was functioning just fine, but he couldn't move and he couldn't talk. He was able to write his memoire because he and a physical therapist developed an amazing way for him to dictate the novel to her.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly opens on Christmas Day at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas.
The Savages is a film by Tamara Jenkins, starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It's a story about two siblings in their forties estranged from their father, who lives in Sun City, Arizona. The brother, played by Hoffman, is a college professor in Buffalo, New York. The sister, played by Laura Linney, is a struggling playwright in Manhattan.
Though we get few details about their childhood, we know it was not happy. Their father was not a nice man and their mother abandoned them. But they are rudely reminded of those childhood days when they get a call. Their father is being kicked out of his long-time companion's house, shortly after she has died. He has no place to go. On top of that, the man has become senile.
In the movie The Savages , which is the characters' family name, the brother and sister struggle to find a place for their father to live. And they struggle with their own demons, which are in part the result of their difficult relationship with their dad.
The Savages opens on Friday at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas .
Finally, we talk about the latest movie made by one of the icons of American cinema, Francis Ford Coppola. His new movie, which he financed all by himself, is called Youth without Youth . It's based on a novel by a famous Romanian intellectual. You could say the story of this movie is Faustian. It's about a man who regains his youth, shortly before World War II, after he is struck by lightning. He becomes very active and even smarter than before. But he suffers from a variety of odd experiences, including one in which he meets the reincarnation of his long-lost love. She is hit by lightning and starts babbling in Sanskrit. The main character's flashy experience has its downside, as well.
Reviewers have certainly been excited to see a new project by Coppola, who's been making a lot of money in the wine and real estate business lately. Yet reviews of Youth without Youth have been mixed, to say the least.
Youth Without Youth opens at Landmarks' Hillcrest Cinemas this weekend.
Guests
- Beth Accomando , KPBS film critic.
- Scott Marks, author of the film blog Emulsion Compulsion .
