Commentary (my Johnny Depp Rocks! Sweeney Todd review):

 I consider Johnny Depp Rocks! to be more an informational site than a weblog, and I don't generally give my own viewpoints.  I'm also not much of a movie reviewer!  However, I had the wonderful opportunity to see an advance screening of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street here in the DC area on Thursday, December 6, and I just couldn't resist giving my own thumbs-up to this film!!  Johnny and director Tim Burton have really outdone themselves in this, their sixth collaboration, and the first in which Johnny (and the rest of the cast) sing!  The film is said to be about 80% singing, but it is done so naturalistically that the singing becomes fitting and natural as well; it simply becomes accepted as a means for the characters to communicate and express their feelings.  Johnny, who received no formal vocal training and claims never to have sung a complete song before now, reveals an amazing gift.  Not only can he sing very well, but through his singing, he is able to convey all of the heartbreak, despair, anger, and ultimately, the insanity of the title character.  Oh, and yes, there's a healthy dose of dry wit and sarcasm thrown in, as well!  As for Helena Bonham Carter, I felt her singing voice was satisfactory, if not remarkable.  But she offers a completely fresh and dazzling take on Mrs. Lovett, bringing out the character's yearning, sensuality, and amoral practicality, and in the context of the film, her voice works extremely well.  Alan Rickman is sinister and menacing as Judge Turpin, Timothy Spall is deliciously sleazy as Beadle Bamford, and Sacha Baron Cohen is hilarious as the flamboyant Pirelli; all have wonderful singing voices, as well.  Laura Michelle Kelly, the only professional singer in the cast, is mysterious and intriguing in a small role.  Among the younger cast members, Jamie Campbell Bower perfectly conveys the youthful exuberance of the young sailor, Anthony Hope, and Jayne Wisener gives probably the best vocal performance of the cast as Johanna, Sweeney's confined daughter.  Finally, Ed Sanders is sweet and endearing as Toby, a young boy forced to grow up before his time.  Fair warning: this film is fairly bloody and is certainly not for the squeamish.  There's a reason for the R rating!  For fans of the musical, it must also be noted that some songs were cut or shortened.  In particular, much of the dialogue that would occur during several of the songs has been cut out, and all choruses have been removed.  I missed a few small details that I had seen in the stage versions, but I understand that most of these changes were made because they would not translate well to film.  Hopefully, fans of the stage version will accept these changes, and agree that this film has done justice to the music and the spirit of the piece. Overall, the film is visually and aurally stunning.  My only complaint was that it went by far too quickly!

Why Studios Are Terrified Of Johnny Depp's Characters, According To Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp is one of those actors who seems to really enjoy creating his characters. He takes inspiration from the oddest places but in doing so, he creates utterly unique looks, many of which have become iconic in their own right. Studios seem to enjoy it less. More than once, Depp has clashed with studios over his interpretation of the person he is portraying. According to the actor, the problems come in because nobody ever has the same idea about what a character is supposed to look like.

Makeup techniques have come a long way over the years. Apparently, that’s part of the problem. With prosthetics, you can make anybody look like anything. However, the image in the head of a studio chief will never be exactly what the actor is thinking, and when that actor is Johnny Depp you can pretty much forget whatever anybody else is thinking.

Nine times out of 10, if you’re wearing prosthetic makeup, you don’t look like what they want you to look like. It can be very difficult. When I did Pirates, it was a little difficult for them. … Even on Alice in Wonderland, the first one, when you come in with a character and you’ve told the director, 'This is based on a watercolor I did.' Tim (Burton) went with it — I’m sure it scared the absolute hell out of Disney. Thankfully, they’d been through the Captain Jack thing.

Johnny Depp’s comments came as part of his comments in praise of Warner Bros., who were apparently very supportive of his work on Black Mass. His comments at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala, as reported by USA Today, included comments that he doesn’t always get that kind of support from the studio. Then he asked if Michael Eisner was around.

Depp famously landed on the bad side of the former Disney chief during the filming of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Eiser was equally furious and terrified of Depp’s Keith Richards-inspired version of the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. The Pirates movies became huge hits, which appear to have led to Depp being given a bit more leeway when it came to his creation of the Mad Hatter for Alice in Wonderland. His longtime collaborator Tim Burton let him go with it, and it doesn’t sound like there was any concern on Disney’s part, at least not loud enough for Depp to hear.

Studio concern is understandable. Sometimes Johnny Depp’s outrageous plans strike gold, other times not. Sometimes you get Captain Jack Sparrow, and sometimes you get Mortdecai. Depp is one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, but he’s not immune to bombs. He topped Forbes' most recent list of the most overpaid actors in Hollywood. He's earned some trust. Right?