Sweeney heard music that nobody heard...

I talked Mom into going to see Sweeney Todd on Christmas Eve (perfect holiday fare, right?!). I LOVED it! The direction was brooding, thpoooky, perfect, Johnny Depp was just awesome, Helena Bonham Carter was the sexiest cannibal ever, the music was great, everything was just terrific. I really really loved the acting--HBC was perfection and yes, Carlos, her reaction to "Not While I'm Around" was heart-breaking. Mrs. Lovett's such an interesting character, she can be so likeable and approachable with her thoroughly English practicality and yet, she's basically a sociopath. And yet she does it all for love. Depp was mesmerizing as Todd. Unbelievably focused, hardly a flicker of humor even during "A Little Priest," absolutely hell-bent on his purpose.

( Spoilers and some questions for those who know the show )

As I was watching it, I was trying to put it into an historical context--ST takes place during the last few years/decades of the Little Ice Age (as does Christmas Carol) and that plus the heavy smog thanks to all the coalburning would certainly create that miserably dark and brooding atmosphere with all the cloud overhang.

We saw it at a theater near Mom's house and unfortunately the copy was bad in some places. Pops, sound problems and one stretch of about 30 seconds where it was noticeably bad, with lines and everything. I muttered something under my breath--it certainly didn't ruin the movie for me but when you see a movie the first week it opens, you expect a pristine print. So afterwards I asked to speak to the manager and said "just FYI, someone screwed with you on the print, it's not in very good shape. You should have them send you another one." He was very nice about it and offered us our money back--I said no, I didn't need a refund as I loved the movie, but he should say something to his distributor. He insisted, saying now he could tell them he was losing money on it, so I agreed.

My trip to Arizona

I've been meaning to write about my trip to Arizona last month--my Dad sent me the pictures a few weeks ago but I've been so busy, I haven't gotten much chance to write. I flew into Phoenix two days before Thanksgiving and my Dad picked me up for the two-hour drive north to Sedona. Phoenix is in the southern half of the state where it's much warmer because the elevation is about 4,000 feet lower. Hence the lovely palm trees:



This was right from the highway.

And:



I felt as though I were back in Florida--ahhh, lovely palm trees, harbingers of warmth and light. However my favorite icon of southern Arizona was the everpresent saguaro cacti--they're the cacti that you see in Road Runner cartoons and in Westerns, the ones that stand straight up and tall.



They're protected in Arizona--you can't cut one down without permission.

One thing I love about Arizona is how Western it is--Nevada is right next door (it's about a half-day's drive to Las Vegas) and Phoenix is not too far from the California border. California! I was born there in Coronado but I haven't been back too many times--I don't even remember San Diego although I have been to San Francisco (where I was baptized) 4-5 times. In my mind the state is almost myth--it was indescribably cool to see signs that said:



I mean, look at that! I could've driven to Los Angeles!

( It never rains in Northern Arizona... )

( You'll seeeeeeee Amarillo--GalLUP, New Mexico! Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona... )

On the way back I got some lovely, evocative shots of this gorgeous state, but this was my favorite:



Western Moon