Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actor 2007

The Contenders:

Viggo Mortensen: Eastern Promises
Tommy Lee Jones: In the Valley of Elah
George Clooney: Michael Clayton
Johnny Depp: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Daniel Day-Lewis: There Will Be Blood (winner)

A Very Close Shave

Film: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Format: DVD from personal collection on laptop.

I’ve been in a horror movie mood lately. That’s not hugely shocking, since horror ranks as one of my favorite genres. I’ve had a copy of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street sitting on my desk for more than a year and I haven’t been able to watch it. For as much as I love a good horror movie, I have a real issue with throat slitting. That just about more than anything else bothers me, and since that is the mode of execution in this film, well, you can understand my reticence.

Honestly, the fact that it’s a musical didn’t bother me at all. I’ve grown far more accustomed to musicals over the last six years and I don’t shy away from them as I would have just half a decade ago. Nope, it’s the throat slitting. I’m not sure what it is. Chop someone’s head off in a film, and I’m fine. Slit someone’s throat and I get immediately squeamish.