The Sweeney Todd movie, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, is based on an older Stephen Sondheim opera/ play about a barber, Benjamin Barker, who returns to London after false imprisonment in Australia. Informed that the judge who sent him away took advantage of his wife, who then poisoned herself, Barker, decides to get even by shaving those responsible and then slitting their throats. (Sacha Baron Cohen also appears as a rival barber, and later as part of a meat pie.)

The movie is directed by the fun-horror master himself, Tim Burton, who convinced Depp to try singing – an important part of the role. Depp was very reluctant about his abilities at first – even scared – but his voice turned out to be not too bad. Not opera performance, but not bad.

The Producers Guild of America is giving the 2008 Stanley Kramer award to Oprah Winfrey and other producers for the movie The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker. The award is given each year to a film that focuses on social issues.

The movie, which opens in theaters on Dec 25th, takes place in Marshall, Texas, where Washington was recently to promote it.

Here’s the latest in The Dark Knight poster series, showing Heath Ledger’s Joker portrayal.

These are some of the DVD and/or Blu-ray movie and TV releases for the week of Sun Dec 9th – Sat Dec 15th, 2007.

1. Beverly Hills 90210: Third Season.
2. Blade Runner: Final Cut. This is the version director Ridley Scott favors.
3. Bourne Ultimatum. This is the movie representing the third book in author Robert Ludlum’s “Bourne” novels.
4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This is the fifth in the series, and is available in multiple versions, as well as both DVD and Blu-ray. [Note: Some "defective" copies of the special 5-disc Blu-ray edition that contains all 5 movies actually contain HD DVD format discs.]
5. High School Musical 2. Includes bloopers and music videos.
6. Lost: Complete Third Season.
7. Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End. Has  two discs that include commentary and bloopers.

Bwah ha hah aha hah ha ha. The New York Post reports that a French producer, Philippe Rebboah, wants Britney Spears to play the Virgin Mary. But it’s for a satire film, Sweet Baby Jesus. Yeah, it’d have to be a satire, wouldn’t it?