I finally got to see Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." It was excellent! I had seen the stage play several years ago, but never the musical. Yet the movie was much bloodier than I expected -- way cool!! No CSI teams to ferret out all the blood evidence back then...

Johnny's face has so much expression, you can read a lot into it, even if you can't quite understand all the words in his songs -- and much of the movie is sung instead of spoken. Much like "Les Miserables." But the story is a simple one to follow -- man is wrongly accused of a crime and sentenced to life in prison so evil judge can seduce man's wife and raise man's daughter, man escapes after 15 years vowing vengeance on all those who wronged him, gets a "taste" of killing men in his barber chair, joins up with baker women with ingenious way to "get rid of" the bodies, finally gets his revenge, then is killed himself.

All the actors took voice lessons as they are not singers, and I think they all did a great job. I even asked -- and received! -- the movie soundtrack for Christmas, before I had even heard any of the actors sing!

The set design was great, too -- that perfect creepy/Victorian/serial killer look.

The stage musical will be coming to Chicago this spring, and I plan to get a great seat to see all the action.

I love Tim Burton's movies -- huge fan of "Sleepy Hollow," "Nightmare Before Christmas," "Corpse Bride," "Batman," "Edward Scissorhands." I liked "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," but Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka has a special place in my heart.