Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street - Tim Burton

With the combined talents of Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd was always going to be good. Brilliant, even. This trio made in heaven never fails to impress. The contributions of Alan Rickman, ever the epitome of the villainous character, Timothy Spall as his snivelling sidekick and young actors Jamie Campbell Bower, Jayne Wisener and Ed Sanders do this film adaptation of the popular Broadway musical no harm. The story itself is tragic and full of vengeance against society. Benjamin Barker, an exiled barber living under the alias of Sweeney Todd, returns to London seeking revenge against the malevolent Judge Turpin, who ruined his life by arresting him and subsequently ruining his wife Lucy and adopting their pretty daughter Joanna. It's not long before Todd runs into Mrs. Lovett, the worst pie maker in London. The pair soon cook up an evil and deranged scheme to get their back on Turpin, and ultimately society. The film runs smoothly from start to finish, punctuated by musical numbers with gruesome yet catchy lyrics. Burton's portrayal of London in the 19th century is deliciously sordid and evil, with dark, dreary lighting and costuming. I am possibly the most squeamish person in the world and yet I still enjoyed Sweeney Todd thoroughly as the gore is deliberately unrealistic, almost comedic. I cannot recommend this film enough. 

One Day - David Nicholls

Hmmm...One Day is  a good book on the whole I suppose. It's well written, it's engaging, it's surprising. It's also cheesy and cliched. Boy meets girl, boy not bothered, enter friend zone, girl head over heels, years go by, boy starts to appreciate girl....mustn't spoil the ending. Without being sexist about it, possibly one of the most interesting aspects of One Day is the fact that the author is male. I always find male attempts to capture female dispositions interesting. Nicholls doesn't do a bad job. Emma is very average, easy to relate to and likeable. Dexter on the other hand is the typical player. The Willoughby who finds redemption. We experience joy in both characters' triumphs and sorrow at their downfalls, which is the idea I suppose.  Love stories tend not to be anything new and to be brutally honest, One Day is no exception. Though the style of documenting a particular day (15th of July, St. Swithin's Day) in the characters' lives each year is refreshing, it can also interrupt the flow of the book and leave everything feeling disrupted and undeveloped. The dialogue is praiseworthy however and on the whole, One Day is worth reading if you're into romances. I've yet to see the film adaptation starring Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway, but I've heard good things about it, despite Hathaway's alleged murderous attempt at an English accent.