Sweeney Todd deserved a better fate. Sure, sure, it's a very fine film -- and that's really all that matters when all is said and done, but I can't help but think its domestic box office tally (just over $50 million) and its Oscar nomination haul (lead actor, art direction and costume design) should have been a little ... well, bigger. But I suppose it's tough to sell a big-budget horror musical, even if it is based on a very popular stage play AND showcases movie star Johnny Depp in a really (ahem) unique light.

Fans of the flick will be pleased to learn that Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will be available to own (via shiny disc) on the first of April. Choose between a single-disc release (which includes one "making-of" documentary) or a extras-laden double-disc edition that comes with a BUNCH of featurettes, photo galleries, trailers and a Moviefone Unscripted piece, which is cool because we love Moviefone! Neither DVD package will include an audio commentary, unfortunately for those who love audio commentaries. Like me. Oh, but the 2-discer will be making an appearance in my collection. Book that.

[ Thanks to DVDActive.com. Check out the cover art! ]

When evaluating new movies, sometimes a critic will try to envision their staying power. It goes without saying that most movies have no shelf life; they're designed for one opening weekend, or perhaps a few months of buzz leading to an award, but that's it. A year from now, people will be ignoring them on airplanes and then they'll be on sale in the DVD bargain bin. Only a very few titles enter into the general zeitgeist forever, becoming a "cult film." A cult film can be a resurrected flop, something like The Wizard of Oz or Donnie Darko, or it can be a beloved hit, such as Casablanca or the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings films. The only constant is that it's impossible to predict. When I first reviewed Joel and Ethan Coen's The Big Lebowski (1998), I thought it suffered in comparison to Fargo, but now it has become a cult classic even bigger than its predecessor. Regardless, I thought I'd look at some of the movies currently playing on less than 400 screens and guess their fates.

I'll start with an easy one: Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd (316 screens). This is Burton and Johnny Depp's sixth film together, and they bring out the very best instincts in one another. They remind me of no less than Tod Browning and Lon Chaney's sinister collaborations during the silent era. (Their 1927 film The Unknown needs to be seen by everyone.) Depp gets to indulge in his taste for disguise (and funny voices) while Burton taps into his childlike nightmares for new images and ideas. Sure, they will probably never really make a grown-up movie, but several of their collaborations have already stood the test of time, and at least two: Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Ed Wood (1994) have cracked the edges of cult status. In fact, I'd go so far as to add Burton's Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Depp's Dead Man and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to make a great cult film festival.

Midwest cinema chain Marcus Theatres is at odds with Paramount Pictures again, this time over the booking costs for Cloverfield. You may remember that Marcus failed to reach an agreement over the cost of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and ended up not playing the film during its first couple weeks in wide release (the chain is now showing the movie). Of course, people in the Midwest are used to waiting for arty movies like Sweeney Todd around this time of year. Marcus patrons could have just told themselves it would be just like waiting for No Country for Old Men or The Diving Bell and the Butterfly to hit their 'hoods. However, Cloverfield is a whole different kind of movie, a kind that will likely affect Marcus' business in a bad way.

See, in case you didn't read Erik and Scott's ravings about Cloverfield, you should be aware that this monster movie is a must-see-right-away kind of event. But it's not just that the movie is apparently awesome that makes it necessary viewing on opening weekend. An awesome movie can be seen anytime during its release. But Cloverfield is one of those kinds of movies you have to see before your friends ruin it for you. And by friends I mean internet bloggers, forum posters and Facebook acquaintances. And by ruin it I mean commenting on what the monster looks like, how (if?) it's killed, and other plot points and spoilers. By the time Marcus does reach an agreement to show Cloverfield, it may be too late. Nobody's going to be seeing this movie in its third week or beyond.

Rejoice Midwesterners: Marcus Theatres is finally showing Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street! Last month, I wrote in my column on the story of Marcus' inability to reach an agreement with Paramount on the split of the movie's box office, and the cinema chain's subsequent decision to not show the film. For many people in Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, North Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota, that meant not being able to see the musical unless they drove hundreds of miles out of their way to an area with a non-Marcus-owned movie theater. I'm sure some huge Johnny Depp fans and Burton loyalists made the trek, thinking they'd otherwise have to wait for the DVD to come out. But Marcus and Paramount have now worked out a deal, likely because the movie has been out long enough for Paramount to be satisfied with the box office share it squeezed out of the country's other theater owners. Or maybe the studio realized that with a gross of only $40 million in three weeks, the movie wasn't as in demand as it had thought. Starting today (Jan. 11), 15 of Marcus' 49 locations will be showing the dark Sondheim adaptation.

I haven't yet seen Sweeney Todd. I wish I could say that I've been boycotting the film in support of Marcus Theatres, but in all honesty I've simply been choosing other better-looking movies to see (including The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and There Will Be Blood). Coincidentally (or not, maybe the company is doing it to spite the studios), Marcus has also decided to highlight these better-looking movies, which all qualify as "art films". The chain is calling this new programming of foreign and independent films "Critic's Choice"; the purpose is to call to attention "acclaimed and smaller films that are in limited release or might otherwise go unnoticed." Titles include Diving Bell, Juno and No Country for Old Men. Between those films and Sweeney Todd, Marcus patrons should now be fully prepared when they sit down to watch the Golden Globes press conference this weekend.

Best Actress (Musical or Comedy)

Nominees:

Amy Adams -- Enchanted

Nikki Blonsky -- Hairspray

Helena Bonham Carter -- Sweeney Todd

Marion Cotillard -- La vie en Rose

Ellen Page -- Juno

Predicted Winner: Ellen Page -- Juno

Although screenwriter Diablo Cody is clearly the "breakout" star of the Juno story, I'm sure she'd admit that without Ellen Page, the movie wouldn't be quite so special. Movie fans first took note of the diminutive gal's talents in the chilling Hard Candy, and the blockbuster fanboys fell for her hard in X-Men: The Last Stand -- but it's pretty safe to say that Juno is her "star-making" role -- and it couldn't happen to a cooler girl. We predict a Globe win, an Oscar nomination, and ... well, let's not jinx the woman!

Now it's your turn to vote ...

Best Director

Nominees:

Tim Burton -- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Ethan and Joel Coen -- No Country for Old Men

Julian Schnabel -- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Ridley Scott -- American Gangster

Joe Wright -- Atonement

Predicted Winner: Ethan and Joel Coen

No Country for Old Men could go on to win Best Director at the Oscars, but unlike the Academy, the Hollywood Foreign Press will actually recognize both of the Coen Brothers. Everyone knows that Ethan and Joel co-direct their films, but due to Director's Guild and Academy rules, only Joel is allowed credit for them. Therefore their win of the Golden Globe for Best Director will be the better honor. And boy do they deserve it! With No Country, they've delivered a stunning film that exemplifies the two major dimensions of the craft: visual storytelling and management of the acting performances.

Now it's your turn to vote ...

Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)

Nominees:

Across the Universe

Charlie Wilson's War

Hairspray

Juno

Sweeney Todd

Predicted Winner: Juno

From its surprisingly well-received sneak preview at Telluride to its box-office blowout, Ellen Page's spot-on performance as Juno, the smart, cynical teenager who gets pregnant after having sex with her best friend, struck a chord across demographics. Juno might get shut out of a Best Picture Oscar (don't count it out completely, yet, though -- it's still sitting pretty high on the roundup of critics' polls over on Movie City News); the Globes are still the film's best chance to pick up some awards' season gold.

Now it's your turn to vote ...

The Klingon death blade you see Diablo Cody wielding here is what she used to slay the other box-office contenders over the weekend. Juno leapfrogged from number ten -- already respectable for such a small film -- to number five, coming in just behind Charlie Wilson's War and I Am Legend with an impressive $10.3 million. These numbers were enough to cause Fox Searchlight to press the big button -- Juno will now expand to 2,000 screens next weekend. So far, the film about a wise-ass 16 year-old who becomes pregnant and decides to carry the baby to term and give it up for adoption, has brought in a total of $25.7 million. This puts it well on track to blow Little Miss Sunshine, its equivalent from last year, totally out of the water -- LMS only brought in $59.8 million domestic total.

In other box office news, Cage continued to hold the top spot with National Treasure: Book of Secrets bringing in $35.6 million. In nine days, the film has pulled in $124 million. Meanwhile, although I Am Legend slipped down to the number three slot this weekend, it still pulled in $27.5 million and is just on the verge of breaking the $200 million mark. It will be interesting to see if National Treasure can gain ground on Big Willy over the next few weeks -- it seems to be the film with the most staying power at the moment, but Legend has a big head-start. Sweeney Todd also stayed strong this weekend, bringing in $8 million for a ninth-place finish. Atonement, on the other hand, has yet to find its audience, which will hurt its Oscar front-runner status.

Last year, it was pretty easy to nail down a Top Ten list. I knew pretty much what was going to be in there after Toronto, and while there was a little shuffling, it didn't change all that much. This year was another story entirely ... so many good films from which to choose, so many films I loved for different reasons. Culling that down to ten films was hard this year, and I agonized over my endlessly shifting list, trying out different films in my top ten like a woman hunting for the perfect little black dress for New Year's Eve. I finally managed to get it molded into a Top Ten which, if I wasn't ever going to be completely satisfied with, I could at least live with. So, here they are, the ten films. There are some excellent films from the fest circuit that could have just as easily ended up there, had I been in a different mood or had one more (or one less) cup of coffee while I was writing this. I'll be talking about them in my last Film Clips column of the year.

The Top Ten

1. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly -- The top two films on my list shifted back and forth at least a dozen times before I finally settled on Julian Schnabel's moving piece about a vibrant man paralyzed by a stroke. The film is based on the true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a massive stroke at the age of 42 that left him completely incapacitated by "locked-in syndrome." Bauby dictated a book about his experience one letter at a time by blinking his left eyelid to assistants. There are no car chases or gunshots, no serial killers or abortions in this film, but it is so full of heart and the redemptive power of the human spirit, and so beautifully made, that it deserves to be in the top slot of my list.

2. Juno -- As far as comedies go, Juno was executed to almost perfection from its sharply written script by newcomer Diablo Cody to the tight direction by Jason Reitman. It's harder than most people realize to make smart comedy, and Reitman does comedy very, very well. From his earlier short films (especially Consent) to his first feature Thank You for Smoking, Reitman has set out to prove that good comedy can also be good filmmaking, and with Juno he exceeds his freshman effort and ups the ante for what comedic films should be. In a year heavy with serious dramas and an abundance of depressing Iraq war flicks, Juno was the leaven that lightened it all up a bit, and it's one of the few films this year that I can watch repeatedly and never tire of.

The rest of the Ten, after the jump ...