Musical Monday: Little Shop of Horrors (TIE) - Feed Me & Mean Green Mother From Outer Space (#3).

[Every Monday, I'm going to be counting down my 52 favorite musical numbers from musical movies and TV shows. I might not like the full movie/show, but the number makes the list for various reasons: 1) I have to like the song, 2) the visual of how the number is performed is most likely unique or fun, 3) both song and visual mixes well to create an exciting or powerful number. So let's get to the next on the list.]

We all know that one of my favorite movies of all time is the 1986 musical version of Little Shop of Horrors. Needless to say, it was very difficult choosing which songs to put on this list. When it came down to it, I had to put a tie for third. And there's really no surprise either that both are essentially "villain" songs.

The first is "Feed Me (Git It)," the song that Audrey II and Seymour sing when Audrey II first starts speaking. It's a "Devil on the Shoulder" type song, with the plant talking the good-natured Seymour into committing murder in order to feed it. Not only is the song great and catchy, but the camera work and blocking is great. Seymour is excited at the beginning and is, thus, close to the plant. Then the plant says what it wants, and for the bulk of the rest of the song, Seymour is on the opposite end of the room (unless Audrey II forces him closer). It's not until the breaking point when he finally makes Seymour snap that he gets closer to the plant once again--almost too close--showing they are finally in the same mindset.



Then there's the finale song, Mean Green Mother From Outer Space. This song is actually absent from the stage version, written especially for the film version. It's the showdown between Seymour and Audrey II, where the plant reveals everything and what it's really there to do. It's a David and Goliath battle that David was originally supposed to lose. And it's also one of the freakiest and most menacing songs on this list. I also love the short segment where Audrey II references other monster/alien movies. And it also has some outstanding puppetry and practical work going on here. Anyway, here you go!

Musical Monday: Little Shop of Horrors - Skid Row (#11).

[Every Monday, I'm going to be counting down my 52 favorite musical numbers from musical movies and TV shows. I might not like the full movie/show, but the number makes the list for various reasons: 1) I have to like the song, 2) the visual of how the number is performed is most likely unique or fun, 3) both song and visual mixes well to create an exciting or powerful number. So let's get to the next on the list.]

Well... it was inevitable, right? Little Shop of Horrors was going to show up on this list. (And no, this isn't the only song that will appear.) What's probably most shocking is that this is only #11. What could possibly be in my Top 10? Anyway, we all know my unending adoration for this film and everything that goes with it. This song in particular is super catchy and lets you get to know not only the lead male and female, but also the setting (which in and of itself is pretty much a character). And I just love how uber-dramatic this song gets, even with its more upbeat music. It's "Skid Row" from Little Shop of Horrors!

Frank Oz: A Look Back.

Note: This post is for the LAMBs in the Director's Chair.

-------------------

Mostly known for his voice work on Sesame Street, as Muppets, and--of course--as Yoda, Frank Oz has been in the business for quite a while. But today I wanted to focus on his directorial efforts. I've seen half of his films, but I don't remember much of one (Indian in the Cupboard). At a surface glance, his films seem drastically different. But when you poke just a little bit deeper, you'll see a bit of twistedness and dark humor imbued in most. Let's start from the beginning.


Title: The Dark Crystal
Starring: Jim Henson, Kathryn Mullen, Frank Oz, and Dave Goelz
Synopsis: Fantasy story about a creature named Jen who must find a crystal shard in order to restore peace and order to his dying world.
Thoughts: This is apparently some masterpiece of puppetry and fantasy, but I don't see it. I've always stayed away from this film because just the look of it on posters and cases bothered me. That didn't go away when I just recently watched it. The voice acting is ungodly annoying--particularly Jen and Chamberlain (which is done by both Henson and Oz, respectively). The voice over in the first 10 or so minutes gets really old really fast. The puppets themselves are ugly and too fake. I love fantasy films, but this one is nearly unbearable to me. I know it's a children's classic, but I couldn't handle it.


Title: The Muppets Take Manhattan
Starring: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Dave Goelz
Synopsis and Thoughts: For more information on both the synopsis and thoughts, check out episode 13 of The Demented Podcast in which Jess and I discuss this film.



Title: Little Shop of Horrors
Starring: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, and Levi Stubbs
Synopsis: A young man named Seymour working in a rundown flower shop showcases a "strange and interesting new plant" he's discovered... that just so happens to eat blood. In order to continue his success and keep the attention from Audrey, Seymour must continue to feed it blood until the only way left to feed it is kill people.
Thoughts: This was my favorite film growing up and is still a personal favorite today. I know the whole film by heart. Excellent puppetry for the Audrey II. Amazing songs. Really fun comedy and good romance. Of course, this is my favorite Frank Oz film hands down.


Title: The Score
Starring: Edward Norton, Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, and Angela Bassett
Synopsis: Old thief wants to retire. One last heist. Young up-and-comer. You know the drill.
Thoughts: It was alright. I don't remember much about it, despite having just seen it last year. A decent heist movie, but apparently not very memorable. The dynamic between Norton and De Niro trying to outdo each other was fun, though.


Title: Stepford Wives
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Glenn Close, and Christopher Walken
Synopsis: The women in the town are replaced with androids... or something.
Thoughts: It's crap.


Title: Death at a Funeral
Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Ewen Bremner, Rupert Graves, Alan Tudyk, and Peter Dinklage
Synopsis: Chaos ensues at the funeral of a man's father.
Thoughts: I thought this movie was hilarious. Apparently most just think it's an OK film, but I loved it. Unfortunately, they remade the movie with Chris Rock 3 years later, which I still have yet to see... though I know it can't be good (or as good).


Final Thoughts: Just like his varied career, Frank Oz has made some questionable films. Some are excellent (at least in my opinion), while some are pretty dang awful. I have yet to see some of his more appreciated works, but I will get to them eventually. I seem to enjoy every other Frank Oz film I see, and after the abysmally annoying Dark Crystal, I'm sure to enjoy at least the next few.

2 In 1: Sweeney Todd and Little Shop of Horrors.

If you can’t figure out the theme for this 2 In 1 just from knowing something about either movie, it’s a theme of romance, dark comedy, singing, and murder. That’s right! The dark romantic musical comedies of death and murder! Or something like that. Anywho, as stated in the title, I finally got around to seeing Sweeney Todd, and I’m pairing it up with one of my favorite movies growing up, Little Shop of Horrors. So here we go!

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Sweeney Todd is a revenge story about unrequited love with almost every character in the movie (at least the love part). And it stars at least a good fourth of the cast of the Harry Potter movies (okay, so that’s an over-exaggeration… but seriously, you could probably combine this movie with Gosford Park, and you’d have practically every important adult role in Harry Potter). But anyway, to the film: Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp), once Benjamin Barker, is a scorned barber whose wife and baby daughter were stolen away by an evil Judge (Alan Rickman) and his ambiguously gay sidekick (Timothy Spall). Over the years, he plots revenge before finally coming back to London to exact it. He meets Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), a meat-pie shop owner, and together they work together to help exact Mr. Todd’s revenge on those who have wronged him.

I have to say that the first half of the movie almost lost me. The music wasn’t overtly catchy (with a couple exceptions), and it was just kind of bland (no help to Tim Burton’s drab coloring scheme). But then the second half of the movie picks up once Sweeney loses it completely and goes utterly insane. The song immediately after that part, the one about how to get rid of the bodies, has to be my favorite from the movie. It was darkly hilarious and reminded me of something Stephen Lynch would sing. So yeah, the second half was much better than the first half.

On the subject of the music, the songs were either hit or miss—hit being the previously mentioned song, miss being the one and only song (albeit a short one) Timothy Spall attempts toward the latter end of the movie (unless I forgot another, but I think that was it). Some were catchy, some were just plain good, and some were either too weird (like Sacha Baron Cohen’s song) or too boring. And as the movie is almost entirely nothing but singing, that means the movie is really either hit or miss at times.

I think acting-wise, everybody did a really good job, even Sacha Baron Cohen (after I got over the weirded-out phase). Depp is brilliant as always, and Carter and Rickman were equally as good. Timothy Spall bugged me the most, but I think that was just the character, not his acting. He was just… odd. But the kudos’ for this movie go to the young Ed Sanders who played orphan-boy Toby. He did really well, especially the emotions on his face at the end of the movie.

Of course I have to mention the visuals. I sustain my thoughts that I had prior to seeing the movie: what was bleak and gray was very bleak and gray; what was bright and colorful was very bright and colorful. There was no in-between, and the majority of the movie had grays and blacks (and the occasional white to show off the blood red).

I’m not sure what else to mention about it. I think those were really all my major thoughts. The movie was pretty good, but it could have been better. Though, also to help me boost the score up to the point I do is not only because there were parts able to keep me on my toes, but I was caught off guard at the end with a twist I wasn’t expecting. I love it when movies can do that. It always makes me appreciate the movie more. And I really do appreciate what this movie did, even if it was disturbing (though I might have enjoyed it more had I not watched it with my mother, who was complaining about the blood and such for the entire last half of the movie).

I Am McLovin!

Little Shop of Horrors.

Back in 1960, Roger Corman made a cult classic in two days using left-over sets and such from a previous movie he had finished early (with a cameo by a very young Jack Nicholson). Years later, it was turned into an off-Broadway musical, which would later be adapted by Frank Oz and Howard Ashman into the 1986 musical extravaganza! Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) is a skid-row orphan working under Mr. Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia) at Mushnik’s floral shop. He’s desperately and longingly in love with co-worker Audrey (Ellen Greene), but she’s shacking up with abusive and sadistic dentist, Orin Scrivello, DDS (Steve Martin). But after a total eclipse of the sun, Seymour discovers a fly-trap-esque plant and takes it in. He names it the Audrey II, and it immediately brings instant success to the bankrupt shop. But then Seymour discovers a deadly secret: the plant can only survive by drinking blood. So he feeds it his own blood until it gets too big and starts talking (voiced by Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops), requesting that Seymour go out and kill people to feed him.

This movie was my favorite growing up (which explains quite a lot, really). I’ve watched it an uncountable amount of times, and I know the words and lyrics backward and forward. It’s dark, it’s funny, it’s romantic, and it’s scary. This movie still creeps me out at times, and I hate being around plants in the dark. The one specific scene that will never ever stop scaring the crap out of me is toward the end when Audrey II calls up Audrey (who lives right across the street) and sings to her. Audrey slowly turns to her window and sees this enormous plant staring and laughing at her from across the street. God, just thinking about that scene creeps me out.

The singing is done very well, and Rick Moranis really has some pipes in him. Great voice. Really, every song is a classic with me, even if they aren’t my favorite (such as the more romantic ‘somewhere that’s green’. However, after I heard about the original ending and the irony around that song and its original purpose, I came to appreciate it much more).

And speaking of the ending, this movie has one of the most famous stories in cinema. They shot the original ending, the one taken from the stage play, where everybody dies and the plants take over the world, but it did poorly with test audiences. So they spent millions of more dollars to film a happier ending just to please the audience. That’s Hollywood for you. But I’ve seen the original ending, as well, and it’s pretty creepy (though the last frame of the happy ending is creepy in itself, too).

And this movie is cameo-central. There’s Bill Murray as the pain-loving dentist's patient (originally played by Jack Nicholson in Roger Corman’s version), and he has, hands down, the funniest scene in the entire movie. And he and Steve Martin improv’d the entire scene. Hilarity. There’s also Christopher Guest, John Candy, and James Belushi (also, as I just realized, for another Harry Potter reference, Miriam Margolyes is also in the movie (she was Professor Sprout in the first two HP movies)).

I really don’t know what else to say about this movie. I love every inch of it. I really recommend it to people who like musicals, dark comedies, or just anything twisted in general. It’s great fun (for the whole family!).

Royale With Cheese