favorite movie #80 - halloween edition: little shop of horrors

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #80 - Little Shop of Horrors (1986) - I like the original B&W Roger Corman film too, with Jack Nicholson's wonderfully masochistic dental patient, but this is the one to see over and over again. Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, and Levi Stubbs as the voice of Audrey II are all amazing. Even though director Frank Oz wanted the "darker" ending that was in the Off-Broadway show, the originally released "happy" ending is still pretty ambiguous. The movie doesn't shy away from its sleazy Skid Row locations, S&M romance between Audrey and Doctor Scrivello (Steve Martin), or this version's patient who is in love with pain (Bill Murray). The scene is set by Crystal, Ronnette, and Chiffon (Tichina Arnold, Michelle Weeks, and Tisha Campbell) and the songs are great, too, especially: "Prologue: Little Shop of Horrors", "Skid Row (Downtown)", "Some Fun Now", "Dentist!", "Feed Me (Git It)", and Ellen Greene steals the show with "Suddenly, Seymour" and "Somewhere That's Green".

r.i.p. harold ramis

The first time I remember seeing Harold Ramis was on SCTV (Second City Television), a late-night comedy show from Canada that we could only get from the Philadelphia station in our South Jersey home when the weather was good and the aerial could pick it up. Ramis, who was also the head writer, appeared with now-household-name comedians John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, and Dave Thomas.


Ramis quickly moved on to movies, writing National Lampoon's Animal House, and most of Bill Murray's early starring vehicles — Stripes, Meatballs, and Caddyshack (which was also his directorial debut). He is probably best known for his role as Dr. Egon Spengler, in Ghostbusters, which he co-wrote with Dan Aykroyd. I have to admit, that like the character of Janine, played by Annie Potts in that film, I always had a bit of a crush on Dr. Spengler.

Dr. Ray Stantz (Aykroyd), "You know, it just occurred to me that we really haven't had a successful test of this equipment."
Dr. Egon Spengler (Ramis), "I blame myself."
Dr. Peter Venkman (Murray), "So do I." 

Dr. Egon Spengler, "This is big, Peter, this is very big. There is definitely something here."
Dr. Peter Venkman, "Egon, this reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head. Remember that?"
Dr. Egon Spengler, "That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me."

The dreamy Dr. Spengler

Ramis continued to act in movies, mainly comedies, including Baby Boom, Airheads, As Good as It Gets, and Knocked Up. But he spent the majority of his time behind the camera, directing many popular comedies, including National Lampoon's Vacation, Club Paradise, Multiplicity, and Analyze This.

My favorite of the films he directed is the brilliant Groundhog Day, which he co-wrote, and which may also be Murray's best work. Unfortunately, Groundhog Day ended the two talented men's collaboration.

Ned (Stephen Tobolowsky), "Phil? Hey, Phil? Phil! Phil Connors? Phil Connors, I thought that was you!"
Phil (Murray), "Hi, how you doing? Thanks for watching," [starts to walk away].
Ned, "Hey, hey! Now, don't you tell me you don't remember me because I sure as heckfire remember you."
Phil, "Not a chance."
Ned, "Ned ... Ryerson. 'Needlenose Ned?' 'Ned the Head?' C'mon, buddy. Case Western High. Ned Ryerson: I did the whistling belly-button trick at the high school talent show? Bing! Ned Ryerson: got the shingles real bad senior year, almost didn't graduate? Bing, again. Ned Ryerson: I dated your sister Mary Pat a couple times until you told me not to anymore? Well?"
Phil, "Ned Ryerson?"
Ned, "Bing!"
Phil, "Bing. Ned, I would love to stay here and talk with you ... but I'm not going to."

In the immortal words of his SCTV character Moe Green, "So you're dead, now what?"

R.I.P. Harold Ramis. Thanks for the laughs.

the centered worlds of moonrise kingdom and fantastic mr. fox

Sam, "I admit we knew we'd get in trouble. That part's true. We knew people would be worried, and we still ran away, anyway. But something also happened, which we didn't do on purpose. When we first met each other, something happened to us."

Sam and Suzy embark on an adventure

Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom tells a tale of young love, circa 1965. Or, a love story that happens to be happening to two young people. Kids, most would call them. 12-year-old Sam (Jared Gilman) and the lovely deadpan Suzy met one summer and it was clearly a meeting of the minds. Or souls. After some serious pen pal-manship the two decide to run away together the following summer. Sam is a Khaki Scout, and comes to the rendezvous equipped with all matter of survival gear. Suzy brings her kitten, favorite books, her portable record player and a suitcase. Suzy's parents (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray), Sam's scout master (Edward Norton) and troop and a laid-back local policeman (Bruce Willis) go on full alert and try to locate the missing pair. But Moonrise Kingdom is not really about whether the kids will be found or not. It's about love and family. Sam is an orphan and envies Suzy's large family, while Suzy detests them and romanticizes Sam's situation.

Sam, "I feel I'm in a real family now. Not like yours, but similar to one."
Suzy, "I always wished I was an orphan. Most of my favorite characters are. I think your lives are more special."
Sam, "I love you, but you don't know what you're talking about."
Suzy, "I love you, too."

The fantastic Mr. Fox

An equally fantastic treehouse from Moonrise Kingdom

Bill Murray has been working consistently with Anderson since Rushmore, and the director has always managed to assemble the best talent. Also on board for Moonrise Kingdom are Bob Balaban as an overly-involved narrator, Tilda Swinton, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel, Frances McDormand, and another Anderson regular contributor, Jason Schwartzman. I've been a fan of Anderson and his highly stylized films, featuring twisted family situations since Rushmore. Moonrise Kingdom is a visual feast as well as sweet and funny. But as I was watching it I couldn't help but be reminded of his previous film, the stop-motion Fantastic Mr. Fox. Moonrise Kingdom's opening credit sequence set in the Bishops' (Suzy's parents) house, how the characters are placed in a frame, and how the camera moves, reminds me of Anderson's animated animal characters as well as being very reminiscent of Mr. Fox's home.

Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the Roald Dahl children's book, tells the story of Mr. Fox (George Clooney) his wife (Meryl Streep), and his uneasy relationship with his son Ash (Jason Schwartzman). Mr. Fox and his friends steal food each night from some rich and angry farmers, but soon find their lives and homes threatened by the humans, until they turn the tables on the farmers and find a new life — underground. The disaffected Ash and his gripes, especially his resentment of his talented cousin Kristofferson (Eric Anderson), sounds similar to runaways Sam and Suzy.

Beaver's Son, to Ash, "We don't like you and we hate your dad. Now grab some of that mud, chew it in your mouth, and swallow it."
Ash, "I'm not gonna eat mud!"
Beaver's Son, "Cuss yeah you are." [Shoves mud in Ash's face]
Kristofferson, "Don't do that."
Beaver's Son, "Why'd you take your shoes off?"
Kristofferson, "So I don't break your nose when I kick it." [Karate moves ensue, Beaver's son walks away crying]
Ash, "I can fight my own fights."
Kristofferson, "No, you can't."

The crew from The Life Aquatic, led by Bill Murray

Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore

A tableau semi-vivant from The Royal Tenenbaums

Anderson has always been a fan of ultra-saturated colors and (mostly) centered compositions. Think about the framing of a scene the next time out watching The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou or The Royal Tenenbaums. His highly stylized visuals effortlessly leant themselves to the animation of Fox, but that sensibility, especially coupled with an attention to detail, is just as wonderfully employed in Moonrise Kingdom. The Bishops' house interiors resemble a miniature dollhouse — until someone actually walks into the frame and surprises the viewer. There are many set pieces in Moonrise Kingdom, but one of the funniest, an amazingly tall tree house built by the troop Sam belongs to, the Khaki Scouts, brings the tree that houses Mr. Fox and his friends to mind as well.

At the Bishops' house, with Suzy ...

... and without Suzy

Mr. Fox, "They say all foxes are slightly allergic to linoleum, but it's cool to the paw — try it. They say my tail needs to be dry cleaned twice a month, but now it's fully detachable — see? They say our tree may never grow back, but one day, something will. Yes, these crackles are made of synthetic goose and these giblets come from artificial squab, and even these apples look fake — but at least they've got stars on them. I guess my point is, we'll eat tonight, and we'll eat together. And even in this not particularly flattering light, you are without a doubt the five and a half most wonderful wild animals I've ever met in my life. So let's raise our boxes — to our survival.

Families may be dysfunctional, and our world and our lives, may be less than perfect, but somehow Anderson's characters manage to find ways to enjoy themselves and make the best of things. All while keeping things centered.

baby-steppin ...

My mom's doctor insisted last week that I get her back x-rayed again. She didn't even look at the first set of x-rays we did at the urgent care, "I don't know how to read those." So we did, and we haven't heard from her since. I brought the first set of x-rays with us to the diagnostic center the doc favors and asked if they could compare both sets of x-rays. No problem. So now the doc will have to at least read a radiologists's report about the first set as well. I don't think that we're going to hear that anything major has happened to her back as she has osteoporosis which I suspect is at the root of all of this pain, but I'm not sure and I want to know. Wouldn't you?

I guess my greatest fear, besides my mom having some sort of fracture, is that her doctor doesn't really want to treat her, to deal with her, but prefers to pass her off to some other specialist. Medicine today is all about specialists. She has hinted as much, mentioning that maybe she should see a back specialist. Maybe she should. But will a back doctor do anything more than what we are already doing with her regular doc — managing her back pain until she heals? She is getting a little better, gradually, each day. She feels better by the end of the day, after she has been moving around and has had pain medication. I'm no doctor and I don't want to overlook anything that might help speed her recovery, but I also don't want to add to her stress level, and a new, unfamiliar doctor would do that. Sigh.

I'm hoping that she can at least get more mobile again before I have to go back to dealing with her dementia/long term issues. Her world is already shrinking incrementally. It's strange how the body responds to trauma. When her back issues first happened I felt like she vaguer than usual, but now that we've been dealing with her back hurting for almost two weeks the memory issues seem to have taken a back seat. It's as if the body can only deal with one crisis at a time. I'm pretty sure that lying in bed or sitting all day is not the way to speed recovery, but I don't want to push her too hard, either. One day at a time ...

I feel like Bill Murray in What About Bob? "Baby steps onto the elevator, baby steps walking down the hall." I'm baby-steppin ...

movies I'd like to visit, maybe even live there

Hollywood is not really a town, if you've ever visited. Not a town like the small one that some folks come from, or a bigger one, like where I live, here in D.C. But every once in a while Hollywood puts out a movie that takes place in "a small town," just like the ones that we know never really existed, but maybe would like to visit, or at least pretend to live in, for ninety minutes to an hour. And it's clear that the key to the attraction is as much the locals as the remote location.

In Doc Hollywood Michael J. Fox plays his usual smart-ass, this time as a hot-shot doc wanna-be Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who lands smack dab in the middle of the squash capital of the South. After waking to a morning skinny-dipping goddess vision and a pee-in-the-woods mating ritual, he is smitten with the girl, the town and its cast of kooks and so are we. And it's got Woody Harrelson in a good bit part, among others. Anther film with the same small town fish-out-of-water fun is the brilliant Groundhog Day, with Bill Murray reliving a day and getting to know everyone and everything really well until he gets it right. He also is in one of my all-time favorites. What About Bob, where he takes over Richard Dreyfuss's vacation, family and life ably abetted by some helpful neighbors.




Julia Roberts manages to lure Richard Gere from the Big Apple, or is it the other way around, in Runaway Bride? The Maryland town she is supposed to inhabit is full of a bunch of people you'd want to hang out with. Any town that sports Joan Cusack would be worth looking into. There are strange, unexplained details that make you wonder. What's with all the multiples? There are different sets of twins and triplets in many background scenes. Maybe it's something in the water...Housesitter, directed by Frank Oz, is another small-towns-and-romance-go-great-together movie, where Goldie Hawn insinuates herself into Steve Martin's life after a one-night stand. It's interesting, because we watch her fall in love with his house and his life and his family and (most of) his friends and have to wait impatiently for him to catch up. Oz hits another home run with In and Out, which has Kevin Kline slowly but surely discovering his inner homosexual and learning that everyone in town still loves him as much as we do. The final scene where everyone parties down so that his mother can get the "wedding" she always dreamed of is pure fun. And again, Joan Cusack lives there.




Casablanca is a classic, with the magnificent Bogie and an exotic collection of individuals all trying to escape from something. Wartime and romance are major plot points, but as the credits roll, I am secretly glad that Bogie has decided to stay in Casablanca with Louis and fight the good fight. It sure seems like they're going to have a hell of a time.

There are some other excellent movies that have fascinating small towns that I am glad I only have to visit for a little while, as they would be terrifying to live in full-time. Hitchcock must have been fascinated by small-town America, because he depicts it many times, all to sinister effect. Two of my favorite of his movies, Shadow of a Doubt and The Birds turn the safety and familiarity of living in a place where you know everyone on its head, as one town is hosting a serial killer and the other is besieged by unexplained deadly bird attacks. A holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life, actually shows a town, that no matter how wonderful some of its inhabitants are, would be a pretty rough place to have to live. I'll pass, thanks.

I don't live in New York any more, but once you have, it never quite leaves you. New York is not a small town, but there have been a few film fantasies that somehow manage to get a sense of the city. Guys and Dolls is a real slice of Broadway history, both musical and depicting the sorts of characters that used to hang out near Times Square. A far cry from the Disney theme park that exists there today. And Marlon Brando sings! The Godfather, Part II is a crime classic, but it also gives a slice of what it meant to be an Italian immigrant in this country, coming through New York. Another fun film set in downtown New York is After Hours, the ultimate trip through SoHo in the 80s with Griffin Dunne being dragged from one bizarre situation to the next. Woody Allen is well-known to be in love with his home town New York and has made movies set in the city many times, but as an ex-new Yorker, I don't really get a strong sense of the city, except as travelogue, in his films. Hannah and Her Sisters is one exception, where the SoHo and downtown sequences seem truly "the city," as Michael Caine tries to seduce Barbara Hershey in bookstores, her partner's painting studio, and on the street.

So whenever big city life gets to be a bit much, I know I can retreat to one of these film oases. Any other favorite film fantasy small towns?