Noting the several comments from people who hated or just didn't "get" this film, I am more convinced than ever that democracy is a rather lame idea since many people are simply too stupid or vapid to deserve a vote. But I digress....
I laughed my ass off when I first heard that "Little Shop" was being remade as a musical, and gleefully predicted that it would be an even bigger turd than the musical remake of "Lost Horizon" -- truly one of the most ghastly things that ever soiled a piece of film. I rented the presumed-abominable "Little Shop" musical, invited a few friends over, and we flat fell in love with this movie. None of us are even big fans of musicals; I liked "Carousel" and "Oklahoma," but that's pretty much my complete list of musicals that will bear re-watching. And now this one!
Boy, did I ever call this one wrong, and I'm damned glad I did. I've seen it ten or fifteen times, and caught pieces of it another few dozen times while flipping channels. I never tire of it. It's that good.
The music is fabulous (as many others have commented), and every piece of casting is perfect. Rick Moranis, who I never thought of as anything other than a competent character actor, does a grand job; he's actually VERY competent and perfect for this role. Surprisingly, he does an amazingly good job of singing (if it was lip-synched, the voice-match was simply perfect). His stock shot up a lot of points with me for this work. His duet work with Ellen Greene (particularly on the operatic "Suddenly Seymour") was superb, though I'll bet he was sorely intimidated to be belting out a duet with someone with the power and range of the incredible Ellen Greene. But he rips right in, carries it off beautifully, and magic happens. There are a lot of tremendous voices in "Little Shop," but "Suddenly Seymour" never fails to bring out the goose bumps for me. How that tiny little woman can shake the walls like that is a great mystery -- my God, what a pair of lungs!
Everyone else has sung the praises of Levi Stubbs and Steve Martin, and a raft of other cameo roles, so I'll just say, "Ditto."
As I said, I was a big fan of the very dark "original" version, and I never saw the stage play. I've read enough about the "original" ending of this musical (which I won't spoil) to believe that I'd have liked the "original" ending at least as much as the basically "happy" ending we were left with. I'd love to see a DVD with both versions, just to compare.
I was perfectly prepared to hate this film, and particularly since I have nothing but disgust for Geffen, personally. However, this has become one of my favorite films of all time -- certainly on my "Top 30" or thereabouts, maybe even "Top 20."
I laughed my ass off when I first heard that "Little Shop" was being remade as a musical, and gleefully predicted that it would be an even bigger turd than the musical remake of "Lost Horizon" -- truly one of the most ghastly things that ever soiled a piece of film. I rented the presumed-abominable "Little Shop" musical, invited a few friends over, and we flat fell in love with this movie. None of us are even big fans of musicals; I liked "Carousel" and "Oklahoma," but that's pretty much my complete list of musicals that will bear re-watching. And now this one!
Boy, did I ever call this one wrong, and I'm damned glad I did. I've seen it ten or fifteen times, and caught pieces of it another few dozen times while flipping channels. I never tire of it. It's that good.
The music is fabulous (as many others have commented), and every piece of casting is perfect. Rick Moranis, who I never thought of as anything other than a competent character actor, does a grand job; he's actually VERY competent and perfect for this role. Surprisingly, he does an amazingly good job of singing (if it was lip-synched, the voice-match was simply perfect). His stock shot up a lot of points with me for this work. His duet work with Ellen Greene (particularly on the operatic "Suddenly Seymour") was superb, though I'll bet he was sorely intimidated to be belting out a duet with someone with the power and range of the incredible Ellen Greene. But he rips right in, carries it off beautifully, and magic happens. There are a lot of tremendous voices in "Little Shop," but "Suddenly Seymour" never fails to bring out the goose bumps for me. How that tiny little woman can shake the walls like that is a great mystery -- my God, what a pair of lungs!
Everyone else has sung the praises of Levi Stubbs and Steve Martin, and a raft of other cameo roles, so I'll just say, "Ditto."
As I said, I was a big fan of the very dark "original" version, and I never saw the stage play. I've read enough about the "original" ending of this musical (which I won't spoil) to believe that I'd have liked the "original" ending at least as much as the basically "happy" ending we were left with. I'd love to see a DVD with both versions, just to compare.
I was perfectly prepared to hate this film, and particularly since I have nothing but disgust for Geffen, personally. However, this has become one of my favorite films of all time -- certainly on my "Top 30" or thereabouts, maybe even "Top 20."