The Witches Of Eastwick (1987)

It's Friday and hopefully everyone is ready for the long weekend because it's Memorial Day weekend. So for today, I decided to breakout the VCR (Videocassette Recorder) for old times sake and I decided to check out one of my recent acquisitions in the 1987 film The Witches Of Eastwick which was directed by George Miller (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) and based on the novel by John Updike. The film stars Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) as Jane Spofford, Cher (Mask) as Alexandra Medford, and Michelle Pfeiffer (Murder On The Orient Express) as Sukie Ridgemont, three friends who are either widowed or their husbands left them and they are feeling pretty lonely especially with the prospects in the small New England town they live in. One night, they wish for the perfect man (or at least what their version is), but what they get might be more than they bargained for when a mysterious man shows up the next day. The film also stars Jack Nicholson (The Little Shop Of Horrors) as Daryl Van Horn, Richard Jenkins (Fun With Dick and Jane) as Clyde Alden, Veronica Cartwright (Flight Of The Navigator) as Felicia Alden, Carel Struycken (The Addams Family) as Fidel, Helen Lloyd Breed (Mickey Blue Eyes) as Mrs. Biddle, and Keith Jochim (A Pleasure Doing Business) as Walter Neff.

I have a couple of things that I want to say about this film and I am going to start this paragraph with them. The first thing is that before this film, the only other film that I ever found Michelle Pfeiffer attractive in was Batman Returns when she played the Catwoman. I take back all assumptions because she was an absolute fox in this film and one of the best things about the movie besides Cher who was proving once again that she had acting chops. The second thing is that in Jack Nicholson do we trust because if Jack can't do it then no one can! Jack Nicholson once again proved in this film why he is one of the G.O.A.T.'s of Hollywood with his hellraising performance as the devilish Daryl Van Horn. He had some amazing dialogue in the film and he absolutely nailed it with his sinister wit and charm. Seeing Jack Nicholson perform in this film is the reason I never became an actor because I couldn't pull off that performance. The part of the film when he becomes beats like just brought chills to my spine and gave me goosebumps because it reminded me of how great he was in The Shining and it makes me want to see the film Wolf just to see how he does in that film. Some of the stuff in the film was a little zany, but it worked with the subject matter at hand. The cinematography in the film was excellent and not enough credit goes to Richard Jenkins and Veronica Cartwright who put on one hell of a performance as well. This was a very fun film to watch which is why I am giving the movie an A- for a final grade.

The Little Shop Of Horrors (1960)

It's another edition of Sunday At The Classics and I couldn't think of a better guy to check out a film from then the legendary b-movie director/producer Roger Corman (The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent). The man in his career and lifetime has directed over 50 films and has produced 415 of them and today we are checking out a film he directed in 1960 in The Little Shop Of Horrors. The film stars Jonathan Haze (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes) as bumbling idiot Seymour who works at a struggling flower shop on skid row. One day as he is about to get fired, he presents a flower that he had created as a way to save face and make more business for his boss in order to keep his job, but this new plant could end up costing him his life. The film also stars Jackie Joseph (Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol) as Audrey, Mel Welles (Attack Of The Crab Monsters) as Gravis Mushnick, Dick Miller (Gremlins 2: The New Batch) as Fouch, Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest) as Wilbur Force, Myrtle Vail (A Bucket Of Blood) as Winifred Krelborn, Karyn Kupcinet (Hawaiian Eye) as Shirley, Leola Wendorff (Alfred Hitchcock Presents) as Mrs. Shiva, Wally Campo (Tales Of Terror) as Sgt. Joe Fink, and Jack Warford (Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype) as Detective Frank Stoolie.

Maybe it was just the type of film that they used at the time or maybe the type of camera, but this was kind of poorly shot. It makes me believe that whatever master copy there is of this film didn't do well over time and what you see is certainly what you get. I was so used to the 80's version of this film with Rick Moranis that I think I was expecting a little bit more from Audrey Jr. only because the 80's version was so much more animated than the caveman feed me more version we had in this film. If the 80's version was the big Hollywood film this was definitely B-movie gold because there were a lot of things to like about this film and that was the acting. Jonathan Haze was exactly what you want a bumbling fool with no confidence to be and he played it with perfection. Even when things were seemingly going great for him, he never lost his identity of who he truly is. I thought Mel Welles was terrific as the owner of the shop who sets of morals were a little twisted around a dollar bill. Sure, what Seymour was doing was bad, but it was bringing him money so why would you talk to the cops? One of the best moments in the film though belongs to the brief introduction of the legend himself Jack Nicholson who plays this twisted idiot who loves pain a little too much. The whole time I kept thinking to myself is that who I think it is? For all the faults the film had, it had some bright spots in it for sure, but I am going to give this film an C+ for a final grade.