The original Roger Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors is a favorite of mine. I really should invest in a nicer DVD of it. I’ve never seen the new revamped fancy musical with Rick Moranis, and don’t start to lecture me—I know I should! And I love campy musicals—some of you may or may not know that I am a die hard Rocky Horror fan. But seriously, the 1960 version is perfect as is. Not only do we have a young Jack Nicholson as a masochist who enjoys the dentist a little bit too much, but Dick Miller with a flower eating fetish! While most of you know Miller as the drunk tow truck guy in Gremlins, he is fabulous as a lead in Bucket of Blood, which Corman made the year before Shop. (I’ll have at least one Bucket of Blood night in October, so just make sure to harass me about it if you’re wanting a view… But I’m off track.)

Cable summary once again vague, I decided to watch The Ruins , a movie with some mysterious Mayan ruins (as if the title didn’t give it away). Ooooh spooky. I figured, who cares if it sounds lame. It is either that or Hellboy II, and I’ve never seen the first Hellboy. I have a headache, and I’ve got to watch something to keep me awake for Project Runway at 10.

No big namers here, except for Jena Malone. I can’t stand her. I think she’s hideous, and I’ve been irritated by her snooty characters since I saw Stepmom in the theatre 11 years ago. Don’t pull the Donnie Darko card here. She’s annoying in that one too. She remains snooty here, but surprisingly I had no complaints about her performance. In the male lead, we have Jonathan Tucker, who I fondly remember from the group of boys in Virgin Suicides. I always liked his face, and I wish he showed up in more stuff. Another guy, Shawn Ashmore, was Iceman in Xmen, but I barely recognized him.

Anyway, I made the right movie choice. Not only did I get psycho “I’m going to murder you at the drop of a hat” Mayans, but demon plants…that talk ala Seymour! These plants will kick your ass. They imitate cell phone rings, peoples’ voices, whatever you want. They don’t look half bad either as far as the animation goes. You have never been so creeped out by a bromeliad before. Now, before you dismiss the film as a cheesy monster flick, trust me that this is a movie about people in isolation who are going to do anything to survive. They have limited rations, injuries, and no cell phone signal. I would liken it to the way that 28 Days Later is a more complicated film than simply a zombie film. When people are put in screwed up situations, sometimes they start to do screwed up things. And I like that. It makes a movie seem more honest.