Author: King of the Island

Little Shop of Horrors

Little Shop of Horrors VHS cover art. Movie starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin. With Tichina Arnold, Tisha Campbell-Martin, James Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray. Directed by Frank Oz. 1986.

Little Shop of Horrors on VHS. Starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin. With Tichina Arnold, Tisha Campbell-Martin, James Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray. Directed by Frank Oz. 1986.

From the box:

“The looniest, nuttiest, most outrageous movie musical comedy in years.”

Business is blooming at Mushnik’s Flower Shop. Customers are rushing in to see the exotic potted plant called Audrey II. But if they knew the truth, they’d rush right out. Audrey II is more vampire than vegetable. It’s a “mean, green mother from outer space” who’s about to fill Mushnik’s little shop with kooky horrors.

DVD Upgrade: Little Shop of Horrors: The Director’s Cut

Read The Paperback: Little Shop of Horrors Paperback

Listen To The Soundtrack: Little Shop Of Horrors (1986 Film)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Planes, Trains and Automobiles VHS cover art. Movie starring Steve Martin, John Candy. With Laila Robins, Olivia Burnette, Kevin Bacon, Diana Castle, Michael McKean. Written and directed by John Hughes. 1987.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles on VHS. Starring Steve Martin, John Candy. With Laila Robins, Olivia Burnette, Kevin Bacon, Diana Castle, Michael McKean. Written and directed by John Hughes. 1987.

From the box:

Neal Page is an advertising executive who just wants to fly home to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family. But all Neal Page gets is misery. Misery named Del Griffith — a loud mouthed, but nevertheless loveable, salesman who leads Neal on a cross-country, wild goose chase that keeps Neal from tasting his turkey.

DVD Upgrade: Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Those Aren’t Pillows Edition)

Pushing Tin

Pushing Tin VHS cover art. Movie starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton. With Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, Jake Weber. Directed by Mike Newell. 1999.

Pushing Tin on VHS. Starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton. With Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, Jake Weber. Directed by Mike Newell. 1999.

From the box:

“A High-Flying Comedy”

In the tradition of Grosse Point Blank comes an unconventional comedy about two air traffic controllers whose intense rivalry and penchant for one-upmanship causes hilarious havoc with their careers, their marriages–and the planes in their airspace!

Nick Falzone (John Cusack) is the busiest, and the best, air traffic controller on Long Island — until Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton) roars into town like a motorcycle-riding cowboy. Fueled by caffeine and machismo, the two men embark upon an uproarious contest of wit and wills that can ultimately only have one winner.

DVD Upgrade: Pushing Tin

Instant Rental: Pushing Tin

Better Off Dead

Better Off Dead VHS cover art. Movie starring Starring John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Diane Franklin, Kim Darby. With Curtis Armstrong, Demian Slade, Amanda Wyss. Directed by Savage Steve Holland. 1985.

Better Off Dead on VHS. Starring Starring John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Diane Franklin, Kim Darby. With Curtis Armstrong, Demian Slade, Amanda Wyss. Directed by Savage Steve Holland. 1985.

From the box:

Teenage life has never been darker… or funnier.

After his girlfriend (Amanda Wyss) ditches him for a boorish ski jock, Lane (John Cusack) decides that suicide is the only answer. However, his increasingly inept attempts bring him only more and more agony and embarrassment. Filled with the wildest teen nightmares, a family you can’t help but identify with and a host of wonderful comic characters, Savage Steve Holland’s directorial debut is a masterful look at those painfully funny teen years.

DVD Upgrade: Better Off Dead

Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich VHS cover art. Movie starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener. With John Malkovich, Ned Bellamy, Mary Kay Place, Orson Bean. Directed by Spike Jonze. 1999.

Being John Malkovich on VHS. Starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener. With John Malkovich, Ned Bellamy, Mary Kay Place, Orson Bean. Directed by Spike Jonze. 1999.

From the box:

Ever want to be someone else? Now you can.

[obscured by sticker] …clerk. One day he accidentally discovers a door — a portal into the brain of John Malkovich (played by John Malkovich)! For 15 minutes, he experiences the ultimate head trip–HE is being John Malkovich! Then he’s dumped onto the New Jersey turnpike! With his beautiful office mate Maxine (Catherine Keener) and his pet-obsessed wife (Cameron Diaz), they hatch a plan to let others into John’s brain for just $200 a trip.

DVD Upgrade: Being John Malkovich

Sleepy Heads

Sleepy Heads VHS cover art. Movie starring Eugene Nomura, Toshiya Nagasawa, Takihiro Fujita, Nick Feyz, Sayuri Higuchi Emerson. Directed by Yoshifumi Hosoya. 1997.

Sleepy Heads on VHS. Starring Eugene Nomura, Toshiya Nagasawa, Takihiro Fujita, Nick Feyz, Sayuri Higuchi Emerson. Directed by Yoshifumi Hosoya. 1997.

From the box:

“A cross between ‘Stranger Than Paradise’ and ‘After Hours.'”

24 hours to escape the mob, fall in love, and bury his dead friend’s body.

Sleepy Heads is a comedy about young Japanese living in NYC caught between two different cultures. It portrays their dreams and struggles and the differences between young Japanese.

DVD Upgrade: Sleepy Heads

Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow VHS cover art. Movie starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci. With Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Christopher Walken, Christopher Lee. Directed by Tim Burton. 1999.

Sleepy Hollow on VHS. Starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci. With Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Christopher Walken, Christopher Lee. Directed by Tim Burton. 1999.

From the box:

A Tim Burton Film

Master storyteller Tim Burton weaves an eerie, enchanting version of this classic tale of horror. Johnny Depp is Ichabod Crane, an eccentric investigator determined to stop the murderous Headless Horseman. Christina Ricci is Katrina Van Tassel, the beautiful and mysterious girl with secret ties to the supernatural terror.

DVD Upgrade: Sleepy Hollow

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead VHS cover art. Movie starring Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Malcolm McDowell, Jamie Foreman. Directed by Mike Hodges. 2003.

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead on VHS. Starring Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Malcolm McDowell, Jamie Foreman. Directed by Mike Hodges. 2003.

From the box:

The hypnotic thriller from the director of Croupier and the classic Get Carter

“One of the best crime movies of the year” — Roger Ebert, Ebert & Roeper

Ex-gangster Will Graham (Clive Owen) thought he had gained back his soul by leaving the hard-boiled life of the criminal underworld behind him and taking on the life of a drifter. When he learns that his younger brother is found dead of a gruesome suicide, Will comes back to town and discovers that his death was motivated by a shocking event involving a local car dealer with a violent habit.

To get vengeance against the man responsible, Will must deal with the unfinished business of his old life which includes a feud with the local crime boss and lingering feelings for an old flame.

DVD Upgrade: I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead

Instant Rental: I’Ll Sleep When I’M Dead

Frida, Naturaleza Viva

Frida, Naturaleza Viva aka Frida, Still Life VHS cover art. Biography starring Ofelia Medina, Juan José Gurrola, Max Kerlow. Directed by Paul Leduc. 1986.

Frida, Naturaleza Viva aka Frida, Still Life on VHS. Starring Ofelia Medina, Juan José Gurrola, Max Kerlow. Directed by Paul Leduc. 1986.

From the box:

She risked her life for her art, and became one of the greatest painters of the 20th century.

First Prize — Havana Film Festival

On her deathbed artist Frida Kahlo conjures up images and memories of her life as a painter, revolutionary and woman of the world. Her stormy relationship with muralist Diego Rivera, her tender hospitality for an exiled Leon Trotsky, her struggle for acceptance as an artist, her affairs with David Siquerios and others, and the travail of her illness and injuries are all recalled in a style reminiscent of her own work, simultaneously sophisticated and primitive, flamboyant and delicate.

DVD Upgrade: Frida – Naturaleza Viva

Drowning By Numbers

Drowning By Numbers VHS cover art. Movie starring Bernard Hill, Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, Joely Richardson. With Jason Edwards. Written and directed by Peter Greenaway. 1988.

Drowning By Numbers on VHS. Starring Bernard Hill, Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, Joely Richardson. With Jason Edwards. Written and directed by Peter Greenaway. 1988.

From the box:

Three women who have the same name methodically rid themselves of unwanted husbands in Peter Greenaway’s visually dazzling mixture of metaphors and murder. When Cissie 1 (Joan Plowright) finds her husband with another woman, she impulsively drowns him in a bathtub. Her daughter, Cissie 2 (Juliet Stevenson), later drowns her husband at sea, and Cissie 3 (Joely Richardson) ultimately dispatches hers in a community swimming pool. The local coroner, Madgett (Bernard Hill), who’s an obsessive game player, agrees to declare the deaths accidental drownings in return for sexual favors. But when things don’t go exactly as planned, Madgett devises a final game that could be the undoing of them all, in the surprising climax of this fascinating film from the director of “The Thief, The Cook, His Wife and Her Lover.”

DVD Upgrade: Drowning By Numbers