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This book was real, not the run of the mill celebrity biography expose. It made me laugh and it made me cry, and it touched on every emotion in between. It's one of the best books I have ever read. But I haven't read such diametrically different reviews since Valley of the Dolls. Which, by the way, sold more books than the Bible the year it came out.

If author Morris Walker never writes another book, he has made a great contribution to the history of comedy by documenting Steve Martin's life through his own personal close friendship with him. You know when you read it that it's the absolute truth and that's hard to convey with simple words.

Steve Martin is lucky to have a friend like this guy.

First, let me start off by saying that I am a HUGE Steve Martin fan and that I had very high hopes for this book. I had never seen a bio on Steve Martin before, and when I saw that this was more about how he got started with comedy and magic, I was really excited.

But half-way through the book, I found myself bored and confused. For example, the author starts off one chapter by saying that Steve Martin makes a lot of money (he seems almost obsessed with the subject of money and how much of it Mr. Martin makes) and then a few paragraphs later, says how "Steve doesn't like to discuss money". Then only a few paragraphs later talks about how much it costs Steve Martin to live each year ($... million he says)...then says how private Steve Martin is about his money. All of these contradictions within a few paragraphs of each other.

Also, we all realize that the author and Steve Martin were good friends growing up...we don't need to hear about it every other paragraph. It's as if the author feels like he needs to prove it to us every page...like we don't belive him or something. This man has something to prove and we as readers have to pay for it. I got the feeling that the author had been telling these stories at parties for the past 20 years and no one belived that he knew Steve Martin so to get back at them, he wrote a book and put a big picture of the two of them on the back cover.

All this being said, there are some good stories, and if you can get past the author, the subject matter is very interesting.

I loved this book, thank you!

Little Shop of Horrors is the funniest musical/black comedy ever made. It's so funny! Rick Moranis is great as Seymour Krelborn. Ellen Greene plays Audrey perfectly because she was also in the stage version. There are several guest apperances by: Steve Martin(the histarical dentist), James Belushi, John Candy, Christoper Guest, and Bill Murray. The film was directed by Frank Oz who did a fantastic job also. The music in the film is great.

The DVD has a lot of features which include: Commentary by director Frank Oz, outtakes, gags, behind the scenes footage, Making of feature, theatrical trailers, cast bios, and more. The picture isn't the best but the sound is really good. Overall the DVD is A work.

Little Shop of Horrors is about a guy named Seymour, who works at a plant shop that doesn't get a lot of customers. He likes his coworker, Audrey, a lot but shes dating a lunatic of a dentist(Steve Martin) who beats on Audrey, but since he's a "professional" she won't leave him. The boss of the shop is about to close the shop when Seymour shows him the strange plant that he got from the market. He puts it in the window and the boss doesn't think it's going to work. Then a man comes in asking about the plant. Seymour tells him and then the man asks if they can spilt a hundred so he can get 50 roses. The boss says no and the man decides to buy 100 roses. Finally some money for Mushnik's Flower Shop.

The film goes on to show what happens to the plant, Seymour, Audrey, and Mushnik's. Be sure to check this film out becuase it shows people dont have to act stupid in a movie to get laughs. The film is 94 minutes long on a widescreen DVD. Also its PG-13 for some violence. I hope you like this film as much as I and many other people did. Thanks

Frank Oz's masterpiece of Roger Corman's B- Schlock Horror movie of the same name. Originally produced off broadway, it had a very successful run. So... What is Hollywood to do but make it into a blockbuster with big name stars and cameos.

Ellen Greene as the plucky Audrey, who also played the part on stage, Steve Martin as the sado-masochistic Dr. Orin Scrivello, DDS, Rick Moranis as the milquetoast Seymour, Vincent Gardenia as the crusty Mr. Mushnik & the voice of Levi Stubbs as the people-eating, mean green mother from outer-space, Audrey II.

Bill Murray has a hilarious cameo as Arthur Denton, the pain loving dental patient. He screams CANDY BAAAAR whilst the dentist inflicts pain upon him! John Candy cameo as the radio announcer, Wink Wilkinson, Jim Belushi as Patrick Martin, Christopher Guest as the first flower shop customer.

Great musical numbers from all, especially Ellen Greene who has one of the best set of pipes EVER!

Great family movie with only mildly irreverent language.

Happy Watching!

Can you imagine Barbra Streisand in this film as Audrey? Although everyone familiar with this movie (and stage musical) immediatly sees Ellen Green in the part, we find out from the documentary on this disc that Babs was offered the role first. Thankfully she wasn't interested.
The film itself is the best stage-to-screen musical adapt. since Grease and none (even Chicago) have since come along to beat it. The music by Alan Menken and the lyrics by the late, great Howard Ashman are fantastically intertwined to evoke laughs as much as the required early-1960's atmosphere. This talented duo went on to score Disney's The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and (in part, due to Ashman's death) Aladdin. When listening to Little Shop's Somewhere That's Green it's easy to see where Mermaid's Part of Your World came from.
The cast are uniformly excellent and succeeded in making their parts their own (meaning that any production now seen on stage features clones of Moranis, Green, Martin etc.). Rick Moranis as Seymour seems to have been born to play the part and his singing voice comes as something of a revelation! Green, as I have already said, IS Audrey but Steve Martin just about manages to steal the entire film from all of them in an extended cameo as Orin the sadistic dentist. Other cameos include James Belushi, John Candy and (brilliantly) Bill Murray.
Audrey II (the plant) is a wonder of engineering and puppetry and watching the film now, I couldn't help but think that if this movie was made today Audrey II would be CGI - impact lost! Thank goodness then, that Frank Oz, director and some-time Muppet-man, gathered a group of talented people together to create a truly startling character. Although the character would be nothing without Levi Stubbs so wonderfully providing his voice.
Wisely it was decided to change the ending from the stage shows bleak (and, frankly, poor) conclusion to a more up-beat and 'Hollywood-style' finale. The original ending is glimpsed in the all-too-short deleted scenes section of this disc, as a couple of Audrey IIs attack a building, but it would have been nice to see the scene in tact perhaps with an option to swap it for the actual ending when watching the film. Also the inclusion of 'Mean, Green Mother' really helps the second half of the film which sadly sags in the show due to the absence of such a show-stopping number.
The 'making of' was made of the time and so is light and fluffy. I would have prefered a little more depth on the realisation of Audrey II. The trailers are worth watching - mini masterpieces of campy kitch but Oz's commentary is a little on the ponderous side.
So, in conclusion, the extras are acceptable if a little dull, but who needs extras when the film is as thoroughly enjoyable and toe-tapping as this! Just remember: - whatever they offer you - don't feed the plants.