Roger Corman has died and we are lessened.
The man literally changed the world because he influenced filmmakers across the world- if there was no Corman Hollywood and world cinema would look different.
Yes, most of Hollywood from the 60's through today have a connection to him in one way or another (You don't need me to list the filmmakers) - but he was the guy bringing in so many foreign films into the US that he assured that Americans would eventually fall in love with world cinema. He brought in Bergman, Fellini and dozens of other directors other to America and made sure they were seen. He truly opened up the eyes of Hollywood to cinema outside of US shores... and made sure the films were subtitled- at a time most people only knew dubbed exploitation fare. His love of cinema infected others and other distributors were born. Cconsider Corman also gave a start to Menaham Golan who took Corman's lessons world wide with Cannon Films.
His love of both high art and exploitation helped me to love all cinema equally without guilt- regardless of where or what it was. It was all movies of equal weight with the only thing that mattered being how much we enjoyed the stories we were being told.
He also helped me understand budget didn't matter as long as you told a good story and sold it, it could look weak if we liked the characters.
He was a hell of a man to listen to. I saw him speak twice. The first time at the New Yorker Fest he greeted everyone leaving his talk and would sign and take pictures with whomever asked. I was too awe struck to say anything but hello.
Corman was the first film maker I discovered on my own. Where other great directors were talked about, Corman was my own discovery as I realized his connection to all the films I was seeing and loving. That may sound odd now but in the early 70's when I discovered "movies" he was still largely seen as a business man, and a schlock filmmaker - his rep was only beginning to change on a larger scale as his students began to really shake up Hollywood and people were looking back not at his individual films but at the massive body of work he created. He was more than the guy who did the Poe films. Even as 9 or 10 year old I could see there was more than monster films to this guy.
The man maybe gone but his films live on.
In the end I see him as the Mr Chips of cinema a man whose legacy is not in the small body of the "exploitation" films he left behind but in the thousands of children he brought into the world, who may have won every award under the sun and have, but most importantly brought enjoyment and hope to the world.
Hey TCM- I hope when you do your tribute to Roger Corman, you do it for multiple nights- One for the films he made, one for the films he produced, one for the films he imported (he brought a lot of foreign films and filmmakers to America), and one for the directors/performers who started with him.
God speed good sir.
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| Probably my favorite Corman film |
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FROSTED is a terrible movie.
It’s a vanity show piece wrecked by writer director and star Jerry Seinfeld who cut it together so it plays like one his rjokes repeated for 90 minutes (not to mention his complete inability to act). There is a good film possible from the subject but the presentation and Seinfeld's inability to make a real film just doesn’t work.
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This week we will be covering Cannes. I have a bunch of films reviewed. Some of them are spectacularly good. I’m not certain how many reviews I’ll will have since the films are coming in at random rate.
After Cannes we should be having coverage of Lincoln Centers Open Roads. I’ll have a full on curtain raiser but buy tickets. I’ve seen a bunch of the films already and enjoyed the hell out of everything that I’ve seen. I think the series is one of the great hidden gem of New York since over the decade and a bit that I’ve been covering it I have almost never seen a stinker.
Go buy tickets.
I will then slide from Italy for Open Roads into Tribeca
I’ve only seen a couple of films so I can’t comment. I have to get other things out of the way before I dive in…
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A big hug to everyone at the
Mahoning Drive In. I was thinking about your loss and sending out good vibes toward your rescheduled opening weekend.
For those that don’t know Jeff Mattox the owner and projectionist of the drive in passed away during a medical procedure and they had to postpone the opening weekend.
The pushing back of their season resulted in rescheduling of several weekends so please check the website if you have any tickets for any of their shows.
The website can be found here.
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Lastly this is one of my favorite posters of all time- its for the last film that Roger Corman directed according to IMDB
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