Corman's World (2011)

Waste of time

As Good As It Gets

A Major Disappointment

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Great documentary about writer/producer/director Roger Corman who has been making low low LOW budget films since the 1950s..and always turned a profit. He also gave a lot of actors and directors their first big breaks. Mostly all of them are interviewed for this film--Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, Jonathan Demme, Bruce Dern, Robert DeNiro, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Ron Howard, Jack Nicholson (who breaks down in tears at one point), Martin Scorsese and William Shatner. It also chronicles how his movie changed how movies were marketed, how he did risky films no one would touch and changed the face of independent filmmaking. There's also some humorous behind-the-scenes footage. My favorite parts had to him laughing while discussing "The Terror" and how his favorite film ("The Intruder") actually lost money. There's surprisingly not much footage from the films themselves. Most of it consists of interviews. It's fast and funny and I must-see for film lovers. A 10 all the way.

One of the most under-appreciated innovators in cinema history, Roger Corman, is given the celebration he deserves here. Most commonly given the tag of the 'king of the B-movies', it is often criminally ignored just how much influence Roger Corman had on the industry, and how many major industry players he set up in the game. Of course, his filmography as director and producers is possibly around 95% crap, but Corman is the king of reminding just what fun we can have at the movies, regardless of whether we're watching a rubber shark, an attack of crab monsters, or a sexy girl in knee-high boots firing a machine gun.All the big names he's helped promote in his career are on interviewee duty, namely Jack Nicholson, Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese, David Carradine and Ron Howard. Even though most of them will be completely embarrassed with the work they did under Corman, their gratitude and appreciation for the man who set them up, and even gave them artistic license is embedded into their faces. One especially touching scene sees Jack Nicholson break down whilst reflecting on his early career with Corman, and how a fresh-faced kid with apparently little hope in the industry was given more lead roles than he perhaps deserved, and even offered writing opportunities later on with The Terror (1963) and The Trip (1967).His tale is told chronologically (after a visit to the set of his then- latest film Dinoshark (2010)), beginning in the 50's when he was a reader of new scripts, and later a self-styled director/producer when he didn't receive the recognition he deserved after recommending the successful The Gunfighter (1950). He rolled out cheap double-bills such as Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954), Swamp Women (1955), and the hilarious-looking It Conquered the World (1956), but it wouldn't be until the 1960's when Corman would make his mark. His numerous Edgar Allen Poe adaptations received critical acclaim, and he would become a counter-culture icon with biker movie The Wild Angels (1966) and drug movie The Trip. He also bought and screened art-house classics such as Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers (1972) to the drive-in audience, and even strived to make a 'proper' film with The Intruder (1962), a film about social segregation starring, er, William Shatner.I know I'm mainly talking about the career of Roger Corman rather than actually reviewing the film, but that's probably the best thing about this documentary. Corman's story is all the film needed to be entertaining, as it remains refreshingly unfussy throughout and allows the often fascinating talking heads (which also include Bruce Dern, Joe Dante, Robert DeNiro, Dick Miller, Jonathan Demme and Pam Grier) to simply tell the story. After being told such a story, the climax that sees Corman collect his long-overdue Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, is suitably, an inevitably, very moving. Director Alex Stapleton has hardly re-defined documentaries here, but with such a likable and fascinating subject, it remains highly informative, fun, touching, and entertaining.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Even while I truly enjoyed watching this documentary, I still felt somewhat disappointed by the end. Something was missing.I often love watching dumb, low-budget B-movies, no matter how bad they are. It's sort of relaxing to watch and helps to make you forget all your sorrows for a short while. Besides, the thing about B-movies is that it keeps reminding you about it how complex and painstaking the movie making process actually is. With good and big budgeted movies you can't really see how the movie got made but with B-movies you notice every little detail. Every piece of bad dialog becomes more notable, editing, camera-positioning, storytelling, acting is often so simplistic and lacking that it makes you appreciate the art, passion and talent that often goes into making a movie. When it's done right, you hardly pay attention to it but when it's done poorly, you all suddenly start to realize this and appreciate and respect the movie making business all the more.And Roger Corman is everywhere- and by everyone regarded as the king of B-movies. No wonder, since his movies are pretty much form the definition of a B-movie; cheap, simplistic and they got put together as fast as possible, even if there isn't a completely finished script to work with. And not only that, it is hard to find a film-maker with more movies behind his or her name. He has produced over 400 movies in the past 7 decades and directed over 50.And this is a documentary about the film-maker Roger Corman and his methods of filmmaking and about his views on the industry. So don't expect an insightful documentary about the man behind the film-maker. In that regard this really isn't a documentary that goes deep into things but that doesn't mean that it also doesn't have plenty of different stuff to offer.No doubt that you'll still learn a lot from this documentary and makes you realize what Corman has done for the industry and how his movies and his style of film-making have influenced the business and helped to give many film-makers a boost. Many people that normally wouldn't had been given a chance in the industry started out their careers with Corman's movies. I'm not just talking about actors but also lots of people involved with the work behind the cameras. Many of them actually grew out to become big names in the industry as well, such as James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante, Ron Howard, Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper, Talia Shire, Sandra Bullock, Robert De Niro, David Carradine and William Shatner. Some of them participate in this documentary as well, which makes you realize all the more what Corman and his movies must have meant for them.The whole documentary is presented as a light and fun one to watch. It never gets too serious and when it does, there is something to laugh about 5 seconds later again. This ensures that the entire documentary remains pleasant to watch but I surely wouldn't had minded some more depth and also some more focus on the negative aspects at times. You feel that this movie is mostly being a tribute to Corman and his work, over the many decades. Perhaps the documentary would had featured some more depth and feeling to it if it was about 30 minutes longer. Normally a documentary of movie can feel to long but in this case it could had truly benefited from a longer running time. I don't have the feeling that this documentary told the entire story and especially the ending, when Corman receives an honorary academy award feels very rushed, as if it got put into the documentary at the very last moment.It's still good and fun to watch, especially when you are a Roger Corman enthusiast but it's lacking a bit of depth and substance at time.7/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Hail! Hail! King of the B's Cannes favourite 'Corman's World' is a heart-warming portrait of one of the true greats of American independent cinema, the champion of outlaws, freaks and fools and the master of the macabre. All the more touching as numerous interviews and testimonies paint a picture of a curious man indeed: not a dark twisted soul but a warm and genteel man with a wonderfully warped and fertile imagination. What's more astonishing is the dazzlingly array of aspiring filmmakers and actors he mentored during the 60's and 70's. Reading like a Who's Who's of the golden age of the American auteur, Peter Bogdanovich, Peter Fonda, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, Robert De Niro and David Carradine, amongst many others, all pay tribute here, including a tearful Jack Nicholson.Beginning in the 50's as a story analyst at 20th Century Fox, Corman moved into writing, eventually selling scripts to fund his own productions for the burgeoning American Independent Pictures. His debut 'Monster From the Ocean Floor' in 1954 was the start of a prolific production output, with increasing forays into directing, notably 'Little Shop of Horrors' shot in only 2 days! Corman really made his mark in the 60's. A series of classic Edgar Allan Poe adaptations featuring the splendidly cast Vincent Price define his legacy but the maverick Corman was often making use of down time and vacant sets to pursue other projects during this period. Most notable was the 1963 piece of Gothic absurd-ism, 'The Terror', using sets from 'The Raven'. Proceeding with barely plot, nor script, a shoe string cast including Nicholson and an ageing Boris Karloff, the disparate visions of four different directors contributed to this chaotic opus, including a young Francis Ford Coppola and even Nicholson, who recalls this curious episode.The 60's also saw critical acclaim for Corman, tackling themes such as racism in the segregated south in 'The Intruder' and counter culture movements in the 'The Wild Angels' and 'The Trip' but the 70's heralded changes for Corman and he looks back on this era with a hint of melancholy. With the release of 'Jaws' and then 'Star Wars' the big studios finally caught up with the B's. Schlock horror from the deep and invaders from space were now big budget and Corman was once more an outsider and destined for the straight-to-video market in the coming decade but before taking a back seat, Corman's masterstroke was to spot the black comedy of the rubber shark and raise the stakes with 'Piranha' in 1978.The denouement sees Corman still active today, well into his eighties, on the set of the self-explanatory gore-fest 'Dinoshark'. His output has barely abated since the 70's but he takes an increasingly hands-off executive role these days. He remains ever philosophical, contented and visibly touched by the receipt of an honorary Academy Award in 2009. His calm and collected bizarre genius is deeply uplifting and I'd recommend anyone take a trip into Corman's World.