"Corman’s World – Exploits Of A Hollywood Rebel" on BLU RAY – A Review Of The 2011 Alex Stapleton Documentary Film...

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"…Hassled By The Man!" – Corman's World on BLU RAY

Take a look at this list of Actors – Jack Nicholson, Tommy Lee Jones, Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern, William Shatner, Lee Van Cleef, Dick Miller, Charles Bronson, Vincent Price, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Harvey Keitel, David Carradine, Pam Grier and Mamie Van Doren… 

Or this list of Directors, Writers and Producers – Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, John Sayles, Joe Dante, Paul W.S. Anderson, Eli Roth, Quentin Tarantino, Jonathan Demme, Gale Anne Hurd and Francis Ford Coppola…

What have they all got in common? The answer is Producer, Writer, Director, Mentor, Career-Break Giver, Cheapskate and Sordid Exploitation B-Movie Legend - ROGER CORMAN. So why don’t you know this? Well that’s what Alex Stapleton’s 2011 documentary film "Corman's World" is about.

It begins in the late Forties with two horrid years in the American Navy where Cadet Roger William Corman from Detroit, Michigan wilfully goes up against every order and gets a ludicrously high amount of demerits. He cannot stand authority of any kind. Roger then takes a job for 8 weeks reading crappy scripts at 20th Century Fox – says screw this – and decides in 1954 to make a film of his own – a black and white called "Monster From The Ocean". He does everything himself and on a budget of nothing minus zero (they show hilarious footage of his glowing one-eyed monster) and our boy’s off and running. Some decades later and at the sprightly age of 82 - there’s a staggering 384 more films where they came from (and he’s Directed 55 of them). And in between all that our heros has managed to procure a loving and talented wife Julie and four kids…and millions of movie-going admirers (many of whom are now Industry giants).

What’s fascinating about this fabulous story is the huge number of genuine stars Corman knew and gave a break too – and who take time out to acknowledge this. Jack Nicholson in particular - who seems to owe his stunning career to the man – is so witty and self-deprecating that he’s worth the price of admission alone. Ron Howard is characteristically generous too (got his first Director’s spot under Corman) and has hilarious anecdotes about dangerous stunts in borrowed cars. Genius Writers and Directors John Sayles and Peter Bogdanovich give insightful glimpses into Corman’s sometimes cavalier yet utterly driven personality – always sticking it to 'the man'. While "Boxcar Bertha" gave Martin Scorsese and his troop of stunning actors an outing and the maestro his first Director’s Chair.

But what really tickles the funny bones is the endless parade of film clips - exploitation movies you haven’t seen in decades – or not at all. Most were made without safety or permits - where an explosion is pretty much mandatory – where crass is good – and if it can be made for less than the dollar price of Scrooge’s underwear – then that’s even better. Blood spatters, cleavage pops, hoodlums do what hoodlums do, monsters invade from outer space (Lee Van Cleef sorts out a mutant bug with a canister blowtorch), crocodiles chomp on limbs, massively endowed ladies ponce about on the planet Venus with telepathy but very few clothes…and cars eat people…all of it thoroughly delightful.

But in between all this B-Movie/Drive-In fodder are moments of breakthrough – 1962's "The Intruder" – a serious film about racism down South starring a first part for William Shatner that nearly got all involved killed. And while his flicks might have been the wrong side of pump-action nudity drivel – his tastes were for proper art-house films of the European and World schools. So Corman used his distribution company ‘New World Pictures’ to give Fellini, Bergman, Truffaut and Akira Kurosawa movies their only American releases.

Corman also made eight Edgar Allen Poe films with Vincent Price including "The Pit And The Pendulum", "The Masque Of The Red Death" and "The House Of Usher" which are now revered as classics of the Horror genre. He used genuine Hells Angels in the biker movie "The Wild Angels" (the character Heavenly Blues gives the quote that titles this review), spoke to the teenagers of America with the Sixties culture flick "The Trip" (popped LSD to be authentic) and followed that nugget with the biggest independent cult film hit of all time – "Easy Rider" - which made global superstars of Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper.

But not to leave crass behind - for the Seventies - we get the Downton Abbey pleasant "Women In Cages", the University Challenge brain-teaser "Death Race 2000", the very nice boy clean-haircuts of The Ramones in "Rock & Roll High School" and vein nibbling fishy in the artistically fulfilling "Piranha". What a man and what a life!

The 30-minutes of Bonus Features have extended interviews and special messages to the great man. Aspect ratio is Full Screen and of course varies with the Source while Audio is a Basic 2.0. There are no subtitles.

In some respects - to blab and reveal more - is to do you the viewer - an injustice. Suffice to say that "Corman's World" is one of those cool insider peeks at the history of 'alternate' movies and the independent side of Hollywood. But perhaps like the chipper curmudgeon himself – this wonderfully uplifting and funny documentary is largely unknown and criminally under-appreciated.

Juts don’t let this BLU RAY gem go unacknowledged in your household…or we may have to send some killer vixens around with chainsaws and open blouses…

“Angels & Demons” – A Review of the 2009 Movie on BLU RAY.

“…Of Course God Sent You…”

There’s probably millions of physicists, theologians and hugely academic types out there who can’t wait to poo poo “Angels & Demons” - the sequel to Dan Brown’s ludicrously successful book and movie - “The Da Vinci Code” – I’m not going to be one of them.

While you wouldn’t call it a “Bourne-like” masterpiece in terms of non-stop plot and thrills, A&D gets damn close – and almost all of the time. Sequel or stand alone – it’s a brilliantly executed movie – and far, far better than its predecessor ever was, entertaining the weary pants off of you with real style, skill and panache.

To start with - “Angels & Demons” has the magic triple whammy – a really great cast who can bring gravitas to any part they play, a fantastically well-adapted screenplay from great source material (AKIVA GOLDSMAN and DAVID KOEPP who are both Oscar winners and nominees) and the best entertainment Director in the movie business today - RON HOWARD. I mean the guy just delivers time after time after time - “Frost/Nixon”, “Cinderella Man” and “Apollo 13” are among his superb former credits.

It goes like this (and every word of the following is Gospel)… There’s a plot to bring down the Catholic Church and replace it with an order based on science rather than faith, which may or may not have something to do with the ancient and mysterious cult of THE ILLUMINATI. Despite being purged centuries back by scared zealots in the Catholic Church, these are powerful people still in high places who have remained undetected down through the ages by the modern world – patiently waiting for their time of revenge. And an experiment in Switzerland has given them that chance.

TOM HANKS is back as the permanently po-faced Professor Langdon summoned by a devout priest (EWAN McGREGOR) to the holy city of the Vatican in Rome to protect the Catholic Church at a time of Papal re-election. A slick assassin who is prepared to carry out grizzly acts of torture (played chillingly by NIKOLAJ LIE KAAS) is killing off high-ranking Catholic cardinals in a countdown to an apocalyptical ‘light’ that will consume the throne of Christ’s church on Earth. And wouldn’t you know it, but poor old butter-brains Langdon has only 4 hours to work it all out and stop the end of…well the world frankly… Luckily he is ably aided by a particle-analyst in the shape of the leggy AYELET ZURER (it's a scientific fact that all lab scientists look like this woman – I swear). And on it goes….

It’s all utter knob of course, but the historical linking of actual statues, churches and symbols all over the city make you believe every cleverly preposterous word of it. Throw in the brilliance of actors like ARMIN-MUELLER-STALH as a Cardinal who may become the next Fisherman and STELLAN SKARSGARD as the head of the Vatican Police who trusts no-one including his employers – and you have enough diversions, red herrings and word-like genius to make the men who make up the British Government’s balance of payments forecasts positively blush with envy. It’s brilliant stuff – it really is - and every scene is filled with it.

Locations are all ace - the catacombs under the streets, the reproduced airtight Vatican Archives and the ornate rooms in sumptuous buildings all help the stew too - and the BLU RAY picture (no pun intended) is immaculate throughout. The extras are extensive too and add to the experience nicely (a huge amount of effort involved).

Whether or not you consider all organised religion to be a corrupting force or the very bedrock on which civilized society is based is not going to get talked about too much in “Angels & Demons” – the film is far too busy entertaining you for all that stuff ‘n nonsense…

But even the Dan Brown doubters out there will get up from their comfy chairs, brush the crisps and curry off their shirts and say, “…that was damn good!”

Recommended.