Roger Corman’s contributions have been unmatched by most Hollywood directors, and sadly he’s become a mostly unappreciated presence in filmmaking. As viewed in “Corman’s World,” Roger Corman is one of the most ambitious but very money conscious filmmakers that’s managed to build an entire legacy out of creating entertainment on low budgets, while discovering some of the best filmmakers of all time. From giving Martin Scorsese and Peter Bogdonavich their breaks, to teaching Ron Howard how to direct around limited resources, Roger Corman has been a wizard of giving studios what they want, and doing it his way.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Different Drum (2014)
I had such a good time with Kevin Chenault’s road trip dramedy. It’s spewing indie flavor with a lot of its narrative very much in the vein of Wes Anderson. It’s surreal without ever being pretentious, and it’s about two wandering souls questioning their own lives, but never gets saccharine at any moment. I was just won over by minute one, and had a great time watching these two individuals face a harsh world side by side, and travel in to a weird land.
The Witch (2013)
Director Jason Shurkey’s “The Witch” is light on story and narrative, but it’s a good student film, nevertheless. It garners some really tight editing and an atmosphere that make it a Gothic short horror film that’s very much worth experimenting with. Director Shurkey really knows how to develop a tone from the outset, and follows through with a surreal horror film.
Afflicted (2014)
Clif Prowse and Derek Lee’s “Afflicted” is a mix of “Innocent Blood,” and Cronenberg’s “The Fly,” with a hefty injection of “Chronicle.” It’s rife with cliches, predictable plot twists, and is about ten minutes too long. But in spite of all of that, I’d definitely suggest “Afflicted” to horror fans. Because while it’s retreaded horror fodder, it’s well directed, tightly edited, and solidly performed horror fodder to say the least. I knew what was coming, but I was also very much invested in the characters. I also really enjoyed the special effects.
Beanstalk (1994)
Director Michael Davis’ “Beanstalk” has a lot of balls in the air. It wants to squeeze in so many ideas and sub-plots and can never find a proper way to bring them all in to one coherent kids film. There’s a boy named Jack who lives with his mother and discovers large beans that form a humongous beanstalk. Meanwhile, Jack’s mom is going to lose her house, prompting Jack and his mom to go homeless. Meanwhile, there’s a nutty doctor (Margot Kidder is barely recognizable) who believes the mother goose tales to be real, and is preparing to climb the beanstalk, while an evil land developer is planning to knock down the beanstalk, steal Jack’s house, and develop land over the his neighborhood. That’s a lot story, for a movie barely eighty minutes in length!
Bienvenida (Welcome) (2014)
Even in Mexico, opportunities are always there if you look hard enough. Director Chuy Sánchez apparently based his short film “Bienvenida” on real events, and though the film lacks a resolution, it has an interesting message about opportunity and chances. Elizabeth Valdez is very good as the young woman who ventures in to Mexico looking for a new life, and finds it is more difficult than she ever imagined.
Fargo (1996)
Leave it to the Coen Brothers to provide movie audiences with a crime heroine that we’d never really see coming at some of the worst criminals around. Marge Gunderson is not your typical gumshoe and probably never really desired to be one growing up. She’s a small town simple woman who is about to give birth to a baby, and only really works until she is able to head off to the hospital. But things go from mundane to extraordinary when what seems like a random series of homicides on a snowy road side turns in to a very disastrous plot to extort and embezzle money out of a car dealership.