Roger Corman sat down to talk with a group of bloggers and journalists at Comic Con 2012, and what we got was a lesson in how the decision to make a 3D film can take even a legendary filmmaker down a path he didn’t expect. Corman, an Academy Award winning American film producer (Honorary Academy Award in 2009) said that what he didn’t anticipate was “having to recalibrate the 3D lenses after every shot” because of the design of the instruments and the fact that he elected to shoot Attack Of The 50ft Cheerleader in true 3D.
The idea for the movie wasn’t his, surprisingly. “They gave me a topic,” he said, and he was asked to fill in the blanks. The topic was the “Attack Of The 50ft Cheerleader” – one that EPIX, the movie producer with Corman, seemed perfect for him.
But unlike my observation that the movie was a statement on strong women, Corman corrected me “There is that, but it’s really done for pure entertainment.” Still, Corman, who’s known for the Attack Of The 50ft Woman, Frankenstein Unbound, The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, and other legendary works, is also known for writing movies that don’t have weak women in them. Indeed, they’re strong and also sexy.
On that, Corman notes this is the first movie he’s created that has nudity in it. “I don’t know why,” he says, but points to the changing times such that the Internet offers images more racy than anything appearing in Playboy Magazine of the 1960s. So, to make EPIX happy, as they wanted a scene where one of the giant cheerleaders, played by Jena Sims and Olivia Alexander, basically pops out of her bra top, he made four versions of the film, some with nudity, others without.
Here’s the trailer; you’ll see what I mean:
Oh, here’s the interview with Sims and Alexander:
A Legend At Comic Con
The only negative part of our time with Roger Corman was we didn’t have enough of it – seven minutes. It’s a rare treat to be in the company of a person who’s “doing what I love and getting paid for it” and has achieved legendary status in American Culture.
Stay tuned.