Today is Friday the 13th!

Tomorrow is Saturday the 14th!

"So what?" you say? Here's one instance in which the 14th is much more important than the 13th:

The Academy of Motion Picture Sciences is presenting Roger Corman with an Honorary Oscar! Lauren Becall and cinematographer Gordon Willis are also being honored. These special awards will be mentioned in the Oscar telecast in the spring, but won't be shown because the Academy changed the rules so that there will be TEN Best Picture nominees.

I kid you not when I say I grew up on Roger Corman films. Back in the stone age, before DVD, VHS or even cable, we had to rely on whatever syndicated package of movies our local TV stations bought. My salvation was Channel 29, broadcasting from Grand Island, NY, outside Buffalo. Since cobbled up by FOX, Channel 29 was the home to ULTRA MAN, ASTRO BOY, MARINE BOY, THE MUNSTERS and THE PATTY DUKE SHOW; in short, it was the equivalent of TV Land today. Best of all was SCI FI THEATRE, which showed such Corman "B" films as THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES, DAY THE WORLD ENDED, IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, and ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES. These were the flicks I was exposed to while other kids across the country got the Universal classics.

But Corman will be remembered for his best films, not his worst. Specifically such Edgar Allen Poe, and Poe-influenced, classics as HOUSE OF USHER, PIT AND THE PENDULUM, THE RAVEN, PREMATURE BURIAL, TALES OF TERROR, THE HAUNTED PALACE, and THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH. Films that were stylish, classy, and sometimes humorous. Add to that list LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, DEMENTIA 13, VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET, QUEEN OF BLOOD, THE DUNWICH HORROR, a bunch of influential biker pictures, andthe acid classic THE TRIP, and you'll see why he earned the title "King of the B's." In the 1970s, as the head of New World Pictures, he either produced, directed, or distributed a slew of exploitation hits: DEATH RACE 2000, CAGED HEAT, BOXCAR BIRTHA, CANDY STRIPE NURSES, BIG BAD MAMA, PIRANHA, SAINT JACK, ROCK'N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, GALAXY OF TERROR, CHOPPING MALL, STRIPPED TO KIll... his IMDB page lists 385 credits just as producer! His greatest collaborations were with Richard Matheson and Vincent Price.

Corman will also be remebered as a man who gave scores of filmmakers their breaks in Hollywood, including Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante, Kat Shea and many others. Talk about a one man industry! Notoriously cheap as a producer and efficient as a director, Corman has undeniably been one of the great forces in independent film. He's also acted a few times, usually for his grateful proteges: SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE GODFATHER PART II, SWING SHIFT, PHILADELPHIA, SCREAM 3, APOLLO 13, THE HOWLING, and RACHEL GETTING MARRIED. And he's still at it! He recently produced the Joe Dante-directed webseries SPLATTER starring Cory Feldman.

CONGRATULATIONS, ROGER CORMAN - AND THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WORLDS OF FILMMAKING, HORROR, SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY!