Ever see a Joe Dante movie \u2013 maybe Gremlins or Rock \u2019n\u2019 Roll High School? Or perhaps The Terminator, or Scorsese\u2019s After Hours? If you\u2019ve seen any of these movies \u2026 or most any Roger Corman film, then you\u2019ve seen Dick Miller.<\/p>\n
Miller is the B player who brings the verve to every movie he\u2019s in. His presence automatically makes every film better; he\u2019s the character actor who adds the plus to every B movie he graces. Much like dynamite backup singers in this year\u2019s Oscar-winning doc, 20 Feet From Stardom, Miller\u2019s the unheralded performer who elevates the whole show.<\/p>\n
This admiring doc by Elijah Drenner, the director of previous SXSW entry American Grindhouse, is at its best when it allows the Miller and his wife Lainie (also a producer of the film) talk. Oh, there are interviews \u2013 with family members; key filmmakers like John Sayles, Jonathan Kaplan, and the aforementioned Dante and Corman; and the actors Mary Woronov, Robert Forster, Jonathan Haze, and Corey Feldman (whom Miller once scolded, \u201cShut up, kid. We\u2019re trying to act here.\u201d). You can see that Miller still smarts from his scene being cut out of Pulp Fiction by Tarantino; marvel that he came to Hollywood to be a screenwriter and still has a drawer full of unmade screenplays; admire the working actor who never says no to a part; and come away infused with Dick Miller\u2019s words of wisdom: \u201cBite the monkey.\u201d