Jack Nicholson was shown on the Academy Awards about a dozen times last night. Ron Howard & Sylvester Stallone were each shown a handful of times, as well. These well-known industry heavyweights have a strong connection to someone who was left out of the memoriam montage last night... Charles B. Griffith.

Ron Howard's directorial career was created by a deal he made with Roger Corman. In exchange for starring in Charles B. Griffith's written & directed "Eat my Dust" Corman agreed to finance the Howard written & directed "Grand Theft Auto." Mr. Griffith was Corman's main (and best) go-to guy for screenplays. 

Mr. Griffith penned the original script for "Little Shop of Horrors"  which was the second movie that Jack Nicholson appeared in, as the masochistic dental patient, and which Chuck himself voiced the famous lines of Audrey Jr. (the man-eating plant).  He also co-wrote "Deathrace 2000" featuring David Carradine & Sylvester Stallone - a reference to Carradine's character is made in Quentin Tarrantino's  "Death Proof" (in the hospital scene, Texas Ranger McGraw refers to Stuntman Mike as Frankenstein).

 Chuck has often been referred to as the father of American black comedy and no truer words have been said. What I can't understand is that with the passing of this great writer and with his passing in September of 2007, why was he not featured in the memoriam video?

 That'll be the one major Oscar snub of this year, in my books.