Author: profwagstaff

The Death Of A Local Record Store – How The Internet’s Not Always Bringing Everyone Together

by profwagstaff

April 1st, 2012 marked the end of an era. Sundance Records And Tapes in San Marcos, TX closed its doors for good on that day after 34 years of business.

First, let me back up just a bit and tell you a little bit about myself. I’m a movie geek. I went to film school and learned all I could about directors, actors and writers while I was there. But I didn’t start there. I started learning all of that stuff while working at a video store. Yeah, it was a corporate store, but my co-workers and I did our best to make it not feel that way. I would say that 75% of what I know about movies, I learned from watching movies and talking to other movie geeks about what I had just watched.

Before that, though, I was a music guy. I basically did the same thing with my music, just without working at a music store. I listened to records, read the liner notes, found out about the artists’ influences, listened to those records, figured out what I really liked…all without the help of the internet. (That really came along a few years later.)

I never had a true “local record store” growing up. The closest thing that I probably could have had was Austin’s Waterloo Records, but they’ve always been a little expensive and, honestly, a little impersonal for a local store. I, unfortunately, went to Best Buy to get a lot of my music back in the day. I only wish that I had grown up with a place like Sundance. It took me until about two years ago to truly realize how awesome this place truly was.

The moment you walked into Sundance, you knew that you were walking into a Record Store (capital R, capital S). Not only did they have posters and cardboard stand-ups from bygone eras all over the store, but they had a “Wall Of Death” where they put obits of entertainment figures (including a pretty big one showing Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Brown and Stevie Wonder singing at Stevie Ray Vaughan’s funeral). The carpet was soft, but definitely trodden down by decades of music lovers. First and foremost, though, was the smell. Sundance smelled like a Record Store. That kind of patchouli incense smell that, at one time, probably tried to cover up another strong smell familiar to record store employees.

And here in lies the true difference between a record store and a Record Store: the employees. We have plenty of record stores in Austin, 20 miles north of San Marcos. Austin is one of the towns where they do really well. (I can think of five record stores just off the top of my head… even two real homegrown video stores.) Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to find any that I liked as much as Sundance. While I never really got to know any of the employees there, I had good conversations with just about every one of them, whether a college kid, a 20-something music lover or the 50-something manager who, after a brief stint of working there in the 80s, uprooted his new wife from Houston in the late 90s so that he could manage the store. As soon as I walked in the door, I would always be greeted with a big, “Hey man! How’s it goin’?” One time, while I was digging through their treasure trove of 60s records, the manager tapped me on the shoulder and waggled his finger for me to follow him. He then pointed me towards a bunch of records that had just come in. “I haven’t had a chance to put these out, but go through them real quick, see what you can find.” I ended up finding a copy of David Byrne and Brian Eno’s My Life With The Bush Of Ghosts, a vinyl treasure if ever there was one. When I brought that to the counter, he and I had a pretty good discussion on what all has come from that album.

And that, my friends, is what will truly be missed. As I said, there are a lot of record stores in Austin, but I’ve never had that kind of conversation with any of the employees at any of them. They definitely know their shit and, occasionally, they’ll comment on my purchase, but they’re not all that interested in what you know or getting into a real conversation. The folks at Sundance would always say something like, “The Decemberists! Man, they’re awesome. Ever hear of Fairpoint Convention?”, or when I bought The Lovin’ Spoonful’s first album, “Oh, man! Did we have Hums over there? This one’s great, but Hums is where it’s really at! Have you heard John Sebastian’s first solo album?!”

As much as we like to say that the internet has brought the world closer together (and I believe that it has in some ways), we’ll never get this kind of true interaction here. Not really. Sure, there are plenty of music websites that sort of do it, but not with personality or, well, ANYthing but clicks and links. All we will truly ever get from a website is a call and response sort of “If…then…” statement. A true Record Store or Video Store will never be replaced by a website.

It’s really sad to me that these stores are slowly fading into memory as people stop buying physical media. Sure, we’ll get the music however we can, whether it’s digital downloads or, in the future, some sort of holographic brain uplink. Who knows? But gone will be the days of actually talking to someone about music and having a true interaction with someone who has the same, but slightly different, taste as you. Instead of taking a record or tape or CD to a person who may have an emotional response to whatever artist you’re buying, you just click, click, click your way to new music. No true personal interaction needed.

That being said, the really interesting thing about Sundance closing is this: one of the employees told me that the vinyl sales were actually doing pretty good. It was the CDs that were draining their resources, taking up so much space that they couldn’t afford the rent where they were. That’s when I realized that I buy very few CDs these days. I mostly buy vinyl. (And, no, I don’t really download music, either. Most new artists I listen to on Spotify or some other online source. Yes, I’m part of the problem, unfortunately.)

Here’s my plea to you: don’t let these valuable resources die. Support your local Record Store anyway you can, especially in small towns. Maybe you only download music, but find some way to support these guys. Buy vinyl. Just go in and look around. Ask one of the employees for help finding more people like your favorite artists. BE INTERESTED IN MUSIC AGAIN! Don’t’ just listen to the top 40 bullshit and not pay attention to artists. That’s not what they want and, really, it’s not what you want.

Small, independent record/video/comic book stores are disappearing at a pretty alarming rate these days. It’s up to us to do something about this. Netflix and Spotify are all well and good, but we NEED to support the little guy, too. Without them, it’s all just ones and zeroes.

I leave you with some of the last words that the manager of Sundance said to me as I left his store with a stack of records: “Fuck yeah! You got some GREAT shit!”

You can’t get that from a website.

A Review of The Oscar Nominated Short Films

by profwagstaff

As much as I think that the Oscars can be kind of a joke, I still have a lot of fun predicting what’s going to happen and watching the increasingly long show of mutual masturbation of the entire film industry that happens towards the end of February.

This year, though, I’m kind of at a loss: I’ve seen exactly ONE of the Oscar movies (Benjamin Button). This means that my predictions have been pretty lame. I haven’t even been able to put any up on my site! What would I say? “Benjamin Button has this one…and this one…..and maybe this one? And Heath Ledger.”

Luckily, things are sort of aligning towards the end of Oscar season for me to actually see some of this stuff. The night before the Oscars, AMC is showing all five of the films in a marathon of emoting.

And a few days ago the Academy saw fit to put all of the shorts together so that we peons could watch them. Normally, I get to see a couple at festivals. But one of my festivals was canceled (for me, anyway), so I didn’t get to see as many as I usually do. Or did I?

Shorts are always a lot of fun. Sometimes they can pack just as much of an emotional wallop as a full-length feature. Sometimes, even more. And, as long as they don’t get too artsy with the animation, the animated shorts can be hilarious.

So, let’s get into those shorts, huh?

(There may be some spoilers here, so watch out. Consider this your warning.)

LIVE ACTION SHORTS

AUF DER STRECKE (ON THE LINE, GERMANY)–The longest of the shorts and it actually doesn’t manage to wear out its welcome. At half an hour I’m usually squirming, but this allegorical short is much better than I expected.

A security guard at a department store is falling in love with one of the girls in the book department. He watches her all the time. One night he gets on the train that they share on their way home and she surprises him by getting on with another man. She and the man are very loving until he says something stupid, she yells and they split up. Soon enough, a gang of teenagers starts picking on the new man and he doesn’t seem to be defending himself very well. Instead of helping, our “hero” gets off the train, ignoring the violence that was beginning. The next day, he finds out that the object of his affection’s brother was killed on the train.

And then he inadvertently uses this to get closer to her.

What’s it all about? Well, German guilt, of course! The Germans who stood by and did nothing as Nazis killed millions of Jews are just as guilty as the murderers themselves. And if you think that I’m just reading things into it, take in that look at the end. You know it to be true.

A very good short that doesn’t belabor its point. Consider it the first of two Holocaust shorts that could win this year.

NEW BOY (IRELAND)–Another short about a corrupt government taking over a country…but this one shows some hope.

An African boy is doing his best to enjoy his first day of school. But it’s hard when no one will accept you and one of the kids keeps calling you Live Aid and asking if you know it’s Christmas. It’s also hard when you keep remembering how things were back home with your dad teaching you along with all of your friends.

A fun little short (with some not so fun parts) that shows how children can overcome their differences no matter what. What’s wrong with adults?

New Boy

SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND, GERMANY)–A single mother in early Nazi Germany tells her little boy that his Jewish friend and his family are going away to Toyland. You should be careful what you tell your kids because they might just become determined to see it for themselves. When the little boy goes missing, she has to convince some Nazi soldiers that her boy is not Jewish so that they will help her.

I pretty much knew how this was going to end, but that didn’t really matter. It was still a very affecting short and will probably win the Oscar since they love the Holocaust at the Academy.

GRISEN (THE PIG, DENMARK)–A man checks into the hospital to have his colon looked at. The room is bare except for a terrible painting of a pig. Why is it so comforting? Why does he care so much about it when a Muslim family moves into the bed next to him and makes them take the pig down? And why does he call his lawyer daughter in to start a case about it?

A fairly long short (maybe a bit too long) about religious tolerance that goes both ways. Should we give up comforts for someone else’s beliefs? Or should they calm down and let us have our comforts? Important questions brought up in a pretty funny way.

And the pig is pretty damn comforting. Kinda like Ralph at Aquarena Springs.

MANON ON THE ASPHALT (FRANCE)–Beyond the obvious Manon Of The Spring reference of the title (and the fact that Manon’s friend is named Jeane), there doesn’t seem to be any other tie to the Claude Berri films from 1986. Of course, I haven’t seen those movies yet (hangs head in shame), but I really don’t think there’s a connection. (There is, however, an awesome jazz cover of Dylan’s “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” by Madeleine Peyroux.)

This short is about a young woman named Manon who leaves her apartment on her bike only to be mowed down by a car. The rest of the film is her thoughts about what will happen now that she has died. She goes through all of the reactions of her friends and what they will have to do. She mentally wills them her things and basically tells them to not be sad.

This was my personal favorite of the five, but I don’t think it has a chance…mostly because it’s not about the Holocaust. But also because, even though it’s about death, it’s very hopeful. (And we all know that the Oscars tend to not be particularly hopeful.) It’s a beautiful short that shows not only the tragedy of young death, but that Manon was well loved and had a pretty amazing life, even if it didn’t seem amazing in life. It made me want to call everyone I’ve ever loved and tell them how I feel.

But, of course, I didn’t. Because I was about to see some more shorts.

ANIMATED SHORTS

LAVATORY – LOVESTORY (RUSSIA)–A toilet attendant is surprised when her tip jar is suddenly filled with flowers. Where did they come from? Who left them here? How the hell did they get away without her seeing them?!

A very funny short done in simple line drawings that shows us that everyone needs love. Even toilet attendants. (This is a pretty foreign concept for me. Are Russian restrooms really like this? Pay a real human to get in? Not only that, but a human of the opposite sex? Very strange.)

OKTAPODI (FRANCE)–Two octopi in love. What happens when one of them is chosen for sushi? Well, the other has to go save her…uh…him…whatever. At two minutes there was barely enough time to really get to know anything. It was in and out so quickly that I almost forgot that I saw it. Very funny, though. Not so sure that it’s an Oscar short.

Le Maison

LE MAISON EN PETITS CUBES (JAPAN)–Um…really? Japan? And the title is French? I guess they’ve come a long way, baby.

An old man lives at the top of a tall house. He has to build a new story every few years because the tide keeps rising and filling up the lower levels. When he drops his pipe into the hatch that leads to the story below, he has to dive down to get it. That’s when the memories come back to him. As he goes deeper and deeper into his past, he remembers more and more about how happy his life has been and how much of his family has left him.

Like Manon Of The Asphalt, it’s a beautiful short about the memory of life. This life was much longer and just as deeply felt. Not the best here, but certainly very good.

This Way Up

THIS WAY UP (ENGLAND)–Two undertakers (a father and son) have to get a c

asket from point A to point B. But everything gets in their way and they have to journey to Hell and back to get the deceased to her final resting place.

Really funny and some great animation. And I KNOW I’ve seen it before! I just don’t know where! Any help here?

Presto

PRESTO (UNITED STATES)–I’ve reviewed this one before, but DAMN, is it hilarious! This is the third time I’ve seen it and it’s still funny as hell. The Pixar boys have done it again…and again…and again. This one will likely win just because it’s Pixar. But Le Maison may give it a run for its money. We’ll see.

Since the animated shorts were SO short (only about 45 minutes total), the Academy saw fit to regale us with five of their “Commended Films.”

VARMINTS (England)–A super-cute creature lives in an idyllic world full of trees, grass and beautiful nature. Suddenly, everything changes and nature is gone, replaced by big, ugly, dark buildings and concrete. But our hero saves a piece of nature. Will it be enough?

A bit heavy handed (ok, a LOT heavy handed), but it was my vote for the winner of the Oscar. Too bad it’s not actually nominated.

JOHN AND KAREN (ENGLAND)–A couple try to make it work. But this couple is different. They are a penguin and a polar bear. Will it work? John hopes so. And, deep down, so does Karen. Funny stuff if only because it’s a penguin and a polar bear. (“You catch marvelous…little…fish.”)

And, again, I’ve seen this one. But I don’t know where. Dammit.

GOPHER BROKE (UNITED STATE)–This was my least favorite of all of the shorts. Not that it was particularly bad. It just wasn’t nearly as entertaining as the rest of them.

A gopher tries to get dinner by setting traps for trucks on a farmer’s market road. Every time he scores, though, other animals come out of the woodworks to steal his booty.

This one just tries a little too hard to be like a Road Runner/Coyote cartoon. Unfortunately, the lead character just isn’t charming like the Coyote is. The funniest part of this is when he finally scores a HUGE amount of vegetables and they show him dancing in slow motion amongst falling tomatoes. Other than that, it can be skipped and nothing will be missed. Luckily, it was very short.

SKHIZEIN (FRANCE)–A man is beside himself after almost being hit by a meteorite. Literally…beside himself. He is exactly 91 cm away from where he should be. When he sits on a chair, he looks as if he is hanging in mid-air with the chair 91 cm behind him.

Like most French comedy, this starts off really funny and ends up being about some sort of life problem. Are we missing the point of life? Are we so close, yet so far away?

(Sucks on cigarette.) So like life.

HOT DOG (UNITED STATE)–Again, I’ve seen this one, but I’m not sure where. Probably The Animation Show since it’s a Plymptoon. (That’s probably where I saw ALL of these, actually.) I’ve loved Bill Plympton for a long time, but I can’t say this is one of his better ones. Really funny and really short, but not his best.

A small, clumsy dog really wants to be a firedog. He gets his chance to prove himself when a fire breaks out nearby. But, of course, chaos ensues. Really weird, Plympton-esque chaos.

They’re Baaaack…

by profwagstaff

Poltergeist…A-FUCKING-GAIN?!?!?!

26 Years ago, a movie came out that was so terrifying, so frightening…so ungodly, asshole-puckeringly, child-keeping-awakingly, “HOLY SHIT THEY ACTUALLY MADE THIS!” scary that I can’t imagine them ever making a movie that affected an entire generation like this movie did. The Exorcist is pretty fucking scary, but it has nothing on this little movie written and produced by the biggest thrill-ride director of all time and directed by a guy whose legacy was already set with a no-budget slasher flick from nearly 10 years before.

Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper came together in a perfect storm of scary when they decided to make Poltergeist. From the casting of Zelda Rubinstein (one of the most frightening ladies in film) and Heather O’Rourke (one of the cutest and most tragic young actresses in film) to the special effects by the ILM team, this movie was, when I was 8, enough to keep me awake for about a week. When I saw it again at around 10 years old, it did it again. Both times I didn’t manage to see the part where Spielberg peels the face off of the dummy staring in the mirror. Just couldn’t bring myself to watch it.

When I watched it again a couple of years ago…um…well…it nearly did the same thing. It is STILL fucking scary! Sure, some of the effects have dated a bit (that face peeling isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be…and the flying records are a bit much), but, for the most part, the movie has aged very well. Like a fine wine with a ghost in the bottle, it finds new ways to scare you at every age you see it at. As a little kid, it was the face peeling and the skeletons in the pool. (Yeah, that’s still pretty scary.) But that last time, as a 30 year old, it was the little brother realizing that his sister was in the tv. So petrified, he couldn’t even speak as he pointed at the tv, trying his best to say, “Ma…Ma….Ma….Ma!”

(It still makes me shiver a bit just thinking about it.)

Add to all of this the weird shit that went down after the filming of this and the sequels, then you have a legacy of fear that has run for just over a quarter of a century. (Holy shit, I’m old.)

Well, just when you thought the fear was over…Hollywood has found a way.

They are remaking Poltergeist.

Ok. Get all of your “What the fucks?!?!?!” out of the way now.

Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Done? Good.

Now…let’s think about why this could be happening. The original is a very good movie. It is very much of its time, though. Think about the dad (Craig T Nelson) and mom (JoBeth Williams) smoking out in their bedroom while reading Reagan’s biography.

And let’s look at a little exchange between the kids and their mom:

Diane: Sweetheart, last night, when you said “They’re here.’…
Carol Anne: Can I take my goldfish to school?
Diane: Sweetheart, do you remember last night when you woke up, and you said “They’re here.’?
Carol Anne: Uh huh
Diane: Well, who did you mean?
Carol Anne: The TV People.
Robbie: She’s stoned.
Dana: Oh yeah? What do you know about it?
Robbie: More than you. Ask Dad.

Did Dad get Robbie high some night? And when Mom kept putting Carol Anne on the floor allowing the “TV People” to push her to the other end of the kitchen…she’s positively GIDDY! NO parent these days would do that! And that’s one of the really cool things about this movie. The parents are decent parents…but they have these weird little quirks that make you kind of wonder about them. Hollywood probably wouldn’t allow them to be this cool anymore.

Hell, let’s move out a bit and look at the state of suburbs these days. That’s what this movie was about! A brand new suburb was built on an old Indian burial ground and they didn’t move the bodies! That probably wouldn’t even make sense to today’s teenage audience! Suburbs ain’t what they used to be.

The movie was also about the family unit. In the early 80s, there was still such a thing as a complete family. It’s harder and harder to find these days. Not that it was always a good thing when it was found in the early 80s, but it was there more often than it is now.

And the kids were kids. They weren’t over-written little shit-bags who know everything. They weren’t “clever,” in other words.

So, what can a remake offer us?

Well, let’s see what the last horror movie remade by Spielberg brought us. That would be The Haunting in 1999. Spielberg, who denied us a glimpse of the shark until the very end of Jaws because it would add more suspense to the story, said that the audience of the late 90s would never understand a horror movie with no special effects. So his remake of The Haunting, instead of being an incredibly frightening character study of people scared to death without ever actually seeing anything, it became a “roller coaster ride” of a movie devoid of characters.

It was a special effect surrounding actors.

(To be perfectly fair to Mr. Spielberg, he didn’t direct the remake. He only produced it. Of course…he has also said that the only reason he didn’t show “Bruce” the shark until the end of Jaws was because the damn thing kept breaking. So, who knows? I still give him the benefit of the doubt back then. I love the guy, but he makes some bad decisions these days.)

But Spielberg isn’t involved the remake of his early 80s masterpiece of horror. This time it appears to be Juliet Snowden and Stiles White, writers of Boogeyman.

Let me say that again…the writers of Boogeyman.

Fuck, this is gonna suck.

There’s just no reason for this at all. Everyone has seen the original. Everyone loves the original. No one has said, “You know? I really wish that there was a bigger budget version of Poltergeist. That movie scared the be-shitting-Jesus out of me when I was a kid. I think it would scare me even more now with worse actors and a less talented director! Let’s get a really terrible version of the script and see what that does for the story! Sign me up for that!”

Fuck Hollywood. There’s just absolutely no reason for this. I mean, I can almost see if this movie was 50 years old. I can’t imagine that anyone is all that interested in seeing the original version of The Uninvited these days. Hell, I saw that movie around the same time I saw the original Haunting and I don’t remember it at all.

But Poltergeist is only 26 years old. And, while the special effects may not be seen as so “special” anymore, they’re still pretty damn good for the most part. It’s still a scary fucking movie! What could they possibly add to it?!

I’m usually ok with remakes. A screenplay is like a play. Anyone can interpret it at any time in history. If we were so reverent to all forms of storytelling, then no one would be allowed to do Shakespeare except for the original Globe players.

But there are certain movies that the book should be closed on. Poltergeist is kind of one of them. When someone does such an amazing job the first time around and that job is caught on film, why bother? Would you remake Citizen Kane or Casablanca?

(Ok, they’ve both sort of been remade as Velvet Goldmine and Barb Wire…but that’s a bit different. They took the basic story and put it in another world. Different animal all together.)

And I absolutely put Poltergeist up there with those two films. It’s a different genre, one that doesn’t ever get any kind of respect. But it is just about as good as those amazing films. Poltergeist and The Exorcist are the Citizen Kane and Casablanca of horror. Stop touching them! PLEASE!!!

As always, you can read more of Professor Wagstaff’s mad cinematic ramblings at his official website: http://www.profwagstaff.com

Stan Winston 1946-2008 – UPDATED

by profwagstaff

Hey guys, Jonathan here. I didn’t even know where to begin writing up a story on the passing of Stan Winston. You can go back through the Geekscape episodes and pick out all of the times I’ve quoted or referenced a movie that Stan had worked on or a creature he had created. Yesterday’s slow filtering news of his passing was a complete double-take inducing shock. I know that you guys have expressed in the forums how much you will miss Stan Winston and his work.

I consider myself incredibly lucky to have briefly met Stan Winston last fall during the press junket for Skinwalkers, a movie he exec produced and did the effects for. The movie was destined for gauntlet greatness from the start, but that didn’t stop Stan from gushing about the work involved in the film and the efforts put forth from everyone. It really was like spending 10 minutes in the room with a loving grandfather and a big kid stuffed into the same enthusiastic body. And the guy was funny. He didn’t flinch when I questioned him about the wolfman’s nards, but instead offered a funny reply. I walked out of that interview completely jazzed and went down the phonebook geeking out to anyone who would pick up (especially Gilmore, who helped set up the interview and was bummed he couldn’t make it).

Well Gils, I’m sorry that the chance has passed us all by. This one really hurts, my friend. Below I have a piece written by our own Professor Wagstaff from his own website which he e-mailed to me to share with you ‘scapists. Waggy put it better than I ever could, so I will leave him to it:

Special effects and makeup men are the kinds of people you can be a fan of without even realizing it. I mean, who can forget their first sight of the Terminator walking out of the fire? Or the slime dripping off of the teeth of the Alien Queen? Or the feeling they got when the camera panned up the legs of that giant brontosaurus? Or a wolfman who’s got nards?

These are all moments that sent chills and thrills up and down the spines of movie lovers everywhere. And they were all created by one man: Stan Winston, one of the greatest geniuses to hit film special effects since Ray Harryhausen made skeletons walk.

Stan died today after a long battle with multiple myeloma.

Coming to Hollywood in the late 60s, he thought that he was going to be an actor. Instead, he found a talent for makeup. In fact, he won an Emmy his first time out on a TV movie called Gargoyles.

He floated around for a while doing some low-profile work (WC Fields And Me, Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde) mixed in with some high-profile jobs (The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman, “Roots,” The Wiz).

But it really wasn’t until the early 80s that people started to take notice of this genial guy with a ready smile. In 1981, he was nominated for his first Oscar for the Andy Kaufman/Bernadette Peters vehicle, Heartbeeps. (Why they chose this one to award him for, I’ll never know.) But really, The Thing was his first big break. Sure, he’s only credited with “additional makeup effects” because he took over for Rob Bottin after he got all exhausted, but what better place to start?

Then he created one of his greatest creatures: The Terminator. Never before had a mechanical man been so frightening. He would top himself two years later with the Alien Queen in Aliens. We only thought that Ridley Scott’s version of the alien was scary. Winston’s Queen was well beyond anything in our nightmares in 1986. It was enough to win him his first Oscar.

In 1987, he created the creatures for a slightly more farcical movie called The Monster Squad. It was never a big hit, but it has become quite the cult item and Stan even sort of makes a cameo in the film. His crew created the Wolfman in his image. Who knew?

1990 brought Edward Scissorhands and 1991 brought Stan’s second Oscar for Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

In 1993, Stan started a partnership with Steven Spielberg on Jurassic Park and won his third Oscar. From there, he worked on the two sequels and AI, always blending beautiful CGI work with amazing practical effects.

His most recent work has been just as amazing as ever. Iron Man’s suit is a creation that only Stan could bring to life. Unfortunately, we won’t know what kind of work he would have done on the new Terminator film. He was working on it when he died. Now it’s up to his crew at Stan Winston Digital and Stan Winston Studios to take the reigns.

Stan Winston leaves behind an amazing body of work that haunts the dreams and nightmares of moviegoers everywhere. They may not know his name (although, he is one of only two special effects artists to have a star on the Walk Of Fame), but they know his work. And they remember it forever.

You can find more Professor Wagstaff reviews and opinions at Professor Wagstaff’s official website: www.profwagstaff.com. He is the self professed Geek of All Media (and who are we to argue)!

UPDATED! Here is another Geekscapist with his personal feelings about Stan Winston’s death: news submitting monster and brother across the pond HiroProtagonist. He shares his thoughts on Stan’s accomplishments and what this loss means to him.

Monday, June 16th 2008, at around 10pm, I got back from the cinema, having been lucky enough to watch IronMan again (My local cinema runs a Mystery Movie programme on a Monday evening, and on that particular night, they chose IronMan). As with the first time I’d watched
the film, I marvelled at how good it was – not just in terms of the story and the acting, but the special effects – “I need to get me a scale-replica model of that IronMan suit”, I though, before grabbing a bite to eat, and then getting some sleep.

The following morning, after finishing my exercise for the day, I switched the TV on, and switched the Interactive Service on, and switched it to the Entertainment section – nothing really interesting on the first page, nor the second, then at the top of the third page:

“Film special effects pioneer dies”

As a self-confessed proclaimed Film Geek, the article caught my attention, ’cause I figured I might know the person the article refered to. Once it loaded, the text that appeared caused me to literally stop in my tracks:

“Oscar-winning special effecs expert Stan Winston, who created the creatures in films including

Aliens and Jurassic Park, has died at the age of 62.
Winston, who also made the robots in Terminator, died at home in California surrounded by family on Sunday.
The film veteran had been battling multiple myeloma, a plasma call cancer, for seven years, a representative of the Stan Winston Studio said.
He worked with Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Tim Burton.”

Stan Winston dead? That’s gotta be a mistake I thought. I put it towards the back of my head, but around an hour later I went online and a quick visit to Geekscape confirmed my growing fears – it was indeed true, Stan Winston dead, aged just 62.

Born in Arlington, Virginia on April 7th 1946, Stan Winston went on to study sculpture & painting, two skills that he’d put to near-unparalled effect later on in his career, at the University of Virginia, from where he graduated in 1968, aged 22. A year later, after a brief spell at California State University he left for Hollywood, determined to pursue a career as an actor. Times were tough, and the jobs were few and far between, so eventually Stan took up an apprenticeship at Walt Disney Studios.

In 1972 Stan decided to create his own company – Stan Winston Studios, and soon won an Emmy for the companies’ work on a TV-Movie – “Gargoyles”. During the 1970s Stan & the company continued to garner multiple Emmy nominations for their work on many projects, as
well as working on the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special (Stan worked on the wookiee costumes).

Stan Winston received his first Academy Award nomination in 1982, for his work on the 1981 film Heartbeeps, however it would be two years later, when Stans work would first be appreciated by film fans around the world, with his iconic work on James Camerons’ The Terminator. The low-budget film was a worldwide hit, and propelled it’s main stars – Writer / Director James Cameron, Actor (and Future Governor of California) Arnold Schwarzenegger, and of course, Stan, to stardom. Stan, and his team continued to work through the 1980s, gaining aclaim which would reach a peak with the premier of the next collaboration between James Cameron & Stan Winston – 1986s’ Aliens, which introduced the world to another of Stans more iconic creations – The Alien Queen.

During the remainder of the 1980s Stan continued to work on a number of films, creating much loved characters & effects for, amongst others, Tim Burtons Edward Scissorhands, the Predator films, and the much-loved cult classic Monster Squad.

Towards the end of the decade Stan turned his hand to directing his own films, starting off with the horror film Pumpkinhead, and then a year later A Gnome Named Gnorm.

As the 1990s started, Stan continued to remain at the top of his field, continuing to work on some of the biggest and most memorable films of the early 1990s, such as re-teaming with James Cameron on Terminator 2: Judgement Day, for which he would receive two Academy
Awards and Tim Burton, on Batman Returns, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Makeup, for his work on the characters of The Pengiun & Catwoman.

1993 would see Stan collaborate for the first time with Steven Spielberg on Jurassic Park. Stan Winston Studios worked on the dinosaur effects, combining prosthetic effects with ground-breaking Computer Generated Effects, in order to bring the world of living Dinosaurs to
life. The film went on to become the highest grossing film of all time (at the time), and landed Stan Winston his fourth Academy Award, for Best Visual Effects.

Later on in 1993, Stan Winston, along with previous collaborator and friend James Cameron, founded Digital Domain, a digital effects company that’s still heavily involved in the film world today.

As the 1990s progressed Stan and his company expanded their focus, expanding into the field of Animatronics. A prime example of the companies work can be seen in the 2001 Steven Spielberg film, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, for which Stan would receive his 10th Academy Award nomination.

As the 1990s came to an end, and a new decade started, Stan, and his company, Stan Winston Studios, continued to work on films, and their work can be seen in films such as Jurassic Park III, Big Fish, Terminator III, Constantine and the recently released IronMan.

Based on reports that have come out since Stans death, he and the company were also involved in work on forthcoming films such as James Camerons’ Avatar, Jurassic Park 4, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins & The Suffering, as well as GI Joe & the forthcoming Martin Scorcese film Shutter Island.

So that’s Stan Winston, the Professional, however it’s only appropriate to devote some time to Stan Winston the man. Personally I never had the pleasure of meeting him, however Aint-It-Cool-News have started up an article, which can be found at http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37109 At the time of writing some of the people who’ve contribued their thoughts on Stan include past collaborators James Cameron (Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgement Day) and John Favreau (Zathura & IronMan).

Now, from a personal point-of-view, I guess the reason why I felt like I had to type something up, in order to remember Stan by is for the simple reason that his work had a hell of an impact on me, as a film geek. I’m not an animator, nor do I work in the film industry (for which y’all
should consider yourselves very, lucky :bigsmile: ), but I love movies. They’re my addiction, pretty much every spare penny I have goes on buying new DVDs, or going to the cinema. And like all addictions, good or bad (mostly bad, I’ll concede), there has to be a spark, something that pulls the trigger, and pulls you in. And the simple fact, is that although I started going to the cinema pretty late on in life – the first film I watched in the cinema was Dennis (based on Dennis the Menace), when I was 10, it didn’t really grab me, and hook me, until a few months later, when I went to the cinema again, with my GrandDad to go and watch a lil’ film called Jurassic Park. And that was the film that started the love affair with cinema.

And, I believe that I owe equal thanks for that film, to both Steven Spielberg, and Stan Winston. Admitedly it’s a Steven Spielberg film, based on a Michael Crichton book, but the simple fact (at least as far as I’m concerned), is that, put simply, the film wouldn’t have worked, were it not for awe-inspiring combination of special effects, and plain old-fashioned, yet kick-ass animatronics that Stan & his studio created. A lot was made back then (and, indeed, now), about how Jurassic Park represents a milestone in the world of CGI, which I wholeheartedly agree with, however, for me it also represented a significant leap into the world of combining CGI with animatronics.

And for that 10 year-old boy, sitting in a cinema, both terrified (say what you will, for a 10 year old those dinosaurs were scary as hell ), it started a love affair with cinema that continues to this day. Stans’ death is indeed a sad day for many a film geek around the world, however I think we should also take a few minutes to remember just what an amazing impact his work has had, both on the next generation of film makers, effects wizards, etc, etc, who would follow his work, and attempt to top it, but also the legions of film fans around the
world, most of whom would name a film that Stan worked on, as amongst their favourites.

Stan Winston is survived by his wife of 37 years Karen, and his two children, Debie & Matt. He eaves behind him an industry that has developed into a booming business, which personally, I don’t think would have progressed to the level that is has, were it not for the work of Stan and his two companies – Digital Domain & Stan Winston Studios, who I’m sure will continue to produce work that makes helps transform the realms of imagination into cinematic reality, for many years to come.

Rest in Peace.

Stan Winston – 1946: 2008

Indy Strikes Back!

by profwagstaff

So, everybody seems to be hating on Indy these days. What the fuck’s up with that? Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is NOT a perfect movie by any means. It certainly has its problems. Jonathan laid them all out for all to see a couple of days ago…and I can certainly agree with just about everything he said.

Just about…

But first, let me tell you what I thought. This may be total blasphemy, but I thought it was better than Temple Of Doom. Maybe not by a longshot, but by enough for me to enjoy it more than that black mark on the Indy totem pole.

What’s wrong with TOD, you might ask? Well, I’ll tell you.

First off, it was FAR too dark for a series that was, first and foremost, a throwback to the classic action heroes of yore. Sure, the pulp novels that Indy was sort of based on could get dark, but we never expected there to be child slaves or heart-ripping Thugees in an Indiana Jones movie. (Yeah, yeah. There was only one before it and it included melting faces…but even THAT wasn’t as gory or dark as ripping hearts out of chests, showing it to the still living victim and then burning said victim alive in the pits of a volcano…or hell…or whatever the hell it was.) Steven Spielberg had never directed a movie that was as dark as Temple Of Doom. Even Poltergeist (which he wrote and produced) wasn’t as dark, really. More frightening, sure. That movie kept me up for weeks…and that was just a couple of years ago when I saw it again.

Of course, we all know that the PG-13 rating was created because of Temple Of Doom. THAT’S how dark it was. It probably could have been rated R and people wouldn’t have been surprised. The only reason it was PG was because Spielberg complained to the MPAA. (A trick that has continued to work for him. Why else do you think Saving Private Ryan was rated R instead of NC-17?)

My second problem was the depiction of the Thugees. These guys were a pretty horrible sect of Indian/Hindu culture. They robbed and killed unsuspecting travelers all in the name of the goddess Kali. They were wiped out in the early parts of the 20th Century, but who knows?

The Thugees in Temple Of Doom seemed to have come from a more sadistic version of the Beatles’ movie Help! They were cartoonish and historically completely inaccurate. The real Thugees killed people with yellow sashes. No heart-ripping involved. But that wouldn’t have made a very compelling movie, so Spielberg had them do horrible things to the people as they killed them. There is one guy who tries to kill Indy with a sash, but that was such a small thing that it was barely noticed.

This is why the movie was banned in India for years.

And my third problem was the fact that Indy was suddenly a superhero. In Raiders (and Last Crusade after it), Indy was human. He never really did anything that a human couldn’t survive. A very strong human, sure. Perhaps a human with the strength of Pat Roach. But a human, nonetheless.

In TOD, he and his friends jump out of an airplane that is still a thousand or so feet up with only a rubber rescue raft to break their fall. Yeah. That’s right. Even Short Round survives. (Yeah, he’s cool, but he’s SUCH a stereotype.) Hell, even Willie The Annoying Bitch survives. How? Not a clue. She was sleeping with the director. That’s the only explanation I can come up with.

Then they manage to survive a roller coaster ride on a rickety old mine train system going about 60 mph with no breaks. Plenty of breaks in the tracks, though, that they jump over and survive. And Indy stops them with his feet.

Whatever. TOD is the worst of the four. But I digress. On to Crystal Skull.

I did have a problem with the end of the opening sequence. Not the introduction to Indy. That worked for me. In fact, I thought it showed him to be just as much of a bad-ass as the first movie did. We see him only in silhouette for quite a while and, yeah, he’s getting the crap beat out of him, but he’s incredibly hard as it’s being done. He’s taking it and looks ready to give it back.

No, it’s the nuclear blast and his apparent survival that got me. Now, he’s not just any ol’ superhero. He’s fucking Superman. He climbs into a refrigerator (lead lined, apparently) that is pretty close to ground fucking zero and then proceeds to be blasted about five miles away. The fridge is thrown HARD. He hits the ground hard enough to do some damage, not just to the ground, but to the fridge. The door flies open and he stumbles out, basically unscathed. No broken bones. Maybe a few scratches on his face…but were those from the beating he took?

Whatever. I’ll buy the three waterfalls towards the end better than I’ll buy that.

Jonathan had a problem with the introduction to Mutt. He said that no hero should be introduced sitting down. Well, he was sitting down on a fucking motorcycle. I think that pretty much nullifies any “pussy” comments. Remember, his hero, Marlon Brando, was introduced sitting on a motorcycle. No comparisons to Mr. Brando here. Just saying that he was obviously pretty heavily influenced by The Wild One, so why not introduce on a motorcycle?

As for the argument that Mutt didn’t change throughout the movie and never seemed to become a hero because he was a “cool guy” throughout…that’s wrong. He was a poser at the beginning. Yeah, introduced on a motorcycle and all, but he was a poser. He wasn’t cool and he knew it, but he tried his best to put on a good face. By the end, after showing some pretty good sword skills, he was nearly ready for the hat…nearly. Indy stole it away from him at the last second. If everyone has their way, maybe by the end of the next one he WILL be ready for the hat. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

By the way, Mutt=Indy. Remember, “We named the dog Indiana!” Yeah, it’s dumb, but there’s a reason for it. And for the 50s, that was probably a pretty cool name. They had dumber nicknames back then. Jughead? Come on!

The Crystal Skull was definitely used too much as a cure-all. I will certainly agree to that. And the villains weren’t as bad-ass as they should have been…but I never really got the impression that Irina Spalko had any powers, only that she studied them. She did not have the guts to actually look into the eyes of the skull. That’s what Oxley was for. He was the guinea pig. Since he didn’t fare so well, she had not done it yet. That whole Vulcan mind grip that she almost did to Indy was all for show and he never looked like he believed it. Of course, neither did she, really. I think it was more for effect than for any kind of scare tactic.

By the way, Jonathan, your idea to have Indy forced to nearly kill Oxley by Spalko’s psychic powers is too much of a Temple Of Doom thing. Sure, it could be chalked up as an homage, but why homage something from TOD that no one really liked. Did we LIKE seeing Indy slap a little boy around? Hell, no.

The animals didn’t bother me that much. In fact, after they were off screen, I forgot about them. There are animals in the jungle. And I could see Mutt getting the idea to swing from monkeys. Whatever. Not a big deal. Plus, it was kind of cool to see them all gang up on the one Ruskie in the jeep. Fuck him. And the groundhogs? Meh. Take ’em or leave ’em. I kind of liked having the Paramount logo turn into a molehill in this one. Certainly better than going into a bad musical number. No, Willie. Anything does NOT go.

So, yeah. I had fun with The Crystal Skull. Jonathan’s version would have been better. I agree. He’s a very good writer. But I also think that he still feels burned from Episode I (editor: “I do”).

And just so you know where I’m coming from, this was written by someone who thought that Episode I had its moments, but was ultimately kind of boring, Episode II was fun, but not great and Episode III was nearly up to Jedi standards. With a few writing/directing tweaks, it could have been the best of the bunch.

I also realize that Spielberg doesn’t make these kinds of movies anymore. The last “fun” movies that he made was a stretch of Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal. Only Minority Report was an action film, but it was pretty serious. The other two were light dramas. And War Of The Worlds was pretty deadly serious. He had to try to reteach himself how to direct a light action flick. And he did a fairly decent job. Hopefully, if they do end up making a fifth like they’ve always wanted to do since the 80s, he can do a better job. I’ll be in line for it.

You can find more Professor Wagstaff reviews and opinions at Professor Wagstaff’s official website: www.profwagstaff.com. Just be ready to disagree with everything he says… like Jonathan’s been doing since highschool! But really, check it out. He’s the self professed Geek of All Media!