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| January | February | March | April | May | June |
| July | August | September | October | November | December |
| The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. | ||
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This Blog will be offering a colorful kaleidoscope of movie magic for cinema aficionados. Crispy peanuts, colorful baloons and thrilling sensations on celluloid. See offbeat goodies and magic crumbs ...weekly! |
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The famed british film Director Guy Hamilton died at the age of 93 on 20 April 2016 at his home in Mallorca, Spain. Guy Hamilton (1922 – 2016) was known widely for his contribution to the 'James Bond' series. He directed 'Goldfinger' (1964), 'Diamonds Are Forever' (1971), 'Live and Let Die' (1973) and 'The Man with the Golden Gun' (1974). But he was also responsible for some great films outside the 'Bond' circus. Among my favorites are 'Funeral in Berlin' (1966), 'Battle of Britain' (1969) and the underrated 'Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins' (1985). |
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| Guy Hamilton directing a scene for 'Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins'. | ||
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Fred Ward (Remo Williams) and Director Guy Hamilton on location in Mexico, on a hill near Mexico City. "You're now a person who doesn't exist, working for an organization that doesn't exist." |
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The 'Remo' crew received permission from the Statue of Liberty Restoration Committee to use the network of girders and walkways, surrounding the Statue, during it's face-lift. In Mexico an exact, rivet-for-rivet replica of Miss Liberty, from the torso up, was constructed of wood and fiberglass. The eighty-five feet high replica was built on a hill outside of Mexico City and remained in place when filming was finished as a bizarre tourist attraction. I'm looking for photos of the set in Mexico, drop me a line if you can help me. |
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Guy Hamilton (right) takes the rickety elevator (crane) to the top of Miss Liberty in Mexico. The legendary DOP Andrew Laszlo (left) joins the ride to check over camera positions and angles. |
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Joel Grey (Chiun) and Fred Ward (Remo Williams) in Mexico. The loddging camp set, where 'Remo' rides a yarder, an aerial cable, resembling a skeletal ski lift, was built in the Popocatépetl Volcano National Park, Mexico. Fred Ward rides the yarder, in pursuit of his quarry, a thousand feet above the timbered valley floor. The Stunt crew of veteran Stunt Coordinator Glenn Randall, Jr. managed some great action scenes. |
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Stunt Coordinator Glenn Randall, Jr., Director Guy Hamilton and Fred Ward prepare the yarder scene with 'Remo' hanging on a new-cut timber. Arrow Video released the great movie on a definitely recommended first-rate blu-ray! On the mainpage you will find some rarely seen photos of the exceptional make-up effects Carl Fullerton designed for the transformation of actor Joel Grey into the old korean martial arts expert Chiun. |
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| 'Stargate' conceptual art (Artist?) of an enormous pyramid on a desert planet. | ||
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| Only the temple entrance was built in full-size in front of a big sand dune in Yuma, Arizona. | ||
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The full-size entrance of the temple was digitally composited with a CGI pyramid in the background. The CGI effects artists of the Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company assembled the scene. |
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| Director Roland Emmerich filming the full-size model in Yuma, Arizona. | ||
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| The full-size model with lot's of free space for CGI compositing. | ||
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Another Kleiser-Walczak composite shot for 'Stargate'. A live-action plate of the Yuma desert combined with digital elements. |
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The separated live-action plate for the composition. More of the visual stunning 'Stargate' soon in this movie house! |
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A surprisingly enjoyable scruffy little Sci-Fi wonderworld from 'Re-Animator' mastermind Stuart Gordon. Nice cast with B-movie heavy Vernon Wells, Stephen Dorff, Debi Mazar, George Wendt and Dennis Hopper. Floating above it all, Charles Dance as Macanudo, a pleasure-lover with a propensity to evil. His excellent Cyborg make-up design by 'Cannom Creations' includes a chainsaw-like motorised penis, complete with rip cord. Viagra is for wimps! 'Space Truckers' (1996!) can offer a few such pleasingly mad and comedic ideas and some impressive old-school make-up effects. And it's pure fun to watch all those shaky primeval space CGI scenes and zero gravity mistrials. The movie spreads some good vibrations, has a good pace and makes a lot of fun, what more do you want? The makers managed to assemble something really convincing out of a small budget. I love it! |
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| The striking 'Bio-Mechanical Warriors' in 'Space Truckers' by Hajime Sorayama and 'S.M.G.Inc.' are truly great! A terrific design! | ||
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The 'Bio-Mech Warrior' suit was designed by the legendary 'Screaming Mad George' (Joji Tani) and his 'S.M.G. Inc.' shop. Screaming Mad George was part of the creature effects crew on the Schwarzenegger 'Predator'. He did the special make-up fx on 'The Bride of the Re-Animator' and worked for a lot of other Genre flicks. |
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Greenscreen studio shot with a few 'Bio-Mech Warriors' climbing on the outside of the spaceship of
John Canyon (Dennis Hopper). Canyon is one of the last independent space transport entrepreneurs and believes that he transported high quality sex dolls ...surprise, surprise... |
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Pigs in Space. Hopper also flies cargo for 'Inter Pork', the local pig tycoon. Their newest Genetic Engineering wonder are quadratic pigs which fit exactly into the cage. Now that's a compelling idea and what a wonderfully efficient use of the limited space. Meat of happy pigs, yummy! |
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| An animatronic rubber pig designed by 'S.M.G. Inc.'. | ||
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| Your comments are always welcome! | ||
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