I first learned Phil Tippet’s name in 1983 when I was reading a behind-the-scenes magazine about the making of The Return of the Jedi, and there was a discussion on the stop-motion and go-motion techniques used to create the movement of the Scout walkers in the Star Wars sequel. I was fascinated by what I…
Tag: harryhausen
Jack the Giant Killer (1962) – Nathan Juran
There are dragons and monsters galore in the next film in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book as I delve deeper into the chapter called Dragons & Dinosaurs, and while the stop-motion effects aren’t quite up to Harryhausen standards, this fantasy adventure, suitable for family fun, is pretty fun to behold. A farmboy, Jack…
Beowulf (2007) – Robert Zemeckis
I’m enjoying exploring DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book, and the current chapter on Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales is bringing me all manner of film to partake in. Today, it brings me Robert Zemeckis’ take on the epic poem Beowulf. Always a technically inovative director, Zemeckis decided to make the film with computer…
Clash of the Titans (2010) – Louis Leterrier
The next title that I dove into for the Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales chapter of DK Canada’s highly enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book was doomed for me from the moment of it’s inception. The remake of 1981’s Harryhausen effects driven classic was never going to wow me. Why? Gone are the practical effects…
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) – Joe Dante
Is the mad scientist behind the camera or in front of it in this, the next film to be recommended by DK Canada’s highly enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book? Joe Dante, the film’s director has always seemed wonderfully mad, his love of Looney Tune cartoons, and wacky humor always makes his films enjoyable from…
Monsters, Inc. (2001) – Peter Docter
The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Toy Story is this Pixar classic starring Billy Crystal and John Goodman as two monsters trying to keep their world alive. Those noises under your bed, the shadow in the closet, they’re all real. Monsters come through to…
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) – Joe Johnston
Before Joe Johnston directed one of my favourite comic book movies, The Rocketeer, he directed this Disney film that took the b-movies of the 1950s into the late Disney-fied 80s. There are nods to films he hasn’t made yet (which is really fun) and dialogue lifts from classic films and a playful sense of fun….
The Mind Reels 