R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen

Nerds, film buffs, and, well, everybody... we lost a giant today. A monster. A dinosaur. A grinning skeleton. Actually, tiny armies of ALL those things and so much more. Tentacled beasts and flying saucers. The hands that brought a thousand dreams to life are stilled.

Ray Harryhausen has gone. This will be a deeply sad time for my friend Darrel. I don't think I've ever met anyone who loved Ray Harryhausen and his body of work more than Darrel. And who could blame him?

If you've ever seen Stop Motion Animation in any movie, you probably have Mr. Harryhausen to thank. Because even if he didn't painstakingly, tediously, obsessively create every single frame of the movement of that beast or beauty, then as sure as the Valley of Gwangi he was the guy who inspired the guy that did.

George Lucas has said there wouldn't be a Star Wars without Ray. My fantasy life would be so much the poorer without his pioneering talent and towering imagination.

I'm pretty sure Clash of the Titans was the first of his movies I ever saw, although it could have been One Million Years B.C. instead. Check them out, won't you? You won't be sorry.

But if I have a favourite, it's First Men in The Moon. Those icky, sticky, appalling, enthralling moon monsters (the Selenites) and their chittering maggoty mooncalf. Just... yikes! Good old fashioned nightmare fuel.

May technology never supplant the artistry of one man and his marvelous mind and hands. Thanks for sharing your strange dreams with all of us. It's not enough, but thank you, Mr. Harryhausen.

When Good Adaptations Happen

It must happen sometimes, right?! Bookmonkey had a cool post today praising three fine films that did justice to their source material. I racked my brains for three more in my sci-fi baliwick. You know, it was not that easy? Either my standards are too high or this is a very tall order. I guess what a book or comic can achieve inside the reader's imagination will always remain beyond the limits of film. But they can get close!
My buddy Ron says L.A. Confidential is tops as an adaptation.
I have my suspicions that 'Enemy Mine' is a good one, but I've yet to read Barry Longyear's original story. Likewise, I can't be sure about 'Bicentennial Man', but I sure liked that.
'Millenium' is great but the budget required to really do justice to John Varley's novel with the Titanic's rusting hulk, Roman legions, mid-air collisions, cyborgs and a vast time machine just wasn't there. Nobody's fault really. Gotta try again someday. So I choose...

3. DUNE- the David Lynch one, weird as it is, is still pretty good. The John Harrison epic version comes closer in terms of scope and detail, but damned if I didn't wish Lynch's cast had starred in it. Maybe some technical genius can make that happen for me someday, smushing the two together in a computer somehow and enhancing them both. A miniseries is probably the MINIMUM requirement to do justice to most books, and certainly to Dune.

2. WATCHMEN- I can name a guy who disagrees, and if the author isn't on your side, well... that hurts my case. A lot. Alan Moore went on record that he'd never go to see it. Seems like a shame, 'cause it was pretty much what I saw in the comic brought to life. No pirate comic, no squid, but otherwise... pretty frickin' sweet.

1. STARSHIP TROOPERS- I wonder if the ones I like are the ones the authors wouldn't? He's not around to ask, but I have a sneaking suspicion Heinlein might not have approved, either. But, then again, I know he liked nudity! And since Heinlein's Dizzy was male, I prefer Verhoven's version of her. For that matter, I prefered Verhoven's cynical view of war, soldiering, and patriotism to Heinlein's entirely sincere take on those subjects... as a lover, not a fighter I'm pretty glad I have the right to vote even though I'm not willing to kill to defend abstractions like my 'rights'. Contrariwise, I'm willing to kill bugs... because the only good bug is a dead bug.

This Line's Mostly Filler

I like Kirk's blog at Wisdom of Bookmonkey. I shall follow it from now on.
I began brainstorming a blog post today thanks to reading Marvel's 70th Anniversary Collection- a graphic novel reprint collection in celebration of 70 years of Marvel (even though they were called Timely and Atlas for a lot of those years). I liked most of the chosen stories, it's true, but it seemed to have been created by suits and shut-ins who appreciate stories for the money they made and whether Wolverine is scowling on the cover. My brainstorming was to create a list more suited to me involving best Marvel superhero comics year by year or more likely a list of the most emotionally evocative comics moments, whichever suited my fancy... BUT, it's not done.
So I'll post it when I figure out what it will be.
Meanwhile, please accept this list of a centuries' worth of my favorite movies by year, as I already have it mostly completed. It's a fascinating but misleading drawback in this technique that Frankenstein (1931) which I saw last night, is on the list while Bride of Frankenstein (1935) which I also saw last night, is not. Even though I liked Bride better, it wasn't competing against its predecessor, it had to compete against other 1935 movies.
Plus BETTER is extremely subjective. Oh, well, you get what you pay for.
I haven't seen anything in 1900 or 1901.
1902- A Trip to the Moon
1903- The Great Train Robbery (this fails to represent the idea that I have no special affection for this movie. It is the only movie I have seen made this year)
1904-1913- As far as I know, I have seen nothing from this period. Go figure.
1914- Gertie the Dinosaur (a placeholder because it is only a cartoon short. But it's cute.)
1915-1919- Another complete blank. (See how easy this is?)
1920- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (thank you Film Studies 101. Chiaroscuro!)
1921- Never Weaken (The Harold Lloyd short)
1922- Nosferatu (Thanks, Kirk!)
1923- Anybody recommend anything?
1924- Sherlock Jr.
1925- Seven Chances (Buster Keaton vs spur of the moment marriage)
1926- For Heaven's Sake (Harold Lloyd again)
1927- Should be Metropolis for the sci-fi fan, but doggone it if Buster the Great Stone Face doesn't win me over again in The General
1928- Chaplin's The Circus is the only film I've seen this year, but I don't like it, so I'll say the short Steamnoat Willie
1929- The Laurel & Hardy short Big Business is the placeholder
1930- Not a Sausage (this, sadly, is not the name of a movie)
1931- Frankenstein (thanks, Ron)
1932- Horsefeathers (I oughtta horsewhip you. Get me a horse.)
1933- King Kong
1934- Maybe they watched Kong again, I dunno
1935- A Night at the Opera edges out Bride of Frankenstein & the Band Concert (my favorite Disney short: chaos theory in music form)
1936- Laurel and Hardy's Our Relations is more intentionally funny than Reefer Madness
1937- Way Out West
1938- The Adventures of Robin Hood
1939- The Wizard of Oz (see how misleading this is? I like Return to Oz better, but you'd never know it from this list. Oh, now you do.)
1940- Fantasia edges out depressing Dumbo
1941- How Green Was My Valley
1942- Bambi
1943- Casablanca
1944- To Have and Have Not
1945- The Lost Weekend
1946- Song of the South
1947- Miracle on 34th Street
1948- The Three Muskateers
1949- The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad
1950- Cinderella
1951- The Day the Earth Stood Still (oh, Keanu, whatever possessed you?)
1952- High Noon
1953- Peter Pan
1954- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
1955- Guys and Dolls
1956- Forbidden Planet
1957- Bridge on the River Kwai
1958- Carry on Nurse (thanks to my wife's mother for these comic gems)
1959- Journey to the Center of the Earth
1960- The Time Machine
1961- The Absent-Minded Professor
1962- Carry On Cruising
1963- It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
1964- Carry On Cleo
1965- The Great Race
1966- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
1967- Barefoot in the Park
1968- Barbarella (Psychadella, has a chitinous umbrella)
1969- The Love God (thanks, Daryl)
1970- MASH
1971- THX 1138
1972- Slaughterhouse Five
1973- Disney's Robin Hood
1974- Young Frankenstein
1975- Monty Python & The Holy Grail
1976- Logan's Run
1977- Star Wars (no, Damnation Alley! What could best freakin' Star Wars?)
1978- Superman
1979- Alien (honorable mention- The Muppet Movie)
1980- The Empire Strikes Back
1981- Superman II (hon. men.- The Great Muppet Caper)
1982- TRON (somehow still edging out Wrath of Khan and Bladerunner)
1983- Return of the Jedi (trumps The Dark Crystal)
1984- Ghostbusters (the 1980s are a bitch for me in the exact opposite of the years before 1950: I can think of more honorable mentions in these years than the entire century before I was born. I had to eliminate Dune, The Muppets Take Manhatten, 2010, Star Trek III, Gremlins, Terminator and the Last Starfighter at enormous personal suffering to arrive at that winner. I hope you appreciate my sacrifice of time and mental health.)
1985- Back to the Future (honorable mention Enemy Mine. This is hard, damnit!)
1986- Star Trek IV (sorry Howard the Duck, Aliens, Short Circuit, Labyrinth)
1987- The Princess Bride (better luck next never Robocop)
1988- Alien Nation
1989- UHF
1990- Back To the Future III
1991- Defending Your Life (more like defending your list, am I right Operation Condor?)
1992- Disney's Aladdin
1993- Demolition Man (I don't have to justify myself to you, Groundhog Day)
1994- Star Trek: Generations (I saw it 10 more times than the Lion King. No, I'm not proud.)
1995- Toy Story (sorry Mallrats)
1996- Star Trek: First Contact (hon. men. Mars Attacks & Multiplicity)
1997- The Fifth Element (hon. men. Starship Troopers & Disney's Hercules. They have to put guys like me on a special government list.)
1998- Dark City edges out Ant Z (which I prefer be pronounced like, and is more enjoyable than, Citizen Kane)
1999- Galaxy Quest is ahead of Bicentennial Man (and, sorry, Phantom Menace, Matrix, Toy Story 2, Dogma, and Iron Giant)
2000- Red Planet (hon. men. Titan A.E.)
2001- Shrek (hon. men. Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back)
2002- Lilo & Stitch (hon. men. Attack of the Clones & Spider-Man)
2003- Finding Nemo (hon. men. Daredevil)
2004- The Incredibles (hon. men. Spider-Man 2, Shaun of the Dead)
2005- Revenge of the Sith (hon. men. Serenity)
2006- Clerks II
2007- Meet the Robinsons
2008- Wall-E
2009- It's neck and neck but let's say Star Trek (hon. men. Watchmen)

What's terrifying is I can't muster the energy to write my own comedy novel but I can spend hours on fluff like this. All I have to manage is the energy to point my thumb up or down.
Anyhoo, thanks to my wife and the universe itself for a happy 33rd birthday!
Here's to the next century of picking films and picking my nose!