Ray Harryhausen: RIP

This is the one I have been expecting the longest and dreading the most.

Ray Harryhausen, the greatest special effects master in cinematic history, has gone to his reward at the age of 92.

When he was a boy, Ray saw King Kong and his life, and the lives of countless others, were changed forever. He determined that this was what he would do with his life, and from 1946 to 1981, he dazzled and inspired audiences with a series of spectacular creatures and effects.

It's hard to put into words what made his movies so magical. It wasn't just the craft or artistry of his expertly animated models, though that was superb (his masterpiece - the skeleton fight from Jason and the Argonauts - astonishes even modern audiences). Ray had a gift for putting souls into his creations, giving them a life and character all of their own. His special effects were somehow more than just special effects; they were like dreams brought to life. Anyone who was ever inspired by him knows what I'm trying to say.

Ray Harryhausen represented the capacity of movies to show us spectacular new sights, the kinds of things that no other medium could have possibly shown. He was the giant of his field; the master of his craft. Willis O'Brien, the creator of King Kong, lit the torch of movie special effects, which he passed to Ray, who passed it on to countless artists, writers, and filmmakers who saw his films. There is no doubt that without Harryhausen, there would be no Star Wars, no Jurassic Park, no Lord of the Rings, no Pixar. We will never know the full extent of his influence.

We will never see his like again, and everyone who appreciates cinema will mourn his passing.

Enjoy this collection of his work.

 Requiescat in Pace.

Thank you for the dreams.

RIP Jonathan Winters

Good Lord, we're losing classic-era entertainers by the day! Comedian Jonathan Winters has died at the age of 87.

For those of you who don't know, Winters was a pioneering improv comic; a freewheeling, maniacal, lightning-witted performer who paved the way for the likes of Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Patton Oswalt, and Billy Crystal, among countless others.

Personally, I'm most familiar with Winters on account of two very different roles. The first was his turn in the 1963 all-star comedy epic It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, where he played the truck driver Mr. Pike. In that role Winters had the distinction of starring in perhaps the single funniest sequence of a tremendously funny movie, in which he chases two terrified attendents all around all their gas station, completely demolishing it with his bare hands in the process (the sequence of events that leads to this is too complicated to get into here; they believe he's an escaped mental patient and he's out to take revenge on a con-man played by Phil Silvers).

The other role that springs to mind was one of his rare dramatic performances in an episode of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. In the episode A Game of Pool, Winters plays a deceased champion who returns from the dead to answer a challenge by an up-and-comer played by Jack Klugman. It's an excellent episode, dealing with the question of what it means to be a champion, and whether the effort is worth it. Winters gave a rich, slightly creepy performance as the unpredictable grand master who alternates between being deathly serious about the game and treating the whole thing as a lark. He also gets to show his comedic talents a bit, as his character begins toying with Klugman's late in the game.

I am painfully aware that this barely scratches the surface of Winter's fifty-plus-year career in film and television, not to mention his talents as a writer and painter. Suffice to say, he was one of the last of the great talents of his generation, and he will be sorely missed.

Requiescat in Pacem.

Andy Griffith RIP

                Another part of our cultural heritage is gone forever. Andy Griffith, comedian, singer, and television icon, has died at the age of 86.

                  The Andy Griffith Show was and remains one of my all-time favorites. It has a gloriously good nature to it, as simple and unaffected as any small country town. Small town sheriff Andy Taylor (Griffith) was the calm eye in the center of a hurricane of crazies, ranging from his incompetent deputy and best friend Barney Fife (Don Knotts) to slack-jawed gas-station attendant Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors). Every week Andy would have to try to solve some local problem, usually brought on or exacerbated by Barney, while bringing up his young son, Opie (Ronny Howard) with the slightly dubious help of his bustling, naïve Aunt Bea (Frances Bavier).

                  The joys of the show were manifold, so much that it would take pages and pages to give it its due. There’s the beautiful father-son relationship between Andy and Opie, with Andy doing his best to bring up his son right and Opie alternatively getting into trouble and learning life lessons. There’s the painfully funny antics of Barney, who takes his job extremely seriously, despite his almost complete ineptitude at it (Andy only lets him carry one bullet…which he’s forbidden from keeping in his gun). There’s the easy-going charm and quirks of small-town life, where everyone knows everyone (a particularly funny episode has Gomer placing Barney under ‘citizen’s arrest,’ to the cheers of the assembled crowd).

                  But at its heart was Andy Griffith’s firm, friendly, and level-headed Sheriff Taylor. He was a character who was thoroughly admirable without being idealized; a true man, a loving-though-firm father, a loyal friend, and, through it all, a delightfully funny and engaging character.

                  Griffith’s Sheriff Taylor was a television icon, and had he done nothing else his place in American history would have been assured. But that wasn’t all he did. He starred in numerous other works, including the spinoff, Mayberry RFD, and created another iconic television character in the form of the deceptively-genial southern lawyer Matlock.

                  Griffith was a giant of the television art form and The Andy Griffith Show is one of the finest examples of the medium’s first golden age. It has a strong claim to be America’s all-time favorite comedy series. Through it and through his many other works Griffith brought laughter, joy, and inspiration to millions. We shall not look upon his like again. 

 

   Requiescat in Pace.