In Memory of Douglas Trumbull (1942-2022)

Douglas Trumbull (1942-2022)

Douglas Trumbull, the pioneer behind the VFX for "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", and "Blade Runner", passed away on February 7th, 2022. He was 79 years old. Trumbull was the son of a mechanical engineer and effects artist Don Trumbull, who worked on films like "The Wizard of Oz". His dad also worked with his son on "Silent Running", "Close Encounters", and "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and received two Scientific and Technical Achievement Oscars before he died in 2004 at age 95. He was an airbrush artist and illustrator at Graphic Films in Los Angeles and did a 1964 New York World's Fair documentary called "To the Moon and Beyond". Shot in Cinerama and projected overhead onto the Moon Dome. This impressed director Stanley Kubrick, who then hired Trumbull (along with Graphic Films director Con Pederson) to work on the initial designs for "2001" after getting Kubrick's number from Pederson and cold-called him. Trumbull started with a relatively minor task by creating the animated displays seen on the computer screens throughout the ship in the movie. However, his responsibilities grew as production continued, becoming one of the four visual effects supervisors of the film. He found himself tasked with what became his signature creation, the out-of-this-world passage of light finale dubbed the Star Gate sequence.

After "2001", Trumbull made his directorial debut in an eco sci-fi film he conceived entitled "Silent Running", which achieved cult status, all on a $1 million budget. By the 1970s, Trumbull had other commitments and declined an offer to provide the visual effects for George Lucas' "Star Wars". At the same time, Steven Spielberg, who was 29, started principal photography on his sci-fi movie "Close Encounters". He rewatched Kubrick's "2001" in preparation and found the masterpiece intimidated him more than to have him inspired. Spielberg hired Trumbull, who was then under contract at Paramount Pictures on a loan-out, to contribute the visual effects for "Close Encounters". The film earned Trumbull and his team an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects, which it lost to "Star Wars". Trumbull also worked with director Robert Wise in films such as "The Andromeda Strain" and "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (the latter earned Trumbull his second Academy Award nomination). He also received his third Oscar nomination for his groundbreaking effects in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner".

Douglas' second directorial feature was "Brainstorm", starring Natalie Wood in her final role. The movie was the first to showcase his Showscan process (70mm film photographed at 60 frames per sec) during the virtual reality sequences, but due to the cost, MGM withdrew the idea. In November 1981, during a production break, Wood drowned under unknown circumstances while on a boat trip to Catalina Island. This setback caused MGM to file an insurance complaint, and the film remained unfinished until two years later. These experiences caused Trumbull to withdraw from the film industry and delve his passion into working on new technology for cinema and filmmakers. He even created the "Back to the Future" ride at Universal Studios.

Trumbull was brought back from his 30-year retirement by director Terence Malick to work under Dan Glass as a visual effects consultant on "The Tree of Life". He received many accolades and honours in his lifetime, including a Scientific and Engineering Award in 1993 from the Academy Awards for his Showscan Camera System and the Gordon E. Sawyer statuette in 2012 for his career contributions. In my opinion, I believe Trumbull and his team should have deserved the Oscar for the effects work in "2001", not Stanley Kubrick, who took the award for himself.

Here are the clips of the outstanding work of visual effects he provided during his career.

Back to Home

In Memory of Ivan Reitman (1946-2022)

Ivan Reitman (1946-2022)

It's with great sadness that comedy producer/director Ivan Reitman peacefully died at his home in California on February 12th, 2022. He was 75 years old. Ivan was responsible for helming such decade-defining comedies as "Animal House" and "Ghostbusters". Born on October 27th, 1946, in Kornarno, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia), to a Hungarian Jewish family, Ivan was only four when he and his parents escaped from communists after World War II and emigrated to Canada shortly after. Early in his life, he earned a Bachelor of Music from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he has done many short films.

Then, in 1978 came his big break when he produced the college fraternity send-up "National Lampoon's Animal House", which was an instant success. In 1979, he directed Bill Murray in his first starring role in "Meatballs". A long and fruitful partnership between the actor and the filmmaker was born. Ivan would later direct Murray again in the 1981 war comedy "Stripes". But his crowning moment of glory came in 1984 when he made the supernatural comedy "Ghostbusters" with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis (who also co-wrote the film), Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis. The film was a tremendous success and grossed nearly $300 million worldwide, earned two Oscar nominations and spawned a franchise including two sequels (one of which he directed), two television shows and a reboot.

Reitman also collaborated with action star Arnold Schwarzenegger in comedies like "Twins" with Danny DeVito, "Kindergarten Cop", and "Junior". Other notable movies of his calibre include "Dave" and "Six Days, Seven Nights". Ivan also produced "Beethoven", "Space Jam", "Old School", "Private Parts", "EuroTrip", and his son's Oscar-nominated feature "Up in the Air". After helming "Six Days, Seven Nights", Reitman slowed down as director with four films "Evolution", "My Super Ex-Girlfriend", "No Strings Attached", and "Draft Day". He continued producing, with "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" as his final movie and handed the directorial reins of the film to his son Jason, who is continuing his father's legacy.

Back to Home

94th Academy Awards

94th Academy Awards

Broadcast Date: 28th March 2022 - Australia

Hello, moviegoers. There's a reason I didn't do much critiquing. I was busy working on an animated project and spent three or four hours getting it made for a local art exhibition. Now that I've finished my short animation, I can finally rest in peace and work on my reviews, obituaries and news updates.

 

Unveiled this year are the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards. Here is the list of nominees in over 23 categories, with The Power of the Dog garnering 12 nominations.

Best Visual Effects

Dune - Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer

Free Guy - Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick

No Time to Die - Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver

Spider-Man: No Way Home - Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick

Best Film Editing

Don't Look Up - Hank Corwin

Dune - Joe Walker

King Richard - Pamela Martin

The Power of the Dog - Peter Sciberras

tick, tick... BOOM! - Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

Best Costume Design

Cruella - Jenny Beaven

Cyrano - Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran

Dune - Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan

Nightmare Alley - Luis Sequeira

West Side Story - Paul Tazewell

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Coming 2 America - Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer

Cruella - Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon

Dune - Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr

The Eyes of Tammy Faye - Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh

House of Gucci - Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

Best Cinematography

Dune - Greig Fraser

Nightmare Alley - Dan Laustsen

The Power of the Dog - Ari Wegner

The Tragedy of Macbeth - Bruno Delbonnel

West Side Story - Janusz Kaminski

Best Production Design

Dune - Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos

Nightmare Alley - Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau

The Power of the Dog - Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards

The Tragedy of Macbeth - Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

West Side Story - Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo

Best Sound

Belfast - Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri

Dune - Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett

No Time to Die - Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor

The Power of the Dog - Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb

West Side Story - Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

Best Original Song

"Be Alive" from King Richard - Music and Lyrics by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

"Dos Oruguitas" from Encanto - Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda

"Down to Joy" from Belfast - Music and Lyrics by Van Morrison

"No Time to Die" from No Time to Die - Music and Lyrics by Billie Elish and Finneas O'Connell

"Somehow You Do" from Four Good Days - Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren

Best Original Score

Don't Look Up - Nicholas Britell

Dune - Hans Zimmer

Encanto - Germaine Franco

Parallel Mothers - Alberto Iglesias

The Power of the Dog - Jonny Greenwood

Best Animated Short Film

Affairs of the Art - Joanna Quinn and Les Mills

Bestia - Hugo Covarrubius and Tevo Diaz

BoxBallet - Anton Dyakov

Robin Robin - Dan Ojari and Mikey Please

The Windshield Wiper - Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

Best Live-Action Short Film

Ala Kachuu - Take and Run - Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger

The Dress - Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki

The Long Goodbye - Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed

On My Mind - Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson

Please Hold - K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse

Best Documentary Short Subject

Audible - Matthew Ogens and Geoff McLean

Lead Me Home - Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk

The Queen of Basketball - Ben Proudfoot

Three Songs for Benazir - Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei

When We Were Bullies - Jay Rosenblatt

Best Documentary Feature

Ascension - Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell

Attica - Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry

Flee - Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Bryne Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) - Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein

Writing with Fire - Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

Best International Feature Film

Drive My Car (Japan) in Japanese - Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Flee (Denmark) in Danish - Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen

The Hand of God (Italy) in Italian - Directed by Paolo Sorrentino

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan) in Dzongkha - Directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji

The Worst Person in the World (Norway) in Norwegian - Directed by Joachim Trier

Best Animated Feature Film

Encanto - Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer

Flee - Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie

Luca - Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren

The Mitchells vs. the Machines - Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht

Raya and the Last Dragon - Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

Best Adapted Screenplay

CODA - Screenplay by Sian Heder; based on the film La Famille Bélier by Victoria Bedos, Thomas Bidegain, Stanislas Carré de Malberg and Éric Lartigau

Drive My Car - Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe; based on the short story by Haruki Murakami

Dune - Screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth; based on the novel by Frank Herbert

The Lost Daughter - Screenplay by Maggie Gyllenhaal; based on the novel by Elena Ferrante

The Power of the Dog - Screenplay by Jane Campion; based on the novel by Thomas Savage

Best Original Screenplay

Belfast - Written by Kenneth Branagh

Don't Look Up - Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay and David Sirota

King Richard - Written by Zach Baylin

Licorice Pizza - Written by Paul Thomas Anderson

The Worst Person in the World - Written by Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier

Best Supporting Actress

Jessie Buckley - The Lost Daughter as Leda Caruso

Ariana DeBose - West Side Story as Anita

Judi Dench - Belfast as "Granny"

Kirsten Dunst - The Power of the Dog as Rose Gordon

Aunjanue Ellis - King Richard as Oracene "Brandy" Price

Best Supporting Actor

Ciarán Hinds - Belfast as "Pop"

Troy Kotsur - CODA as Frank Rossi

Jesse Plemons - The Power of the Dog as George Burbank

J. K. Simmons - Being the Ricardos as William Frawley

Kodi Smit-McPhee - The Power of the Dog as Peter Gordon

Best Actress

Jessica Chastain - The Eyes of Tammy Faye as Tammy Faye Bakker

Olivia Colman - The Lost Daughter as Leda Caruso

Penélope Cruz - Parallel Mothers as Janis Martinez Moreno

Nicole Kidman - Being the Ricardos as Lucille Ball

Kristen Stewart - Spencer as Diana, Princess of Wales

Best Actor

Javier Bardem - Being the Ricardos as Desi Arnaz

Benedict Cumberbatch - The Power of the Dog as Phil Burbank

Andrew Garfield - tick, tick... BOOM! as Jonathan Larson

Will Smith - King Richard as Richard Williams

Denzel Washington - The Tragedy of Macbeth as Macbeth

Best Director

Kenneth Branagh - Belfast

Ryusuke Hamaguchi - Drive My Car

Paul Thomas Anderson - Licorice Pizza

Jane Campion - The Power of the Dog

Steven Spielberg - West Side Story

Best Picture

Belfast - Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas

CODA - Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger

Don't Look Up - Adam McKay and Kevin Messick

Drive My Car - Teruhisa Yamamoto

Dune - Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter

King Richard - Tim & Trevor White and Will Smith

Licorice Pizza - Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson

Nightmare Alley - Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper

The Power of the Dog - Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Cunning and Roger Frappier

West Side Story - Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Kreiger

Honorary Awards

Samuel L. Jackson

Elaine May

Liv Ullmann

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Danny Glover

Make sure you let me know who the winners are. My predictions for the winners of the following categories are

Best Visual Effects - Dune

Best Production Design - Dune

Best Costume Design - Dune

Best Makeup and Hairstyling - Dune

Best Cinematography - Dune

Best Original Score - Dune

Best Animated Feature - Raya and the Last Dragon

Back to Home