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One of the most beautiful actresses to ever grace the screen in any language - she was also great in the harrowing Letter Never Sent (EDIT: ah, I see you mentioned that, Wagstaff )

Leslie Thomas, popular UK comic novelist whose novels The Virgin Soldiers and Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers were filmed in 1969 and 1977. He wrote the screenplay for the latter. Other novels, Tropic of Ruislip (as Tropic) and Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective, were adapted for British TV.

I had no idea he was in A Christmas Story. I remember how weird it was to see him being pushed around by Martin Sheen's character in The Dead Zone, the Convex character had that deep an impression on me as the whole movie did.

It is difficult to recommend it as a tribute, as the whole thing is about aging and inevitable death captured by the vampiric lens of recorded imagery, but Carlson is magnificent in Camera, the six minute short available on the Criterion Videodrome set.

H.R. Giger, Swiss Surrealist painter and sculptor whose film credits were few, but as conceptual designer behind the Alien cycle his influence was colossal.

And Species! That series might not have utilised it to the most effective extent but his creature designs and especially his proposal for the alien world dream sequence with its hellish train system (dropped from the final film), was amazing.

He also contributed significantly to computer games too, with the early 1990s videogame Darkseed.

MichaelB wrote:H.R. Giger, Swiss Surrealist painter and sculptor whose film credits were few, but as conceptual designer behind the Alien cycle his influence was colossal.

I was shocked when I saw the obituary headline this morning...mainly because I thought that he died in the mid-80s.

Malik Bendjelloul, child actor, and director of Searching for Sugar Man died at age 36. The police say don't suspect any crime related to the death.

RobertB wrote:Malik Bendjelloul, child actor, and director of Searching for Sugar Man died at age 36. The police say don't suspect any crime related to the death.

'Searching for Sugar Man' director dies at 36

Suicide, according to his brother.

The Great Aspect Ratio Debate.

Stand by for zombies!

zedz wrote:The Great Aspect Ratio Debate.

I miss it already.

But it seemed so lively!

Clearly putting on a brave face as it contemplated its impending demise.

zedz wrote:Stand by for zombies!

Brains... Braaaaains!! (we want to share our brains with you)

The only way to kill an open matte zombie is to lop its head off completely with Cinemascope framing.

director Noribumi Suzuki, director of many zany 70's movies for Toei such as "Sex & Fury", "Star Of David", "Bohachi Bushido", the "Trucker Bastards" series, and also "Panty Hole"

Novelist Mary Stewart at the age of 97. Her 1962 novel The Moon-Spinners was filmed in 1964 by Disney.

Oh no. This is a tremendous loss. Godfather and Allen films aside -- which are, nevertheless, remarkable work -- I always found his work on Klute and The Parallax View most impressive. He was as close to the ideal of cinematographer as auteur, if that's possible, as any DP's ever been. I just love the minimalist, shadowy look he lent so many disparate, (typically) great films. A great artist; we need more movies today as refreshingly stark and intelligent as the ones he lensed.

Weirdly enough, I was just watching Presumed Innocent on HBO GO last night, primarily because of Willis! Not a great piece of cinema per se but it has some real moments of beauty in it courtesy of Willis. A tremendous loss, to think in 8 years he photographed Klute, Godfather I and II, The Parallax View, All The President's Men, Annie Hall and Manhattan is astonishing. And that's not even every movie he did in that period!

Woody Allen's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy is very slight and weirdly laughfree, but damn if it might not be Allen's most gorgeous color movie thanks to Willis. And I particularly love Willis's work on the in-film Purple Rose of Cairo, which so pitch-perfectly replicates the style of 30s adventure movies that I might have taken it to actually be one if it was shown separate of the film. He will be dearly missed.

Sam Greenlee, writer/producer of The Spook Who Sat by the Door.

Perkins Cobb wrote:Sam Greenlee, writer/producer of The Spook Who Sat by the Door.

Dang. That's a fun film that anyone involved in the War genre thread should check out.