creature from the black lagoon Tagged Articles at Cinematical

• David Watkin (1925-2008) - Oscar-winning cinematographer of Out of Africa. He also shot the Beatles movie Help! and the John Lennon film How I Won the War, both directed by Richard Lester, for whom he also worked on Robin and Marian, The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers. He also was the cinematographer for Catch-22, Chariots of Fire, Moonstruck, Memphis Belle, This Boy's Life, Yentl, Return to Oz, White Nights and the opening sequence of Goldfinger. He shot Sidney Lumet's Gloria, Critical Care and Night Falls on Manhattan and Zeffirelli's Hamlet, Jane Eyre, Tea With Mussolini and Endless Love. He died February 19 in Sussex Mews, Brighton, England. (Telegraph)

• Barry Barclay (1944-2008) - Maori filmmaker who directed Sam Neill in 1975's Ashes, which was based on the work of T.S. Eliot. He also directed Ngati and wrote and directed The Feathers of Peace. He died after suffering a stroke February 17, in Omapere, New Zealand. (Variety)
• Natalya Bessmertnova (1941-2008) - Legendary Russian dancer who was a member of the Bolshoi Ballet. She can be seen in the Soviet ballet films The Secret of Success (aka Bolshoi Ballet '67), Giselle, Ivan the Terrible and Spartakus, as well as other in other video-captured performances of Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet. She died of kidney failure February 19, in Moscow. (UPI)

• Alan Black (1943-2007) - Animator on Yellow Submarine. He died March 5, in London. (Independent)
• Ana Casares (c.1930-2007) - Actress who appears in Red Lips and Kiss Me, Monster. She died March 13, in Buenos Aires. (Variety)
• Calvert DeForest (1921-2007) - Actor who appears in Heaven Help Us and Freaked. He is best known for playing the character Larry "Bud" Melman on Late Night with David Letterman. He died March 19, in Babylon, New York. (Variety)
• Vilma Ebsen (1911-2007) - Dancer who appears in Broadway Melody of 1936. She was also the sister of Buddy Epsen. She died March 12, in Thousand Oaks, California. (Variety)
• Freddie Francis (1917-2007) - Two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer of Glory and Sons and Lovers. He also shot Scorsese's remake Cape Fear and a few of David Lynch's films, including The Elephant Man and The Straight Story. He began as a camera operator, working on such films as John Huston's Beat the Devil and Moby Dick, and spent some time as a director, helming horror movies like Tales from the Crypt and Dr. Terror's House of Horrors. He died March 17, in West London. (Variety)
• Eiji Funakoshi (1923-2007) - Japanese actor who starred in Ichikawa's Fires on the Plain and An Actor's Revenge and the monster movies Gamera and Attack of the Monsters. He died March 17. (Criterion)

Just when I was thinking the new 3-D technology championed by George Lucas and James Cameron would save the movie theaters, I come across the subject of 3-D home entertainment. This isn't something new. Sensio has been selling a 3-D processor for years and Universal Studio Home Entertainment has already put out a DVD of the animated short Santa Vs. the Snowman 3D using Sensio's technology. But now Universal and Sensio have announced plans to release five classic (well, old) 3-D movies, which will finally be seen at home as they were meant to be seen. The titles are Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, Jaws 3D, It Came From Outer Space and Taza, Son of Cochise.

Though none of these five movies are hugely attractive, at least not enough to get consumers more interested and aware of Sensio's equipment, and though the entire set up required for their viewing is upwards of $35,000 (the processor is only a few thousand bucks, but special TVs, DVD players and/or projectors are also needed), the fact that quality 3-D home viewing exists makes the promotion of 3-D in cinemas a lot less momentous. Eventually I see the new 3-D movies being released in theaters and then released on 3-D DVDs, and the choice between the multiplex and the living room will be the same as it is today.