DEATH OF A MONSTROUS LEGEND

Goddammit. Stan Winston is dead.

This guy scared the willies out of me in so many ways, at so many times. He was at the very peak of monster making, between the stop motion stuff that we loved and forgave despite its awkwardness and the CGI blowouts that make modern spectaculars so ho hum (when anything is possible, then everything becomes mundane...). He ranks with Ray Harryhausen, Willis O'Brien, Rick Baker and Jim Henson as one of the greatest exponents of visual suspension of disbelief I've ever experienced. His honour roll is mind-boggling: Iron Man, Aliens, Constantine, Predator, Leviathan, and on and on and on. If you're an SF/adventure movie lover, the full list will make you smile a smile of much goofyness.

If you're not familiar with his work, Rob Hood has a fantastic gallery of images, as well as some of his own thoughts.

62. Too damn soon.