STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:20

STAR TREK is back, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is still flouting the rules, director J.J. Abrams is still dividing the fan base,...

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:20

Star Trek Into Darkness: Review

Director J.J. Abrams is back in the captain’s chair, piloting the U.S.S. Enterprise through more explosions, more lens flare – in fact,...

Star Trek Into Darkness: Review

MST3K’s Frank Conniff: The CFQ Interview

As MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000′S TV’s Frank, comedian and writer Frank Conniff became possibly the most cuddly mad scientist...

MST3K's Frank Conniff: The CFQ Interview

Tribute to Ray Harryhausen: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:19

It is not an understatement to say that, for many who work within the industry of fantastic film and those who cover it, Ray...

Tribute to Ray Harryhausen: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:19

SIGHTSEERS’ Ben Wheatley: The CFQ Interview

Welcome to the banality of evil, Ben Wheatley-style: In his horror comedy SIGHTSEERS, a couple (Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, who...

SIGHTSEERS' Ben Wheatley: The CFQ Interview
Supernal Dreams: Ray Harryhausen on the original CLASH OF THE TITANS

Supernal Dreams: Ray Harryhausen on the original CLASH OF THE TITANS

With the re-make of Clash of the Titans hitting theaters this week, Warner Bros. has released the original 1981 film on Blue-Ray disc. To celebrate, here is part V of my interview with Ray Harryhausen, discussing his hand-crafted approach to creating the film’s special visual effects.

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Ray Harryhausen has passed on to

Ray Harryhausen has passed on to “the land beyond beyond”

Ray Harryhausen, the special effects genius who used stop-motion effects to enchant a generation of film-goers, has passed away. According to The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation Facebook page, Harryhausen died in London today, May 7 (less than two months short of what would have been his 93rd birthday).
Harryhausen caught the filmmaking bug after watching [...]

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STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:20

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:20

STAR TREK is back, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is still flouting the rules, director J.J. Abrams is still dividing the fan base, but amazingly, inconceivably, there’s no dissent within the Cinefantastique Online ranks this time: Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons all agree that STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS is supreme, quintessential TREK adventure. Telling [...]

Other posts in Reviews

Tribute to Ray Harryhausen: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:19

Tribute to Ray Harryhausen: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:19

It is not an understatement to say that, for many who work within the industry of fantastic film and those who cover it, Ray Harryhausen was one of the key godfathers of the Sense of Wonder. In such films as EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, and [...]

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Thank god - actually, Harryhausen - for my Sense of Wonder

Thank god – actually, Harryhausen – for my Sense of Wonder

Having spent the better part of the morning posting new articles about Ray Harryhausen, and digging up old ones from the CFQ archive, you would think I had nothing more to say about the revered cine-magician, who passed away today at the age of 92. Yet even after writing an obituary that attempted to asses [...]

Other posts in Sense of Wonder

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:20

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:20

STAR TREK is back, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is still flouting the rules, director J.J. Abrams is still dividing the fan base, but amazingly, inconceivably, there’s no dissent within the Cinefantastique Online ranks this time: Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons all agree that STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS is supreme, quintessential TREK adventure. Telling [...]

Other posts in Podcasts

Recent Posts

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:20

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:20

STAR TREK is back, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is still flouting the rules, director J.J. Abrams is still dividing the fan base, but amazingly, inconceivably, there’s no dissent within the Cinefantastique Online ranks this time: Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons all agree that STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS is supreme, quintessential TREK adventure. Telling [...]

CFQ Video Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

CFQ Video Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

Cinefantastique Online’s first video review boldly goes on a STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. The second Enterprise outing from director J.J. Abrams does what no STAR TREK film has done before: achieve greatness for the second time in a row. On the CFQ Review scale, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS earns four out of five stars, making [...]

Star Trek Into Darkness: Review

Star Trek Into Darkness: Review

Director J.J. Abrams is back in the captain’s chair, piloting the U.S.S. Enterprise through more explosions, more lens flare – in fact, more of just about everything that disenchanted Trekkies with STAR TREK (2009) – and this time all of it is enhanced with enough eye-popping 3D to make these angry fans switch their phasers [...]

MST3K's Frank Conniff: The CFQ Interview

MST3K’s Frank Conniff: The CFQ Interview

As MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000′S TV’s Frank, comedian and writer Frank Conniff became possibly the most cuddly mad scientist in history. From his debut television appearance that started with the show’s second season — for which he scripted and also pre-screened the “cheesy movies” that would torture host Joel Hodgson and crew — Conniff went [...]

Tribute to Ray Harryhausen: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:19

Tribute to Ray Harryhausen: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:19

It is not an understatement to say that, for many who work within the industry of fantastic film and those who cover it, Ray Harryhausen was one of the key godfathers of the Sense of Wonder. In such films as EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, and [...]

SIGHTSEERS' Ben Wheatley: The CFQ Interview

SIGHTSEERS’ Ben Wheatley: The CFQ Interview

Welcome to the banality of evil, Ben Wheatley-style: In his horror comedy SIGHTSEERS, a couple (Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, who also scripted) decides to take a caravan trip across the British Isles. But, really, who could enjoy such marvels as an antique tramway or the pencil museum when such distractions as litterers, rowdy Wiccans, [...]

From One Generation to the Next: Ray Harryhausen in the 21st Century

From One Generation to the Next: Ray Harryhausen in the 21st Century

Editor’s Note: One recurring theme to emerge in the wake of Ray Harryhausen’s death yesterday was the tremendous influence his work continues to exert over today’s filmmakers, over three decades since his last film, CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981). With that in mind, we are publishing this 2006 article, which uses the occasion of Harryhausen’s [...]

Thank god - actually, Harryhausen - for my Sense of Wonder

Thank god – actually, Harryhausen – for my Sense of Wonder

Having spent the better part of the morning posting new articles about Ray Harryhausen, and digging up old ones from the CFQ archive, you would think I had nothing more to say about the revered cine-magician, who passed away today at the age of 92. Yet even after writing an obituary that attempted to asses [...]

Ray Harryhausen: Montage of Monsters

Ray Harryhausen: Montage of Monsters

There are several fan-made montages of monsters from Ray Harryhausen films, but this is one of the best, thanks in no small part to its use of soundtrack music composed by Bernard Herrmann (who contributed to Harryhausen’s THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and MYSTERIOUS ISLAND).

Ray Harryhausen explains stop-motion

Ray Harryhausen explains stop-motion

In this 1974 television interview (including film clips from ONE MILLION, B.C. and JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS), Ray Harryhausen demonstrates of the basics of the stop-motion special effects technique and explains how the special effects sequences were dreamed up for his movies.

Skeleton battle from Jason and the Argonauts: video

Skeleton battle from Jason and the Argonauts: video

See one of the greatest sequences ever crafted by stop-motion magician Ray Harryhausen: the skeleton battle from the climax of JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS.

Ray Harryhausen on animating Medusa for Clash of the Titans

Ray Harryhausen on animating Medusa for Clash of the Titans

Courtesy of Warner Brothers Online, check out this video interview with Ray Harryhausen, who discusses the changes he made to Medusa in order to make her work as a stop-motion character in CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981).

Video Q&A: Ray Harryhausen on Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Video Q&A: Ray Harryhausen on Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

On April 23, 2006, Ray Harryhausen attended a screening of THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, California. The screening, courtesy of the American Cinematheque, was billed as “The Two Rays,” because Harryhausen’s friend Ray Bradbury was scheduled to attend. Harryhausen, of course, provided the stop-motion special effects that brought [...]