special effects

7 Stories

Studio Makes 'Unheard of' Move on Cats

Theaters will receive a version with tweaked special effects by Tuesday

(Newser) - No sooner had Cats opened at theaters everywhere Friday than operators were told they'd be getting a new version. A memo says the tweaked film will have "improved visual effects." Studio executives and theater operators said sending out a reedited copy after the film has been released...

Special Effects Chief Killed on Titans Set

Warren Appleby was hit with debris from car

(Newser) - A special effects "wizard" is dead following an accident on the set of DC Universe's Titans. Warren Appleby, the special effects coordinator for the show, was hit by metal debris that broke off from a car without warning at a special effects facility in Toronto on Thursday, reports...

Life of Pi Is Cinematic 'Landmark'
 Life of Pi 
 Is Cinematic 
 'Landmark' 

movie review

Life of Pi Is Cinematic 'Landmark'

Ang Lee's latest is gorgeous

(Newser) - Critics are stunned by the visuals in Life of Pi, Ang Lee's take on the novel about a boy and a tiger struggling to survive at sea. There's some debate, however, over whether the film's story and grand theological questions hold up to its vision:
  • The Los
...

How Franco Cut Off His Arm, and Other Movie Secrets

Binging, smoking crack, playing twins, and more

(Newser) - James Franco's self-amputation (using a blunt pen knife, no less) in 127 Hours is apparently so realistic that audiences are fainting and vomiting at the sight of it. How'd Hollywood pull that off? At first, by using makeup to create a decaying arm, explains one of the film's makeup artists....

Metal Gear Solid 4 Is a Winner
 Metal Gear Solid 4 Is a Winner 
NEW RELEASE

Metal Gear Solid 4 Is a Winner

Final installment in popular series is visually amazing

(Newser) - If you’re a fan of Metal Gear Solid, you’ll love the fourth and final chapter, Marc Saltzman writes in USA Today; if you’re not, you might be bored stiff by the “cinematic sequences, confusing storylines and campy dialogue” of Guns of the Patriots. But don’t...

Effects Wizard Stan Winston Dead at 62

Aliens , Terminator 2 , Jurassic Park brought him 4 Oscars

(Newser) - Oscar-winning special-effects wizard and creature creator Stan Winston died yesterday at 62 after a 7-year struggle with multiple myeloma, the Los Angeles Times reports. Winston won Oscars for his work on Aliens, Terminator 2, and Jurassic Park. "Stan contributed to some of the greatest fantastic movie characters in motion...

BC Movie Critters Strong on Terror, Not Accuracy

Still, most of the beasts in the new flick did exist somewhere at some point

(Newser) - The computer-generated critters in the movie 10,000 BC—due out Friday—all actually existed at some point, but their portrayal in the film is scientifically sketchy. Saber-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths weren't as big as portrayed, and the film's huge terror birds died out 40 million years ago. One...

7 Stories