Classic Ross Amico

  • Clash of the Titans Harryhausen’s Swan Song

    Clash of the Titans Harryhausen’s Swan Song

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    Ross Amico
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    When “Clash of the Titans” opened on June 12, 1981, it was opposite “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Needless to say, on Friday night I was riding with Indiana Jones; but on Saturday, you can bet I was cozying up with Medusa.

    This week on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, we’ll dust off our Edith Hamilton to search vainly for Calibos and Bubo, on a quest to rescue Andromeda from… the Kraken?

    Okay, so maybe it’s not scrupulously faithful to the classical myths. Who cares? It’s Ray Harryhausen!

    “Clash of the Titans” would be the swan song of this special effects maestro. With classics like “Jason and the Argonauts,” “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad,” and “Mighty Joe Young” adorning his buckler, Harryhausen had long since secured his place in the pantheon.

    But when “Titans” opened, critics were divided: Gene & Roger loved it, but many were shockingly condescending, dismissing the film – some of them even the effects – as turgid and old-fashioned. In the wake of “Star Wars,” the all-knowing arbiters were now too-cool-for-school.

    Nevermind the fact that George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic repeatedly tipped its hat to Harryhausen. Only the year before, in fact, in the “Star Wars” sequel “The Empire Strikes Back,” ILM served up a gloriously-retro Tauntaun and some hilariously-improbable Imperial Walkers. Where would Empire or Rebellion be without Harryhausen?

    Even so, it is hard to deny that Harryhausen’s Dynamation process did start to seem a tad quaint alongside ILM’s “go motion” effects, especially when, only two weeks later, on June 26, 1981, ILM would challenge Harryhausen on his own turf with the fire-breathing antagonist of “Dragonslayer.” The wondrous creation that was Vermithrax Pejorative looked forward to “Jurassic Park” in 1993. So realistic was he, it’s conceivable he would have made Harryhausen himself blanch.

    But realism was never the point of Harryhausen’s fantastic visions, and I feel sorry for anyone who can’t see what’s so special about his special effects. By what law should fantasy be photorealistic? Are not our dreams filled with the otherworldly and the uncanny? Must they conform to the logic of our waking hours?

    Whatever the case, evidently by 1981, the time for this sort of magical storytelling had passed. Harryhausen and his longtime producer Charles Schneer had been hoping to mount a “Titans” follow-up, to be titled “Force of the Trojans,” but they couldn’t secure the funding. So it was that one of special effects’ most imaginative masters was driven to retirement at the age of 61.

    That retirement would be a long one – Harryhausen died in 2013 at the age of 92 – but it was not inactive. He began his own foundation to promote stop motion animation, oversaw the restoration and completion of some of his earlier projects, and in general was lauded and paid tribute to by generations of younger filmmakers. He also turned up in a few cameos.

    With “Clash of the Titans,” nobody can say he didn’t swing for the fences. For one thing, the cast was the starriest of any movie of his career, with supporting roles played by stage and screen legends Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith, Ursula Andress, Siân Phillips, Flora Robson, and Burgess Meredith. Harry Hamlin, soon to attain fame with the success of TV’s “L.A. Law,” played Perseus. Did Hamlin possess the dash of Kerwyn Matthews? Ask your local cyclops.

    More to the point, will Roy and I clash over “Clash of the Titans? Winged horses couldn’t keep us away! We’ll RELEASE THE KRAKEN in the comments section, when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., this Friday evening at 7:30 EDT!

    https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

  • Flag Day Crossword Puzzle Challenge

    Flag Day Crossword Puzzle Challenge

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    Ross Amico
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    It amuses me that I’m such a flighty bird, and yet I am able to hyperfocus on ridiculous projects like coming up with 45 musical clues about the American Flag!

    For a while, when we were all sitting at home during COVID, I made it a point to pull together a crossword puzzle for every Sunday. I would come up with the clues during the week while doing the dishes. I just came across this one, which, conveniently, is Flag Day specific.

    To fill out the puzzle, follow the link and select “solve online” at the bottom of the page. You’ll then be able to type directly into the squares. Once you feel you’ve exhausted the puzzle, you’ll find the solutions by clicking on “Answer Key PDF.”

    I probably should have specified in one or two of the clues that a full name or title is required (that is to say, more than one word).

    Earn your stripes, or see see stars here:

    https://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/Data/2020.06/1406/14063828.520.html?fbclid=IwAR316y2oyaok2BYLKaqdOKUgI0Mc6UhGeBjnYwB1NpOlvEXRjdiA26YtseI

    And Happy Flag Day!

  • Living Well Hutchins at illy

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    Ross Amico
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    Living well is the best revenge. Kenneth Hutchins and I yesterday, during his visit to Princeton – enjoying the good life, in “The Parlour” at illy At Earth’s End coffee shop.

    Who’s next?

    (Photos courtesy of Kenneth Hutchins)

  • Attic Treasures A Summer of Martian Dreams

    Attic Treasures A Summer of Martian Dreams

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    Ross Amico
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    After years of living in rentals, and at my grandparents’, I was excited to finally be moving into our own house. Not that those other places weren’t homey. There was always a lot of love and security and freedom from strife (after early childhood). But this was a real house, constructed in 1930, and it was ours.

    As if that weren’t exciting enough, I was to have the entire attic to myself, as my bedroom, which I could adorn with all my “Star Wars” and Marx Brothers paraphernalia and have my own phone and a turntable and a bookcase and a comfy chair.

    Of course, it was rather late in the game. By then I was already turning 17. In a year, I’d be caught in the inexorable pull of last-minute college preparations. But time was different then, and the days were long.

    Also, I tend to be a bit like chewing gum: once I get stuck on something, I’m difficult to get rid of. I may have been less than a year from high school graduation, but I would attend college only about 90 minutes away, and until I finally opened my first book shop in 1995 – the same time I was hired at WWFM, as a matter of fact, making for a seven-day work schedule – I was home as much as possible, on whatever weekends, holidays, or summer breaks I could get. So it remained “my room” for a decade or more.

    After 1995, the shift was gradual but inexorable, as the space metamorphosed into more what you might expect of an attic. It became a storage space in which my parents piled up old clothing, boxes of photos, luggage, wrapping paper, household accessories, plastic bins, and bric-a-brac, much of which probably should have just been tossed. It got to the point where they were simply piling things on and around the furniture.

    Now that my stepfather is in his 80s, it’s something I realize I need to address with greater industriousness. So I’ve been up a few times to retrieve some of my old belongings and to take stock of what should be bagged up and carted off. It’s an uncanny feeling to return to that space and still sense the room that once was, more or less preserved under decades of mummy dust or grown over with coral. For a room that has not really been temperature controlled for decades, it’s amazing how well-preserved are many of my toys, albums, books, magazines, comics, and films. But there are so many strata of coats and cardboard boxes and Christmas decorations. It’s a major excavation to get to anything.

    Be that as it may – I realize that it sometimes takes me a while to get to the point – in the summer of ’83, 40 years ago, I was charged with the painting the house, prior to our moving everything in. Unfortunately for my folks, it was around the same time that I purchased Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Martian novels – you know, the ones featuring John Carter and his progeny – in the paperback editions with the Michael Whelan cover art. So I’d paint one wall, and then I’d reward myself with the reading of a chapter. Eventually, my mom started to wonder why it was taking me so long to finish the project.

    In a letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul famously wrote, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Evidently, he was unfamiliar with the escapist adventures of John Carter, Tars Tarkas, and Dejah Thoris.

    I am happy to say, I have always retained my appreciation for childish things, whether at 5, 10, 17, or 56. Reflecting back 40 years, on the summer of ’83, is giving me a powerful thirst for Barsoom.

  • Princeton Festival Live Music Guide

    Princeton Festival Live Music Guide

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    Ross Amico
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    Who has a thirst for live music?

    Up next on The Princeton Festival, enjoy a tall drink of water (or wine or beer) with The Claremont Trio. Tonight’s program will include works by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Canadian composer Kati Agócs, and Antonin Dvořák. The concert will take place at 7:00 in the performance pavilion at Morven Museum & Garden.

    Tomorrow, hilarity and improvisation characterize “Broadway’s Next Hit Musical.” Start thinking of your creative song title now! If selected, it could form the basis for a raucous evening’s entertainment.

    On Thursday, Boyd Meets Girl, the husband-and-wife duo for cello and classical guitar, will offer perhaps quieter rewards with its recital across the street at Trinity Church Princeton. Repertoire will range from Bach to Messiaen to Lennon & McCartney.

    Back in the performance pavilion, Friday will bring the first of three performances of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” in a production employing Cubist set designs. Rossen Milanov will conduct the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.

    On Saturday, dancers from American Repertory Ballet will join the Attacca Quartet for expressive interpretations of works by John Adams and Caroline Shaw and some arrangements of Scandinavian folk tunes.

    The Princeton Festival will run through June 25, largely on the grounds of Morven Museum & Garden at 55 Stockton Street (Route 206).

    Boyd Meet Girl and a Baroque concert featuring The Sebastians will be offered across the way at Trinity Church Princeton, at 33 Mercer Street.

    The festival’s “big top,” an 11,000 square-foot, clear-span (no poles or obstructed views), open-sided performance pavilion, allows for easy access to refreshments, ample picnicking opportunities, a garden stroll, or the simple enjoyment of a late-spring/early-summer evening.

    The Princeton Festival is the premier summer arts program of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. For complete listings and ticket information, visit princetonsymphony.org/festival.

    And if you haven’t had a chance to take a look at it yet, here’s my preview in the Princeton weekly U.S. 1 Newspaper – PrincetonInfo.

    https://www.communitynews.org/princetoninfo/eeditions/page-page-12/page_58fa5c3c-6e2a-5848-acb1-58218381fe73.html?fbclid=IwAR1_i3FDAShBuHa48ugoiDnMGJisZCzNIRFnghKMXWFeDm7Hg9IRrVVjzXM

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