Dick Smith: Legend

I would be remiss indeed if I closed out the day without marking the passing of the legendary makeup icon, Dick Smith. Dick Smith changed the world of makeup in cinema more than anyone else in history. He will forever be associated with the groundbreaking effects work in The Exorcist, but he did so much more.





His stunning transformation of Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man...

Marlon Brando in The Godfather...

Of course, The Exorcist...

David Bowie in The Hunger...

 Taxi Driver -  De Niro didn't shave his head, that was a skull cap...!

Altered States...

Salieri in Amadeus...

And of course, the movie that scared the goose droppings out of me so intensely in the upstairs theater of The Hollywood during a double bill on a Saturday night back in 1978, The Sentinel...

You scarred us forever, Dick, in so many fantastic ways.
Harryhausen is gone now...and Gordon Willis...and H.R. Giger. Now Dick Smith. He was a fundamental voice of the most influential period of American cinema and launched a thousand nightmares, while inspiring generations of young admirers to take up the latex and turn special effects makeup into a legitimate career.

Thanks for your unique vision and staggering craftsmanship.

Dick Smith - the master - was 92.

Now that's a Hateful poster!

Good old Quentin - so awesome to get confirmation that The Hateful Eight is actually happening, litigation be damned - and we'll be seeing it sometime next year - and it's in 70mm Super CINEMASCOPE!!! 

Familiar Faces Join Game of Thrones For Season 5

As the Comic Con dust settles, show business keeps on rolling. We've already learned that Dorne will figure prominently in next years' Game of Thrones, and that George R. R. Martin is taking the season off from writing an episode to focus on making progress on his books (phew!). Now HBO has begun the next round of casting announcements.

Jonathan Pryce will be coming aboard as The High Sparrow, a religous leader who makes all kinds of waves for the post-Tywin era denizens of King's Landing.

Over in Dorne, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine alum will be playing Prince Oberyn's older brother, Doran Martell.



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Former Whale Rider Keisha Castle-Hughes has been cast as Oberyn's eldest "Sand Snake" daughter, Obara Sand, a fearsome warrior.

There are numerous other Dorne residents as well, but these are the most familiar faces.
Welcome to Westeros, everyone!

Comic Con: Wonder Woman!

Comic Con: Dark Horse Game of Thrones!

This March, Dark Horse has revealed they'll be serving up the Lannister family patriarch, Lord Tywin himself! 

Don't mess with The Hand of the King (unless he's on the privy...)!

One More For The Road

Closing out Day One of SDCC with a few stray images that actually aren't toy related - well, mostly...

The Faithful! My people!

A recreation of The Walking Dead's Terminus...

Howzabout a few Stormtroopers...?

Coming soon to my backyard...

...and the full size Hot Wheels Darth Vader car. "I find your lack of racing stripes disturbing."

Get some sleep - we'll see ya tomorrow!

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED: RIPLEY!

UPDATED, with more shots of both figures! We have Ripley from the first Alien at last, in both her jumpsuit with flamethrower, and in the iconic white spacesuit from the film's showdown in the shuttle. Bravo, NECA! You've done a wonderful job here!

First glimpse: RIPLEY!!!

Being touched-up for her showcase debut, first look at 7" Alien Ripley!

Comic Con: Mezco unleashes Gemma and Gus!

Fans of Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad will be thrilled to see that Mezco is evidently just getting started with those lines.

The first wave of Sons figures have yet to reach shelves, but Mezco's taking a "give 'em what they want" approach and have revealed not only Opie, but Gemma!

Feast your eyes:

Very nice. Opie comes in two versions.

Now check this out: here's two awesome versions of Breaking Bad's Gus Fring - before and after - regular and "Kentucky Fried..."

Nice work, Mezco! We are loving these! Now if we can just get some bikes in scale with these figures!

Comic Con: NECA reveals more Apes and hints of Alien

NECA has revealed a smashing assortment of new Planet of the Apes figures, both classic and new. They've outdone themselves here, in my opinion:

Let's start with Zira...

Likeness, nailed!

General Ursus...

"The only good human is a DEAD human!"

Old school Caesar (Conquest)...

"They finally, really did it!" Astronaut Taylor!

Again, like with their Snake Plissken, going for a larger retro scale with fabric, so maybe not quite scale-complementary with the other Apes figures, as that may come in time, but Wow!

Just look at the detail of accessories in his survival pack: 

New movie Caesar...

Koba...

Now, we move to Alien. 
We glimpsed Dallas last year, but just look at the likeness on this final version:

Two versions of Jones the cat...

...with the second version teasing a cloaked, as yet to be revealed new figure in a white space suit...

hmmm...!

Remember, we were promised reveals of at least two Ripley prototypes this year, so expect more from NECA soon, quite probably later today...