Interview by Bonnie Burton

This week we lost an iconic special effects innovator and make-up artist Stan Winston, who’s best known for his work in the Terminator films, Jurassic Park, Aliens, Predator, Edward Scissorhands and most recently Iron Man, passed away at age 62 on June 15, 2008. He leaves behind a legacy of innovative work that not only earned him four Academy Awards, but legions of fans who many have become movie make-up artists and creature creators themselves.

Revenge of the Sith Creature Shop Supervisor Dave Elsey talks to us about his own admiration for Stan Winston and why his talents on the big screen will be missed.

When did you first discover the work of Stan Winston?
I was probably about 15 when I discovered Stan Winston’s work. I had a book called Making A monster by Al Taylor and Sue Roy, and I was really obsessed by the stuff he did, even back then, before he started doing all the really iconic stuff. I really loved his collaborative old age makeup on The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman.

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Available this week is the latest issue of Star Wars Insider. Here’s a preview of the feature article with Stuart Freeborn, sculptor of such legendary faces as Chewbacca and Yoda. Of course, Freeborn’s career in the movie business began long before he arrived in that galaxy far, far away…

Make-up man Stuart Freeborn’s impressive body of work stretches all the way back to the films of Charlie Chaplin, but it’s his design of the distinctive Star Wars characters like Yoda and Chewbacca that interests Insider!

A make-up man of considerable experience as well as a well-respected innovator, Stuart Freeborn’s impressive resume includes work with Alexander Korda, Charlie Chaplin, Peter Sellers, and even the Muppets, as well as creating the stunningly realistic apes for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey before he accepted the challenge to work on the original Star Wars. Now enjoying his retirement with his wife, the 93-year-old veteran of over 70 films shared some of his personal memories of making the original Star Wars trilogy.

Read more after the jump…

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(Harvey Korman as Chef Gormaanda)

By Bonnie Burton

When I think back on some of the first movies I saw with my dad, or hours spent at home as a latch-key kid watching comedy skit TV shows, it’s full of memories involving comedic actor Harvey Korman. I remember giggling at his klutzy Hedley Lamarr character in the movie Blazing Saddles. I recall my afterschool ritual of getting comfy on the living room couch, with Little Debbie oatmeal pies in hand, and snort-laughing at Korman’s crazy antics on “The Carol Burnett Show.”

I can still remember being on the edge of my seat in the movie theater watching Korman as Captain Blythe in Herbie Goes Bananas. Heck, I even liked him during my full-blown Goth days when he played Dr. Jack Seward in Dracula: Dead and Loving It.

So it really shouldn’t be a surprise when years later, I was brave enough to admit in a crowded Lucasfilm marketing meeting that I was a big fan of the “Star Wars Holiday Special.”

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(Photo by Bonnie Burton)
Actor Daniel Logan.

Attack of the Clones Boba Fett actor Daniel Logan blogs about Memorial Day, ANZAC Day in New Zealand, and his upcoming appearance at Disney Star Wars Weekend in Orlando, Florida from June 6-8, 2008. We can’t wait to see him there!

Daniel writes in his blog:

This will be a great weekend. Not only will you get to see me there, but the original Boba, Jeremy Bulloch, will be there as well. I am excited to be in Orlando together with Jeremy for the first time. We have both attended the Star Wars Weekends in the past, but this will be the first time that both Bobas will be together on the same weekend. As I did last year, I will be sending a report, with pictures, from the event to Starwars.com. So I hope you will stop in and take a look at my story from Orlando over the weekend of June 6-8.

Also, another special thing about that weekend… I will be celebrating my 21st birthday on June 6! Little Boba is not so little anymore!

Read his full blog entry here:
Daniel Logan Reporting from the Star Wars Weekends in Orlando, FL

Never one to turn down a comic book convention, I spent this past Sunday at Super-Con 2008 in San Jose, Calif. hanging out with fellow comic book fans, writers and artists, as well as celebrity Star Wars fans Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin, actor/author Wil Wheaton, Bongo Comics Creative Director Bill Morrison and Star Wars actor Daniel Logan.

Super-Con is pretty small in scope compared to the bigger conventions like San Diego Comic-Con. It reminded me of Alternative Press Expo and WonderCon used to be before all movie marketers and Hollywood publicists figured out that their key demographic is all in one spot. I got to have real conversations with artists like Adam Hughes and Allison Sohn about their Star Wars art.

(New work from Adam Hughes)

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If you’re anywhere near the small town of Petaluma just north of San Francisco this weekend, be sure to stop in and take part in the 35th anniversary celebration of George Lucas’ iconic 1973 film American Graffiti.

Early birds have already witnessed a full re-enactment of the famous police car axle-yank in the small hours Thursday morning with several more events planned for Friday and Saturday, May 16th and 17th.

Admission is free, with cruisin’ parties, cast and crew events, and special collectibles available exclusively at the event. For more information, check the schedule of events here.

(Henry Jones’ Holy Grail Journal)

There were plenty of Star Wars sights and events at this year’s Bay Area Maker Faire, but for more adventure-seeking fans there was a rather interesting exhibit about some handmade Indiana Jones props made by “Mythbusters” host and former ILMer Adam Savage. He’s such an Indy fan that he decided to make his own Indy bullwhip and Henry Jones Holy Grail Diary.

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Most fans know by now that “Lost” co-creator and film director J.J. Abrams is a die-hard Star Wars-ophile, so when he decided reimagine the prequel story of James Kirk, some people were inclined to raise a Spock eyebrow. Abrams tells AP why he chose to tackle the sci-fi franchise already saturated with a vocal fan base of its own.

“It was an opportunity to take what I think has been a maligned world — to sound crass, a franchise — and treat it in a way that made it something that I wanted to see,” said Abrams, who recently finished shooting on Star Trek, due in theaters May 8, 2009. “To take the characters, the thoughtfulness, the personalities, the sense of adventure, the idea of humanity working together, the sense of social commentary and innovation, all that stuff. To take it and apply it in a way that felt genuinely thrilling.”

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(Spike Star Wars billboards remixed with Murakami art)

Contemporary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami — most noted for founding the Superflat postmodern art movement — recently moved his @Murakami exhibit from Los Angeles to Brooklyn. io9 chats with him about his art and how sci-fi films like Star Wars influenced his work.

Do you have any specific science fiction influences to your work? Any movies or television shows you grew up watching?
I loved Galaxy Express 999. When I saw the scene depicting Planet Maetel’s collapse, I was moved from the bottom of my heart, and made the decision to work in the field of anime. Also, the amount of influence that the appearance of Star Wars exerted on my generation is tremendous. I felt sympathetic to the revolution that George Lucas started, and my work has become a re-enactment of that sort of revolution in the art scene.

What artists do you enjoy?
Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Hayao Miyazaki.

Read the full interview here:
Murakami Tells io9 About His Secret Love For J.J. Abrams

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SOURCES: AndIamNotLying.com, ClubJade.net, io9.com

According to MTV.com, “Robot Chicken” co-creator and actor Seth Green revealed at NY Comic Con that he will be doing a cameo in the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.

“I did something on that cartoon,” Green admitted to us at NY Comic Con, revealing for the first time that the “Buffy” star will be making an appearance in the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. “I came in and did a voice.”

As for which character Green will play, fans will have to wait for the series to hit Cartoon Network later this year to find out. “I’d love to tell you, but I can’t,” he gushed. “They make me sign all these papers and then they take my kids away. [But] it was fun.”

Read the full article here:
Seth Green Gets Dream Job, Finally Joins The Star Wars Universe
(MTV Movies Blog)