Colin Cantwell is a dreamer. However, he’s is one of those rare individuals who is not content to merely dream, but to imagine how to make dreams a reality, and takes action to make things happen. And if the tool or method that he requires does not exist, he will invent it. He is about thinking up possibilities that others would find… impossible. He is also quite modest, regardless of his incredible accomplishments across a broad spectrum of disciplines. He seems to be entirely self-motivated and has an internal engine driving him to achieve the results that bring his dreams to life. My other observation, through my conversations with him at his home in Colorado some months ago, is that he is not only brilliant, but he is unrestrained by the divisions and categorizations that frame the lives of most of the rest of us. Like the great Leonardo da Vinci, Colin Cantwell is gifted with a great diversity of talents, as a scientist, inventor, artist, special and computer effects wizard, architect, engineer, and I’m sure a number of other abilities. In my opinion, he is one of our great national treasures that “we” didn’t know about. He played a significant role in Star Wars: A New Hope, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Omnimax/IMAX, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and WarGames, working with some of our greatest film auteurs like George Lucas, Stanley Kubrick, and Steven Spielberg. He worked with NASA and CBS on the Apollo XI moon landing mission. He even won over “the greatest architect of all-time”, Frank Lloyd Wright. And at 82 years of age, he continues to work on his life achievements; with his concept of Cosmic Biodesics, only now is the rest of the world catching up to his ideas. [Read more…]
Award-Winning Film Director and Special Effects Legend Joe Johnston – Movie Props and Memorabilia for Sale on eBay
Academy Award winning American filmmaker and special effects legend Joe Johnston has been offering some impressive memorabilia for sale on eBay in recent months, with auctions being held by a friend of his under the account mojo1316. Some of the material offered at auction include props and artwork from Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Rocketeer, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, Captain America, Star Wars, Jumanji, and more. [Read more…]
“AVATAR: The Exhibition” at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle June 4th-September 3rd
The Experience Music Project has organized an exhibition called “AVATR: The Exhibition”, which will be held at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle from June 4th through September 3rd. Per the official site, this was created with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products and James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment, and “will feature authentic props and costumes, interactive displays, concept models, and sketches from the blockbuster film”. [Read more…]
Review: “Hollywood Treasure” TV Series on SyFy (Episodes 103 & 104)
This past week, SyFy aired the third and fourth episodes of the new cable television series “Hollywood Treasure”, featuring Joe Maddalena, Brian Chanes, and the staff of Profiles in History. The reality-based series follows Joe and his efforts to secure important Hollywood memorabilia for his live auction sale events. This continues a series of regular reviews of each episode, following last week’s review of episodes #101 and #102. [Read more…]
Propmasters Offers Material from the Charles Knode Archive
Long-time and well respected original prop and costume dealer Propmasters has today begun to offer material from the Charles Knode Archive. With a career spanning over four decades, Charles Knode served as a costume designer on many beloved films and has worked with some of the most well-regarded filmmakers in contemporary cinema. [Read more…]
Elemental LLC Auctions Announce Sale & Auction of Steve Johnson XFX/Edge FX Movie Prop, Artwork, and Photo Collection Archive
Elemental LLC has announced that they will be selling and auctioning off original props formerly owned by Hollywood special effects designer Steve Johnson. Johnson is renowned for his work on films such as Ghostbusters, Big Trouble in Little China, Poltergeist 2, Nightmare on Elm Street IV, Bicentennial Man, Star Trek Nemesis, and Spider-Man 2, among others. [Read more…]
Tim Burton Exhibition at Modern Museum of Art (MoMA) November 22nd 2009 – April 26th 2010
The Modern Museum of Art (MoMA) is hosting a Tim Burton exhibit in New York from November 22nd through April 26th of next year. Full details can be found at www.MOMA.org/TimBurton. [Read more…]