RIP, Stan Winston.

Some running tributes to the now late, great effects pioneer are up on GreenCine Daily, MTV, Ain't It Cool News, among other places. Winston's work is up on screens right this moment in Iron Man and Indiana Jones/Crystal Skull, and he was working on the new Terminator movie, among other projects, at the time of his passing.

My first exposure to Winston, first awareness of his existence, came fairly young, well before even his famous work on Terminator and Aliens: yes, for his fine work (no, seriously!) on the bizarro Star Wars Holiday Special. (He was one of the fine members of the costume department.) Seek it out on VHS or in bootlegs  if you can. I saw it once when I was 7 and a) had no idea it was bad, and b) had no idea who Stan Winston was. But seeing it much more recently, the first was clear, and yet it's great campy fun, and the second was an amusing realization as I checked the credits. Fortunately, it didn't have a negative impact on his career.

But besides his work for James Cameron, Winston's best would have to include Jurassic Park (dinosaurs) and perhaps his most underrated work would be Galaxy Quest (animatronic and creatures FX) and Monster Squad (monsters).  His work will surely be missed, but forever appreciated.