Over the weekend we lost a giant of cinema when Michael Cimino passed away on July 2 at the age of 77. Some might wince at the word “giant” to describe Cimino’s work as a writer and director, but he made two masterpieces, and his decade-ish long run between Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) and The Year of the Dragon (1985) make Cimino one of the best directors to emerge from New Hollywood — the American films that span from the late 1960′s to the early 1980′s which represent cinema’s high-water mark.

For me The Deer Hunter (1978) is a masterpiece, and so is the version of Heaven’s Gate (1980) that re-emerged in 1982. However, in the end, The Deer Hunter made Cimino one of the most important directors of his generation and his follow-up, Heaven’s Gate, made him a legendary failure. Here’s Variety‘s word on the documentary Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven’s Gate…

Vet documentarian Michael Epstein (“The Battle Over ‘Citizen Kane,’”) draws heavily from well-received 1985 book by Steven Bach, senior v.p. and head of worldwide production for United Artists when UA green-lit “Heaven’s Gate.” Taking its cue from Bach’s tome, pic renders production of ill-fated pic — originally budgeted at $7.5 million, but completed for $36 million — as a slow-motion train wreck.

Ultimately, however, Epstein comes off as appreciably more forgiving of Cimino’s fanatical perfectionism and “epic mismanagement,” even to the point of suggesting the original 3-hour, 45-minute version of “Heaven’s Gate” is, for all its many flaws, “a beautiful, ambitious film” that deserves critical re-evaluation.

Artfully entwining outtakes, production stills, film clips and newly filmed interviews with executives, actors and crew, Epstein methodically charts stormy progress of the initially promising project.

Fresh from his triumph with “The Deer Hunter” (1978), his Oscar-winning Vietnam War drama, Cimino was actively courted by UA and other studios eager to release the hot director’s follow-up opus. Bach recalls that, upon seeing “The Deer Hunter,” he was equivocal: “This is a potentially great filmmaker.” Right from the start, however, the former UA exec (who frequently appears on camera through “Final Cut”) had minor misgivings.

During pre-production, for example, Cimino insisted on casting French actress Isabelle Huppert as his female lead. When Bach (among others) complained that Huppert couldn’t speak English well enough for the part, Cimino steamrolled over all objections. After that, Bach claims, production went downhill, then off a cliff.

Here’s Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven’s Gate…

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40 years ago, in 1975, Dog Day Afternoon exploded off of movie screens, electrifying audiences with its concrete realism, combustible characters, political undertones and a love story at the heart of the film that makes the movie seem as current and gripping as ever. Here’s the New York Post with the story behind the story of the film…

In August 1972, John Wojtowicz, 27, a married Brooklyn man and Vietnam vet with a stream of gay lovers on the side, decided to rob a bank to pay for his boyfriend’s sex change.

In the aftermath of the crime, a 14-hour hostage ordeal that riveted the nation, a character based on Wojtowicz would be played by Al Pacino in the 1975 film “Dog Day Afternoon,” which earned six Oscar nominations (winning Best Screenplay)…

The success of Pacino’s portrayal sprang from the hero/villain dichotomy of the character. As in the real-life robbery, which took place on Aug. 22, 1972, at a Chase Manhattan branch in Gravesend, Brooklyn, Wojtowicz got both his hostages and the many onlookers on his side, positioning himself as the little guy fighting against tyranny.

The performances here are amazing and the famous “Attica!” scene still bristles with subversive glee. But it’s the film’s transsexual love story that makes it seem so current and contemporary four decades on. Here’s a cool little documentary put together by a young filmmaker that gives a great examination of how the stranger than fiction true story was brought to life…

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I decided to take a break and add my Oscar predictions here before the show starts. I’m not going to address every category, but the one’s I feel like I have a relatively informed opinion on. I’ll mention my pick as well as the one that I think will actually get picked, tonight. I’ll also indicate where I have a prediction, but no opinion.

Check out my picks and comment your own thoughts here or at Facebook and Twitter.

Here we go…

Best Picture:
My Pick – Birdman
Oscar – Boyhood

Best Actor:
My Pick – Michael Keaton
Oscar – Michael Keaton

Best Actress:
My Pick: -
Oscar: Julianne Moore

Best Supporting Actress:
My Pick: Patricia Arquette
Oscar: Patricia Arquette

Best Supporting Actor:
My Pick: Ethan Hawke
Oscar: JK Simmons

Best Director:
My Pick: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Oscar: Richard Linklater

Best Animated Feature:
My Pick: –
Oscar: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Best Documentary:
My Pick: -
Oscar: Citizen Four

Best Song:
My Pick: -
Oscar: I’m Not Gonna Miss You

Cinematography, Costumes, Production design, Makeup
My Pick: -
Oscar: Grand Budapest Hotel

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/oscar-nominees-2015-2#ixzz3SWfYU7MG

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While Rick Baker is probably best known for the staggering, Academy Award-winning transformation sequence he orchestrated for the classic An American Werewolf in London, he most recently had another howling success when he took home the Oscar for his make-up in the remake of The Wolfman. He’s won Hollywood’s highest award for Best Makeup seven times for films as diverse as Ed Wood and The Grinch. 

In this episode of Fangoria’s Blood and Guts with Scott Ian, movie make-up master Rick Baker guides a private tour of his display room at Cinovation Studios — presenting a Who’s Who of the monsters, maniacs, animals and aliens he’s created in a decades-long career. Baker also talks about his movie monster heroes and even offers a peek at a rogues gallery of original paintings he’s created to honor the chilling genius of spookmeisters like Lon Chaney, Lon Chaney Jr., Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.

Here’s “Rick Baker: Monster Maker”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25kqSQ3tt1Y&list=PLdho19ONpbQe7Rq57FwnG7r_7OVXiFIAU&index=1

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Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I archive all of the videos I curate at Insomnia. Click here to check out more Cinema posts.