I rented Clash of the Titans because it had Judi Bowker, whom I'd seen in Brother Sun, Sister Moon 30 years ago (and many times since). Looking up Harry Hamlin after that, I read about and bought a copy of a San Francisco state production of The Taming of the Shrew, and that will lead to something else as well. Because of the directors' commentaries on Lord of the Rings, I knew Peter Jackson was influenced by Ray Harryhausen, and so when I added Clash of the Titans to my Netflix list, I knew it was going to help me understand Peter Jackson's artistic influences too.

In an interview on the DVD, Ray Harryhausen told Arnold Kunert:

The cinema was made for fantasy rather than normal type of stories, mundane stories. It gives you a feeling of wonder, for one thing. It stimulates the imagination and I think adults like fantasy as well as children. Most people feel it's rather childish to have an imagination. I don't agree with that. I think you should go through life and imagine the very best.

In talking about creatures and special effects, he named Dennis Muren, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. I know nothing about the first and last, but in the course of the editing of this page, I'll learn something about them.(WOW.) Harryhausen said one of his greatest influences was the art of Gustav Dore. That name (and art) I do know, from storybooks from my own childhood and I've bought and studied (meaning looked at until I disappeared into that world) as an adult, too. Also named: Willis O'Brien. I'll have to look it up to make this link, so when I wrote this I didn't know; later I did.

Mental hiking trails to follow: Tim Burton * * * 100 Best Movies (Time magazine) * Robert De Niro * 100 Greatest American Movies (American Film Institute list) * Senses of Cinema: Great Directors * *

Follow a movie's leads, whether they're mental, conversational, research, comparison or eventually involve new hobbies or travels or writing/art/music.