Dan O'Bannon
1946-2009
(Writer of Alien, and writer/director of the horror comedy classic Return of the Living Dead - which is, for my money, one of the best horror films ever)

Next post: Hal Ashby

I know, I know... Long time, no post... But my next one will be totally worth it:
I'm doing a retrospective on Hal Ashby, one of my all-time favorite directors, who in the 1970's was able to produce an incredible streak of films. In the years 1971-1979, he directed Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo, Bound for Glory, Coming Home, and Being There. Sure, we all love Scorsese and Altman, but being able to turn out six great (and sometimes amazing) films in a row is pretty incredible.
As a side note, I'll also talk a little bit about his life, which included being married and divorced twice (!) by the time he was 21, his notoriously reclusive nature, and how his constant drug use eventually forced him out of feature film work altogether. If ever a movie needed to be made, this is it - perfect biopic material. Problem is, nobody knows who the guy is...