Sad news being reported by The Boston Herald and many other news outlets today. Zelda Rubinstein, the 4-foot, 3-inch tall actress who played the spirit-fighting psychic in 1982’s Poltergeist has passed away at the age of 76.

After suffering a heart attack, she had been in a hospital for two full months with multiple illnesses before recently being taken off of life support. Reports earlier this month that she was near-death were met with contrary reports that she was actually getting better and that rumors of her demise were premature. But as hard as she appears to have fought, she has now sadly lost that battle.

“You wake up one morning and say “World, I know you! From now on there are no more surprises!’.” — Jill McBain from Once Upon A Time In The West

“The barbarities of war are seldom committed by abnormal men. The tragedy of war is that these horrors are committed by normal men in abnormal situations.” — Major J.F Thomas from “˜Breaker’ Morant

“See that bird? That’s the spirit bird. He will always look after you.” — Maud from Rabbit-Proof Fence

Every weekend we pay to see the fruits of the filmmakers’ dreams at the multiplex. Every weekend translates into a cynical game of Russian roulette with our cash. Every weekend there is a chance to fall under their spells and believe all over again. Every weekend there is a chance to truly escape reality for a few hours. Their self-indulgence is a double-edged sword which can either transcend their final vision into unlimited ecstasy or send it crashing to the eternal damnation of the bargain DVD bin at the local Best Buy. Certain films still have a hypnotic power over me, but there are a few that punch me in the gut and send me into another dimension. Werner Herzog knows all too well about the joy and “burden of dreams.”