Born in 1925 in Italy, Carlo Rambaldi was a boy when he saw King Kong (1933), a thriller that changed his life. Decades later, the special effects and makeup artist would create a 40-foot mechanical ape for the 1976 remake of the classic, cementing his legend. Already renowned in Italy for bringing monsters, spirits, and aliens to life in arthouse and genre films, Rambaldi went global with Alien (1979) and E.T. (1982), the latter earning him a nickname from Spielberg—”E.T.’s Geppetto.” In collaboration with Cinecittà, MoMA marks Rambaldi’s centennial with a tribute featuring newly restored films. Phone! Home! —Carolina de Armas