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Posted on 08.05.10 by David @ 1:27 pm
A tadpole, or something more sinister? Discovering the innocuous-seeming blob that will turn out to be big trouble in the trippy Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster. Filed under: Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image and People: Godzilla Comments: None |
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Posted on 04.14.09 by David @ 9:02 am
Awesome shot of the Toho Frankenstein lifting a tank. Even by the standards of kaiju films, Frankenstein Conquers the World is a weird one. Toho did Frankenstein, Dracula, and King Kong, I kind of wish they had done the Mummy just to see what would have happened. Filed under: Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image and People: Kumi Mizuno Comments: None |
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Posted on 03.10.09 by David @ 8:49 am
Sure, King Caesar gets crapped on a lot because he looks like a big shaggy dog and Mechagodzilla beats him up pretty god. Still, I always liked the idea that Okinawa had its own guardian monster. How come the other parts of Japan get stiffed? Where’s the big friendly Yeti to protect Hokkaido, or the giant green Buddha to save Kamakura. There was an interesting path that Toho could have taken here but, sadly, it was not to be. Filed under: Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image and People: Godzilla Comments: None |
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Posted on 12.08.08 by David @ 11:29 am
Toho’s two most popular monsters square off in the first solid sequel to Godzilla. Both Mothra and Godzilla already had starred in their own films - bringing them together was a stroke of genius. Of course, it wasn’t until Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster that Godzilla films really started to feel like Wrestlemania. Godzilla vs. Mothra [aka Godzilla vs. the Thing] is tons of fun - just remember to “please return the egg!” Filed under: Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image and People: Godzilla Comments: None |
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Posted on 07.27.08 by David @ 11:39 pm
The film may be a disappointment, but it certainly has its moments. Read our capsule review here. Filed under: Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image and People: Godzilla Comments: None |
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Posted on 03.23.08 by David @ 5:47 pm
“Buildings explode from the white-hot force of raging fire storms.” Filed under: Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image Comments: None |
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Posted on 03.06.08 by David @ 6:47 pm
The Toho Kong faces off with a giant octopus. Just a warm-up to his tussle with the Big G. Filed under: General and Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image and People: Godzilla Comments: None |
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Posted on 02.08.08 by David @ 2:46 pm
“A massive earthquake levels Tokyo’s towering architecture.” I wonder if Tokyo is cinema’s most frequently destroyed city. Filed under: Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image Comments: None |
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Posted on 11.21.07 by David @ 3:21 pm
Nothing says holidays like giant monsters. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! In this image, King Kong and Godzilla face off in the center of Tokyo. Tokyo Tower can just be made out behind Godzilla, and Kong stands atop the Diet building. This picture is an interesting promotional composite, as it features the American Kong instead of the uglier Toho Kong. Source: Original Publicity Still from Universal International Filed under: General and Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image and People: Godzilla Comments: None |
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Posted on 11.13.07 by David @ 11:35 am
Rodan destroying buildings in his original solo outing, before joining Godzilla’s team of kaiju Superfriends. Despite all the destruction, the original Rodan was a sympathetic monster, a dinosaur out of time and place. Of course, he still looked like a chicken. Filed under: General and Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image and People: Godzilla Comments: None |
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Posted on 10.01.07 by David @ 9:57 am
The great King Ghidorah himself tears up the landscape in this classic image from the US release. Click here for our full review of this kaiju masterpiece. Technically it should be “Ghidrah” for a still accompanying the US release, but I’ve always hated that spelling. Filed under: General and Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie Image and People: Godzilla Comments: 2 Comments |
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Posted on 06.14.07 by David @ 4:26 pm
Review By: David Austin Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster Godzilla vs. Monster Zero I’ve made no secret in the past of the fact that I love Godzilla (see my reviews of Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster and Godzilla Final Wars). Consequently, these last two years have been a pleasure, as Sony and Classic Media have seen to it that the majority of the earlier and later films get legitimate US releases (though the middle period is still poorly accounted for). Ghidorah and Monster Zero, released last week by Classic Media, are particularly interesting as they mark a distinct transition in the Big G’s films – namely, Godzilla’s own evolution from destructive villainous monster to hero and defender of the Earth. Similarly, they mark a transition from relative earnestness to out-and-out adventure and slapstick (though previous films had somewhat prefigured the latter). In these two films, we move away from scenarios where humans or more friendly monsters have to vanquish Godzilla, and move into a period of films where Godzilla and his kaiju Superfriends defend the planet against a series of alien menaces, each more outlandish and wacky than the last. While for some this marked the beginning of the end for the “serious” Godzilla; for me, it merely marked a change from one type of great movie to another, and Monster Zero remains a personal favorite in the series.
In his commentary on the English version of Ghidorah, David Kalat discusses how the driving forces behind the critical reappraisal of Godzilla felt it necessary to reject the campiness of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, creating a rift between proponents of the “serious” and “campy” Godzilla. Personally, I never felt this had to be such a hot button issue. It’s very simple - some Godzilla movies are meant to be serious, some are not. This issue arose in an on-line discussion during the recent touring Godzilla film revival. There were those who were offended that people laughed during the original Godzilla, especially in the context of scenes showing hospitals filled with casualties. To which I say, “Agreed, and point well taken.” However, some of the same people took offense at the so-called “ghoulish” laughter during scenes of destruction in Destroy All Monsters. To which I say, “Excuse me, are we watching the same movie?” Destroy All Monsters is clearly intended by its creators as a laugh, a lark, a piece of goofy fun. To take it seriously is to miss the point entirely. Filed under: Movie Reviews and Movie Reviews: Japan and DVD Reviews and DVD Reviews: Japan and Contributors: David and Rating: Good ★★★ and Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and People: Godzilla and DVD Companies: Classic Media and People: Kumi Mizuno and People: Ishiro Honda Comments: 4 Comments |
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Posted on 02.26.07 by David @ 8:00 am
AKA: Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki Review By: David Austin ![]() Toshiro Mayuzumi’s cool, jazzy xylophone score grabs you right from the beginning, suggesting delicacy, and caprice, and calling to mind existential French New Wave essentials like Elevator to the Gallows. Soon it morphs into something lusher, loungier. It’s a perfect overture to When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, which takes us deep into the floating world of the Ginza night clubs - the milieu in which Keiko, known to all respectfully as “Mama,” plies her trade as a bar hostess. While the bars put on an opulent and decadent façade, it doesn’t take long before Naruse’s camera delves into the lives of the people behind the surface – an early shot pans up from a man on the street to a laughing group of women in the closed bar, making it clear where Naruse’s interest lies. It also does not take long before we see the cold business side of these richly decked-out birdhouses. Mama says it best early in the film: “Bars in the daytime are like women with no makeup.” Filed under: Movie Reviews and Movie Reviews: Japan and DVD Reviews and DVD Reviews: Japan and Contributors: David and Rating: Great ★★★★ and Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and DVD Companies: Criterion Collection Comments: 6 Comments |
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Posted on 01.23.07 by David @ 10:24 am
AKA: Bye Bye Jupiter Review By: David Austin ![]() The scamps behind Mystery Science Theater once described the perfect sort of movie for their show. It wasn’t enough that a movie be bad, or stupid, or cheap. All those elements were necessary but not sufficient. The key was that the movie not only be unaware that it is bad, but that it have aspirations not only to be good but to be great, to be meaningful. Anyone can goof on ‘50s sci-fi or Ed Wood films, but not every film can perfectly marry delusions of grandeur with utter incompetence. Sayonara Jupiter is such a movie. It is truly as lovely a piece of early 80s camp as one could ask for. Almost every aspect of the film, from the acting, to the dialogue, to the plotting, is simultaneously mind-bogglingly silly and deadly serious. Filed under: Movie Reviews and Movie Reviews: Japan and DVD Reviews and DVD Reviews: Japan and Contributors: David and Rating: Average ★★ and Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and DVD Companies: Discotek Comments: 4 Comments |
Posted on 02.09.06 by David @ 8:38 am
::: ‘Godzilla’ movie composer Akira Ifukube dies at 91 ::: David Milner Interview of Akira Ifukube ::: Profile ::: Profile Filed under: Movie News and Movie News: Japan and Studios: Toho Company Ltd. and Movie News: Obituaries and People: Godzilla Comments: None |
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