Nope. Not gonna happen, people. You try to join this over-sized hog calling contest and all you’ll get is a very bad sore throat, trust me. Of course, you’ll want to prove me wrong, but I’ll be right and talking about you while you’ll be home with a raw throat sucking down a bottle of honey with your nice chicken soup. Yeah, one of those cute bear bottles – whatever makes you happy. Anyway, I say let the monster itself do what it does best (well ONE of the things it does best) and stay the heck out of his way:
There, THAT’S more like it. May 16th is stomping up soon, isn’t it? Yes it is!
While it’s wonderful to see William Friedkin’s 1977 film SORCERER getting some much needed love at TCM’s yearly film festival (held this year at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood), I’ll admit to my eyebrow shooting up at the word “The” in that video title.
Eek. Yeah, it’s a minor mistake that can easily be corrected with a few keystrokes, but I’d never heard of “the City Lights” “The Ben Hur”, “The Frankenstein”, or “The King Kong” in my film studies. So that sort of thing is a bit pesky to me. Anyway, perhaps the person who posted this video was thinking of the film Friedkin’s is based off of, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s brilliant 1953 action/drama The Wages of Fear. Hmmm… now I want to see both films pop up on TCM soon. Or even better, FINALLY see Friedkin’s film make a decent Blu-Ray appearance, as it’s one that’s LONG due.
Aha, so that’s how they’re doing things over there. Cool. I love all of these reworked trailers and the nice slice of theme music below, so good on you, Toho for fully embracing this reboot with open arms and getting Godzilla fans in the place he was born just as thrilled as folks here.
Godzilla opens in North America on May 16, 2014. When does it open in Japan? Um… it’s in one of those trailers above, right?
Yeah, to the untrained eyeball, this LOOKS like Trailer #1, but it’s not. Anyway, I liked the first film a lot, so I’ll most likely see this one as well, although I really prefer the graphic novels over any of the movies. They’re worth a read even if you don’t like comics just for Frank Miller’s dark, dark take on the crime genre and how some of these anti-heroes and heroines make themselves likable and unlikable as you get to meet and know them (for however briefly some are around). Any-way, yet another movie added to my potential hit list (“hit” being a good thing this time)…
Yeah, you’ve probably figured that out as well, but just in case you have yet to for some strange reason, there it is in plain English. Some of you will no doubt want to stop and take a selfie or something stupid like that before you make with the light jogging stuff, but I say go right on ahead. No one will miss you that much once you’re stomped flat other than the people who are used to you jamming a camera at them to snap away or being a photo-bombing pest they’re actually sad to see gone because they never got any work done when you were snapping away. Anyway, May 16, 2014 at a theater near you. Bring a hardhat (just in case) and maybe a first aid kit (just in case).
So, I saw The Wind Rises today and it’s quite a magnificent sendoff for Hayao Miyazaki (if this is indeed his final film), although it’s not quite a film for kids unless you want to be studying aviation history and a few other things afterward. It’s absolutely gorgeous to look at and while the grand dream sequences and a stunning interpretation of the massive 1923 Kanto earthquake here are amazing blends of that wonderful Studio Ghibli hand-drawn and CG animation, the film’s intentionally slow pace means some viewers might find themselves drifting off when the film is making it’s points. For a biographical film (animated or not) both the subject and subject matter call for post viewing brain expanding because unless you’re an aviation nut who knows names, places and anime faces really well, some parts of the film may seem hard to follow until you can place dates to some of the important events shown.
This isn’t a review at all, though. It’s a recommendation if you’re wanting to hit the theater near you, this is playing and your curious as to whether it’s worth the price of a ticket. The short and easy answer is a resounding yes. Okay, back to being bored as hell by Mad Men. Man, this show needs to end or hopefully get better. I missed it, but after such a damn long delay, I find I don’t care about it all that much now…
EDIT: Duh, I forgot to put the link in. See below for that link. Heh, sorry!
A friend sent me a link to “something wonderful” the other day and after taking the ultimate trip through this amazing imgur gallery of stills and behind the scenes production shots from the filming of one of my favorite films, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, I’m reporting back and sharing the link for all to discover on their own time. I’ve seen a handful of these here and there over the years, but the entire gallery all at once is amazing and quite educational on a few fronts.
As with any film, I knew there were bits shot and discarded, but I’m now wondering about that lovely futuristic (well, for 1966-67) automobile among other things. Was that a mere production still or was/were there a scene or scenes shot on earth? Anyway, the placement of the images seems to follow the film’s plot, but if you’ve never seen 2001 before, fear not. Not knowing a thing about it means you’ll be scratching your head until you DO finally see it. Which is a good thing, of course…
Still… let me slightly not “ruin” things with this trailer (thanks, the cultbox!):
Trust me, you didn’t EVEN have anything spoiled there, as this film demands you pay attention. A few times, at that.
Ah, the plot thickens… I’m sure some will be growling and screaming that this trailer “gives away too much”, but given that some have been SO skeptical that a western-made Godzilla would be once again, “crap on a stick” have been proven wrong, I say shut it and enjoy the longer peek at what’s going to pack them into the seats in just over a month. The big guy is back and probably louder than bombs this time out. That and hell, unless you’re reading Empire magazine or looking at comic or toy blogs, you REALLY haven’t seen all of Godzilla yet. Good going, WB and Legendary Pictures!
I’m not sure how many “official” posters there are for this upcoming blockbuster, but Comic Book Movie has a nice set of nine new ones up today to check out, all of which are pretty darn cool. Add the ones at the Imp Awards gallery and that’s eighteen posters with who knows how many more to come before the film arrives here on May 23, 2014. I’m glad I don’t collect these things anymore, as I’d need a warehouse for each film that comes out I’m interested in or like already. Ah well… someone is doing the living vicariously stuff on that front for me out there, so no worries…
As noted above, it indeed does Depend on the person who decides to fight that big radioactive beastie and whether of not he or she’s got some adult diapers packed in that backpack when they go leaping out of a plane or other assault vehicle with intent on their faces (and the possibility of poop in their pants). Me, I’d be finding the fastest way out of town and double-timing it over some kids, puppies and grannies in the process. Hey, SOMEONE needs to write about surviving that hell and I’m not going to play the Raymond Burr part of Steve Martin from the 1956 US version of the original Gojira. When I sign off, it’ll be from the comfort of a faraway location and there won’t be any building falling on my head either. Yes, I’m basically the Dr. Zachary Smith* of bloggers, but at least I’m honest about it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go look up some proper hiding places that are new Godzilla proof!
*(Well, Dr. Smith after the first few episodes of Lost in Space when he transformed from an actual creepy threat into full-on comic relief mode. The man must have been hit on the head or something during a Jupiter 2 crash!)
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 