Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Very sad news, but not exactly unforeseen, what with his increasingly smaller role onscreen these past few years.

I have so many great memories of him on TCM: like him quoting the original Variety review of Mothra (1960) or the marathon of Thin Man movies one New Years Eve, with Robert actually drinking along to the boozy films and delivering fantastic trivia even as alcohol began to impair is always impeccable poise. Robert Osborne will always represent my idea of sophistication, and he was a superfan who got to turn his fandom into a career! How cool is that?

I love the guest appearance Robert Osborne did on Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law where he presented an "award-winning short" from the classic Birdman series (with the characters redubbed). He does it totally straight-faced.

Godzilla and King Kong tonight on TCM. The channel is even having a "Godzilla vs. Kong" Twitter contest for the King of the Monsters title!

^ That's awesome!

- and Invasion of the Body Snatchers right after!

Next month TCM is marathoning monster-on-the-loose films, mostly from the 1950s, every Thursday. Some kaiju included: Mothra (on the 4th), Rodan (on the 11th), and Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (18th).

This October on TCM:

- Dracula is 'Monster of the Month' every Sunday evening
- TCM fixtures like Silent Sunday Nights, TCM Imports, and TCM Underground are all skewing horror
- Miscellaneous horror films (themed by decade) every Tuesday night
- Horror all day on Halloween itself

Looks like TCM will be going "Monster of the Month" in October for the next couple three years. Frankenstein/Frankenstein's Monster was last year and now Dracula this year; any guesses as to which movie monster for next year? The Mummy is my top choice for October 2018, with the Invisible Man in second.

^Not sure there's enough Invisible Man movies to make that happen?

The Mummy and The Wolf Man (or, rather, the concept of a werewolf) are good contenders. Maybe The Phantom of the Opera if they seek out some more obscure movies (like the various Chinese versions). Godzilla, too, is a good choice. They could always go for a broad category like 'aliens' or 'prehistoric beasts.'

^Are there any magic-induced invisibility movies we could add?

I really wish the TCM Now Playing magazine was still going, it's so much easier to miss what's going to be running now; yesterday and today TCM dedicated their evening schedule to George Pal. It's not quite too late to catch the rest of the two night showing here's what's running for the rest of tonight (October 12)

On right now is The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm

12:30 AM Eastern - 7 Faces of Dr. Lao

2:30 AM Eastern - Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (if only WB execs let Pal make a proper Doc Savage movie, WB execs forced Pal to make the movie campy and the Superman movie a few years later nearly suffered the same fate if it wasn't for the Salkind's making a risky deal)

4:30 AM Eastern - The Puppetoon Movie

Come October, TCM will be showing a slew of Toho movies, some that have been featured before, while others, I believe, for the very first time like "War of the Gargantuas".



This is basically the Criterion set. The question remains, which version will they be showing? Is Toho allowing them to show the English versions of say "Godzilla Raids Again" and "Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monsters"?

^ It seems Godzilla will be the Monster of the Month this year. They've been doing this (much in the same way they do their Star of the Month almost every month) every October for a few years now. Last year it was The Mummy.

Seems likely that this will be the first place to see the tweaked transfers and final subtitles that will appear on the set.

In addition to the Janus films slate they'll also be showing Mothra from Sony.

The real curio for me is "War of the Gargantuas" and to a lesser extent "Rodan". If TCM is going to play the international version of "WotG" and the just the Japanese edition of "Rodan", then that is likely what is going to be released by Criterion.

^ Personally, I'm not expecting Criterion to release Rodan or War of the Gargantuas on BRD. It would be great if they did but I don't think Criterion actually sought out the streaming rights to those two non-Godzilla kaiju movies and no others. They probably just got the rights to those two in a package deal with the rights to Mothra vs. Godzilla, Monster Zero, Revenge and Terror. Those movies have been bundled together in the US along with Godzilla, King of the Monsters! for decades, from UPA to Paramount to Classic Media and now Criterion. Simitar also released those five Godzilla titles on VHS and DVD but they didn't bother with Rodan or War of the Gargantuas. I'll be pleasantly surprised if Criterion does.


I haven't had cable TV in years but I'm glad that TCM is still going and that they're showing so much love for Godzilla.

^^ I suspect we'll be getting the Japanese versions subbed for most, if not all, of these airings.

Will it begins on Friday, Oct 4th, 2019



I suspect most of them will be subtitled or international versions, although TCM has shown the English dubbed (Continental) version of "Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster", so we shall see. Curious no "King Kong vs. Godzilla".

Well, they finally have their advertisement:



Godzilla will share October with Paul Muni who will be TCM's "Star of the Month".

^ Muni and Godzilla; together again for the first time!

This begins in a few moments. You know, what with the cool in-channel promo and 10 minute video essay produced to accompany this month-long celebration of the films this must be one of the coolest Godzilla marathons in the history of American television!

I know broadcast TV isn't the same thing it was even a decade ago, and since I'm waiting for the Criterion box set (which I will be getting for Christmas) I'll be skipping most of the movies... still, it's a big deal that deserves to be singled out. This'll be the first time some people will be seeing these films, and for many others the first time they'll be seeing them in the original Japanese with English subtitles.

Was able to catch some of "GKOTM" and all of "Raids". "GRA" was subtitled, which will most likely be the case for all of these TCM presentations, with the exception of "GKOTM", "Monster Zero" & "War of the Gargantuas", only because those movies included Hollywood actors. Not sure about "Rodan".

Since these were all licensed from Janus I’m confident TCM will show the Japanese versions of all, especially since promos and spots have used these versions. I guess I could see IOAM being the English version but WOTG won’t be since they don’t have the U.S. version (the only one with Tamblyn’s voice). Rodan will be Japanese because Toho doesn’t want the U.S.-produced versions of these movies to be seen anymore.

I am surprised Toho let them even show "GKOTM", but because that movie is so mainstream, so well known, it would impossible to put a halt to that one. Knowing this regime however, they just might eventually try to do that in the future, insisting that the 1954 version is the only one that should really exist.

Bottom line, hold on to any old copies each of us have!