Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Watched The Rocketeer for the first time in many years, surprised how well it's held up.

^ Honestly, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla has climbed up as my appreciation for the 90s movies has otherwise declined. It has great location footage and cinematography (sorely lacking in the bland looking 90s movies), a truly charismatic performance in the Yuki character (another thing lacking in that era), and a clear motivation for Godzilla that makes sense in the movie (this was when they wanted to keep Godzilla in this "force of nature" role, but often ended up muddled when trying to fit that in the plot).

Add to that that the stupid parts are kind of stupid in a fun way. It's no classic, but I've come to enjoy it.

You make compelling points on paper, lhb. But then I actually try to watch Spacegodzilla, and in practicality it’s execution is SO FLIPPING BORING that it completely negates any and all of the positives you listed.

I'm not saying SpaceGodzilla is some hidden gem or something like that, but I think it's of similar quality to Mechagodzilla II and Destoroyah, the films that bookend it and are generally seen as superior - but as time has gone by I find I like SpaceGodzilla a bit more!

Yeah, I can’t agree. I actually enjoy Destroyer and I find Mechagodzilla at least entertaining enough to watch. Spacegodzilla just puts me to sleep. It’s the only Godzilla movie I truly struggle to make it through in one sitting.

Spacegodzilla is definitely bottom tier, but to date, I can honestly say the only Godzilla movie I haven't seen from beginning to end in one sitting is Megaguirus. That one always puts me to sleep. Someday I'm going to have to try to watch it midday after drinking an extra large soda or something.

In anticipation for getting the Criterion Godzilla set for Christmas I've been reminded of their earlier, similar set the Zatoichi movies, witch, I realize I haven't cracked open since its release 6 years ago! So I'm rewatching the entire Zatoichi series. Each disc has three films on it, so I figure I'll take my time and occasionally watch 3 in one go over however long it takes.

Thing about the first three Zatoichi movies is how dour they are in comparison to the rest of the series. It's not like tragedy and horrific violence aren't a component of the series afterwards, it's just how these early movies lack the balance of elements that become the trademark of the series later on. Sure, there would be tragedy and melodrama, but also comedy, and don't forget the show stopping action set pieces! The action in these early movies is much more subdued. You feel like, over the course of these three movies, the crew understand there's a perfected version of this formula and are just tinkering with it enough each time trying to find it. In the third film Ichi sings briefly, and musical performances would be pronounced later. If memory serves, it's with the fourth film that it really feels like Zatoichi proper. Ironically, the first film feels the most tonally divorced from the rest of the series and yet it contains so many of the conventions that would become trademarks that will appear throughout the series (the trick dice games, Ichi subtly manipulating people around him, befriending the enemy swordsman). The second and third movies are inching closer tonally to what the series would become, but the first movie is structurally closer.

Doom: Annihilation- 9 out of 10, much more faithful to the games than the previous movie, pretty fun low budget horror
Mojin: the Worm Valley- 8 out of 10, fun fantasy adventure from China
Ragnorok- 8 out of 10, fun family friendly movie that could be used to introduce giant creature features to children

Here are my thoughts on some of the 4K MCU Phase 3 releases

Captain America Civil War- This should have been called Avengers Civil War but that's besides the point, I really enjoy the movie itself also it was a great introduction for Spider-Man. As for the 4K itself it was pretty good not the best use of 4K HDR but not the worst.

Black Panther- This was my second viewing (1st being in the theater) and still enjoy the movie. Killmonger is a great villain and the rest of the cast does an amazing job. The 4K on this I thought was little bit better than Civil War.

Spider-Man Homecoming- Tom Holland is the best Parker to date IMHO and his first solo MCU outing was well done, I prefer Far From Home better but this is still a great movie, they did an excellent job with the Vulture as well as side villains like Shocker and The Tinker. As for the 4K its not great so far the worst of the MCU Phase 3 movies.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2- Another excellent movie by James Gunn I really enjoy this movie. The 4K is easily the best the MCU has put out today, colors really pop and there's tons of bright areas that really showcase HDR.

Frozen - Still a 9/10.

YESTERDAY. Wife & I finally got around to watching this. What a cool little movie. Not perfect but a lot of fun and just a sweet film. Doesn't do all that it could to fully explore the simple, genius concept, but still manages to really entertain. Definitely worth a look. Not knowing about the film beyond the first trailer, I was moved to tears by the surprise cameo - of sorts - later in the film. Really made me appreciate the undeniable legacy that the Fab Four gave us.

Godzilla 98 - Could be worse, could be Spacegodzilla.

Because the 40th anniversary is coming up (yes, I remember when it debuted), my nostalgic self decided to buy a copy of this at Big Lots! for 5 bucks and see it for the first time in many, many years (I've only seen this movie a grand total of 2 times).

Watching the BD, I had forgotten how visually striking this film is. Some have said that Robert Wise was going for a "2001" look. Unfortunately, that along with Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack, are the best thing about this movie. Just as when I first saw this, I still found the plot rather meandering, with an unsatisfactory ending. But the greatest sin was that the cast was not really allowed to shine. Luckily, however, that got remedied in the later features.

I thought that this was a **1/2 movie back then, and still think it is a **1/2 movie today.

Frozen II - It's a Disney sequel. 7/10

Frozen 2 - The kiddo loved it. All the kids were laughing at Olaf throughout aside from the Infinity Wars scene. No songs jumped out at me as being particularly catchy on a first viewing, but I said the same about Moana and that soundtrack really grew on me. Be prepared for a bunch of exposition but overall not bad for a sequel to a film with nowhere left to go

They really took Olaf way too far in this one. He was charming in the first movie but outside of his story telling recap of the first movie, he was utterly annoying.

Anyway,

Anna and the Apocalypse - Think Shaun of the Dead The Musical, but with only half the wit. It wasn't bad, just nowhere near as funny as the trailer last year made it seem. 7/10

I watched vs Megaguirus this morning. Kind of boring, but it has a good soundtrack to at least keep you going.

The St. Francisville Experiment- 7 out of 10- decent found footage that is a bit limited imo by the rating

GMK - The near perfect Godzilla experience.

X-Men Dark Phoenix ok...so was this a good film? No...but it certainly wasn't as bad as I was lead to believe, which is almost refreshing. It is definitely better than Apocalypse, and probably better than X3, though its been a while since I watched that one.

This was most assuredly a case of me wrongfully listening to bad press and other reviews. All I heard was that this film made the same mistakes as X3, and even doubled down on them. I did not sense that. They made other mistakes, but not the same ones. Also early buzz was that the Alien Leader was to be Lilandra, and that the Shi'Ar were involved. Instead her name was Vuk (what the Vuk? ), and it was the D'Bari. I give them props for using an entirely other alien race, still culled form the pages of the classic comics. They were the most interesting part of this whole film, and were barely talked about it seems.

Also it seems like these films just can't win. When they do use actual Mutant characters from the comics, they are underdeveloped. But when they choose random mutants, fans complain as to why they just didn't use actual characters from the comics. I mean I could be wrong, because I'm 20 years behind on X-Men, but I don't think the Callisto wanna-be and Jango-Fett with dreadlocks were actual characters, but they could be who knows... Also Quicksilver you had ONE JOB -Running sequence to Nirvana....and they blew it! Instead he just disappears randomly for some reason... Also what about Psylocke and Archangel? (I mean we heard so many great things about Elizabeth Munn's acting in the last film )

The 3rd act when we finally get Mutants vs Aliens was pretty cool, though I get why they had to subdue it. Sure I'd have loved a Star-Wars like *X-Men in space* mega blockbuster, but maybe in 20 more years, when they take they're 3rd crack at the Phoenix story, they'll get it right.

in my mind the X-Men Franchise ends with the *good* ending of DofP, since none of the other films served to advance the story in a productive way. Also I wonder if Charles and Erik will meet up with Bruce Wayne and Alfred during their European retirement .

I haven't I watched many of the classic 'women's pictures' of old Hollywood - you know, the Bette Davis and Joan Crawford movies and whatnot? Dark Victory is a classic Bette Davis tearjerker where she finds romance while dying of a brain tumor. She's great, but her female love interest is a bit of a wet blanket. Giving a far better impression is Humphrey Bogart as the third billed name in the credits, still a couple of years away from being the leading man.

The People Under the Stairs is an awesome Wes Craven horror/comedy/social commentary/old dark house movie I'm surprised I haven't heard more about. It's an awesome film and a great time, and Big Ed and Nadine from Twin Peaks are playing husband and wife again here as the villains!

Unfortunately, Frozen II was a big disappointment to me. Some gorgeous animation, but it's overstuffed and undercooked. A lot of new characters are introduced that seem important, but then they have hardly anything to do. There's an interesting anti-colonialism element of the plot (seemingly cribbed from Thor: Ragnarok), but it's executed in a half-hearted fashion (unlike Thor: Ragnarok). There are too many songs and only the two sung by Elsa are memorable. A ton of exposition, and I mean a ton, and little of actual interest aside from two interesting set pieces. It's one of the most sequel-y movies I've seen in awhile. Shades of something like Men in Black 2.