Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Spider-Man Far From Home (again) - 10/10

The Super Inframan

Now here's one of those movies I've meant to watch for the last 17 years or so. Every cult movie website who's reviews I perused in the early 2000s had a review of this thing. It seemed to have left quite the mark with its original US release and subsequent television syndication through the seventies and eighties. It is indelibly linked to genres I care very much about. There's simply no excuse for me to have not seen this movie until now, and for that, I am sorry.

Wowee, Inframan blows up them monsters real good, eh?

Saw Hobbs & Shaw which was dumb fun.

Also, finally got my quickie review out for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

I am in the middle of Krakken's Godzilla vs. Gigan disc and am very impressed.

It has been a few years since I've seen the picture in any format and the first time to play the Krakken edition. I am impressed. Better than I'd remembered. Though the theme is certainly child-oriented, once the action begins I do not remember so much kaiju destruction in an unbroken sequence in any movie! usually there should be a few minutes or less action and then the human story intervenes. The first big action sequence, when Ghidorah and Gigan are sent to destroy Tokyo is simply unrelenting!

Beautiful picture quality too.

So far: 10/10

Too bad you can't toggle the talk balloons on, that would have been a nice touch.

Dragonslayer

I always heard that the fact that this was a Disney production and yet was such a dark and gritty affair doomed it with the critics and the box office. I didn't quite understand why... until about 3/4ths of the way into the movie! Yikes!

The idea behind this movie is a fairy tale about a sorcerer's apprentice fighting a dragon, but done in an intensely earthy and realistic way. Like, it's not trying to be some sort of subversive or metafictional or satiric play on the story. It's that story told with total earnestness and no hint of irony, just carried out in the most practical, meat-and-potatoes sort of way imaginable. Tying it all in with the Christianization of Europe and the end of paganism also just makes it feel a bit more real.

The stuff with the dragon is just great. It's what the film is most famous for, after all. A combination of incredible stop motion and several body part props and puppets, many of which are full size.

Missing Link - Wow, this is the best thing Laika has put out since Coraline. I laughed out loud more than once and the action scenes were more impressive than Kubo. Truly a technical marvel. Very much a classic adventure in the style of "Around the World in 80 Days" vibe. The trailers didn't do this justice

^ not really fight sequences like Kubo, but more like the kind of things you'd see Indiana Jones deal with - very impressive for stop motion.

I loved Kubo from a technical perspective, but the story didn't work for me at all.

Gamera 2: Advent of Legion

Drank a bottle of Kirin Beer while watching this. As you all know, it's a brand of beer that plays an important role in the film.

Serenity (2018) - When the trailer dropped for this I was excited. It looked like a pitch perfect neo-Noir. The trailer lied. The film starts with a bunch of weirdly intentional editing that leaves it feeling more like a dream sequence -- then at the 1 hour mark comes a "reveal" that is so crazy the fact the character accepts it seems even more unbelievable. Once its all said in done I am shocked they were able to secure the cast they did. Save yourself the disappointment and just watch the trailer and imagine a better movie.

^ The bonkers twist is the only reason people are seeking out the movie! Otherwise, I believe it would have been completely ignored, but now it's growing something of a cult.

Seriously?!

^ The entire conversation around the movie has been; "Oh, my god - you have got to see this crazy movie and don't look up anything about it beforehand!"

Film Twitter collectively went insane for a week or two.

And all of this is for that movie called Serenity? I only knew of the Firefly movie with that title.

its available for streaming for Amazon Prime members. but you all have been warned

On a "Staycation" and watched quite a bit.

Castle in the Sky
Castle of Cagliostro
Jurassic World 2 Fallen Kingdom
Gappa The Triphibian Monster
Gamera The Brave
Skyscraper
Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Robin Hood (the most recent one)
The Boy Who Would Be King

Dora & The Lost City of Gold: was really fun, cute and charming. The girl they got to play her is very fun to watch.
The story & ending were fun as well.
Even if you aren't that familiar with Dora, I do suggest seeing it.

Don't you mean Tomb Raider Children Edition?

My kids never watched Dora except one time at my aunt's house, I recall a pretty horrendous "I'm the Map" song which Brian Regan famously riffed on. Please tell me they reference that bit in the film.

Notorious - Just an amazing movie all around. 10/10

Ninja Scroll - My Alamo Drafthouse was showing this tonight and since I haven't watched it in a decade (thanks to the horrible DVD Manga released that looked like they just copied a VHS to DVD), we went to see it. It was still as great as I remember it. In fact, this movie was one of the reasons I got into the Onimusha series and it was one of the anime movies I originally bought on VHS and watched on a monthly basis. It may not have the sophistication level of a Miyazaki film, but god damn is it just a nice badass tale about samurai, ninjas, and demons. One of Japan's finest. I give it a solid 9/10.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

An amazing bit of perfectly crafted nostalgia that, buried within its fuzzy appreciation of Hollywood Circa 1969, contains within it a stylistic sequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The entire thing feels more like an exorcism then anything else.

Starring Nicholas Hammond, Spider-Man from the 70s TV series, and the legendary Clu Gulager (you know, from Return of the Living Dead). I mean, they don't play lead characters, but I just wanted to point out that they are both in the movie

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

A perfect film to introduce anyone ages 10 to 14 to horror, and for everyone else it's still a pretty entertaining ride. A pitch perfect Halloween movie, and the way it takes the stories and images from those famous anthology books and weaves it into a coherent narrative is just really smartly done. If you grew up with those books you may find your favorite bits creeping up in the margins even if they're not one of the main stories used.

I never even heard of the books before now.