Negadon coming to America

I'm surprised to find that I never wrote about "Negadon: The Monster from Mars." It's a 20-minute Japanese film made in the spirit of '60s giant monster movies, but completely computer animated. I watched the trailer and absolutely loved it. You can tell it's made by a giant monster film fan.

The film premiered at a festival in Japan and has been getting very warm reviews. Now comes news that the film has been picked up by Central Park Media for some kind of distribution in America. According to the company's press release:

Negadon
will be released theatrically this spring and on home video this
summer. Central Park Media will make further announcements at New York
Comic-Con at the end of February.

I'm really curious to see how they release this on DVD. It's a short film, so what else is going to go on the disc? We'll know in February I guess.

Monster music

I recently got an iPod, so I went searching for giant monster music on iTunes. It was a quick search, but I came up with a few things, besides soundtracks.

First of all, there is a surf rock/metal band called Daikaiju. I've been aware of them for a little while now and they seemed like great fun. I downloaded two songs from their self-titled album: "Super X-9" and "Daikaiju Die!" It's great stuff. The band is kind of interesting too. They wear kabuki masks and all their press materials sounds like words translated from Japanese by an Internet translator.

The second thing I found was a podcast by Infinite Sector Collective.

The infinite sector is a non-profit collective and netlabel dedicated to sharing and promoting free experimental music, noise, and electronica. Our members include musicians, bands, and artists from all corners of the globe.

In honor of 50 years of Godzilla, their first podcast episode is dedicated to kaiju eiga. So members of the collective do songs about Rodan, Hedorah, Biollante and others. Most of it is very experimental. If you like static and Metal Machine Music, you might like this. I like a lot of weird music, and I had a tough time with most of the songs. The song "Jet Jaguar," however, was more approachable than the rest of it. It was performed by the group Terminal Shock. The podcast is not for everyone, and clearly not intended to be, but check it out and see what it does for your ears.

I gave a search on iTunes for "kaiju" and came up with "Kaiju Babylon." It's a song by jazz guitarist Henry Kaiser. Like Infinite Sector Collective, it's experimental music, but I found it more fun. It was like some twisted combination of Sonny Sharrock and Spike Jones. I was happy to find Kaiser because I notice he has connections to other artists I like, such as Captain Beefheart, Richard Thompson, Sharrock, Bill Frisell and John Zorn, among others. And, apparently, he is a fan of giant monsters. He gives his praise to "Gamera: The Revenge of Iris" at his journal. (That just shows he has taste as well.)

Finally, something I didn't find on iTunes, but wanted to mention: King Geedorah, "Take Me to Your Leader." King Geedorah is actually MF Doom, an underground hip hop artist who has gotten much praise for his purist stylings. The album is a lot of fun and can be enjoyed even by non-rap fans. Quite a few of the songs on the album are "instrumentals" made up of sounds and clips from giant monster movies. If you do like rap, there's some great work on the album as well. Some well known rappers are here, but hidden under giant monster pseudonyms. I recommend it.

While I'm at it, I'd like to remind everybody about The Monster Project, who I wrote about here.

Jurassic Park IV, not coming soon

"Jurassic Park IV" is apparently quite a ways from happening. According to producer Frank Marshall, the fourth Indiana Jones movie is in the pipeline behind the third Bourne movie. After those two are under way, then there will be movement on JP4. No confirmations on the script, but it still includes William Monahan's name and people have mentioned dinosaur commandos. [Image found at Monsters and Critics.]


Technorati Tags: giant monsters, dinosaurs, Jurassic Park, movies

New Godzilla cartoon DVDs

Two new DVDs of "Godzilla: The Series" have been announced. Like the "The Monster Wars Trilogy" I don't think there will be much in the way of extras, but it will add more of the series to your collection. You can find my thoughts on the original disc here. I enjoy the cartoon and am looking forward to picking up more.

Slither trailer

All right, this is only technically a giant monster movie, but I must admit it looks fun. You can find the trailer for Slither here. At first, I thought this was a remake. I know there is some movie from the 1970s about an attack by earthworms, but I can't seem to remember the name of that. It used to be on the afternoon movie alongside "Frogs" when I was a kid.

Anyway, this movie is a horror-comedy starring that guy from "Firefly" and features giant worm-leech-like things that are turning people into monsters. The trailer is funny. Could be a good time.

Atragon on the way

I am so excited about getting "Atragon" on DVD. It's one of Toho's classic science fiction films and probably second only to "Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People" among the non-Godzilla films. There's a review here of the new DVD. They give it a thumbs up.

Gamera blogs

Gamera has its own blog. It's all in Japanese, so I have no idea what's being said, but there are some cute pictures of a stuffed Gamera visiting various sites.

King Kong atop the world

I saw "King Kong" over the weekend. I loved it. The movie took the original King Kong and used it as an outline for this movie. Everything that was in the 1933 movie has been expanded on and enriched. This made for a long movie, over three hours, but it never felt like one.
There were a few holes in the movie. Jack Black's acting is just a touch too much. Black is a ham and he is trying to rein it in here, but only partially succeeds. I don't think he could make a subtle motion to save his life. Fortunately for him, his character is over the top anyway. The film really gives a new look at Carl Denham: ambitious, self-obsessed, adventurous and probably crazy. I liked the rebuilding of the character, it made for a deeper, more interesting guy (and probably one truer to the era.)
The scene with the insects and lampreys and all was pretty exciting, but why does the calvary turn up? As far as I could tell, the writers had just put themselves in a corner and had to find a way out, despite logic. I think that Jackson just wanted to do that scene so much, he let it override his sense of story.
And the last line, the same one from the original film, was just wrong here. It wasn't as cringe inducing as I'd been led to believe, but it certainly didn't fit. In fact, in this version of the movie, Denham should have been packing his bags as the ape was rampaging.
And the movie's length: Yes, it moved right along and didn't feel like three hours, but there was still a hell of a lot of stuff that could have been deleted to make a shorter running time. Even if you love every minute of the film, it's hard to find time in the day to see a three-hour movie.
Despite all those quibbles, it was a great movie. I had a good time and would love to see it again. Naomi Watts was terrific, as she has been in everything I've seen her in. Kong was a marvel to behold. Everything on Skull Island was scary. Atop the Empire State Building, you could really feel a sense of vertigo. I don't think any movie has ever given me such a great sense of height.
This version of King Kong was a worthy remake of the original and adds itself to a list of the finest giant monster movies ever made.

Technorati Tags: kingkong, giantmonsters, movies, review

Realism and giant monsters

Stephen Bissette argues against criticisms of the realism of the new King Kong by pointing out all the absurdities of the classic Kong. He asks why people aren't willing to accept the handwaving of the new film when they buy it from the classic? He essentially says, if I understand correctly, that there is a basic absurdity to the films that one must accept to enjoy the tale being offered, and if you're not willing to accept those absurdities in the first place, why bother going to see it?
This got me thinking about giant monster movies, and something that is very basic to all of them. The absurdity is the main reason we come out to see it. Once the giant monster has entered the scene, what can't happen? Once our disbelief has been that far suspended, why not hang it higher?
The pleasure of giant monster movies then, as I see it, is waiting to see what absurdity the movie brings along. The movie world is wide open to go anywhere after a giant monster enters the scene. This, I think, is why I enjoy Godzilla films so much; they take that absurdity and run with it, no worries of realism to bog them down.
Once Godzilla is on the scene, why not more monsters? Why not make monsters talk? Why not make a two legged beast fly with its tail between its legs? Why not make a monster out of sludge? Why not have a giant cyborg monster be controlled by roach-like aliens who own a children's theme park? Why not have a weapon that shoots mini-black holes?
And this is why the Heisei series of Godzilla films seems so dour now. They aimed for a higher level of realism. And that aim only served to bog the films down. The most enjoyable of those films was Biollante, which featured a giant rose monster that may have the soul of a little girl bomb victim trapped inside it.
It seems to me, the enjoyment of giant monster movies is all about the joy of unfettered imagination. And what could be better than that?

Bloggers on King Kong

Stephen Bissette is doing a fascinating critique of the new King Kong. He's got three parts so far, Part the First, Part the Second and Part the Third. A fourth part is promised.
Bissette writes about the special effects, the performances, the history behind the movies and the way the new movie improvises from and improves on the original. It's great writing writing, check it out.
While your at it, check out Tim Lucas's thoughts on Kong at Video Watchblog. Lucas can always be counted on for interesting movie commentary.
By the way, the movie has an 83% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. It really is about time I got to the theater to see this film.

Konga review

There's a review of the King Kong like movie called Konga at Now Playing Magazine. I've never seen it and it sounds interesting.

The Conqueror Worms by Brian Keene

I've been meaning to buy one of horror writer Brian Keene's books for a while. I've read his blog, Hail Saten, regularly and he seems to be a fun guy with some writing skills. I've read a few short stories and enjoyed them, I've even put The Rising on my gift lists for Christmas.
Now I have another reason to buy a book of his. The Conqueror Worms, his new novel coming out in May. Here's the description at Shocklines:

One day the rain just didn't stop. As the flood waters rose and coastal cities and towns disappeared, some people believed it was the end of the world. Maybe they were right. But the water wasn't the worst part. Even more terrifying was what the soaking rains drove up from beneath the earth---unimaginable creatures, writing, burrowing...and devouring all in their path. What hope does an already devastated mankind have against... THE CONQUEROR WORMS.

(If you order it in advance from Shocklines, Keene will sign the book.)
So I'm expecting giant worm madness! How can that be bad. You can read an excerpt here. There's a thread on the book at Keene's Web site message board.
Looking further into this, I think this novel was previously published through Delirium Books in hardcover as Earthworm Gods. There's another thread about that edition here.

Primer for giant monsters

The Morning Sun points out to the world that there are other giant monster movies besides King Kong. (You'll need to register to get in to the article. Use Bugmenot for an easy, anonymous password.) Among the movies they list are: Gamera, Mothra, Them!, The Blob and 20 Million Miles to Earth. A good selection and a nice primer for people new to giant monster movies. Although, why no Godzilla? Well, nobody's perfect.

Giant monster creates havoc in Legoland

Kathryn Cramer finds this cool giant monster made out of Legos; it's even posed tearing down an elevated train! I'm loving it. It comes from this site, which seems to be made up of mostly Star Wars Lego sets.

A few Kong links

I'm sorry, I've been lax in my coverage of King Kong news. You can find a ton of it out there, however, so I hope I haven't left you too stranded. The trailer for Peter Jackson's film looks terrific.
I should point out that the original movie is out in two beautiful editions. I'll be picking up the second one, which includes Mighty Joe Young and Son of Kong with it.
Thanks to a blog I read, I did pick up some Kong news you probably haven't heard elsewhere. Violet Crown Radio Players are putting on their own radio adaptation of the original movie. Check out their Web site, join their mailing list. They seem to have some interesting stuff there. Besides their Kong adaptation, I'm also interested in their pulp-style hero show, the Blue Menace, among other series characters.
And if you're still hungry for Kong, here's a Kong related story at the soon to be late, lamented SciFiction.

Deep Sea Monster Reigo

Fangoria has a list and brief descriptions of films screened at the American Film Market. Among them is this:

"With Toho on a Godzilla sabbatical (sob), DEEP SEA MONSTER--REIGO stands out as the closest example of an old-school Japanese giant monster mash for sale this time. A humongous aquatic creature battles the WWII battleship Yamato in this low-rent period production, directed by kaiju fan Hayashiya Shinpei."

This sounds exciting, so I started looking into it. And voila! They have an English Web site. It calls it "A heartrending love story that sinks into the beautiful blue south seas."
Apparently, the story will be an alternate history of the Yamato, Japan's great battleship that sank. (The Web site has some interesting facts about the Yamato.) It will show off what armaments the ship could have had and how it would stand up to a monster.
Here's what the Web site says about the monster:

The enemy, REIGO, is a creature that propels itself through the seas like a dragon. Director Hayashiya Shinpei has specially created this new monster for the film with extensive creative input from Amemiya Keita and Haraguchi Tomoo.

And here's a little more behind the scenes:

First, the character of Monster REIGO:
It was designed by Amemiya Keita, who is known as the director of SF film "Zeiramu" and as the designer of characters for a number of special-effects films.
Based on his design, the character was made by Haraguchi Tomoo, well-known for the Heisei "Gamera" series.
This is the first collaboration of Amemiya Keita and Haraguchi Tomoo, a combination that special-effects fans have been longing for.
The deep-sea fish monsters that appear along with REIGO were made by Japan's leading plastic arts character specialists and Wakasa Shin-ichi, who is known for the Godzilla costume.

The director of the movie is Hayashiya Shinpei, who directed the fan film "Gamera 4." (I wish I could read Japanese, because his Web site looks cool.) So we have a real giant monster movie fan directing this one.
Hotaru Yukijiro will appear in this film. He's the detective who appeared in all 3 of Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera films. He was also in Battle Royale, Zeiram and Godzilla: Operation Tokyo SOS.
There is also going to be a famous Kabuki actor in the film. That should be interesting.
Also on the Web site is a trailer with English subtitles. It looks pretty good. Some of the effects seem to be cheap CGI, but it looks like there is a lot of respect for both war and giant monster movies here.
The Web zine Twitch
seems to be keeping up on the film here, here, here and here.
This is fascinating. The first truly new kaiju, unrelated to any other series, in a while. I can't wait to see it. I hope it comes to these shores.

Not Godzilla, but cool

Scientists have discovered an ancient 'Godzilla'-like sea creature. Actually, it's nothing like Godzilla, outside of being amphibious. Still, the creature is pretty large and threatening looking. Check it out.

The Big Bugs Project

Big Bugs, an art project sure to scare the crap out of anyone who has seen "Them."

Gamera cartoon on Cartoon Network?

Monster Zero is reporting that there is going to be a Gamera animated series on the Cartoon Network in 2007. There are no details as yet, so this could all just disappear in a puff of smoke. But I hope it's true. Besides Adult Swim, CN has done some great stuff with shows like "Justice League Unlimited" and "Samurai Jack" as well as the "Clone Wars" cartoon. I have high hopes they can do something good here.

Halloween G

At Four Realities, Bob has posted a Steve Bissette sketch of Godzilla for Halloween. Be merry! Don't forget to check out Bissette's blog.