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.

The Monster Project, a band

Check out The Monster Project, it's the Web site of a band that plays faithful versions of music from monster movies. Most interesting to people who come here would be "Kaiju Daisenso," the group's take on Akira Ifukube's Godzilla scores. There are samples of the music and it really is good.
Here's how the band describes itself:

An evolutionary offshoot of the New York City progressive art-rock collective, the Project presents creative but faithful rock arrangements of monster movie scores. Influenced by such ground-breaking acts as Fantômas, John Zorn and Mr. Bungle, the project's current songbook includes: Swan Lake, Act II Scene X (from Karloff's The Mummy and Lugosi's Dracula); The Slasher Suite (a medley of themes from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Halloween); and most significantly, an extensive survey of Godzilla music from 1954 to 1975 all from the original acclaimed composer, Akira Ifukube.

You can download the Godzilla music at these links: Godzilla Comes Ashore; Namikawa on Planet X; and Battle on Mt. Fuji. Enjoy.

UPDATE: For those in the New York area, The Monster Project will be appearing Wednesday, November 2, 2005 at 9:00 PM at
Knitting Factory
The Tap Bar
74 Leonard Street
New York, NY 10013
Tel: (212) 219-3132
http://www.knittingfactory.com/kfny/
Admission: $8.00
Write me if you go.

Giant monsters and the Hummer H3

A new advertisement for the Hummer H3, "Monster", pays tribute to my favorite genre. If you haven't seen it, it features a giant monster (sort of reptilian, but with hair) and a giant robot meeting and falling in love. The product of their love is the H3, a "little monster."
It's a cute ad. The monster is an odd design, but the giant robot looks great. I can't tell if they are suits and miniatures or if everything is done with computer animation. Either way, it's good stuff, check it out.

King of Kong Island

King of Kong Island (just called Kong Island in the film and was originally released as Eve the Wild Woman) is a true stinker of a film. I own it in my 50 Movie SciFi Classics box. I wouldn't be reviewing it here if it weren't for the descriptions I've seen of the movie. Here's John Stanley's summation in the book "Creature Features Strikes Again":

King of Kong Island (1968). Also known as EVE THE WILD WOMAN. With remote control devices, giant gorillas become robot killers. A descendant of the King himself happens along and decides enough is enough already and starts crunching skulls -- and remote-control devices. Left to its own devices, this Spanish-produced job (made as EVE THE WILD WOMAN) would fall flat on its ugly kisser. Directed Robert Morris. Brad Harris, Marc Lawrence. (VCI)

Wow, a giant ape "crunching skulls", how could that be bad? Here's the one on the DVD box:

A diabolical team of scientists land on Kong Island determined to implant devices in the brains of the gorilla population that will transform them into an unstoppable army. Their plan for world domination runs amok when a descendant of King Kong arrives and the mayhem begins.

That last sentence makes you think there will be a giant gorilla in this movie, right? Nope. In fact, there's no monsters larger than man-size (besides the many, many stock footage shots of lions, crocodiles, hippos, ad nauseum). Actually, there's not even an island in this movie. There are man-sized gorillas however. In fact, they are the worst gorilla suits I've ever seen. And the people wearing them make no attempt to be even slightly animal-like.
The plot is a total mess with one subplot after another being introduced. That is until the end when the movie just kills off one person or another (usually by rifle fire) putting an end to each silly plot line.
This is truly a bad movie. Enjoy at your own risk. You can find other reviews here, here, here, and here.

Godzilla Final Wars DVD

Godzilla: Final Wars has a DVD street date of Dec. 13, pre-order now. This site has images from the DVD. I'm hoping these are early versions because there are almost no extras. On the other hand, it appears we will have the Japanese language track. It will be nice (I hope) to see this after hearing so many raging debates about it.

Toho/Universal King Kong news

Apparently Universal will be releasing King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes on DVD, according to Monster Zero. Here's more info on KKvsG and KKE.
With all this great stuff coming out, my budget is going to be stretched into the holiday season. Both DVDs are being released on Nov. 29.
(Unfortunately, I'm sure we're not getting the Japanese version of KKvsG, which is infinitely better. C'est la vie.)

Atragon on the way

Media Blasters will do it again come this December, according to Henshin!Online. The company has already released Matango, Mysterians and Dogora. Now they plan to release Atragon, one of my favorite non-Godzilla Ishiro Honda films. It's about a submarine that can fly, an undersea kingdom that plans to take over the world and the angst of Japan's role after World War II. If Media Blasters includes the extras from the region 2 DVD (as they have with the other films), we'll get a commentary track by Koji Kajita, Honda's assistant director. This is a must have.

Dinosaur Samurai

I have no idea what this is, I happened to chance across it while looking for info on another book at the ibooks Web site. Here's the description:

Eckels, a psychotic time traveler, has shot a dinosaur and meddled with history, destroying the future and trapping himself in the past. Transported to an alternate prehistoric period by a savage timestorm, Aaron Cofield manages to link up with a Travis, a lost Time Safari guide. Together, they must hunt down Eckels and restore the shape of history. Attacked by sentient dinosaurs, Aaron and Travis escape to an alternate medieval Japan. Caught between dinosaurs, ferocious samurai warriors, and the cold-blooded Eckels, the two must fight for their own survival—and to restore the timestream of our future!

So "Ray Bradbury Presents Dinosaur Samurai" is apparently something loosely based off of Bradbury's "Sound of Thunder" and just filled with as many crazy things as the authors (Stephen Leigh and John J. Miller) can throw at it.
It includes both dinosaurs and samurai and so seems built for me. I may have to pick it up.

Roger Corman sells out?

Stephen Bissette writes an informative post about the end of an era. Apparently, Corman has given Buena Vista (a Disney corporation) rights to distribute 400 of his films, movies like "Little Shop of Horrors", "It Conquered the World" and his Poe films.
This is good in the sense that we'll probably get beautiful new reissues of some of these films. It's sad because now Corman is working with the major studios, something he hasn't needed to do in 50 years of film making.
I'm not all that upset about it, after all we could get some great DVDs of some great old giant monster movies. But Bissette writes well about it and about Corman's history.