GODZILLA VS KONG... coming in 2020! Really looking forward to seeing King Kong and Godzilla fight again on the big screen! A "rematch" that I never thought I'd see is apparently going to happen as Legendary Pictures has announced that Godzilla and King Kong will square off on the big screen in 2020. Godzilla fans rejoiced with 2014's GODZILLA, released by Legendary Pictures and then came word of a new Kong film called KONG-SKULL ISLAND which will arrive in theaters in 2017. A sequel to the 2014 Godzilla film will be released theatrically in 2018. This all leads up to what should be an epic showdown between two of cinema's most legendary monsters!
Toho released King Kong Vs Godzilla in 1962, a movie which was wildly successful at the box office. This movie, which is considered by many to be a satire, portrays 50 meter tall Godzilla as the villain and 45 meter tall King Kong as a protagonist of sorts. In the '62 film the two monsters have an initial skirmish which results in Kong retreating and then a final showdown at Mount Fuji where Kong, struck by lightning repeatedly and having his strength enhanced by the lightning strikes, takes the fight to Godzilla, the two behemoths falling into the sea and Kong subsequently surfacing and swimming back to Faroe Island.
For giant monster movie fans there had been a great pessimism that another movie featuring these two grand cinematic movie monsters would never get made...until now.
In Rollerball(1975), directed by Norman Jewison, the entire world is run by six(6) corporations in the not too distant future. These corporations make every decision that affects the entire world. Individualism is discouraged and to that end a brutal game called "rollerball" is created to show everyone the futility of individual leadership. Don't tell that to Jonathan E(played by James Caan), a star player with the Houston(Texas) team and the sport's dominate player.When the corporations feel threatened by Jonathan E's popularity efforts are made to force him to retire from the sport...but he has other ideas.
This movie is an interesting examination of society in general. People in this film seem generally desensitized to violence in general and the brutal, bloody "rollerball" is pure entertainment, the rollerball players treated like celebrities and VIPs.
As I have always been keenly interested in the sasquatch phenomenon, I regularly watch video clips of alleged sightings. I came across one clip taken by a gent in Florida(while in his boat) who shot what looks to be a large, hulking figure wading through a swamp. If it's a man in a suit then he's insane because swamps in Florida are common sanctuaries for large alligators and poisonous snakes including rattlesnakes and water moccasins. Take a look at the video below:
Imagine an idyllic future in which wars are a thing of the past and people live inside enormous, climate controlled domes and without a care in the world. That's right: no stress, no job required, no bills to pay. Just get up everyday and basically do whatever you want. Every day is a vacation and anything(or anyone) one desires can be had. Sound too good to be true? It is. Why? Because in this future, set in the 23rd century, it all ends at age thirty. That's the catch: enjoy a paradise existence but when you turn thirty years of age you must voluntarily enter a mechanical device which terminates your life.
Such is the premise and storyline for LOGAN'S RUN, released by MGM in 1976 and directed by Michael Anderson. Michael York plays "Logan", a policeman referred to as a Sandman. The "Sandmen" are a police force tasked with tracking down and eliminating anyone who turns 30 years old and defies the government mandate of termination at age thirty. Logan is quite good at his job but soon it is his turn to flee from Sandmen. Logan, tasked with finding a rogue group of "runners"(those who have defied the government and fled rather than be terminated), himself becomes a runner and eventually discovers that there is a world beyond the dome he has lived inside his entire life. (no other spoilers)
The special effects are obviously dated by today's standards but the visuals are often colorful and interesting to watch including a shiny robot named "Box"(played by Roscoe Lee Browne).
I recently bought this movie on Blu Ray. Any sci-fi film fan who hasn't seen this movie should check it out!
This movie looks fantastic on Blu Ray(HD) and is presented in its original 2:35.1 widescreen aspect ratio. To see the BD for sale at Best Buy click the link: LOGAN'S RUN Blu Ray @ Best Buy
If you enjoy the low(er) budget sci-fi film romps produced in the 1950's as much as I do then you should definitely check this website out. These movies are all in HD and can be purchased on either DVD or Blu Ray(on demand using recordable Blu Ray BD-R discs). All of these movies are written, produced and directed by Christopher R. Mihm.The DVDs include special features. The "on demand" Blu Rays(BD-R) feature the movies only.
As a lifelong fan of horror movies I've found it more difficult to enjoy low(er) budget independent horror films. Maybe I'm getting spoiled by CGI in my advancing years...or maybe it's just because there aren't many directors who can make a decent horror movie now using practical effects on a smaller budget. While that may well be the case it certainly isn't for Patrick Rea, director ofNailbiter, released staright to DVD back in 2013.
Director Patrick Rea helmed Nailbiter on a reported budget of $300,000 and, for me anyway, he cranked out a horror movie well worth checking out for die hard horror movie fans.
The film's story: Kansas native "Janet Maguire"(played by Erin McGrane) jumps in the family car and heads to an airport in Kansas City(Kansas) to meet and greet her husband, a U.S. serviceman on a flight home from a long deployment overseas. The mother takes her three young daughters "Jennifer", "Alice" and "Sally" along for the trip to the airport.
While on their way to the airport in stormy weather, the mother and daughters are forced to abandon their vehicle on the side of the road when a tornado bears down on them. The group finds refuge in the basement cellar of a small countryside house.
The storm subsides and the tornado passes...but the group cannot exit the cellar because a large tree limb has fallen across the cellar doors. Later "Sally", one of the daughters, tries to escape but something outside the house bites her arm and she is forced to retreat back into the cellar. Then the trapped family hears voices and nails pounding outside...as someone is boarding up the cellar windows and cellar doors locking them inside!
At this point you might not think things can get any worse...but they do as the mother and her three girls realize there is something else in the basement with them.
Eventually the terrified family encounters that "something", a hostile and bloodthirsty, humanoid monster. From this point on it's a fight for survival as the group tries to survive the creature's attacks. (no other spoilers as I would reveal too much of the plot)
Observations, some positive and some not:
Thumbs up:
-director Patrick Rea does a great job at building up the suspense and sense of peril and dread in this movie, mostly by not revealing the creature(s) too soon.
-the creature effects are all practical which I wholeheartedly approve of!
-the rendering of the creatures is IMO terrific. While I wouldn't characterize the monsters as werewolves they have a definite lupine quality with gaping jaws, what look life fore-claws and razor sharp teeth that look more like jagged shards of glass than, well teeth. I also thought the orb like, milky white eyes of the beasts added to their "creep" factor.
-Meg Saricks, who plays the oldest daughter. is the only actor I thought was effective throughout this film - at the beginning of the movie she seems melancholy, disinterested in life in general and disconnected emotionally not only from her mother but her two sisters. As the movie progresses her character definitely steps up for her family and she shows real character in the face of danger and calamity.
-the nature of the monsters themselves. There's never any clear cut explanation given as to what the creatures are or why people transform into these beasts...but their transformations are linked somehow to the stormy weather which apparently triggers the transformations. An unusual aspect of this movie that I found cool and original. A "Dread Central" reviewer of this movie likened the story to something out of an "X Files" TV episode and I agree with this sentiment.
-the ending of the film which included a plot twist(always welcome for me).
Thumbs down:
-the overall acting in this movie, except for Meg Saricks, was for me fairly well lacking.
-the movie's score sounded rather ordinary.
-the screen time for the monsters is too limited. I would have liked seeing more of the creatures.
Fans of this horror movie should definitely check this one out! It airs on the "Chiller" cable channel from time to time and is also available on DVD at Amazon.
The film's IMDB page: IMDB page for NAILBITER film
