Science fiction, fantasy, horror, and media (comedy, drama, TV, audio, romance)

  GODZILLA MINUS ONE   Major Spoilers        Spoilers   Originally, hearing this was set in the 1940s, I had no desire at all of seeing this. Then, an invite to see it and being treated to it, I decided to see it.   First, the acting was fantastic, the characters and depth wonderful but also it’s a very downbeat movie, just like the very first GODZILLA movie (both versions). Yes, there’s the atomic/nuclear warning in this but it’s also…Godzilla’s specter haunts a kamikaze pilot named Koichi who refused to kill himself and then was afraid to fire on Godzilla when Godzilla attacked mechanics on Odo Island during the war. Not that his firing from a plane Godzilla was going to destroy would have got him anything but killed.   Godzilla here is again, a force of nature, though this is less stressed than in the very first 1954/1956 movie. Thus, it is harder to feel that sorry for this murdering monster. There’s little to recomm...

  MONSTER ZERO   I used to really love this movie for some reason. It felt fresh and was promoted in magazines like FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and THE MONSTER TIMES. It played on TV constantly in the 1970s. It has a very likable and lovely cast including Nick Adams. The Japanese cast is just as likable and engaging, relatable, and funny when needed. Akira Takarada as Nick (who plays Glenn)’s sidekick is far from a side kick and may well be the main hero and a brother to a girl who wants to marry a young, cute man named Torii played by the handsome twink who plays geek here---Akira Kubo. I’m sure I’ve seen the male cast here in other things.   There are many problems here. The sets and locations are not some of them. They all look fabulous from the villa to the planet X with its fab colors and outer space backdrop. Everything here looks wonderful and imaginative. And the movie tries to be different.   The problem is some of the timing of things and the tr...