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If you’ve already seen the first one I’d recommend you watch it again because it’s great.
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Jan 2, 2021 10:48
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 10:10 |
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Note: I'm helping Lurdiak finish the thread up since he's probated. He let me know to write about this movie, but it's otherwise my own posting, not his. Today's horror essential is... Gojira https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNDH2mX8wf4 Most people already know that this is a movie made in reaction to the nuclear bombing of Japan at the end of World War II and the subsequent atomic testing conducted by the United States in the Pacific. Japan remains the only nation in history to have ever suffered a deliberate nuclear attack. In addition, Japan was targeted by the US in a massive campaign of firebombing of cities, affecting both civilian and military/industrial targets. Gojira is a film that evokes imagery of those events, be it the burning of cities or of the piles of people inflicted with radiation burns. There are many iconic shots in Gojira depicting both the scale of Gojira itself and the scale of the destruction caused by it. The human story in the film is a simple, but moving one, involving love, duty, and proliferation of super weapons. The core of any kaiju film is its human story, and this one presents the themes of the film through character actions while being engaging in its own right. The Gojira/Godzilla franchise has lead to 36 different films, over the course of nearly 70 years. It is one of the first and most prominent examples of the Japanese kaiju/giant monster genre. Godzilla films have commented on World War 2, nuclear weapons, Japanese bureaucracy, Japanese nationalism, and Japan's place in the world. Gojira remains as one of the few singular films in the franchise, and likely still the best one. I'd personally recommend that anyone wanting to "know" about Gojira/Godzilla should watch it and Shin Godzilla, the latter being a great alternative if you have already seen Gojira. Available to stream on HBO max, The Criterion Channel, Kanopy, and Watch TCM. Available to rent on Amazon, Fandango Now, and Apple TV. I'm guessing a lot of people have already seen Gojira and Shin Gojira, so I would also recommend Bombs on Bikini Atoll, a documentary about the United States' nuclear testing. Gojira is not just about the original nuclear attack by the United States, but also its continued nuclear testing and its possible effects on the environment.
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Jan 29, 2021 01:31
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I want to add that the cinematography of gojira is really amazing. There’s a scene where a group of dozens of villagers are all climbing up a. The shot is angled up to show high high this hill is, the villagers stream up it like ants. Suddenly, this massive demonic head looms up over the hill. Not the body, just this nightmarish head from a monster taller than the hill itself. One of the greatest monster reveals of all time, straight out of folklore.
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Jan 29, 2021 04:34
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Today's horror essential is... Martin (1977) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNIGTSdKPl0 So, I've actually never seen this film myself. Like Romero's Dawn of the Dead, it is in a streaming rights hell that makes it pretty inaccessible for your average viewer. This is a vampire film, but an atypical one, with that kind of magical realism that Romero films exude. Romero's films tend to ground their fantastical elements with the griminess of their human characters. None of us are likely to experience zombie or vampire attacks, but we can all understand human prejudice, greed, and pettiness. Romero's films involve flawed people attempting to face the supernatural with the utmost effort and creativity. People fail due to either their own flaws or the flaws of others who impose upon them. Martin is available to stream or rent from no American services! Find your own way to watch this classic!
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Jan 31, 2021 08:28
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Our final horror essential is... Braindead (1992) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puvjr9kDQuU As is Horror Essentials tradition, Lurdiak chose a movie that is not so much an essential as a weird movie that he likes. This is definitely a weirder one. You’ll find Braindead (or Dead Alive) on a lot of lists of grossest/goriest movies, and I imagine that it alone floated the New Zealand goop manufacturing industry for the whole year of 1992. Dead Alive is a movie of pure excess. Southern gothic through a New Zealand lens: polite society is inverted by introduction of the grotesque, and we find that the most grotesque scenes of all are those in which repression fails. Braindead is also unavailable to stream or rent on any US services. Find a way to watch it and enjoy the goop!
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Jan 31, 2021 23:06
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 10:10 |
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Here’s a list of this year’s horror essentials to help folks keep track! https://letterboxd.com/lurdiak/list/january-horror-essentials-2021/
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Jan 31, 2021 23:07
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