Secret of the Loch (1934)

watched this early attempt at explaining the Loch Ness Monster the other day.

hoo boy, it sure is funny, but I don't believe it's supposed to be a comedy.

the main bit was supposed to be about the professor who believes a monster is living in the loch and is responsible for a number of disappearances in and around the place.

however, it's the reporter who gets all the best lines and gets to chase the granddaughter of the professor around in a romantic subplot.


she can't stand him of course, until she decides she likes him.  he falls for her immediately and even after betraying the professor to the papers he decides to help out the prof by...

spoilers-

Daigoro... subtitled?

is there anyway anyone could be prepared for this movie?  I haven't been able to sit through it unsubbed since the first time I saw it, but maybe subtitles will help.

I'm not gonna hold my breath.

Happy Birthday Ray Harryhausen

he turns 91 today.

Citizen Kane (1941)

watched this movie today.  haven't seen it since 1980, on one of those new fangled top loader video recording machines.  on a 13" b/w TV.  I am not sure why we watched it in school, but naturally I was glad to see it.  we had to watch it in 3 parts.

I quite enjoyed the movie. it's the exact right length, and it's never boring at all.  I felt sorry for Kane, but I also liked him.  there's quite a bit of humor in the movie, which is a good thing.  I hadn't realized how much of "The Brain" was based on this movie (not just Orson himself, but his second wife and the Brain's infatuation with Billy the mouse for example).  the Mr. Burns comparison was a lot easier though.

and it's still really topical today.

Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla (1994)

just watched this movie for the second time ever (since seeing it subbed on  VHS about 16 years ago) and I don't think it's nearly as bad as many fans do.

sure, it's full of flaws and it's about 20 minutes too long- some judicious editing would help the movie a lot.  that and some hand to hand fighting between the monsters would have been nice as well.

but just what the hell was Space Godzilla?  it didn't seem that clear in the movie, though Wiki says it's a combo of Godzilla and Biollante and a black hole.  bet it was the aliens from the third planet...

why did it want Little Godzilla?

groovy Iron Man

I thought I had posted all of these old time Marvel Comics cartoon intros from the 60s.  very enjoyable to me now.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

an excellent ship

I have read  The Chronicles of Narnia many times since I was a lad.  they hold up pretty well as fantasy adventure, even as I got older, and the Christian metaphors got more apparent it was still a fun easy read.

I have been frustrated watching the first two big budget adaptions, as they added useless things to the stories and changed essential plot lines to make them more palatable.  which is just plain stupid as anyone who reads the books doesn't want those changes, and people who haven't should get them the way C.S. Lewis actually would have wanted them presented.

anyway, this third movie in the series is the best one.  naturally there are changes, but overall it was well done.  they combined a lot of things to condense the story, as the book is more or less a series of adventures to reach the end of the world. no real villains to battle, and not even much of a quest.  mostly it makes Eustace into a better human being, after changing him into a dragon.

which leads to an improvement, as the dragon now gets to fight the sea monster.  I gotta say I enjoyed that.  an enjoyable movie overall.

Teen Titans #8 "Deep Six"

well, this image of "Aqualad" alone (along with the proper sound effect) makes me like the cartoon even more.

I think the thing that puts me off the most is the faux "anime" look, plus all the nonsense that goes along with it.  I like the characters,  for the most part, actually, and there's some funny stuff going on, as well as a connected story.

I really am looking forward to Hurtstroke the Injurer now.

Fury of the Dragon (1974)

that new Green Hornet movie pisses me off now.  it could have been so much better so easily and it's not.



so here's the second feature culled from the original TV show.  dig the opening graphics for this one!

Gokaiger #10 "A Card Duel"

the title pretty much tells you how this is going to end.  which is fine with me, as JAQK is probably my favorite sentai.  the Zangyack bring their special ops to bear on the pirates, with the great Yok Bareed in command.  he's also a great gambler.

and there we go, after all the drama we get the team of teams showing up, and just being awesome as usual.  yes, that is Big One as a female.  I was kind of hoping Sokichi Banba would show up, but it's only episode ten.  perhaps in the near future...

and since there was no giant robot in this series, we get the secret weapon!  it works, but since there has to be a robot battle, Gao Lion makes an appearance again.  highly enjoyable!

never again (1982)

this was a band I was introduced by Channel 12's local video show, at the time called "FM-TV" (it later became the less cool "Teletunes" due to copyright infringement).  this was one video they never aired.  I really enjoyed their first album and finally got the second one.  Classix Nouveaux rocks!

The Green Hornet (2011)

Stately Wayne Manor? not quite

this was one frustrating movie.  there were parts I really enjoyed, but there were parts that were incredibly stupid.  mostly that half the cast were unlikable, as in Mike Axelrod, DA Frank Scanlon and Britt Reid himself were boorish for most of the movie.  I blame the writing, as the actors could have been fine.

wait, who is that?

yes, even Seth Rogen was almost good in this movie. there were signs here and there that had he reigned himself in, he could have done it a bit more dramatically.  alas, that wasn't gonna happen and of course not til the end did he redeem the character.  Jay Chou as Kato was just fine, though, as was Cameron Diaz as Casey.  excuse, me, Lenore.

spoilers!

a tidal wave of terror

I saw this for the first time on a tiny tv in the mountains late at night one summer.  we had rented a cabin and I set the alarm to watch it.  gotta love giant octopi in movies.

seen here in glorious black and white.

"The Casket of Ancient Winters"

when we last left the Avengers, they had defeated Kang and sent him packing.  probably took a little time to rest.

the stopping of Mjollner

thought the Radioactive Man decided he should show up and tap into the Avengers power source.  this sets up a conflict between Iron Man and Thor, the old "science vs magic" debate.

this has been going on for some time, and it makes sense.  I do like them becoming friends, as they have been (in my life) for a long time.

spoilers ahead!

Super Rider V3

here's the opening to the German adaption of the Taiwanese version of Kamen Rider V3.  and it's a heckuva lot of fun. anyone who thinks Saban introduced the idea of replacing actors from one country with another one is mistaken.

BRave Raideen

not my favorite theme song to a super robot, but a cool series nonetheless.

Gokaiger #9 Lion, Charge

our heroes this week meet up with Gao Lion and Gao Red.

they have to defeat Bowser, who needs to get a new job.

anyway, they find the Floating Island where Gao Lion resides, but he sends both heroes and villains over the edge.  Gao Red is now a veterinarian who tells the pirates they are too power hungry to use the Gao Power properly.  and they agree, which is now getting a bit old as a plot point.

sentai + cars = boring.  though this wasn't too bad overall, since it was so short.

our heroes prove they are worthy of the Gao power and it all words out well, except for poor Bowser.

and yes, this one is just for Owari!

Mirror Knight

Mirrorman has returned, and is sort of part of the Ultra pantheon now.  it's from the movie Ultraman Zero The Movie: Super Deciding Fight! The Belial Galactic Empire which I will watch and review soon enough.  nice that he has returned, as well as Fireman and Jumborg Ace.

she's Radioactive

from Gene Simmons' solo album, performed at the Largo, MD show.

Starblazers

watching- or trying to watch- all of the Starblazers cartoon series.  Netflix has them all for rent.

I never saw it on it's first airing in the US.  it was never shown in Colorado, and at the time of it aired (1980) it was always shown very early in the morning in the places I saw in it the tv guide.

I think I would have enjoyed it though, despite knowing it was probably sanitized somewhat for the US audience by then.  it's a space opera with a lot of characterization, but plenty of action.  the US actors are pretty good, though some of the lines are pretty clunky.

the DVDs are arranged in 4-5 episodes, so watching one can take about 80 minutes or so.  it's an enjoyable presentation.  I've seen the movie adaption,  Space Cruiser Yamato, and that is really well done.

Ultraman Mebius and the Ultra Brothers

I really enjoyed Ultraman Mebius' series.  nice to tie in the Showa Ultra series in a fun way.  this is a fan made video from the movie, which is pretty good, except for the megalo-titano-ultra monster at the end of it.  too much cg is not good.

FM #256

got this in the mail last night.  there will be a more indepth review forthcoming.  but overall, it's pretty darn awesome.

my favorite new wave song

I love this song, it's probably my favorite "new wave" song from the 80s. the Monroes were a local San Diego band with one EP recording.  this is the only song I've ever heard from them. I'd like to hear more.

Godzilla: the Series

the movie is awful. it's boring and overlong and full of cliches from other, better movies.

the cartoon series is actually pretty good. Netflix has the entire 40 episode series on instant viewing.  I think three or four of the episodes were never aired, for some reason or another.

I've watched the first four,  and they are better than I remember.  I thought Randy was the most useless character ever, analogous to "Pete" from the original cartoon series (more on that in a bit) but so far he's not nearly as annoying as I remembered him to be.  so there's a plus already!

the show really follows almost the exact same formula as it's cartoon predecessor, in that our heroes have a boat they take all over the world and "Godzilla" follows them around for whatever reason they can think of.  I don't remember if they have a call button later on, but NIGEL takes the place of Godzooky more or less. the monsters they find are all  "mutations" more or less, just enlarged animals, if I remember correctly.  not real monsters like they should be.

it's too bad the design is so not Godzilla. at least they added the atomic breath.  I know I hate cg tampering, but this is one time I wouldn't be adverse to seeing someone add a real cartoon Godzilla into this series.

oh, I'm going to hell for that.

Destroy All Monsters radio ad

this is so cool.  I remember seeing the ad on tv for the movie, but didn't listen to the radio much (I was only four or so).  it rocks.

Daffy's Rhapsody

I've heard this song for 30 years, sung by the awesome Mel Blanc and set to the tune of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody #2, which I have played in orchestra many years ago as well. it's awesome.  I've heard that WB or someone will be making an actual video of this song, with a (sadly) 3D CG image of Daffy.  could be OK.

Dinosaur Fantasia...

just some of the awesome dinosaurs from Fantasia.  really, the best part of the movie (hands up, who is surprised I think that?).

the pteranodon looks a lot like the Jonny Quest "Turu"- same colors more or less.  I doubt that was a coincidence!

this should be a t rex, but it's got the wrong number of fingers.  I base this on the other dinosaurs in the segment, all from the Cretaceous period.  it doesn't matter, this is one monster of a beast.

look at the fangs on him!  poor little stupid stegosaurus! 

Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla music video

I think this may actually be my favorite Godzilla movie from the 70s. the music by Masaru Satô is also awesome.  I love the soundtrack.  glad I don't have to pick my favorite movie from the 70s, that's for sure. this is a well done fan video.

Dinosaur Island (2002)

four kids, selected for a "Survivor" type show, get stranded in the Amazon, a place the natives call "Dinosaur Mesa".  I think I know where that is!

anyway, they run into all sorts of outlandish and poorly drawn dinosaurs as well as an unknown tribe of furry humans.  the kids have to learn the value of team work and even just to like each other to survive.

the animation is decent, and the writing OK.  I actually laughed a few times when I was supposed to.  the direction has some interesting ideas here and there.

it's nothing outstanding, and any slightly knowledgeable kid would know where the problems with the dinosaurs are.  I think I used to see this on dollar DVDs here and there.

all that's missing is Ka-Zar and Zabu...

Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

since I watched the musical the other day, I thought I'd watch the original then.  I had forgotten how much fun this movie actually is, and how funny it was.

it's in glorious black and white (don't bother with crayon colorized versions*, it wasn't meant to be seen that way).  there are a few differences between the musical and the original, as in the number of people killed and how Seymore meets his end.  I recommend both.


*I really hate colorization of black and white movies.  people that won't watch them don't deserve them.

RIP Jeff Conaway

he was a fine actor in many movies and shows, but was best known for his role in Grease and on tv in Taxi and Babylon 5. RIP.

Gokaiger #8 The Spies Little Plan

I dunno, maybe the Zangyack are just using really incompetent kaijin at first, to make our heroes think they will have an easy time finding the greatest treasure...

here we have the Sneak Brothers - Elder and Younger, going aboard the pirates' ship to find out what they are after.  it takes the younger a few tries to get the elder aboard.  other hijinks and mishaps occur to him as well, which sounds like it would be tiring, but it works.

it's not the best episode, but it is loads of fun.

Fantasia (1940)

just watched this for the second time ever, and it had been 20 years since the last time. it's really quite good, though perhaps 20 minutes too long.

I can see why it was a failure with audiences at the time though.  Mickey Mouse is featured in every ad and poster released then, so people probably thought they were gonna see a feature length mouse adventure.

and some of it's a little boring.  naturally, the best bit is Igor Stravinsky's  The Rite of Spring because of the pretty darn amazing and scary dinosaurs.  Night on Bald Mountain is scary as well, and the rest are fun. 

the animation is of course excellent.  it does suffer from a sort of "disney look" to some of the cast, but that's to be expected.

for years this was the "lost Grail" of Disney movies on VHS, as no one had a copy. and when it was finally found, well, the real VHS and laser disc release in 1991 was nice to see.  definitely worth watching, but I can't say I'm a huge fan.

more Megaloman, right?

yeah, this will do nicely!  I'll have some more pictures tomorrow.

Xeno Logo

thanks to Mr. Owari and his awesome connections (Kabuki Katze), I have a really cool logo.  it's amazing.  thanks so much!

the end of "Godzilla vs the Thing"

The fourth movie in the Godzilla saga is widely considered one of the best. I think it is the best Godzilla movie ever made, despite it not being my favorite Godzilla film. almost everything about it works, the actors, the direction, the score, the effects, all tops in the movie.

Megaloman real opening

yes, I love this show, for all the same reasons enumerated before.  check on the labels!  this is the rockin' cool opening theme song.