Godzilla Smash 3!!!

I've started down a dark path...

A free game on the iphone/nook is based on the new Godzilla movie. It's basically a variation on the Tetris/Bejewelled type game where you match up tiles and try to clear the playing board, only here as you match tiles, Godzilla tears down buildings, wrecks airplanes, and blows nuclear fire on enemy monsters! This game is going to be the end of me!

Edisto - 2014

Had a glorious week off in Edisto Island last week...just a few shots of the things I saw...

Botany Bay...Botany BAY??? OH NO!!!!!

This is a mostly untouched natural beach full of thousands of shells, a tree graveyard, animals, and several marked loggerhead nests. All natural. I didn't see any cargo carriers though...







Some critters I saw...Godzilla and the Sea Monster...scuse me...an alligator and a half inch size teeny beach crab hiding under my flip flop.





Finally, a panoramic view from our front porch. We had rabbits, skinks, crabs, a cat, and some deer living in the bushes you see here.

MOVIE REVIEW - GODZILLA - 2014...

Almost.

That's the best way I can describe Godzilla. It is a good movie, but it COULD have been Great.

I'm a fan of director Gareth Edwards and his indy film Monsters. It gave us something new in a "monster" movie with its teeny budget, minimalist effects and effective human drama. He seemed like a risky, yet logical choice. I can see Edwards has the ability and passion for the subject matter but I think too many writers stirring the pot right up to the beginning of shooting may have killed its chance at greatness. Now, OBVIOUS SPOILERS will follow, so skip this if you don't want to know...



Of course I come into this movie with 30 years of Godzilla fandom and great expectations. It's unavoidable and that is my issue to deal with. But, the trailers for this have been superb, selling a dark and brooding film about a force of nature and the destruction it causes. This film is anything but...there is potential for at least three huge monster fights - two of which are merely teased and abruptly cut away from just as they get going. This is really jarring, especially when the audience is saying "Ok, here we go!" only to have the payoff taken away from us. Once is forgivable, twice is just aggravating. Despite this fault, having engaging human characters brought to life by capable actors would have served as a temporary reprieve, but we really don't get that either. None of these actors get to make their individual roles their own - instead, we get the idea that "Hey there's Kick-Ass playing an army guy" - "Hey there's Walter White playing a guy who yells a lot." And then Ken Watanabe spends the entire film with a blank stare and his mouth hanging open. See what I mean? Argghh! Such a great cast is not used to their fullest extent.





And then there are the monsters themselves. Home Run! Godzilla is gigantic - a wondrous, magical all-powerful beast. He looks great and resembles the best of the classic TOHO Godzi suits. He fights not one but TWO creatures called MUTOs or Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms. There is a male and female, one flies and one crawls on the ground. These are evil beasts and are very unique in their appearance and abilities. They pose a serious threat to civilization and Godzilla has been sent to stop them. Here is where I noticed that the trailers sold an entirely different movie than what I was seeing. Godzilla is a protector, in many ways a friend to humans, not a force of nature destroying everything in his path. He has been sent by Mother Nature to "restore balance" to the order of things. This major shift in tone brings to mind the more friendly Godzilla of the later sequels when he was earth's protector and fought different monsters in each film. And it isn't what we were teased AT ALL in any of those excellent trailers. Add to this the unexpected early exit of one of the main three characters (you can prob guess which one) and this movie loses focus quickly and struggles in between the first and final acts.



The Final Battle. This was amazing. A brutal, destructive and intense giant monster battle. It can stand up with anything from the classic series. It is a sight to behold, I only wish we had seen more of it. Like I said, this movie was good. But I think Hollywood got their claws into it and kept it from being an EPIC film. All of the elements were there, Edwards and Co. didn't quite get to follow through completely.

And yes, Godzilla uses his atomic ray. Badass.

3 out of 5 Khans!

Thank you, HR...

Threw some quickies down last night in honor of Mr. Giger. Both should be quite familiar...



King Ghidorah, drawn from memory/reference...

Godzilla on Blu, Marvel, and a loss...May 13, 2014.

I'm catching up on some movie reviews plus a note on a serious loss. Here we go...

Catching up on the Marvel movies leading up to XM-DOFP...First is The Wolverine. I just didn't like it. Hugh Jackman is obviously the right choice for the role, but I don't understand how it can be so hard to make a great Wolverine film. I didn't bother with the origins rubbish and I think that was the right call. This one starts off with a great flashback scene to Logan trapped in Japan in Nagasaki as the atom bomb obliterates the city. Too bad that is pretty much the highlight for me. Obvious Spoilers coming...



Then we get recurring "visions" of Jean Grey as Logan keeps struggling with her death, a lot of ninjas, a contrived romance, a Poison Ivy clone, and a cyborg Silver Samurai! ugh. I'm don't know the Wolverine story backwards and forwards, but I know enough that this is just too much either thrown in all at once or too ridiculous to remain cohesive. A Wolverine should be the best comic book movie out there, not just passable. 2 out of 5 Khans!

Next up is Thor - The Dark World. Out of all the Marvel Stand alone films, the original Thor was my favorite. This one is just as good, albeit a little forced in some parts.





Thor and Loki battle the Dark Elves led by Malekith played by Christopher Eccleston. Everyone in the cast is just about perfect...love Anthony Hopkins and Idris Elba returning in their roles and they get a bit more to do here. There are some great troop battles as well as some nice spacecraft/fighter warfare. The ending is a bit too neat and Malekith, to be such an ancient and powerful evil, is defeated rather easily in my opinion - but it's fun to watch nonetheless. Of course this one ends on a cliffhanger with Loki set to do much damage in the future. There is also an extra scene in the credits with Benicio Del Toro as The Collector?? I've never heard of this guy, but he is obviously up to no good as well as he collects the Ether from Malekith's failed attack on Earth. We shall see. A solid 3.5 out of 5 Khans!



Next up are some classic Godzilla movies finally released in crystal clear BLURAY! Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (Godzilla Vs The Sea Monster) and Godzilla on Monster Island (Godzilla Vs Gigan) are the first two!









G vs G is noteworthy in that it introduces one of the more popular Godzilla foes over the years - the space monster Gigan. He is the Boba Fett of the Godzilla series, if you will. He has sharp daggers for hands, can fly, and a spinning buzzsaw in his chest! He causes a LOT of monster damage with blood flying everywhere! It's pretty visceral stuff for a kids' movie from the 1970s. G v G also features one of the most outlandish alien invasion plots ever. Giant alien cockroaches hide in an amusement park which features a giant "Godzilla Tower" made to look like the King of the Monsters...it turns out to be their base and it shoots hot lasers out of its "mouth" - definitely one of the most bizarre parts of any Godzilla movie ever! Haha!





Finally, we have Godzilla Vs Hedorah (The Smog Monster). Another 70s G film about the dangers of pollution and the monsters it spawns. Hedorah is a giant walking oil slick...considering its a man in a suit, it's pretty convincing in its movement - it even has three forms throughout the movie - a giant tadpole, a flying manta ray like creature and the final two legged behemoth. Crazy, awesome stuff!



Oh and then there's this scene...



5 out of 5 Khans!!!

And on a sad note, H.R. Giger passed away today. He basically created the world that would become ALIEN and its nightmarish xenomorph creature. He was a visionary artist and a unique talent. He will be missed.

They call me Big Papa...

Another quickie sketch of the day...this one kinda sucks...people faces are difficult...Papa Emeritus of the band GHOST...

It's a Bug Hunt...

Quickie ink sketch for the day...forgive me, I've been neglecting my sketch pad. I may have to do a larger, more detailed version of this down the road.