Friday, August 3, 2012

G-FEST XIX: Kaiju U. "King of the Monsters"


Exactly three weeks ago, my dad and I headed on down to the Pickwick to watch "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" with the G-FEST crowd. I love the original film in both forms, and I was reminded that just two years ago the Japanese version was being screened with Mr. Takarada in attendance. Plus, with the Criterion Blu-ray release, I've been seeing a lot of this movie. Well, I'm not just drinking the Sollgel Island Pond Water when I say that "Godzilla" gets better with time and repeated viewing. Over time I have become more and more enamored of Takashi Shimura's understated Dr. Yamane, the American dub's egregious "phenomemon" notwithstanding. And then there's Godzilla, with the intensely iconic scene where he lumbers toward the trainyards, which is one of my favorite moments in the film...
and the brooding silence of the underwater climax...

...and as much as I enjoy all these things, I have to admit: it is hard to stay awake for these late night showings. There. I said it. I mean, they start at 10:30 p.m., which is really 11:30 for those living in the East, and it's the tail end of an extremely exciting day, and now with the Pickwick's new rocker seats (with cupholders), well, let's just say that I had some missing time between the Prayer for Peace and Godzilla's demise. It's still worth it to go and applaud the Toho logo and the Godzilla puppet peering over the mountain ridge with other like-minded folk. It was a very satisfying Friday.

1 comment:

  1. The real treat for a first-timer was being in the theater with a crowd of people who really appreciate the classic moments of the films and show it by their cheers. It's like an "Amen" in church!

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