You can't hug with nuclear arms...but you CAN wake up long dormant prehistoric reptiles!

     Sequels. Both the bane and blessing of film making. They offer us a chance to reacquaint ourselves with a character or story that we really enjoyed. However, rarely are they about furthering a storyline or deeper character development. Most times they're about money and they'll do anything they can to get you to plunk down some hard earned cash. A hastily slapped together project that probably doesn't offer much to forward the character and usually the budget is halved so it looks cheap and half-assed. Yet, when you're granted a sequel, it's as though you've graduated to a legacy rather than a one hit wonder. You're now a franchise and if you give just enough fan-service, you'll continue down that road for a very long time. And on November 3^rd, it will be the 60^th anniversary of one character that the entire world knows and loves regardless if they're willing to admit it. For over half a century, this guy has shown up in every one of those six decades AS A HEADLINER! No cameos for this guy. Over his entire career, he's given us mixed signals as to his true nature. Sometimes he's a villain, sometimes he's the hero. One thing is for sure, his presence in a film is ALWAYS known. And who is our mystery man?

Godzilla Raids Again

     Big Daddy Atomic Lizard is the last film in our Japanese film week. And you had to see that coming. What's more Nippon than Godzilla? And tonight I'm celebrating his 60th anniversary with his first sequel.  This was the go-ahead film that, to date, has has spawned about 28 films over 60 years. This is also the first film where he fought another giant monster, Anguirus. That's right. It wasn't Rodan, it wasn't Mothra, Mechazilla, King Ghidorah, or any of the countless other foes of  'Zilla. It was Angy, the spikey pre-historic love child of a turtle, lizard, and cactus.

I'm not breaking down the film much more than this: They're first appearance in this film is when they're in mid-fight. Nothing much more is known as to why they hate each other sooo much.  Simply put, this movie is about that fight, or rather how it spills over into Osaka. In later films, they're allies. So with many of 'Zillas foes, there is apparently enough shared respect that they'll drop the petty drama and help in a fight for the planet. And sometimes, visuals work best to tell the story...

This is Godzilla

This is Anguirus.

...and this is Godzilla and Anguirus fighting

And that concludes a full week of horror films from Japan. Most of them insanely over the top and ultra violent. I realize that I have a limited knowledge of their culture, but nothing explains the sheer madness in these films. It's not even otaku fan service. It's just bizarre.

Next up, our final week of films for 2014.

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