Day: November 23, 2006

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Movies/Wordpress/NOV06/Gojira.flv 400 300]

I’ve never cared for the American version of the first Godzilla movie, with Raymond Burr. My son Eric rented the original 1954 Japanese version, Gojira, and it’s quite good! I’d place it alongside the best of the 1950’s American sci-fi flicks, such as Them!

I’ve picked a scene from the movie that shows the obvious influence of King Kong. Even the music here is reminiscent of Max Steiner’s score.

Gojira has a rather dark and downbeat story, with a serious message about Japan’s understandable fear of nuclear weapons testing. One of the principal actors in the movie is Takashi Shimura, who also appeared in The Seven Samurai that same year. Shimura can be seen briefly in this earlier post.

Well, it’s happened. Responding to pressure from Comedy Central, YouTube has sent me a notice of copyright violation. If the text of the message isn’t below, look for a “more…” link and click it.

I haven’t posted much on YouTube — a couple of short Stephen Colbert items and a movie clip. A moment ago I deleted them. So now the question is, will I be hearing from Comedy Central directly, for the Colbert clips I’ve posted here?
Continue reading TheirTube

Mike Dobbs has a great story about a package he received by mistake. A package that was supposed to go to Al Gore! Click here.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Movies/Wordpress/NOV06/LoisClark.flv 400 300]

Here’s a bit more of “The Wedding of Superman,” with the temporary resolution of everybody’s favorite virtual love triangle. Uh, why would Perry White want “the woman’s angle” on the arrest of bank robbers?

Lois marrying Supes was a theme that was played out numerous times in the Lois Lane comic book, a guilty pleasure of mine as a kid, as was the Supergirl comic. Lois Lane’s favorite artist was Kurt Schaffenberger, and Supergirl’s best renderer was Jim Mooney.