Special Mention: Gojira (Godzilla)
Written and directed by Ishirô Honda
Japan, 1954
Ishiro Honda’s grim, black-and-white post-Hiroshima nightmare stands the test of time. This allegory for the devastation wrought on Japan by the atomic bomb is quite simply a powerful statement about mankind’s insistence to continue to destroy everyone and everything the surrounds us. With just one shot (a single pan across the ruins of Tokyo), Honda manages to express the devastation that Godzilla represents. Since its debut, Godzilla has become a worldwide cultural icon, but very little is said about actor Takashi Shimura, who adds great depth as Dr. Yamane; his performance is stunning. Special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya originally wanted to use classic stop-motion animation to portray Godzilla, but time and budget limitations forced him to dress actors up in monster suits. Despite this minor setback, Tsuburaya’s scale sets of Tokyo are crafted with such great attention to detail,...
Written and directed by Ishirô Honda
Japan, 1954
Ishiro Honda’s grim, black-and-white post-Hiroshima nightmare stands the test of time. This allegory for the devastation wrought on Japan by the atomic bomb is quite simply a powerful statement about mankind’s insistence to continue to destroy everyone and everything the surrounds us. With just one shot (a single pan across the ruins of Tokyo), Honda manages to express the devastation that Godzilla represents. Since its debut, Godzilla has become a worldwide cultural icon, but very little is said about actor Takashi Shimura, who adds great depth as Dr. Yamane; his performance is stunning. Special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya originally wanted to use classic stop-motion animation to portray Godzilla, but time and budget limitations forced him to dress actors up in monster suits. Despite this minor setback, Tsuburaya’s scale sets of Tokyo are crafted with such great attention to detail,...
- 10/3/2015
- by Ricky Fernandes
- SoundOnSight
By Todd Garbarini
Just after the school year ended in June 1984, I went to a friend’s house on a Friday night to watch the premiere of Carlin on Campus, an HBO concert of one of my favorite comedians, the legendary George Carlin. When the concert was over, my friend switched around until he reached NBC-tv. They were airing When A Stranger Calls, a 1979 thriller starring Carol Kane, Charles Durning, and Colleen Dewhurst. I saw the film from the beginning, and the first twenty or so minutes had me utterly captivated. It presented a scenario that I found to be terrifying, and apparently so did Rex Reed, whose proclamation “some of the most terrifying sequences ever filmed” was used in the newspaper ads. I thought it was so original – until I saw Bob Clark’s frightening Black Christmas (1974) four years later and saw where the “inspiration” may have come from.
Just after the school year ended in June 1984, I went to a friend’s house on a Friday night to watch the premiere of Carlin on Campus, an HBO concert of one of my favorite comedians, the legendary George Carlin. When the concert was over, my friend switched around until he reached NBC-tv. They were airing When A Stranger Calls, a 1979 thriller starring Carol Kane, Charles Durning, and Colleen Dewhurst. I saw the film from the beginning, and the first twenty or so minutes had me utterly captivated. It presented a scenario that I found to be terrifying, and apparently so did Rex Reed, whose proclamation “some of the most terrifying sequences ever filmed” was used in the newspaper ads. I thought it was so original – until I saw Bob Clark’s frightening Black Christmas (1974) four years later and saw where the “inspiration” may have come from.
- 8/10/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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