Coop and I are on a bit of a Godzilla kick.
Coop and I are on a bit of a Godzilla kick. Watched Godzilla vs. Monster Zero last night, which I haven’t seen in a long, long time. I remembered this was the one with an American actor who was speaking English while everyone else was dubbed, but I didn’t remember his New Jersey tough guy act or how he pronounced “robots” as “ro-bits.” So I had to look him up. Not news to super-Godzilla fans, but Nick Adams had a very interesting and tragically short life. Seems like he was a perpetual hanger-on and support player to more famous friends. Finally dying young of (probably) an accidental drug overdose.
His story reminds me of the young actor Danny DeVito’s character sets up for a fall and ends up being murdered in LA Confidential.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Adams_(actor,_born_1931)
I love this one. And yeah, in 1950s and 60s radio dramas robots are usually "ro-buts," "ro-bits," or "ro-bets." (With a very clipped vowel in that second syllable.) They almost never go for "ro-bauts" or "ro-bahts" or any of the more modern forms.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't seen it, GMK is the best godzilla ever!
ReplyDeleteI love 1971 Godzilla vs. Hedorah. (Or as it appeared in TV Guide when I was a kid "Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster.") So ... damn ... stylish and trippy ... and still relevant in a way.
ReplyDeleteIt's cool to see you both creating these memories. My folks introduced me to monster movies, too.
ReplyDeleteCoop just loves monsters, but Power Rangers must be an influence for him here.
ReplyDeleteHe's really interested in the power quartet of Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah.
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla was my favorite as a kid. It's really one of the worst Godzilla movies ever, but it was an absolute masterpiece to five-year-old me.
ReplyDeleteI love the Godzilla films, but my favourites are the weird ones in which there's an almost completely unrelated secret alien invasion plot, like this one.
ReplyDeleteI think when I was a kid I really just wanted them to skip to the monster fights. But we’ve watched Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster and Godzilla vs. Monster Zero back-to-back, and I can’t believe these movies form a coherent storyline. When I was a kid, I just watched whatever was on the Sunday Cable TV matinee.
ReplyDeleteGhidorah has a great plot where all the threads come together, culminating in Mothra convincing Godzilla and Rodan to team up. The fairies translating the monster conversation is super-trippy and amazing. “Oh Godzilla, such language!” I love that Mothra is actually a helpful monster.
The asshole ro-bits from Planet X are so great. The Controller is such a smug jerk and their plan to steal Earth’s monsters is hilarious.
The first movie I ever saw in a theatre was Godzilla vs the smog monster. My mom had a dentist apt and let me and my brother goto the movie in the same shopping center. I was probably 5 and my brother 12. We were the only ones in the theatre and we sat in the front row.
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