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May is Asian Heritage Month or to be more exact, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. To celebrate I decided to collect links to some of the Asian films, filmmakers and actors that I’ve written about. I’m particularly fond of Japanese cinema so my writing reflects this but I’ve also written about Hong Kong and Bollywood films as well. This is a master list … Continue reading Celebrating Asian Film Artists
After reading and writing about Peter H. Brothers’ book Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda recently I was motivated to watch Dogora (1964), which is one of Honda’s lesser-known films and one that I hadn’t had the opportunity to see yet. I’m not sure how I managed to overlook this little gem involving a giant jellyfish from outer space with … Continue reading Jewel Thieves & Giant Monsters: DOGORA (1964)
For the past week the Bay Area has played host to a Godzillathon taking place at Viz Cinema in San Francisco’s Japan Town. This Godzilla film festival started on May 5th and ends tonight on May 13th with a showing of Yoshimitsu Banno’s film Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971). The Godzillathon coincided with what would have been film director and writer Ishiro Honda’s 99th birthday on May … Continue reading Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda
Yumi Shirakawa in The H-Man (1958) This week at the Movie Morlocks I discuss our primal fear of the primordial ooze and highlight some of the slimy scares to be found during TCM’s Drive-In Double Features tonight. Some of the movies being played during this evening’s line-up are personal favorites and include THE BLOB (1956), THE H-MAN (1958) and X THE UNKNOWN (1955). A brief … Continue reading Our Primal Fear of the Primordial Ooze
After recently reading and writing about Peter H. Brothers’ book Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda, I was motivated to watch one of Honda’s lesser-known films that I hadn’t had the opportunity to see yet, Dogora (1964). I’m not sure how I managed to overlook this little gem involving a giant jellyfish from space with an appetite for diamonds but … Continue reading Jewel Thieves & Giant Monsters
I recently read Peter H. Brothers’ informative new book Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda and really enjoyed it. It’s the first English language book written about the Japanese director Ishiro Honda and it’s a must-read for fans of Japanese science fiction and fantasy films. I love giant monster movies so I decided to review the book for the Movie … Continue reading The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda
Stray Dog (1949) was the ninth film made by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. It features no rogue samurai or mad emperors and it’s set in modern Japan instead of feudal Japan, but it does contain many of the major themes that Kurosawa enjoyed exploring in his work throughout his long career. It began life as a novel that the director wrote after being inspired by the … Continue reading Akira Kurosawa’s Stray Dog (1949)
Apologies for the long delay! My annual list of Favorite DVDs always takes longer to compile than I expect it will. You can find the first part of this list here. Now on to Part II #11-20 . . . Cornel Wilde in The Naked Prey (1966) 11. The Naked Prey (Criterion) You can read my my thoughts about The Naked Prey here. Bette Davis … Continue reading Favorite DVD Releases of 2008: Part II
Last week the English language version of Ishiro Honda’s official website debuted online with very little fanfare, but I highly recommend stopping by the site to see the wonderful collection of materials on display there! Ishiro Honda (1911-1993) is one of Japan’s most important filmmakers and his body of work includes Godzilla (1954), Rodan (1955), The Mysterians (1957), Mothra (1961), Matango (1963), Destroy All Monsters … Continue reading Ishiro Honda Online!
What do you get when you mix a plot that seems borrowed from Jules Verne with comic book style heroes and villains that would make Batman envious, costume designs borrowed from Mario Bava’s Diabolik, and combined with a mad dash of James Bond and pulp style adventure? You get the terrifically fun and entertaining Japanese science fiction and fantasy film Latitude Zero (Ido zero daisakusen, … Continue reading Ishiro Honda’s Latitude Zero (1969)
