A podcast seeking entertainment and enlightenment through tokusatsu. Origin Story: After vacationing on the Monsterland Resort, professional writer/raging nerd Nathan Marchand got a job as the curator of the Vault containing the films about Monster Island’s many kaiju residents. Now he and his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA (who miraculously survived the infamous War in Space), record a bi-weekly podcast critically and academically examining each of the films in the prestigious Vault with one to four guest hosts chosen from Monster Island’s many tourists. Philosophy: Kaiju and/or tokusatsu fans will tell you these genres are undeniably fun. What’s often missed, though, are the deeper meanings below the sensational surface. Meanings entrenched in the story’s original historical and cultural context. That’s why this podcast believes in film appreciation. What’s that? It’s studying a movie’s script, direction, cinematography, and other aspects of filmmaking. It’s learning how and why it was created since movies aren’t made in a vacuum. This is especially true with foreign films. Non-native audiences are separated by both time and culture with them...
https://monsterislandfilmvault.podbean.com
Episode 19: ‘Gorath’ (feat. Jack “GMan” Hudgens)
Hello, kaiju lovers!
Before Armageddon, before Star Trek: The Motion Picture, there was Gorath. Nathan is joined by the most loved and hated film critic in the kaiju community, Jack “GMan” Hudgens, to discuss this Toho classic that has been described as the lovechild of Mothra (1961) and The Last War. While it isn’t the most exciting film, Nathan and GMan explore how its theme of unity is a timeless message, and one that people need to hear now more than ever. Along the way, they compare this to Star Trek and H.P. Lovecraft stories and discuss how Maguma the giant walrus has done nothing but get shoehorned into stories he didn’t need to be in. Also, GMan gets into a bar fight with Jimmy From NASA. Yep.
This is meant to supplement this episode of Kaijuvision Radio: Episode 44: Gorath (1962) (Near Earth Objects/Science of Gorath).
I’d like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander (host of Kaiju Weekly), Danny DiManna, elizilla13 and Joejira! Thanks for your support! (Forgive me for forgetting to say this on the air! I’ll make it up to you next time!)
You, too, can support us on Patreon!
Follow GMan on Twitter. Check out The Drift Space.
Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.
Podcast Social Media:
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Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy
#JimmyFromNASALives
© 2020 Moonlighting Ninjas Media
Bibliography/Further Reading:
- The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies Volume 1: 1954-1982 by John LeMay
- “Intergalactic star” (Wikipedia)
- “Hubble Finds Intergalactic Stars” (Hubblesite)
- Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godzisewski
- Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992 by Stuart Galbraith IV
- “Lost in Space: Half of All Stars Are Rogues Between Galaxies” by Charles Q. Choi (Space.com)
- Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda by Peter H. Brothers
- “Star unlike any found in the Milky Way appears to be an intergalactic intruder” by Michael Irving (New Atlas)
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