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 63: ‘King Kong vs. Godzilla’ | Godzilla Redux | Ft. AlyssaGojiGeek
Hello, kaiju lovers! Godzilla Redux continues! Nate is joined by YouTuber/author/musician/Navy sailor Alyssa Charpentier (aka AlyssaGojiGeek) for a film from his previous podcast life: King Kong vs. Godzilla. While, yes, Nate discussed a pair of related unmade films with John LeMay, today he and Alyssa compare and contrast the original Japanese version and the re-edited U.S. cut. The latter softens the satirical tone of the original and adds pointless scenes with two boring white guys who use a children’s dinosaur book to prove Godzilla is a dumb brute and Kong “is a thinking animal.” This leads to some talk about the subpar Criterion Collection box set—the only way to legally watch the Japanese cut in America—and how the Japanese economic miracle influenced the film. Even Alyssa never learned this stuff in school!
Before the broadcast, Nate meets with Mr. Gold and his assistant, Ms. Kawaii. They try to sweet talk him with the gift of hot chocolate and promises of advancement. Nate feigns gratitude and endures accusations of brown-nosing from Jimmy. Afterward, Nate researches late into the night at the Sekizawa Library, where he tries—and fails—to accost the AWOL EDF Mutant Ozaki. Ozaki tells Nate about the shady operations he’s been investigating the last few weeks.
The prologue, “Secret Business, Part 1” was written by Michael Hamilton and Nathan Marchand. The epilogue, “Secret Business, Part 2,” was written by Nathan Marchand.
Check out Alyssa’s YouTube channels: AlyssaGojiGeek (https://www.youtube.com/c/AlyssaGojiGeek101) and Alyssa Charpentier (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDiBPlvC3ruGkrrjUvbSKmg).
Special thanks to J.P. Gant for helping to edit this episode! Follow him on Twitter: @Homebrewed_SD (https://tinyurl.com/2jpc36r5).
Guest stars:
- Michael Hamilton as Darius R. Gold
- LemonJolly as Ms. Ami Kawai
- Pianoturtle X as Shinichi Ozaki (https://www.youtube.com/c/PianoturtleX)
Additional music:
- “This Cowboy’s Hat” (instrumental) by Chris LeDoux
- “Godzilla Vs. King Kong - The Island Natives (FANMADE COVER)” by AlyssaGojiGeek
- “Chant My Name!” by Masaaki Endo
- “Final Wars Ending Theme | Piano Tutorial” by Patrick Ledwig
Sound effects sourced from Freesound.org.
Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip.
We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, and Ted Williams! Thanks for your support!
You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month! (https://www.patreon.com/monsterislandfilmvault)
Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic! (https://www.teepublic.com/user/the-monster-island-gift-shop)
This episode is approved by Cameron Winter and the Monster Island Board of Directors.
Timestamps:
- Prologue: 0:00-3:49
- Intro: 3:49-9:31
- Main Discussion: 9:31-1:44:18
- Housekeeping & Outro: 1:44:18-1:54:07
- Epilogue: 1:54:07-end
Podcast Social Media:
- Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheMonsterIsla1)
- Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MonsterIslandFilmVault/)
- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/monsterislandfilmvault/)
- Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy (https://twitter.com/nasajimmy?lang=en)
- Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD (https://twitter.com/MonsterIslaBOD)
- Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam
- Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1 (https://twitter.com/CrystalLadyJes1)
- Follow Dr. Dourif on Twitter: @DrDorif (https://twitter.com/DrDoriff)
www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com
#JimmyFromNASALives #MonsterIslandFilmVault #GodzillaRedux #KingKong #Godzilla
© 2022 Moonlighting Ninjas Media
Bibliography/Further Reading:
- Barr, Jason. The Kaiju Film: A Critical Study of Cinema’s Biggest Monsters.
- Bogue, Mike. Apocalypse Then: American and Japanese Atomic Cinema, 1951-1967. McFarland & Company. 2017.
- Brothers, Peter H. Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda.
- Galbraith, Stuart IV. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
- “Japanese economic miracle.” Wikipedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_economic_miracle)
- Kaijuvision Radio - Episode 8: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) (The Japanese Economic Miracle (The Golden 60s), MITI) (https://youtu.be/BtOw8CkO0jU)
- Kalat, David. A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series, 2nd
- LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies Volume 1: 1954-1982.
- LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films (Mutated Edition).
- LeMay, John. Writing Giant Monsters.
- Monster Island Film Vault, The. “Episode 5: John LeMay Presents ‘King Kong vs. Frankenstein’ & ‘Continuation: King Kong vs. Godzilla’.” (https://tinyurl.com/MIFV-S1E5)
- Morton, Ray. King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon, from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. New York. 2005.
- Ryfle, Steve, and Ed Godziszewski. Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa.