Alex Cross is a 2012 American action thriller film directed by Rob Cohen and starring Tyler Perry as the title character and Matthew Fox as the villain Picasso. The adapted screenplay was written by Marc Moss and Kerry Williamson. It is based on the 2006 novel Cross by James Patterson and is the third installment of the Alex Cross film series, which was considered as a reboot of the series. The title character was previously portrayed by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls (1997) and Along Came a Spider (2001). Unlike the previous films, which were distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film was released by Lionsgate Films on October 19, 2012. It was panned by critics and audiences, and became a box office bomb.
I like James Patterson and have read many of his books (see here), so of course I was interested to see how a movie based on one of his famous characters turned out. Critics didn’t seem to care for it, but I thought it was a good watch.
The plot is based off Cross, a book by Patterson, which is actually the 12th in the series.
I love all the twists and turns this movie runs through, I knew some of them from reading the books (though I haven’t read this one), but not all of them which made it and interesting watch for me. Thrilling crime movies are high up on my list of genres to watch, so again, as a fan of James Patterson, and thrillers, I liked this movie.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (三大怪獣 地球最大の決戦, San Daikaijū: Chikyū Saidai no Kessen, lit. Three Giant Monsters: Earth’s Greatest Battle) is a 1964 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the fifth film in the Godzilla franchise, and was the second Godzilla film produced that year, after Mothra vs. Godzilla. The film stars Yosuke Natsuki, Hiroshi Koizumi, Akiko Wakabayashi, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, Masanori Shinohara as Rodan, and Shoichi Hirose as King Ghidorah. In the film, an extraterrestrial from Venus, possessing the body of a princess, warns humanity of the arrival of King Ghidorah, with Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra being their last hope for survival.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster was theatrically released in Japan on December 20, 1964, followed by a theatrical release in the United States on September 29, 1965 by Continental Distributing as Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster. The film marks the debut of King Ghidorah, a recurring antagonist of the Godzilla franchise. The film was also the turning point in Godzilla’s transformation from villain to hero, with Godzilla taking on a radioactive superhero role.
King Ghidorah is by far one of my favorite antagonists from the Godzilla franchise. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a combination of Godzilla and Rodan with an extra head, or just that it’s the first space monster, or that it is canonically genderless.
This is also the first movie where Godzilla is pressed into defending Earth (along with Rodan, but this doesn’t happen a lot for Rodan). Mothra is again asked to help enlist Godzilla and Rodan against King Ghidorah’s invasion, and at first they’re only interested in fighting each other. Mothra eventually starts battling on their own, to which Godzilla and Rodan finally come to her aid.
The match-up is fun to watch, Godzilla tackling King Ghidorah on the ground, and Rodan dive-bombing in the air. Of course the Earth is saved to continue the next movie in the series.
Mothra vs. Godzilla (Japanese: モスラ対ゴジラ, Hepburn: Mosura tai Gojira) is a 1964 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the fourth film in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Akira Takarada, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kenji Sahara, and Emi and Yumi Itō, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla. In the film, humans beseech the aide of the insect-god Mothra to stop Godzilla from destroying Japan.
Due to the success of King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Toho chose to pair Godzilla against Mothra for the following film. Mothra was chosen due to the success of Mothra (1961). Honda directly intended for the film to be meant for children in addition to adults, as a way to compete with television’s growing popularity in Japan. Notably, it is the final film in the franchise’s Shōwa period to depict Godzilla solely as an antagonist.
Mothra vs. Godzilla was released theatrically in Japan on April 29, 1964. An edited version titled Godzilla vs. the Thing was released by American International Pictures in the United States on August 26, 1964.
As I continue my trek through Toho’s kaiju films, Toho continues to confirm that each subsequent movie is simply Godzilla versus another monster. However, Godzilla’s role in these confrontations changes after this movie.
As suggested in the Wiki quote this is the last film of not only the Showa period, but of Godzilla being the primary antagonist or “bad guy”. He’s still a destructive force as seen in every movie ever starring Godzilla, but he becomes more agreeable.
Mothra is a protective kaiju and is subject to suggestion from the tiny twins, but as Mothra goes through her life cycle, she can be weaker in some states. As the movie shows, Mothra lays her egg and then dies just as the egg hatches. In an interesting twist, the egg hatches twins. These twin Mothra continue throughout the Godzilla series (they show up later) which is interesting for it’s continuity.
I do like that its a little more than just “let’s see who wins” and more “lets do some background on Mothra while we see who wins”. Even though the kaiju storyline gets recycled a bit, it’s still worth a watch to get to know the kaiju a bit more.
Mothra (Japanese: モスラ, Hepburn: Mosura) is a 1961 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, and written by Shinichi Sekizawa, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the first film in the Mothra franchise. The film stars Frankie Sakai, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kyōko Kagawa, Jerry Ito, and The Peanuts.
In 1960, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka hired Shin’ichirō Nakamura to write an original story for a new kaiju film. Co-written with Takehiko Fukunaga, and Yoshie Hotta, The Glowing Fairies and Mothra was serialized in a magazine in January 1961. Screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa later adapted the story into a screenplay, patterning his version after King Kong (1933) and Godzilla (1954).
Mothra was theatrically released in Japan on July 30, 1961. An edited, English dubbed version was released theatrically in the United States on May 10, 1962 by Columbia Pictures. The titular monster, Mothra, would become Toho’s second most popular kaiju character after Godzilla, appearing in eleven Godzilla films and her own trilogy in the 1990s.
While reading the Wiki page after watching the movie again, everything starts to make a little more sense as to why Mothra feels a lot like King Kong. The basic premise for the movie is an uninhabited island is found to be inhabited, and some of the natives are kidnapped and put on stage.
Unlike King Kong, the natives do not escape and cause mayhem, they call their island’s guardian, Mothra, who causes mayhem. It makes for a very interesting blend of Godzilla and King Kong so I think the screenwriter did a good job with that.
The movie lays out the introduction of Mothra, it’s life cycle (sort of), and why she behaves as she does (which is actually pretty cool if you’re into that sort of thing). The human dynamic that complicates things does add to the story, though the human villian is pretty generic and could have been a little more creative.
I do like Mothra as a kaiju monster, she’s not inherently evil, which is a nice change from Godzilla.
King Kong vs. Godzilla (Japanese: キングコング対ゴジラ, Hepburn: Kingu Kongu tai Gojira) is a 1962 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the third film in both the Godzilla franchise, and King Kong franchise, plus the first of two Toho-produced films featuring King Kong. It is also the first time that each character appeared on film in color and widescreen. The film stars Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, Yū Fujiki, Ichirō Arishima, and Mie Hama, with Shoichi Hirose as King Kong and Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla. In the film, as Godzilla is reawakened by an American submarine, a pharmaceutical company captures King Kong for promotional uses, which culminates into a battle on Mount Fuji.
The project began with a story outline devised by King Kong stop motion animator Willis H. O’Brien around 1960, in which Kong battles a giant Frankenstein Monster; O’Brien gave the outline to producer John Beck for development. Behind O’Brien’s back and without his knowledge, Beck gave the project to Toho to produce the film, replacing the giant Frankenstein Monster with Godzilla and scrapping O’Brien’s original story.
King Kong vs. Godzilla was released theatrically in Japan on August 11, 1962. The film remains the most attended Godzilla film in Japan to date, and is credited with encouraging Toho to prioritize the continuation of the Godzilla series after seven years of dormancy. A heavily edited version was released by Universal International Inc. theatrically in the United States on June 26, 1963.
The continuing movies of Godzilla (as I previously mentioned) pits the giant lizard versus various adversaries, this time being the original kaiju (well, his movie was first in 1933 which I will be covering later) King Kong.
This movie is actually a combination of the original King Kong movie and the original Godzilla movie, as both monsters are “new” (seeing as how King Kong actually died in his movie, and this Godzilla is a different one that was awakened). The first alternate timeline scenario?
The most famous scene is the one where the two monsters duke it out on top of Mount Fuji, which apparently is what won over audiences and continues to be highly viewed on YouTube.
It’s an interesting piece of history as it is the first time both monsters were filmed in color, the third movie in both series, and the best viewed Godzilla movie at the time. I think it’s an enjoyable collaboration, and I’m glad it continues to entertain audiences (even if you’ve only seen the 2021 remake.)
Cowboy Bebop (Japanese: カウボーイビバップ, Hepburn: Kaubōi Bibappu) is a Japanese neo-noir science fiction anime television series created and animated by Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and composer Yoko Kanno, who are collectively billed as Hajime Yatate. The series, which ran for twenty-six episodes (in six “sessions” of four to five episodes each), is set in the year 2071, and follows the lives of a traveling bounty-hunting crew aboard a spaceship, the Bebop. Although it incorporates a wide variety of genres, the series draws most heavily from science fiction, western, and noir films. Its most prominent themes are existential ennui, loneliness, and the inability to escape one’s past.
Cowboy Bebop was dubbed into English by Animaze and ZRO Limit Productions, and was originally licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment (and is now licensed by Funimation) and in Britain by Beez Entertainment (now by Anime Limited); Madman Entertainment owns the license in Australia and New Zealand. In 2001, the series became the first anime title to be broadcast on Adult Swim.
Since its release, Cowboy Bebop has been hailed as one of the greatest animated television series of all time. It was a critical and commercial success both in Japanese and international markets, most notably in the United States. It garnered several major anime and science-fiction awards upon its release, and received unanimous praise for its style, characters, story, voice acting, animation, and soundtrack. The English dub was particularly lauded, and is regarded as one of the best. Credited with helping to introduce anime to a new wave of Western viewers in the early 2000s, Cowboy Bebop has also been called a gateway series for anime in general.
When Cowboy Bebop came to Netflix and my friends started talking about how great it was, my only comment was “I haven’t seen it.” The response from my friends was largely: “How?!”
So I set about rectifying that, watching the series on Netflix on my days off. I will agree with my friends in that it is a good show (I don’t have the nostalgia they do for calling it great). I love all the wildly different and interesting characters that ride and live aboard the Bebop throughout the series.
I also enjoy that the crew rarely turns in their bounty, mostly reforming the criminal or just out right letting them go. The characters’ personal storylines are all very deep and somewhat emotionally upsetting. Some of the situations presented are also deeply emotionally upsetting.
For an animated series that only ran one season, it seems that a lot of detail and thought was crammed into 26 episodes. I don’t always want to watch something like that, mostly I like watching something that takes my mind off the daily struggles of living, but when I do, Cowboy Bebop is just about exactly fills that role completely.
Godzilla Raids Again (Japanese: ゴジラの逆襲, Hepburn: Gojira no Gyakushū, lit. ’Godzilla’s Counterattack’) is a 1955 Japanese kaiju film directed by Motoyoshi Oda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the second film in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and Katsumi Tezuka as Anguirus. In the film, Japan struggles to survive Godzilla’s return, as well as its destructive battle against its ancient foe Anguirus.
Godzilla Raids Again was released theatrically in Japan on April 24, 1955. A re-edited, English dubbed version was released theatrically in the United States on June 2, 1959, by Warner Bros. Pictures, under the title Gigantis, the Fire Monster.
After the first Godzilla movie, each succeeding movie introduces a new kaiju for Godzilla to fight. This movie introduces the first instance of “monster island” and the four-legged monster Anguirus. The two are fighting on monster island outside of mainland Japan and discovered by some marooned pilots.
The Japanese public are scared and so military action is taken, but not before Godzilla and Anguirus cause a bit more mayhem and destruction. It’s not certain what exactly happened to Anguirus at the end of the fight with Godzilla, but Godzilla is again only lured away and supposedly imprisoned.
Again, love these movies, but the originals are obviously the best ones. This one continues the lore of Godzilla and for that I give it my approval.
Godzilla (Japanese: ゴジラ, Hepburn: Gojira) is a 1954 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the first film in the Godzilla franchise and the Shōwa era. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla. In the film, Japan’s authorities deal with the sudden appearance of a giant monster, whose attacks trigger fears of nuclear holocaust during post-war Japan.
I have a secret obsession with Japanese Kaiju movies, well, not so secret anymore. For awhile I would find them on YouTube and put them on in the background while I did other things, and finally decided that I really enjoyed them. I liked the stories, the filmography, and the strangeness of it.
Godzilla is probably the most well-known of Japanese Kaiju (giant monsters), and has been remade into several movies, some even quite recently. But I’m talking about the original nuclear fueled monster movie. The one made before special effects was as advanced as it is now. The one with a man in the monster suit destroy replica model of Tokyo.
It’s amazing. I love it.
The fact that the public only really scares Godzilla off at the end of the movie and doesn’t kill it reflects more on the strangeness, as if this was a modern day American movie Godzilla would have totally died is some horrific way.
This is free on YouTube at the time of this post, and I highly recommend that you do.
Squid Game (Korean: 오징어 게임; RR: Ojing-eo Geim) is a South Korean survival drama streaming television series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Its cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung.
The series revolves around a contest where 456 players, all of whom are in deep financial debt, risk their lives to play a series of deadly children’s games for the chance to win a 45.6 billion prize. The title of the series draws from a similarly named Korean children’s game. Hwang had conceived of the idea based on his own economic struggles early in life, as well as the class disparity in South Korea and capitalism. Though he had initially written it in 2009, he was unable to find a production company to fund the idea until Netflix took an interest around 2019 as part of their drive to expand their foreign programming offerings. All nine episodes were written and directed by Hwang.
Squid Game was released worldwide on September 17, 2021, to critical acclaim and international attention. As of November 2021, it is Netflix’s most-watched series, becoming the top-viewed program in 94 countries and attracting more than 142 million member households and amassing 1.65 billion viewing hours during its first four weeks from launch, surpassing Bridgerton for the title of most watched show.
I don’t usually jump on the bandwagon for Netflix trends, or trends of any kind. I usually wait and see what happens next.
Well, Squid Game made me curious, especially when a YouTube Gamer, CallMeKevin, did a Sims 4 version of Squid Game. I had to check it out after that.
There are only 9 episodes in Season 01, so I watched it relatively quickly, binging it within a weekend. I do like survivalist movies (sometimes, I couldn’t stomach 127 Hours but quite liked The Martian). The relationships formed and broken throughout the games were realistic, and the character development was interesting too.
However, I’m still not entirely sure I like the main character or not. While I support him in how he won the games, I’m not a big fan of his life decisions. If there is a second season, I’ll be interested to see where it goes and how it ends, as the first season ended really well and could be considered a final ending of sorts (even if it doesn’t wrap up all the loose ends).
Solstice is a 2008 American horror film directed by Daniel Myrick, written by Myrick, Martin Musatov, and Ethan Erwin, and starring Elisabeth Harnois, Shawn Ashmore, Hilarie Burton, Amanda Seyfried, Tyler Hoechlin, Matt O’Leary, and R. Lee Ermey. It is a remake of the 2003 film Midsommer.
I’ll admit that I have obsession for horror films, I would call this one more supernatural than horror. The main storyline is that Megan (main character) feels like she is being haunted by her dead sister. So of course she and her friend group go back to the place, where a year ago, her sister was still alive and happy.
The sister died by suicide, so if you have issues with your mental health, please be advised that this could possibly be triggering. However this is not the main plot of the movie.
A local gets involved in the friend group, telling them ghost stories from the area, giving the atmosphere a much more ghostly feel for the rest of the movie. Eventually the events from a year ago are unraveled and movie comes to a close.
Now that I have that all typed out this all feels a lot like the plot to I Know What You Did Last Summer, in more ways than one. Weird. I feel that I Know What You Did Last Summer did it better though. It’s on Netflix, if you watch it let me know if you agree with me or not.
Fellowship of Filming(s) 