a lousy knave

[Mark Hoppus] Hello there The plums inside the icebox The breakfast I was saving for the morn The unsuspecting victim Of hunger in a belly If you took them you can tell me, just to say [Tom DeLonge] Forgive me And I’m so sorry They were so sweet, they were so cold tonight

That’s a wrap on all 36 Godzilla movies in 2024 plus origins of 3 allies. Godzilla Minus One was by far the “best,” but fell short of three that were deliriously entertaining

There’s nothing silly to say about this one. Except that I thought “fighting giant monsters as a metaphor for personal demons” would be the one from the Evangelion guy, not this one. Well played

Godzilla Minus One (2023) is just good. Breathtakingly, heartwrenchingly good. Intimately small and personal. Plus a lizard

still upset we don’t see genitals

the tone wanted to be guardians of the galaxy but got weighed down by 90 minutes of kong sentimentally before it finally let loose and became smash brothers

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) is Planet of the Apes. It started slow but grew on me with a lighter tone and one of the best final fights in the series

good practical effects and a unique “humanity fights back” climax that nowadays felt like it could be a metaphor for the Covid response

macy’s day parade ass turkey monster

Shin Godzilla (2016) is the flurry of activity right before you step on an ant hill. It’s a farce about Japanese politics and beaurocracy, like “why don’t they make the whole movie out of the tanks scenes”

The modern American ones have the advantage of feeling familiar, but the disadvantage that any weak parts don’t feel distant enough to be kitschy or charming. 2019 worked for me, 2021 did not.

I respect what they’re doing with the neon cyan/amber color palette

Godzilla vs Kong (2021) was like watching your parents fight. Unsympathetic humans, bonkers plot, short on action until the end

The effects are amazingly crisp. They pop off the screen in a good way, especially compared to the muddy realism of Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It feels like an evolution of the practical suit effects.

It works if you approach it as “funny ways for the island to slash the morally bankrupt teens” but that was a difficult pivot after the Avengers-like assembly intro. I was looking around the theater like “we’re supposed to be laughing right?” and no one was laughing.

Kong: Skull Island (2017) is a slasher movie. Overstuffed Metal Jacket. Perfect stylish setup of cocky human hubris, tonally inconsistent “watch the naughty ones die”