The End is the Beginning

I think a year or so of inactivity is enough. 

As much as I love all things giant monster-related, my day-to-day life has been stupidly busy over these last twelve months, leaving this place to collect virtual cobwebs. Unfortunately, my hectic schedule isn’t going to relax anytime soon but I really have been itching to start contributing to the blog again. 

I thought that, perhaps, a more casual change of pace might be the answer to this little conundrum and so I’d like to announce the creation of Daikaiju Sushi, my new Tumblr extension of this blog (the name change is due to someone else beating me to the Giant Monsters Attack domain on Tumblr. Thanks a heap, whoever you are).

Why Tumblr? Admittedly, I was drawn to its more casual setup. You can use it much like Blogger (but with a more straight-forward interface) or, when there isn’t time to write up reviews and whatnot, as a shared picture gallery. I figure that I’d give it a shot for a little bit and see how it works out. 

As for Giant Monsters Attack!, I’m going to leave it open, although I would like to eventually migrate some of my older articles over to the Tumblr site. At any rate, to those of you out there who stopped in to check out this this update, I hope to see you over at the new place:

Daikaiju Sushi

R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013)

Thank you for the awesome memories, sir. Your wonderful creations had a significant influence on my love of giant monster movies and fantasy films in general.

Pacific Rim Official Trailer

(Wipes drool from corner of mouth)

Dear Santa: please let this film not suck. 

Sushi Chefs vs. Giant Monsters

Oof. I hate it when I go for long stretches without updates but unfortunately I’ve been insanely busy over these last few months. Allow me to make amends by bringing your attention to this awesome short film I recently came across called Monster Roll:

You can also check out the movie's home page complete with “behind the scenes” goodies:

Monster Roll

Here Comes... Thorg the Unbelievable!

In a story undoubtedly inspired by the Easter Island statues, todays' installment of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's giant monster comics (Where Creatures Roam issue 3, to be precise) involves an alien and his species' unusual- nay, UNBELIEVABLE- method of conquering worlds.

What I learned from this comic:

-When a wife is disappointed with her husband and his boring career choice, she will accompany him on one of his dull job excursions that she can’t stand.

-Thorg hails from an alien race that hasn’t changed evolutionarily, linguistically, politically or technologically over the course of a million years.

-Extraterrestrials with a lethal inability to swim will target a planet for invasion that is predominantly covered in deep water.

This Looks Promising

I’m cautiously optimistic about this bit of news out of the San Diego comic con, where Legendary Pictures revealed an early poster and teaser trailer for the upcoming American Godzilla film. The details of the trailer are covered over on iO9, but the general reaction from the fans has been pretty positive. Even though the footage is brief, it contains two encouraging elements which fills me with hope that Legendary is on the right track with this project: a demolished city and the silhouette of a creature that is definitely Godzilla-esque.

Granted, you can’t make out too much from that grainy image, but the outline is a heck of a lot closer to the Japanese Godzilla than the 1998 version ever was. In fact, its somewhat stocky proportions remind me of the design that was used for Godzilla's cameo in the Japanese film “Always on Third Street 2”:

Alright, director Gareth Edwards... you’ve got my hopes up for this thing. Do not pull a “Tri-Star” on me. My sensitive geek heart couldn’t take it. 

Links of Note and Possibly the Greatest Magazine Cover Illustration Ever

I think if I had come across this magazine as a kid, my brain would have exploded. 

Got an iPad? Then you can download the indie app game Metrop-A-Stomp for free. As for you Android users- you gotta shell out 99 cents. 

Speaking of games, you can also check out a fancier-looking version of Deathworm called Effing Worms 2 over here.

Shingeki no Kyodai is an interesting post-apocalyptic manga about the remainder of humanity surviving in a world of murderous giants. You can read a translated version of it here.